Hawaiian "igvencher"

The sun was high in the sky today and there were hardly any clouds. The ocean waters were lit up all the way to the ocean floor. It felt like I was floating on top of a giant fish tank. The warmest, biggest, most exciting fish tank of all time!

Here's a confession: I have never flown over an ocean or to a place I didn't know all by myself before. I feel brave and flexible and maybe just a little bit wild. Of course I really am all of those things, igvenchering is what parenting you has been all about. So igvenchering, I am - and it is every bit as amazing as I wanted it to be.

I swam with turtles today(!), joined schools of fish, and followed two puffer fish across the reef. I didn't have the heart to scare them enough to make them pop up but I was hoping something else would. Nothing did. Now, I think that's good. Everything was peaceful. Even the sea snake didn't scare me today. Probably because it was a much more reasonable size and the arm-thick one I saw yesterday.

As I write this, and as you read this, those very animals are still out there. Living an ocean, three time zones, a climate, and ecosystem away from home. How amazing that I got to be with them today!

Thank you for supporting my trip. For being good helpers. For all that you do to make our family happy and my life wonderful and rich. I plan to spend years returning the favor, including bringing you here because you have to see this!

But the beauty of this place is much more than I bargained for. It is wonderous, breath-taking, and soul-filling. The smell in the wind, the sound of the birds, the feel of the sand and the water, the amazing views – my senses are on overload trying to take it all in. I feel unbelievably rich and so happy to be in this world, living this life that I lucked into.

Our spinning planet might look small in our giant universe. But it is filled with so many beautiful things to see, trips to take, oceans to cross, animals to meet, and places to experience. I hope I will raise you to be brave and flexible and maybe just a little bit wild – so someday, you will be ready to igvencher on your own too.

Xoxo,

Mama