First, there’s a huge advantage to doing the massage at home, in your room. You don’t have to drive afterwards when you’re all relaxed, you can roll into bed or lie out in the grass or slip back into the pool or hot tub. I swam in the pool and took a dip in the hot tub first, then had a nice shower and relaxed outside with a glass of wine and some chocolate until the therapist arrived. Last night we choose to do it in the Alaula Suite. But guests can have – and have had – massages in each guest room, as well as outside on lanai and in the common room. Sitting on the porch while watching the wind in the trees and sipping my wine was a pretty nice prelude to the massage.
It was late afternoon on a humid, overcast day. I was hoping it would rain so I could hear it as I lay there. The therapist set the table up inside but we left the doors open. She didn’t play any music which was fine, I listened to the birds. There are a million birds here, and the birdsong ramps up at dusk. I heard doves cooing and juvenile mynas chattering, the nervous chirping of a Japanese white eye, and the rhythmic call of the red cardinal. A cool wind breezed in through the doors, and I could smell our flowers: honeysuckle, gardenia, plumeria. I was so relaxed I nearly fell asleep on the table.
When I was done I walked back to our suite to play with my boys and get ready for dinner. If I was a guest at the
