Erin arrived today.  She’s the first visitor I’ve had since my 2 month excursion to New York, London and Edinburgh over the summer.  I only found out last week that she’d be fleeing the hustle and bustle of New York City to hang out here for a little bit.

I’ve almost been here a year (next month will be a full 12 months).  I still find myself stopping at random times of the day to say “I live in Hawaii” to myself.  I don’t think I ever won’t.  It’s not that it doesn’t feel like home, it’s just that home feels so good.  Home evokes a good feeling for most, because of the traditional associations of comfort, safety/protection, and familiarity.  But for me, home has changed so often, and sometimes so drastically, that home has always had a tinge of unfamiliarity that accompanied it.

Hawaii is no exception.  I learn something new everyday, I find a new beach, a new place to eat, a new type of plant, or species of reptile, or historical fact.  This happens in the greatest concentration when I have visitors.  Each visitor wants to do different things, see different places, has a different motivation/attitude to their visit, and Hawaii and I accommodate them personally.  One day in Waikiki, 3 days bumming around Maui, 7 days (extended to 10 because your airline went belly-up overnight) on Oahu, they all bring something different to the table.

But usually when I go to visit someone else at their home, they know it all.  They know the history of every store front in their town (the kids clothing store, that used to be a CD store, that used to be a candy store, that used to be a real estate office), find most of the faces walking around familiar, and ‘doing something new’ isn’t even an option.  Here that’s not the case.  Here I get to fall in love with the place I live every time someone comes to visit (and really, every day).  I get to see things for the first time (or the tenth time) through the eyes of someone who has never experienced it before.

In short, I love when my friends visit.  It’s not that I really need the reminders, but when I have visitors I am reminded of why I love my friends.  More importantly I am reminded of why I love Hawaii.