blackrockbulletin: Adventures in Paradise 40

Adventures in Paradise 40

Kia Orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with some thoughts on appreciating what you have and being grateful in the process. My sons have been visiting and I have spent the last few days seeing our little island through their eyes, I have been stuck by the realization that many of the things that they have found so exotic here now seem so commonplace to me. My perspective has changed in the last ten months. I am no longer viewing Rarotonga from the wide-eyed viewpoint of one newly arrived. I have begun to take many of the islands novelties for granted. It’s time for me to rewind and remind myself that I need to appreciate all that makes this rock special. Perhaps a tourist-eye view of life in general would be a healthy perspective.

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught us about his “B-attitudes” and the one that I would like to bring into focus here is that part of us that should always be grateful. I don’t wish to spend the rest of my time on this island or the remainder of my life missing, ignoring or under appreciating the gifts that I have been given. This last week, I have been reminded to stop, look and listen. I have been reminded not to just see, but to observe. I have been reminded to appreciate and be grateful. How lovely to see things here as though for the first time.

The ocean changes color during the day as the tide washes in and out. There are so many living creatures in the water that I never even knew existed before my arrival. There are pink and blue parrot fish, blue starfish and octopi that change color so that they can blend in with the rocks. With my son Travis, I took time to gaze over the sea wall and watch with him as an octopus morphed from one shape to another. I watched in amazement as this creature adapted to suit his surroundings. His color changed and had I not known better, I would have assumed at one point that I was simply looking at a rock on the ocean floor. He (or perhaps she) was lying in wait for an unsuspecting fish to swim by and become his dinner. I have walked on that sea wall many times in the last ten months, but somewhere along the way, I had lost the curiosity to simply look down. I am grateful for renewed curiosity.

People walk to the beach to watch and snap photos of the sunset. One minute after the sun has gone down many disappear, missing the real show. I now know that the best part of the sunset is about fifteen minutes after the sun sinks below the horizon. It is then that the fireworks start and it is blindingly beautiful. I have learned not to turn my back on a setting sun because I will miss something wonderful. Like a snowflake, each sunset is unique and if I start taking them for granted, I will miss the surprise ending. I am grateful that I can look forward to the end of every day here.

New Zealand

navy ship pulled into the harbor and invited everyone to come aboard for a tour. Ward and I took two children with us and we were able to see this ship through their eyes. These children were overwhelmed by the size of the ship and by all of the navigational instruments. We let eleven-year old Helen use our camera and she couldn’t stop taking photos! Standing on the bridge of the Otago, I was able to appreciate the view of the Avarua harbor and the emerald-colored mountains that rose behind it. For a brief few moments, I had a sense of what it would be like to be a Rarotongan returning from sea and catching his first glimpse of home. I am grateful to know how this feels. I am also grateful that we were able to share this experience with children.

Do you know that there are yellow hibiscuses here that bloom every morning and change to orange in the evening? As the sun sets, they are a fiery red- orange to match the sky! Do you know what fun it is to walk out of the door and pick a fresh blossom to put in your hair? Have you ever tried to cut flowers while a goat is chasing you because he thinks the flowers you are holding should be his dinner? A tourist would have sent a postcard home regaling his flower-picking adventures. There would have been a fascinating story to relate at a dinner party about barely escaping with one’s life in the pursuit of a bouquet. Because I have grown accustomed to this kind of thing, I never even mentioned it in my blog. I forgot to take joy in that experience.

Last night, my son Jared, and his wife Nicole, took our lounge chairs down to the beach. It was dark and I wondered what could possibly be the allure .There was not even a sliver of moon to help light their way. They were, after all, relative newlyweds, so perhaps that was all the reason they needed. Jared and Nicole set their chairs at the waters edge and reclined them. For the next hour, as the waves washed onto the beach, they concentrated on the night sky as a display of shooting stars entertained them. It struck me then, that as a “local”, it had never crossed my mind to spend time at the beach after nightfall. It took the tourists to teach me that wonders don’t cease after dark. You can be sure that tonight, I will be the one dragging my beach chair across the lawn in the dark! I am going to be a tourist in my own back yard!

It has been a sweet experience this week, for me to be able to spend time with my adult sons. Although not a tourist in their lives, I am seeing them with new eyes. As their mother, I have loved them from the moment of their birth. To see them as grown men is another perspective all together. I love and respect them for the men that they have become, while trying to resist the urge to mother them. They do not need to be told to look both ways before they cross the street, but with Rarotongans driving on the “wrong side of the road”, it’s not wasted advice in my opinion. They are now asking if I have remembered to use my sunscreen when that should be my job with them! I am certain that they will read this, but I will tell all of you, confidentially, that I love knowing that they are just in the next room, rather than thousands of miles away. I smile when I hear my boys laughing together over who knows what. We sat in the living room one evening and they just talked about memories of childhood. As a sat with them and smiled, I also wondered where I was while many of their childhood exploits had taken place. How was it that I was just hearing about them for the first time? How was that possible? What is possible is that they have lives of their own now with adult responsibilities and from my new perspective, I have the pleasure of enjoying them as they now are. And I am grateful.

As always, we are happy and trying to work hard. I am grateful to be reminded to take the time to really see and appreciate everything around me. Even the same old surroundings can become new by seeing them from a different perspective. We see you all from a different perspective as well. We appreciate you for the dear friends and family that you have always been, but with so many months and miles separating us, we now see you as part of the reason that we miss home. Thank you for being part of our lives. We promise to see you with our “tourist eyes” when we return. We won’t notice that you have aged or changed in any other way, if you promise to do the same for us!

Love, Ward and Susan Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks

Images for the tourist in all of us. Please enjoy!