Surfing Serenity on Oahu’s North Shore

The North Shore of Oahu is a fabled land to a surfer. Bonzai Pipeline. Sunset Beach. Waimea Bay. Legendary beaches, waves, experiences that fascinate those that ride the ocean swells.

Growing up the surfer in Vero Beach, Florida, these were words that held my imagination on many a tiny swell day. They were mysterious visions of aquatic power from magazines or moves. Places in far off Hawaii that I dreamed about, but yet, never thought about visiting.

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Waikiki: Vegas of the Pacific

What happens when you cross the mystique of a tropical island with the skill of American marketing, and toss in Elvis and America’s only royal family, mixing it all up for at least a hundred years, adding in waves of Japanese tourists for the last twenty years?

Vegas of the Pacific. That is my impression of Honolulu, a place like Los Vegas Рfull of hype and glossy history that feels tired and clich̩ by the light of day.

Yes, you can play Rambo, shooting live ammunition with pistols and rifles at an indoor gun range. Japanese women are rumored to see free love on weekends of passion. And there are enough bars filled with hope and booze to make things happen. But does anything? Really?

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A Cold, Wet, and Impressive Kauai

Before Amy and I arrived in Kauai for our honeymoon, we read that this small island in Hawaii was the rainbow capitol. That rainbows would be visible at all time of the day. What we did not appreciate was the two sides of the local saying: You can’t have rainbows without rain.

Because it rained every day we were in Kauai. In fact, Mount Wai’ale’ale, in the center of the island, is the wettest place on earth with an average 460+ inches of rainfall. Knowing that, I expected a tropical rainfall pattern – steamy heat all morning with a hard downpour every day at 4pm. Such was not the case.

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Presenting Mrs. Amy Ross Vota

Years ago, I saw a photograph of a joyous bride, a woman in mid-laugh and beamingly happy, being led to the altar through a crowd of wealth and stature, by a father swelled with pride.

In that photograph I saw a dream, a vision of a life I wanted to live, a moment I wanted to see with my own eyes. Yet, I never thought it possible. I did not have that wealth, and I did not know that bride.

Until today, January 12th, 2008, my wedding day. Today, after months of planning, weeks of preparation, and days of stress, I saw that joyous bride. That father filled with pride. That crowd of wealth and stature.

Today I saw that image, I saw that moment in my own life. No. I lived that dream! It is my life now.

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A Weekend Wedding Ceremony

Yes, Amy and I are already legally married. We did do a Thanksgiving JoP run in Georgia. But you know what, that wasn’t our real wedding ceremony. No, that was a legal contract, nothing more.

Its Saturday that is our real wedding ceremony. Its January 12th that we’ll proclaim our love to closest friends and family. It is at 7pm that we’ll be truly wed.

For we have the belief that marriage does not start with judges, cannot be enforced by courts, and will not be constrained by paper. Marriage comes from the heart, flows through community, and returns as a bond most public.

And here is a public proclamation of my feelings these moments before being a groom yet again:

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