71 years and counting.
I have known Darby since I was 16 years old. He started out as a coworker and became a trusted confidante, an uncle. Someone who would constantly tease me lovingly, tell me which boys were bad news, and make me feel genuinely safe and cared for, assuring I made it to my car each evening when we would close the shop. His kindness, generosity, guidance, and positive attitude were tireless. He would proudly flaunt his lunchbox each day packed with homemade sandwiches from homemade bread or gourmet leftovers from his outstanding wife, and wax poetic about how wonderful and capable she is. Their love was so adorable to bear witness.
This whole cancer thing just boggles my mind. There doesn't seem to be any amount of kindness or good living that can stave off its arbitrary grasp. I do know that it feels like it has gripped too many, far too young.
Darb, I love you. Thank you for keeping me on my toes, keeping me out of trouble, and being a constant in my life. Someone who was always there with a hug, a smile, and some sarcastic remark when I would drop by to say hello.
I am so, so saddened that I won't be able to see your face in the flesh ever again. May I humbly request that you still keep an eye on me? I may be twice as old as I was when we first met...but you know...I could use your loving eyes in the sky to help keep me in line, please.
Hope the sun is out, the waves are pumping, the wind is just right, and fresh fish tacos await you on the beach wherever you are.
Love you, Darb.
You are already missed by so many the world over.
"Opihi man in the sun
Opihi man grab your bag and run!
Opihi man another swell is comin' your way
Opihi man another swell is comin' your way."
Like father, like son.
We be jamming.
Frying eggs for breakfast.
In the kitchen.
#boom
Running up the hill to pull the laundry off the line, amidst raindrops quickly increasing in weight and plop factor, is so much more a pleasure than it is a burden.
Like dogs...but chickens.
For the 32nd time.
Because a morning of bubbly and fresh squeezed citrus in a young coco is crucial whenever you start on the tequila at midnight....
Gemini Jam in ʻĪao.
Philosophy cake = apropos.
Deep in the valley.
On the ridge.
Sweetness.
Hau‘oli Lā Hānau to this curiously outstandingly paradoxical monkey. Braddah, you been a best friend and trusted confidante since back when we was skinny and awkward (has much really changed?) Your kindness is a dominant quality about you that has and will always persist. Your willingness to listen and act from your na‘au not only serves you, but those around you. And your ever-increasing commitment to (r)evolution is a wonderful path to witness. Ultimately, beyond the legends and folklore is a good, kindhearted local boy with one akamai head on his shoulders (or so says "The Source," so it must be true).
33: It's a most magical number, may it be a most magical year, e ku'u hoaloha. You deserve it. Mahalo and congratulations for you doing you. From one radical Gemini to another, I know it's not always easy but it certainly pays off, sometimes in bigger ways than we could imagine (which is saying a lot, because these imaginations stay all naaahtz).
Whether on the climbing wall, in front of a camera, barefoot in ‘Īao, speaking to a massive audience, gathering la‘au, chandeling, shralping, shacking barrels, or fighting fires you are excelling at it. Love you, braddah. I look forward to seeing the dialectic of epic roll on for years to come ❤ Cheeeeeehooooo.
"Your obstinate independence puzzles and angers me!" Says the man to the cat.
- Rudyard Kipling
Posted up at the "Plant Against Monsanto" action.
Just cruising.
Rebuilding.
From the foundation up.
