Life, Photography, Travel

From Maui to Sanity to Kitties Getting their Teeth Cleaned and Antique Pins

A few weeks in photos

I haven’t posted a “week in photos” for a while. I just haven’t felt up to it. While we were in Maui for what, to me, was a trip that had promised hope and beauty and family time, a family member, who was with us, suffered a rupture from reality and has not yet returned to the world which the rest of us inhabit.

The line between health and mental illness can be very fine sometimes. And those tiny fissures can often be missed because they are subtle and small. But they are insiduous. I debated whether or not to write about this, but the topic of mental health is so important that I have decided that it is something that must be discussed. I have had many thoughts on this subject and have been journaling and writing poem after poem (it’s my way of dealing with the world, I suppose). But I will leave it at this for now — the mental health system in America could use a lot of improvement.

We did have some beautiful moments while we were there. And there, truly, is nothing like a dip in the Maui waters at sunset to soothe the soul.

As you might know, photography is also my venue for finding a new perspective from which to view the world. My husband and I spent a bit of time on the sand at sunset, talking, drinking wine, taking photos and trying to figure out the meaning of life.

We ventured down to Kihei a couple of times to get our favorite fish tacos at Coconuts. We have a little tradition of buying a bottle of wine at the market and bringing it, along with our fish tacos, to a park across the street (Kamaole Park II⁩) ⁩for a picnic. After lunch, we head down to ‎⁨the beach for a swim and a beach nap. If you read my recent piece, “Portrait of a Wave,” this is where the photos were taken.

A couple of days after we returned from Maui, we got the call that things had gotten worse and we headed up to Santa Barbara to try to help.

In the midst of all of the chaos, we did manage to slip away for a couple of beach walks. It’s such a different coastline — so rugged and battered by the waves, but populated by so many birds.

And, of course, I brought my camera with me.

When we returned home, the wisteria was blooming. It’s such a brief little show — a burst of sweet-smelling lilac-like abundance — and then it’s gone.

And Bisou was so excited to tell us that the ducks had returned to our neighborhood. They show up, in search of mates, each spring. The neighborhood pools seem to be very appealing landing spots to them.

This is “Little B” and me having a quiet moment after getting brushed. I’ve been brushing not only their fur, but their teeth, for the last couple of months and they all just had a successful teeth cleaning at the vet’s office last week. I think that I was actually more traumatized by it than they were (they were pretty stoney on Gabapentin though).

Freyja is only about nine pounds (compared to Uma’s seventeen!), so the dose of Gabapentin that the vet gave us made her extra loopy and snuggly. She crawled into Bisou’s carrier at the office and the two of them would not be parted. When we got home, she crashed on the couch and Bisou, sweet big brother that he is, gave her a thorough face bath and snuggled up with her for the rest of the afternoon.

The big excitement for me was the arrival of our new Lomi food composter. I have three composting units set up outside, but they just don’t get enough sun or warmth to do much of anything very fast. So when I read about this gadget that turns your kitchen scraps into compost for the garden in less than a day, I was quite excited. In California, it is actually illegal to put your food scraps in the trash. They can only go in the green bins, which is great. But the Lomi is even “greater!”

Here’s some of the finished product. I think that my tomatoes and other veggies are going to be quite happy with this purchase.

And I will leave you with one final photo. I inherited a few antique “costume jewelry” pins from my grandmother years ago. My husband laughs at me (lovingly) because I do love to wear these old pins. I have a favorite local antique store where there is an eighty-two year old lady, named Frances, who frequents estate sales and then brings the pins in to sell at the store. I had a girlie day with my best friend, Rebecca, the other day and added a couple of pins to my collection.

There is something about those pins that just makes me happy. I think that it is my imagination being pulled into the past, thinking about the ladies who wore those pins in days gone by. I wonder, sometimes, about whose hands my little pin collection will end up in.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

As always, I thank you Dennett for creating this “week in photos” challenge.

It’s so fun to share about the week and to read about so many other photographers’ weeks around the world.

You might want to check out a few of the others who participate:

Dennett /Anne Bonfert /Eileen Vorbach /Lisa Bolin /Tracy Aston /David Wade Chambers/Kim Zuch /Barbara Radisavljevic /LensAfield /Barbara Dalton /Sasha Meyer /Susan Alison /Diana Lotti /Barbara Dalton /K. Barrett /June Nguyen /Juan O. Aguilera /Ellie Jacobson /Shruthi Sundaram/ Pene Hodge /Tracy Aston/ Sandra Barrett/Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

and more… (if I’ve failed to mention your name, please let me know so that I can add it in future weeks).

I hope you enjoyed my photos and musings. You might also like:

Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.