Flat Cat Welcomes us to Maui

The neighborhood cat has decided we are kama’aina; children of the Hawaiian land.  It was not easy getting his approval.  He lounged on the driveway across the street and watched us work in our garage for a good two hours.

When he finally opted to cross the street, I see a cat no wider than a two by four; I dare say even a one-by-four, as I calculate the improbable placement of all his vital organs within his slight frame.  With black and grey diamond patterned fur fashioned almost like the skin of a cobra, he's a new, sleek cat but looks two-dimensional ‘flat.’

As we place and shim a man-door on the side of our garage, the feline saunters over to the row of new doors propped against the inside garage wall, sniffs, then inspects the rest of the garage.

New Doors for Remodel

It's not that our new people neighbors do not welcome us.  But today is Sunday and the family next door with the husband and wife each working two jobs so their daughter can attend college, has little time to socialize.  Plus, the previous owners of our home, Russ and Corina, shared with this family. 

They shared a side yard and an extension cord for electricity when Russ and Corina met hard times.  Four feet of dead grass with no fence divides our new garage man-door from their same door. Tom is adamant about saying hello as they do their Sunday chores three feet away. The wife finally acknowledges Tom with the standoffishness of a typical cat. 

We will work on this relationship.  We must. We share yard and Maui.  In the meantime, the untypical flat cat meanders through.

As I carry extra shims, I open the gate to the side yard to help Tom level the door.  The cat follows.  He eats grass growing against the neighbor’s home.  So he does eat.  I bend down and call to him.  He obeys and walks over for an ear scratch.  Then rubs against my leg.  Then moves on like a cat should.  He wanders our yard as we work in and out of our home.  I keep an eye on him.  He keeps an eye on us.

Our other neighbors on the uphill side have opened their home to us and a garage fridge filled with Bud Light.  We are not Bud Light drinkers but it is the thought that counts so we buy more Bud Light for their fridge as a thank you for watching over our home.  Rick and Yoki; retired and Harley riders.  They’re cool already, just like the cat.

Tom and I work hard on our home.  Each neighbor we meet “knows someone” that can do the remodel for us, each with good intentions.  “Knows someone” on Maui means this person has a General Contractor friend.  Each General Contractor wants the whole project, not just the framing, not just the cement work, but the whole.  You may never see the contractor again once you give him the project.  He will farm it out to framers, tile layers, and cement workers and take $10,000 off the top for unseen and not-available management.  This is not always the case, but common.  We have to dig deep to find the specialized contractors ourselves, and we have.  In the meantime, we smile and say thank you when someone offers a friend.

After the man-door is shimmed and secured, it's time to leave for the day.  Tom and I try to make it to the beach by 7:15 p.m. each evening to watch the Maui sunset with strangers.  We amass on the beach for a worship service to the Sun God.  People drop what they are doing and migrate from inland homes and condos to stand and pay respect to this magnificent sight each evening.  And just at sundown, men blow into conch shells, sometimes near, sometimes far away to make a loud, deep, traveling sound as the sun kisses the ocean one last time for the evening.  Of many peaceful moments in life, this is one.  No matter what happened that day, all is forgiven in this moment for each stranger on the beach. 

The feline is still roaming our yard as we lock up.  I turn to tell Flat Cat we are leaving.  I do not tell him we are heading to the beach for the sunset.  He probably already assumes this and scurries past us through the gate before it closes.  He stops for one more ear scratch, then nonchalantly walks over and resumes his lounge position on the driveway across the street.

At sunset, you do not leave a Hawaiian beach once the sun disappears.  You wait.  The clouds will likely turn a magnificent orange.  This is the reward for spectacularly living another day.