Happy New Year!!

I'm not 100% sure, but I think Hawaii is the last place in the world to get the new day and therefore the new year. But man, do they celebrate here. It was crazy but fun.

Yesterday I had to work, put in my 8 hours and came home filthy (I had forgotten how dirty you get in the soil here, even when wearing pants). Showered, made a pan of Julie bars and went to Kekaha with Kristin (and Josh) to hang out with some of her friends from work. I had met some of them before and quickly got to know the rest. Leslie's house was really nice with an outside bar and pool table (which Josh beat Kristin and I on not once but twice). There were 10 or so of us and we ate a big meal complete with turkey and sweet potatoes and light off fireworks for hours.

It is at this time I feel I should explain fireworks. Or rather, Kauai and fireworks. Fireworks aren't legal in Iowa so maybe it's like this everywhere else in the world, but all the other haoles seemed as fascinated as me. You can buy fireworks everywhere including grocery stores (which poses an interesting question--can you by alcohol and explosives at the same time?) seemingly only in huge quantities. One of Leslie's housemates bought a $400 box full of fireworks and it took us hours to light them all. But it was like being in a war zone. People were shooting off fireworks big and small in their backyards, in the street, everywhere. It was insane. It started at dark and were still going off when I went to bed at 1. You couldn't talk to anyone unless you were shouting and driving was a real trick. They also attached fireworks to long fishing poles so they would burn on the way up and a fireball would swing around when it reached the top. Totally insane. But fun.

Anyway, before the new year we headed out to some other co-worker's party where there was a ton of food and loud music and fireworks going off in the street. Met quite a few people, but our group decided to take our cooler to the beach (which was only a block or so away). There we sat, 10 haoles, watching all of the fireworks in the streets, large fireworks being set off over the water, flares being set off and illuminating the ocean a brilliant red color. Although we didn't count down, the new year was evident by the 5 minute grand finale of grocery-store fireworks and incessant whistling by the group down the beach. There we stood, welcoming the new year at the western edge of the world.

Other smiling points on the night: turns out Kristin's boss's husband stopped to go to the bathroom in Northwood last year. He's from Canada and had to take his wife to some conference in MN and decided if he'd come that far he'd may as well do IA too. Small world. And the cops--here we are with open containers blatantly drinking on the beach with our big cooler shooting off fireworks on the "highway" and the cops come over to see if we know who light off the flare. No? Have a happy new year, folks. Gotta love the small town.

Got the day off--I need to clean. Then maybe go to the beach or the canyon or the North Shore...I don't know, something fun on my day off. Then it's back to the grindstone and the regularity of life. Hope you all had a fabulous New Years!