The Eagle Flies on Yoga Mat

Beach at Hanalei scattered with driftwood from local rivers 

The eagle flies on Friday. Saturday we go out to play. Sunday we take our rest, and we kneel down to pray.

I paraphrase the great blues lyric, but the story remains the same.

It’s Friday on the island, and before the great bird soars, at about 5 o’clock when I pour myself a very dry martini, I trundle to the Princeville Community Center just after dawn, to lie down and splay.

That would be my legs, separating and stretching east and west, to fulfill a yoga posture that, although good for me, does not feel so gay.

I am the sole man among many women lying on rolled-out mats on the hard wood floor beginning our day with a ritual that started long before Hawai’i was governed by haoles. Yoga, I've been told, was started thousands of years ago in India as an "ancient healing" practice.

I was hoping to go surfing Friday morning, but the weather has been ruthless with gusty Trade Winds (up to 60 mph) and sudden cloud bursts that can bury one in water. The rain causes the many rivers and streams to empty brown effluvia into the sea.

Wind and rain are not great surfing conditions.

So yoga.

"Whappp!"

I hear a heavy yoga mat hit floor. It must be Curly, the other guy who does yoga.

While I'm curled up on the floor, Curly is setting up his mat and props for a yoga session. Preparing to lay his 250lbs on the floor.

Curly is recognized in these parts -- north shore Kauai all the way to Honolulu -- as reigning King. He's been on the island for more than 70 years and earned street cred as athlete (All America football), paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) and scholar (he can answer any question about local flora and fauna).

We hook up after yoga.

"How's things in Santa Cruz?" he asks.

"I saw my board on TV this morning," he says, "at the Bishop Museum."

Cloudy skies in Hanalei 3/7/2020

The Bishop in Honolulu is the archival emporium for everything Hawaiian, from the monarchy to surfing to the hula. The local NBC affiliate broadcast the news today from the Bishop Museum, giving islanders a glimpse of what's inside the palatial building decked out with gorgeous dark wood-paneling.

Guy Hagi, the TV station's weather man, is arguably the most well-known personality throughout the islands. He's also a bonafide wave rider. This morning he's demonstrating a few of the wave-riding simulators at the Bishop.

"Whoa!" he cries. "Come down to the Bishop, get your stoke checking the surf stuff, then go catch some waves."

Guy's definitely got the stoke.

The scene also stoked Curly.

"My board was the old redwood plank. The one that said DUKE." The name, of course refers to the father of surfing and onetime Ambassador of Aloha, Duke Kahanamoku.

Yes, I believe him. I also believe that yoga keeps Curly vital. His wife died a couple of years ago. Her obituary mentioned that she was part of the Wilcox family that can be traced back to the original white settlers on the islands.

Curly rarely misses a yoga session, three times a week.

He tells me that the famous surfboard locker in Waikiki was recently set on fire and about 50 boards were destroyed.

Bummer, we agree.

Every day I feel a little more at home here.

The first case of Covid-19 on the islands was reported today, a local man who had been on a cruise ship in Mexico. Life goes on.

"See you at tai chi tomorrow," says Curly.

That would be Saturday. The day we go out to play, wave hands like flying sparrows, on the shore of Hanalei Bay.