July Fourth on Maui — Pursuing Happiness at the Beach
On our morning jaunt to the beach, we smelled an usual smell: chicken grilling. It’s not unusual to smell grilled chicken at a Maui beach … but at 6:30am?
Yup: it’s a holiday. Not only are there plenty of visitors setting up early, but Uncle s and Aunties and Tutus have started staking out the best, most shady grassy areas for their dawn-to-dusk celebrations. Everyone comes down at some point — but only the most dedicated show up this early, set up, and start cooking.
How we love living here.
Our dogs, Kanga and Roo, love living here, too. They expecially love visiting The Beach. They know that word like other dogs know the word “treat” — and they react to it in much the same way. Immediate attention, wagging tails, and jumping at their leashes hanging near the garage door. It’s just darling.
This morning Kanga is having her special girl time (erm … she’s in heat), so she had to stay at home so she doesn’t call all of her boyfriends to her. But Roo got to go — and boy, did she ever take advantage of it. She dug in the sand, greeted strangers and friends alike with kisses and wags, and sat and watched the waves with a blissed out expression on her face.
One of my favorite things about living on Maui is that I get to visit the beach anytime. On July 4th, of course … but also on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. In the morning, on my lunch break, or after the workday. Or all three in one day! Today’s visit was short, but we’re planning a longer one this weekend… and Roo can’t wait.
Wherever you are, may you also have a wonderful and joyful celebration of this country’s birth. When Jefferson declared an inalienable write to “the pursuit of happiness,” he didn’t mean a mindless chase after fleeting things. In his time, the word “pursuit” was used the way we use the word “career” or “occupation” today. You “pursued the law.” A doctor’s pursuit was medicine. It was a lovely turn of phrase, and beautifully captured the idea that learning is never really complete. A degree in law does not a lawyer make — one must pursue it, must nurture it, must always work towards a more excellent expression of it.
The idea that all humans are born with the right to make a lifelong career — pursuit — of happiness is profoundly moving for me. I will always be grateful that I pursued my own happiness from Connecticut to Boston to New York to Montana and, finally, to Maui. Why not? It is as easy to pursue happiness here as anywhere else — especially when I have two small dogs to remind me that the most important things in life are simple: beach, good company, and the smell of chicken grilling in the early morning salt air.
Thank you to all who made my life possible: from the Patriots to the servicemen and women, to my family, friends, and neighbors. Mahalo nui loa.