High Hopes for 2024....but 2023 deserves demerits

Happy almost new year, or hau'oli makahiki hou, in Hawaiian.

It's likely everyone is anticipating good things from 2024. 2023 has been a challenge. Even without the fires, it was a very difficult year. We lost several family members, including our dog, plus a whole bunch of other messes.

Much of 2024 was a pain in the backside, however, multiple fires on Maui, turned difficult into incalculably awful. I haven't said much about the fires lately, because while things are changing, there isn't a lot of major news. Besides that, I don't know where to start to try and explain what is going on. My part of the island isn't really impacted, but everyone who lives here is. Much of what is going on is behind the scenes, messy, and miserable. People are still trying to find homes until things can be re-built, others are leaving. Much of the burned areas are not easily accessible, for safety and privacy reasons. Clearing the debris is starting, and the logistics of that are complicated and messy. Many of our friends lost everything, and that is awful. We went to a memorial recently for friends who didn't get out of the fire. When you live in a place this small and interconnected, you are impacted, even though it may not be as directly as those who were in the fire.

In other news, knitting continues for now. I did actually stop for a few days during October when we lost family members, I just couldn't do it. The creativity well shut down. No new ideas, designs, or inspiration was coming. I could re-create something I'd already made, but even the decision to change to a different color wasn't coming. That flow turned on again a few weeks ago, and new items are coming out.

One of the pieces that should be done soon is an addiction themed piece. Unlike most of my previous pieces, this is based on a real person. My BFF has a family member who is in prison for DUI murder. The family member is a woman who had previously been arrested for DUI, was highly impaired and killed a man who was riding his bicycle. The woman drove off and left him, hit another vehicle, and tried to drive off. I am doing a separate piece about her life, and plan a larger piece telling the story of her life and the man she killed.

Below is a picture of another piece: Entangled Addiction.

In the meantime, be well, stay safe, and aloha,