Uke

I would suppose…

I got this ukulele as a symbol of a time in my life I made the most changes.

The time when risks were needed to be made or a decent into obscurity.

Driving to work on the island of Oahu, Hawaii along the long Kamehameha Highway coming from one tip of the North Shore to the other.

I lived in Haleiwa and worked at Turtle Bay where a restaurant resided.

The drive along the North Shore was that of dreams. A long stretch of road from the perspective of a tall stick shift SUV was spectacular.

I never had to come out of third gear.

It would take an hour to get to work and I would leave two hours early with my work cloths hanging on the hook in the back seat flapping like a flag in the wind.

Every window stays down…

As low as they can go.

Nothing beats the warm drift of a tropical breeze and the light drizzle of cold rain. The wet air is a touch heavy and pleasant like a weighted blanket.

The kicking up of salt water from the various shore breaks and surf spots along the way can be slightly tasted.

Haleiwa Beach,

Waimea Bay,

Sunset,

Three Tables,

Sharks Cove,

Back Doors,

Pipe Line,

Turtle Bay.

Scent filled air of sweet, salt, coconut and coffee.

Passing by bushels of flowers, stands with fresh coconuts open to drink and coffee stands made from small shacks on the side of the road.

You would only go as fast as traffic and traffic would follow the intervals of pedestrians. This is a leisure destination after all.

Stopping for each person crossing the road as I analyze…

Why does the human cross the road?

Surf,

See,

Swim,

Escape,

Experience.

Often the goto reasons.

Pulling into the parking lot of Turtle Bay Resort…

I enter the farthest lot that sits aside the golf course. The car is parked and I open the back hatch that shows a beach chair, book and a ukulele.

Grasping the chair and with the flip of my wrist…

Pop goes the chair as the metal pipes fastened in such a way that they snap into place locking into a chair like formation.

This chair is meant for bliss not posture as there is no lumbar support.

Grasping the handle on the case of the uke I place it to my side sitting back and taking in the sun.

Eyes Closed & Breath.

Just in board shorts and flip flops…

I begin to pluck away at each string one after another with their corresponding fingers as I traverse many chords in a random and rhythmic fashion.

Transcendence.

A fresh state of mind is just a few chords away with this set up.

Jewel only needed a few chords to make her first hit so we only need a few to find peace.

In the distance the small crack of a golf swing and a “FOUR” shouted from the distance lends itself as a whacky track over the soothing tones of the uke’s reverberations.

Allowing the hands agency to do what they please, tilting the head back taking in all the sun and getting as close to enlightenment as you can in the deepest of meditation.

There is something powerful to the effects of sound on the mind.

Eyes open and I find myself sitting on my balcony in LA looking at a vast landscape of homes, city and in the distance mountains. So far from nature and yet feels like I was just there.

This Uke and its music can always bring me back to those vivid feels. The best part is all I need is three chords and a simple strum pattern.

Memory is fickle.

Music is forever.