Chilling--Doctor's Orders

You know it's time to take a vacation when five people who don't know you tell you to take one. When your sister (who happens to be studying for her nursing degree) cites one study after another about how stress takes its toll. Its fatal toll. Which implies that I might just keel over any second. (This just goes to show that too much knowledge can be too much knowledge.)

So nurse's orders: Go relax.

The weird thing is, I had a calling--that's exactly what it was--a calling to go to the Big Island in Hawaii. Airfare was cheap! I called up a girlfriend, Mia King (GOOD THINGS, SWEET LIFE), who happens to live on the Big Island. One phone call later, and she set me up with the most outrageously gorgeous place to stay.

Which leads me here. On a volcano:

That's the Kilauea Iki crater where I hiked yesterday morning, still steaming. Yes, you are allowed to walk across the volcanic floor. Traipse across it. Clomp across it. 24/7. I'm not joking.

After devastation, growth. That's how tenacious life is. Flowers thrive atop lava. Gorgeous.