my macbook is still partially charged with free solar electricity from da petes' farm in ulupalakua, upcountry maui.  went for a long weekend retreat, extending the surfmonk metaphor to their remote mountainside enclave, for all practical purposes a monastery, as far as i was concerned ... sank gratefully into cool, almost chilly nights cozy in bed alone.  communed with the fruit trees, flowers, pigs, the horse; but especially the dogs, some of whom came lovingly to me from my dreams: the big black dog and the big white dog, who in my dream turned from one to the other, appeared on maui side by side before me, begging their alms of affection, nurturing my spirit in return.  came on the heels of a night pilgrimage a couple weeks before, up to the top of makapu'u to view the perseid meteor shower, the elusive pleasure of stars shooting across the heavens.  now it is late august already and feels like it, even here in hawai'i.  the angle of the sun is unmistakable.  surfed with turtles today.