Return to Paradise - My Latest Visit to Fruition on Maui by Don Weaver

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Return to Paradise – My Latest Visit to Fruition on Maui
by Don Weaver

Life is good! This seems to be the normal and natural awareness for those of us fortunate enough to understand and to live out the principles of Natural Hygiene, although when we spend too much time amongst man-made "civilization" we can sometimes lose touch with the truth of goodness. Luckily for me, I just spent 3 weeks at Fruition, my friends Stephan and Dorli Reeve’s 11-acre Paradise and Orchard of Eden on the lush green and moist slopes of Haleakala volcano on Maui. My spiritual and body connection to "Life is good" has been strongly regenerated, for which I give thanks to my friends and fruitful Mother Nature!

Many of you have read my article in Living Nutrition, Vol. 13 in 2002, "People Planting Paradise – Stephan Reeve on Maui." I praised his excellent work demonstrating for all of us how applied love and intelligence can quickly begin restoring Eden on any size land, and noted how he has taken to heart the wisdom of giving more to Nature than we take, generously giving his land rock dust and compost and thick mulches to feed the soil life abundantly. The approximately 200 trees mentioned in that article has now grown to over 400, approximately 175 varieties in 83 species! Stephan, ably assisted by his hardworking athletic mom Dorli, was the first and outstanding individual I thought of while reading the fine new book, WHOLENESS: On Education, Buckminster Fuller, and Tao by Alex Gerber (www.wholenessbook.com), and reading this quote by Bucky Fuller:"To be optimally effective, undertake at outset the most comprehensive task in the most comprehensive and incisively detailed manner."

Stephan works on the comprehensive task of regenerating the Earth’s biosphere, and while he cannot do the whole job himself (billions of us are needed), it is amazing and inspiring to observe how one dedicated individual like him (fueled physically by raw foods since I met him in 1987) can help lead and inspire cooperative regenerative actions throughout the local Kipahulu community and bioregion of which he is such a vital part. He and co-workers are extending their reforestation (including 'fruit forests') and native plant restoration efforts up the slopes of Haleakala across a broad sweep of land comprising multiple watersheds. It is clearly a labor of aloha and wisdom, and is even receiving funding support from the State of Hawaii. I encourage everyone to recognize great examples like this, and consider doing the same or similar work wherever they can do so, on whatever scale from backyard garden on up. At the least you can quickly start feeling the regenerative benefits of outdoor work and eating superior mineralized-organic produce from your own remineralized and composted soil, as I do at home in California and as I certainly did at Fruition, enjoying plentiful fresh-picked veggies and truly tree-ripened fruits in abundance. Working daily on the land and frequently visiting the nearby stream with its waterfall and pools, including the gorgeous "Dream Pool" above and "Love’s Pool" below at the marriage of stream and ocean, with alternating warm sunny and warm rainy weather and sweet pure air to breathe, was a genuine Heaven-on-Earth experience to cherish.

Other highlights included: playing basketball and soccer with old and new children and adult friends; seeing the work of the Kipahulu School for young children, meeting Heidi the sweet head teacher and volunteering to help them find needed books for a new kind of education; giving copies of Living Nutrition to the school, local farmers, and young interns who were quite interested to read them; receiving a fun visit from fellow raw food correspondent friend and athlete Tonya Kay during her vacation from STOMP dance company; and having the special joyful satisfaction of giving 50 lbs. of rock dust to each young tree in the main durian grove, followed by an equally generous mulch of composting wood chips. I can see in my mind’s eye how beautiful these 21 trees looked after this natural fertilization, and I can only imagine them growing healthy, strong, tall, and full of durians when they are ready to give their gifts. While fertilizing them I again felt the beauty of the saying "It is better to give than to receive" … however it is entirely possible those durian trees may one day make me eat those words, and much more! Shall we say instead, it is only natural to both give and receive the Abundance of Nature, since we are designed to be a compassionately intelligent, wisely giving part of Nature? And then we can see, feel, smell, touch, taste, and know that it is good… Aloha!

Contacts: fruition@shaka.com
earthdon@yahoo.com
www.remineralize.org
www.livingnutrition.com