Maui gazed at the beach that had been his home for several years. Here, the terrain altered seasonally unlike his birthplace's tropical winters, whose mild winters altered few aspects of beachside living. In the north, the winter months brought sharp changes to the landscape. Winter storms and stronger waves made the surf rough and dangerous. During the winter months, Maui spent less time in the water as he respected the changes mother nature brought to the ocean. Yet beach walks were still part of his daily routine. Walks on the beach eased the anxiety Maui felt from spending less time in the water. The daily routine also allowed him to collect shells, a hobby he had enjoyed since he was a small foal. As he got older his hobby became artistic. Unusual shells or ones he deemed special often became jewelry that he bartered with or gifted other soq. Common shells or those he deemed less appealing became part of his shell statues.
During the winter months, broken shells were common due to the harsh winter waves. Yet even broken seashells could be ground down and used as building materials to cement the statues together. These small seashell statues surrounded his beachside hut and his inland resting spot. The statues featured many themes. Often, he created statues or ground murals of different animal life. Hummingbirds were a common theme for his ground murals, but many featured geometric designs. Frequently, the geometric designs were stimulated by his dreams, but some came naturally to his mind while he was working. Sometimes a unique shell could inspire a particular design; occasionally, the most common types of shells could be transformed into an awe-inspiring design. Statues could themed on the natural environment and his most impressive featured a treelike design. Other more simple statues could hardly be designed, such as stacks of shells or colorful rocks on top of each other and mostly just pleased Maui. A personal ground mural was an assortment of shells, glass, and colorful rocks designed to represent an image of Maui’s family. The picture was in a private location since the image was deeply personal to Maui. The remoteness of the mural installation was private because some local soq even trekked to beachland see his shell statues. The popularity of his artwork gave Maui some pride though initially the attention unnerved him as he perceived himself as a beach boy not an artist. Unlike his jewelry making, the small statues and ground were personal and not initially meant to be shared. Yet Maui had accepted that his small hobby gave other soq joy.
The winter months did hamper shell collecting, but Maui still found unusual shells during the cold months. The other day, he happened upon a purple and blue spiral shell whose shiny brilliance surprised him. He wondered to himself, “How can such a delicate shell survive the harsh ocean surge?” Maui was intrigued and momentarily undecided about what he would do with the shell. Eventually, the purpose of the shell would come to him when he was working on his artistic pursuits, but for now, the future use of the shell was a mystery. While Maui felt restless from spending less time in the ocean, he acknowledged that the winter brought forth his creative tendencies. Embracing his creative side helped ease the frustration of being out of the water.
While Maui did collect shells, his winter beachside walks were about more than collecting supplies for his hobby. Every day, the beach environment subtly changes due to different tide conditions or migrating birds. Regardless of the weather and potentially rougher seas, long-legged sandpipers speedily darted through the ocean surf daily. Seagulls now carefully surveyed the beach landscape, careful of the stronger surf. The birds were mindful of the ocean surf to avoid broken wings or being swept away by the powerful ocean waves. This patch of the coast bloomed beautifully during the warmer months. While flowers bloomed less abundantly during the winter months, different grass types grew abundantly. The grass was especially sweet and rich-tasting during the winter season. Soon, red alder bloom would bloom, which would attract hummingbirds and multiple types of butterflies. When the days became warm more soq could be found both visting and living near the beach. Most beach living soq preferred to migrate or to live according to seasonal rounds. Those that migrated traveled south to southern beaches while soq that lived according to seasonal rounds mostly traveled to the interior of the soq lands to avoid the worst of the winter storms. Since Maui had started creating his artwork in this northern corner of the soq lands he was loath to travel south to a warmer climate. Still, eventually, he would leave this territory and let nature reclaim his artwork. After all, change was part of growing, but for now, he was content in this corner of the social world.
(W:818 )
