In Springtime, Love Is In The Air

A turtle rendezvous is a reminder of beautiful but fleeting love. Jane Esaki photo

It is as good a morning as any to walk on the seawall fronting the restaurant next to Lawai Beach in Poipu.

So, at the crack of dawn, I grab my keys and phone and prepare to take in the sunrise, inhale the salt air and stretch out my legs. Any lingering clouds in my mind will drift off into the deep, blue sea.

It’s funny how I slowly notice things around me that put me right back in touch with what is uppermost on my mind.

As I climb down from the man-made wall to the natural lava rock bed fronting the ocean, bright white orchids, likely from a wedding lei, are scattered along my path. Then, chips of sun-bleached coral lovingly spell out “Hi, Amy.” As I head back to the bay, another coral shaped like a large heart purposely is propped up on the rocks.

I am not going to get married soon, love is complicated and my name ain’t Amy.

So I choose not to look at these objects, but they beg to be seen — their bright whites so stark against the dark rocks that I am drawn to them like metal to a magnet.

Then, far out in the bay, two turtles cavort, their greenish-brown shells bobbing in the swells. I could ignore them, too, as turtle sightings are common now. But these frisky marine reptiles also scream to me: “Watch me, watch me!”

I step back onto the wall, and with my woefully inadequate phone camera, I reluctantly snap away.

As the frolicking couple heads toward shore, so do I. Tourists start gathering to gawk. Slowly, I make my way to the end of the wall abutting the sandy beach, still shooting my camera. No sooner do I settle there than the turtles migrate straight toward me! One perches herself on a reefy rock only a few feet away, as if to say hello, to tell me something. The other turtle affectionately cuddles with her, then kisses her face. She appears to receive it wholeheartedly with love.

Involuntarily, I grin from ear to ear. And when he curls his head under her chest as she stares at me with her big, brooding eyes, I suddenly am overcome by an acute onset of chickenskin.

“They are posing just for you,” a stranger behind me confirms.

The rendezvous is short-lived, as one turtle begins swimming toward the deep, blue ocean, leaving the other perched on the reef alone. I feel a pang of loneliness for her, yet I empathize with his need to leave. Who knows why he left and why she stayed? Or vice-versa.

All we know is that both clearly shared exquisite moments of love. Like the turtles, I always must learn to accept what was and then let it go. Let it drift off into the deep, blue sea.

janeesaki@gmail.com