So much adoration for a collection of metal, rubber, and plastic. We are so indebted to our beloved van. To Lau Lau, we write this love letter:
There was never an easier task than to name you. You became Lau Lau, after the Hawaiian luau delicacy. To the Hawaiians, Lau Lau is an expensive leaf, used to wrap only the finest ingredients of the feast—tender pork and rich seasonings. Like the protective leaf, you brought us into your encasement, and let us marinate inside your sheath.
You carried us across 1,200 kilometers of the most spectacular country we’ve ever seen. Your home on the islands is one we will worship for all times. You showed us the cities, run on coffee and bustling with energy, fashionable and trendsetting, full of surprise, multicultural and multifaceted. You showed us the towns, caught in mild winter hibernation, proud of their unique offering to the tourist, enchanting with their solitude and silence, their isolation and indifference. You showed us the wilderness, startling in its magnitude and intimidating in its force, so pure and inspiring, at times taken straight from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, spectacular enough to make you laugh and cry all at once.
You were not always amenable. Sometimes you would stall in the middle of a zipping intersection. Sometimes you would growl and moan when you disliked the way you were handled. There was once when you refused to wake up. But you always came around when we needed you most.
Our time at the coast was perhaps the best. We’ve never enjoyed the road like we did then. Through your windshield, we saw the Southern Alps cascade down (straight down) to the roiling green sea. We didn’t know that nature could be constructed like that. We stood beside you on a black sand beach, and realized we were in the most beautiful place we’d ever seen. It was the three of us. And we will never forget.
Thanks for the memories, Lau Lau. We will always remember the van with the tags DMU 425.
Until we meet again,
Casey and Jeannie
There was never an easier task than to name you. You became Lau Lau, after the Hawaiian luau delicacy. To the Hawaiians, Lau Lau is an expensive leaf, used to wrap only the finest ingredients of the feast—tender pork and rich seasonings. Like the protective leaf, you brought us into your encasement, and let us marinate inside your sheath.
You carried us across 1,200 kilometers of the most spectacular country we’ve ever seen. Your home on the islands is one we will worship for all times. You showed us the cities, run on coffee and bustling with energy, fashionable and trendsetting, full of surprise, multicultural and multifaceted. You showed us the towns, caught in mild winter hibernation, proud of their unique offering to the tourist, enchanting with their solitude and silence, their isolation and indifference. You showed us the wilderness, startling in its magnitude and intimidating in its force, so pure and inspiring, at times taken straight from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, spectacular enough to make you laugh and cry all at once.
You were not always amenable. Sometimes you would stall in the middle of a zipping intersection. Sometimes you would growl and moan when you disliked the way you were handled. There was once when you refused to wake up. But you always came around when we needed you most.
Our time at the coast was perhaps the best. We’ve never enjoyed the road like we did then. Through your windshield, we saw the Southern Alps cascade down (straight down) to the roiling green sea. We didn’t know that nature could be constructed like that. We stood beside you on a black sand beach, and realized we were in the most beautiful place we’d ever seen. It was the three of us. And we will never forget.
Thanks for the memories, Lau Lau. We will always remember the van with the tags DMU 425.
Until we meet again,
Casey and Jeannie
Maybe you guys can adopt Lau Lau?
ReplyDeleteI think Dupree's on to something here. Or at least find out if Lau Lau has any brothers or sisters in the US that you could adopt for your future family.
ReplyDelete