A Day in the Life of a Parking Lot                 July 6, 2016

The summer rains have started suddenly drenching the earth, lawns and parking lots. I find myself again resting in my car after a heart lifting walk with my friend, Rev. Daphna. She lives in a condominium complex just on the outskirts of Lihue Town, our Kauai county capital. Nearby her condo the new shopping mall has opened with the newest 24hour Super Grocery Store. It is here where I keep my butt dry and watch for more morning rainbows. ( Although, I know rainbows only appear when I am not looking.) My plan was to sit in my car, wait for da rain to pass (a common cultural pass time), den go shi-shi (pee) at the clean Super Store bathroom, then plug my laptop in to their free wi-fi at their nice indoor food court.

I did go shi-shi as soon as I parked. Luckily, it wasn’t raining yet. When I returned to my car to pick up my laptop I was still dry. I felt so comfortable after my walk with Rev. Daphna, I enjoyed just sitting there feeling the hot summer sun warming the new day from behind the clouds. I became a chick curled up inside my eggshell enjoying the warmth of mother hen’s dry,fluffy butt feathers protecting me. It was nice, just sitting and watching the wet parking lot while resting before hatching. Daddy rooster crowed. The lone rooster watches his proud reflection in the puddles while his hen pecks at the newly planted landscape. The mall and parking lot is so new, very few wild chickens have settled here. The mall is pretty empty of people, cars and chickens. I watch a customer meander across the parking lot from his car. He is typically dressed in an old t-shirt, shorts, baseball cap, rubbah slippahs (flip-flops) and smart phone sticking out of back pocket. Without an umbrella and in no hurry, he appears more concerned about pecking across the grocery aisles with his mental shopping list then getting wet from the oncoming rain. As he passes through the safety of the sliding electronic doors, I hear my eggshell start to crack.

Slowly hatching in the warm nest of my car, I find a notebook and pen. Choosing to avoid the air-conditioned wi-fi food court, the notebook starts to fill with poem and story:

Summer Rain

Today the rain pours down

The sun warms between the clouds

Rainbows smile upon heavy hearts and lonely chickens

 

All busy plans for the morning melted away when I met Rev. Daphna at her Condo parking lot. The warm bursts of summer rain washed away my plans. Seeing her approach my car, I tucked the umbrella under my arm, made sure my car keys were in my pocket and doors were locked (laptop inside). She smiled and asked if I wanted to check if the car doors were really locked because she knows my moderately compulsive habit of jogging back to my car to confirm this. We chuckled and started our walk at around 7am. The quiet and slow pace of our walk filled the silence and all else disappeared, except the rainbow shining ahead of us.

Before we started our walk I noticed something different about her attire. She is not wearing her usual exercise gear of sport shoes, socks, long pants and t-shirt. Instead, she wears an old pair of sandals in bare feet, a faded turquoise muumuu reaching down to her knees and a light red rain jacket with a hood. Daphna appears to be oblivious or perhaps welcomes the unpredictable bursts of heavy rain. While we walk the silence seems to part the gray clouds above us and the sun begins to warm the air between us.

Walking the empty road today feels sad and lonely. We start to talk about old age, sickness and death. All common topics among the older folks, nearly elderly, not retired, not dead yet. The Reverend is preparing to preside over the funeral of her dear friend of 34 yrs. I do not ask much about their relationship or her personal loss.

We simply walk, side by side, two by two, with one less friend among us. By the end of an hour of strolling, we notice we are not wet at all. My Buddhist and Hindu path mingles comfortably with her Christian devotion. The Dalai Lama says “religion is kindness.” I am reminded of this when we embrace after our walk. Sitting alone in my car, waiting for the rain to momentarily stop, I feel from her the comfort of peace, compassion and companionship. All spiritual paths joined together as one. When I am not looking, Mama Kauai splashes another rainbow across the mountains. Amen and cockle-doodle-doo!