Mary Ann Hayes

 

A week ago, my husband and I, along with our son and daughter-in-law, were excitedly packing up to escape the glum commonly associated with a typical Seattle winter. We were going where sunshine was all but guaranteed, soft sandy beaches preheated and waiting just for us.

As we boarded the plane, I took one last look over my shoulder at what we were leaving behind: a blanket of grayness barely visible through the sheet of rain. I shivered. Just look ahead, I told myself.

Flight attendants greeted us with cheerful “Aloha’s” as we made our way down the narrow crowded isle to our seats. I didn’t care if we were stacked on top of each other, as long as we ended up in Hawaii.

Hawaii! It might as well be re-named “Paradise.” We were as happy as a surfer riding the perfect wave. Look ahead, I reminded myself as I blocked out the gray and pulled down the window shade. We were headed to Hawaii!

Upon our arrival, we couldn’t help but notice the dark billowing clouds blocking the sun. We pretended not to be bothered. At least the temperature was nice. A motor coach arrived and escorted us to our Hotel on Waikiki Beach. What a beautiful place to spend the next five days! If only those clouds…

The warm air and blue/green ocean beacon-ed us and in no time we were loving the warm water and the crashing waves. The sun struggled to make an appearance and managed quite well for the remainder of the day as well as the following. Yet, day three rolled in with thunder, lightening and rain rivaling the best of any Seattle downpour. We couldn’t believe it. At least it was sort of warm, right? At least it was seventy four degrees.

That was a good day to rent a car and go exploring, which we did and were extremely grateful to be in a car that wasn’t the convertible we’d originally planned to rent.

The next two days were nothing but rain, record setting rain, flood warnings, standing puddles becoming lakes before our very eyes. It was hard not to complain. Didn’t we fly five hours to escape this mess? Wasn’t there a money back guarantee of some kind to prevent travelers from blowing their hard earned cash on a warmer version of what they get back home? Where was the sunshine? What were we going to do with all that sunscreen? Could we trade it in for rain slickers?

We left the torrential rain and flew back to Seattle. While we were away, the rain had turned to snow. Taking extreme caution, we made our way in four-wheel-drive, down our road and to our house; the house on the beach covered in snow. It was  very late at night and breathtakingly beautiful! The moon shone on the still waters of the bay and sparkles danced off the pristine blanket of white covering everything.  Welcome home, our own little piece of paradise said. We’ve missed you!

Later,

Mary Ann