Celebrations and Reflections....

Debi took us on a rather interesting "black pearl" jewelry escapade the other evening, having warned us earlier that Colin, the jeweler, was rather an eccentric sort, (my favorite kind) originally from England, married to a Cook Islander..... another tourist who came for a visit and stayed!! (it is just that kind of magical island :) ....... Colin met us at his home ..... his shop is located in the lower level of the lovely home, which is built along the hillside, a preferable location for most islanders rather than beachfront for obvious reasons (cyclones, hurricanes and the ever present threat of a tsunami), the yard laden with fruit trees, palms and all manner of vegetables growing around the home .....What a softspoken gentle and gentleman Colin is but I must say, despite the upper crust British accent, he is most definitely now an islander.... barefoot as is the norm here, wearing surf shorts and shirt, hands and nails covered in dirt from having worked in his garden with his grandson earlier in the day, the state of his clothing matching the activity, but oh my, when he spoke, I felt transported into the midst of royalty! ...... he was, at the time, babysitting his four year old grandson, while his daughter was off to work at a local restaurant (families often tend to all live under one roof on this island, depending on the circumstances of the younger generation and quite often the babies are born long before a marriage happens.....the couples often call each other "partners" more often than husband/wife.... different attitudes perhaps on marriage than we have in N.A.) ... left the lad napping and gave us a bit of background on pearl farming along with a tour of his shop ..... Their family own a spot of ocean on the island of Manihiki, where his pearls and indeed almost all the Cook Island pearls are now farmed. The Cooks have in recent years been creating/growing their own brand name, Avaiki pearls, to differentiate from Tahitian black pearls. The nacre is apparently thicker, hence stronger, as they do not harvest until at least 18 months have passed from "start up". They are a beautiful blue/green hue with some eggplant coloring thrown in....just gorgeous! His beautiful and gracious wife, Nikki joined us after returning home from work, bringing along her box of all manner of pearl jewelry to show us, and of course, all created by Colin for various birthdays, anniversaries etc. .... a veritable feast of a most unusual collection.....every piece seemed to come with an interesting story that Nikki or Colin happily shared with us. Nikki told us of a particularly lovely set of earrings that were an anniversary gift and how they came to be. Colin had apparently spent weeks wondering what to make Nikki for this special occasion and kept coming up empty for ideas. The very night before the anniversary, around 3 in the morning, an idea came to him! He dashed into his shop, blind to the rest of the world, not stopping for breakfast, lunch or tea break, finishing the earrings, just in time to present them to Nikki that evening!! ..... we could have listened to the two of them all night ...... they must surely be the most graceful, loving couple I have ever had the pleasure to meet ..... their voices like sweet melodic poetry!! Nikki is the Secretary General for the Red Cross for the Cook Islands, travels a fair bit in that capacity and Colin keeps the home business running......Their oldest child is 40 and youngest 23. Nikki still has the long dark hair, tinged with grey, that cascades down to her waist..... I notice most island ladies continue to keep their hair long, long past their youthful years and tend to either "bun it up" or braid it. .... I asked her about it and she laughed in that delightful sing song way, an interesting accent mix of Maori, British and New Zealand, "well, it is part of a woman's sensuality, is it not, the long hair?" ....... What an absolute thrill that on this wee island I should have the good fortunate to meet such a charming couple as Nikki and Colin! I could sense that all of the ladies felt very much as I did....we were loathe to leave and our goodbyes stretched out to the driveway, where we finally took our leave, amidst hugs and that sweet one cheek kiss that this island is known for when greeting or saying goodbye :) Onward to another magical moment....Debi, our dear little (she is tiny, barely over five feet in height) host, took us to a great hamburger spot in Muri Beach where I and by the looks of it, everyone else as well, devoured a swordfish "burger" and fries that were to die for, at a little outdoor spot, attached to a small grocery store, which by the way, seems to be the norm around here (coffee shop/grocery combo :). The evening clouds finally cleared enough to allow Debi to point out the Southern Cross constellation to us, apparently only visible in the southern hemisphere.....it was what the sailors of old, setting forth in their vakas, used for navigation.....celestial all the way :) The sky was just beautiful and awe inspiring ..... some nights when I wake up in the middle of the night, the milky way is just outside and I can never resist opening my front door, and taking it all in ..... no big city lights and no real street lights to speak of, just the magic of a starry sky! As peaceful and as beautiful a sight as one could ever wish for, and certainly a most appropriate one to fall asleep on ..... my nights are filled with incredible dreams and I remain certain it is because of my close connection to the sky prior to falling asleep. Kia Orana ..... I just love this Maori greeting ..... "May you live long" :) Love to all, Seija ..... Kia Manuia