Perfection...

There are moments in time that are perfection. Moments when you think, "I could live this moment in time for the rest of my life." I had one of those moments last Friday (April 8).

Our family, along with my sister and her partner, had spent the week in Kauai at the Princeville Resort. The view from our room was beautiful, overlooking Bali Hai and the north Shore of Kauai.



One of the great moments of the week was golf. We ended up playing a round at the Princeville Makai Course. After winning a few bucks at Bingo Bango Bongo, I realized that - had we played the last two holes (we ran out of time!) I would have broken 90! If you have ever golfed with me, you know that is a major accomplishment.



Dawn and Maria went home early on Friday, leaving us the rest of the day with the Explorer waiting to catch the red-eye back tot the mainland. We decided to go exploring. We stopped first to look at some ancient Hawaiian heiau (sacred sites). One was called the "Birthing Stone," where ancient Hawaiian women gave birth to the kings.

Then we decided to take a drive to Waimea Canyon, the place that Mark Twain called, "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific." It was incredible!



Our final destination was the end of the road... Literally! We took the highway south around the island to the west side to where it ends and then drove for about 5 miles on a dirt road until we arrived at Polihale State Park. The beach here stretches on for mile and miles. Off in the distance you could see the beginning of the Napali coastline.

When we got there - thankful that the bone-jarring drive was over - we hiked up over a sand dune to a beautiful unspoiled beach. The boys and I stood there and before long they were asking to take their shoes off and go down to the water. I stood and watched them from up on the bluff for about 10 minutes, enjoying the solitude, before joining them at the water's edge.

When I finally joined them they were doing that little-boy thing where you run up tho the edge of the water and then run away before the wave could hit you. They were laughing and playing with pure joyful abandon. I snapped a few pictures and watched them for a few minutes before we got back into our car to head for the airport and the mainland.

On the way home I got to thinking about those minutes at the beach. Seeing my sons experience that joy and enjoying the peace and serenity of the moment I realized that what I had captured on film (or, more accurately, on my memory card) was a moment of perfection. I could bottle that moment and live it forever. It was a perfect moment... Perhaps the perfect moment of all my recent moments.



How often do I miss these moments? How often am I unaware of them because I am out of tune with my surroundings? Makes you wonder if maybe it's a good idea to slow down and smell the roses once in a while.

It reminds me of a guy I worked with at Microsoft... a manager named Jim. Jim said, "Enjoy every minute with you kids. My son was born yesterday and this year he's leaving for college." Thanks for the reminder, Jim. There are perfect moments waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.