My Impressions There is a new temporary dam at the Throwaway ditch holding our lake to nearly full. New gages elsewhere have replaced our beloved stick that some kind of nature tore away. We have only the rain and seven inlets filling the lake now as the Intake ditch has most all its water flowing out to Stone Dam and Kilauea Stream. This erosion hole under the Throwaway gate acts for me as a metaphor for our lives, so aptly named the Throwaway gate. What erosion in our lives may be creating a hole where we are throwing away bits of ourselves, pieces of our potential for fullness? I suspect we each have a hole somewhere, a ditch that is draining out our life force energy. What do we do about that? Do we neglect ourselves and just feel drained? Do we work harder to make up for the loss? Do we get busy to mend the ditch in some temporary way? Or do we ask for help and find a more permanent solution to repair the ditch and hole, once and for all, so we no longer leak out vital energy that can be put to a higher use. There comes a time in every life where we reach a place of enough is enough. No longer willing to tolerate this energy drain we see and feel. We accept the need for change. A repair is called for. The wound has been so long unattended it may take some time and study to find the best way so we can come out of the healing even stronger than before. It isn't always easy or obvious to see this need, this emptiness. There may be resistance to face as we have gotten so used to living without fullness. A full life where health and vitality become the norm still requires adjustment. What do I do with this new sense of well being? How do I share it with others? Do I share it or just stay alone for awhile to savor the sweetness of being self-contained and content. At peace with myself, no longer 'leaking' my life away, but feeling my strength and wholeness once more. It is as if meeting an old friend you recognize and embrace with open arms, so comfortable and easy to be with. There is no longer the struggle of dealing with the constant loss that a draining rupture causes. Some holes need to be repaired and blocked. Some holes are not portals to a better place, but only lead to a ditch draining out to nowhere we have ever been called. Serving no purpose, a wasted part of our life not lived to its highest use and potential. This source of loss once found has a remedy, and when applied brings with it fresh hope for the future that then sweetens the present moment. It allows us to lift up our eyes and hearts and fully see the beauty of the world around us. The birds are returning to this fullness in the lake. Their mating dances have begun. The water plants thrive at shoreline and the fish swim by as we await this new season of new life birthing we hope to be lived out in all its fullness at Kalihiwai Reservoir. Aloha, Maggie Lea |
Suggested Readings: Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation in Hawai`i: 2012 Reference: Commission on Water Resource Management Click here to download PDF file Koamalu Volumes 1&2 by Ethel M Damon, 1931 A story of pioneers on Kauai and of what they built in that island garden Sugar Water by Carol Wilcox 1996 Hawaiian & English definitions from the book: wai - water, blood, passion, life wai wai - wealth pani wai - dam water - transparent, odorless, tasteless, liquid, H2O Wetland habitat non-invasive plant suggestions: bacopa, makaloa, carex, aka 'akai, neke kupukupu, laua'e Links: Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge www.fws.gov/hanalei Kauai Forest Birds Recovery Project www.kauaiforestbirds.org Sounds Hawaiian www.soundshawaiian.com/birds National Wildlife Federation www.nwf.org Kalihiwai Reservoir is a Certified Wildlife Habitat Ducks Unlimited www.ducksunlimited.com Fishing Notes www.fishingnotes.com Hawaii Audubon Society www.hawaiiaudubon.com Sierra Club Hawaii www.sierraclubhawaii.com Sufi at the helm of Moe Moku |