Kokua Festival

Last night, I capped off a week of Mama's Nights Out with the annual Kokua Fest. This festival was started by Jack Johnson and his wife Kim to increase awareness of issues of sustainability and to raise money for their foundation which teaches Hawaiian school children about environmental issues. I was just there for the music.This year, Dave Matthews played for his first Hawaii appearance and his first time playing with Jack Johnson. I'm not a huge Dave fan, but he's from Charlottesville, VA and went to the University of Virginia (my alma mater) so I feel like we're connected. He and Jack closed the concert with a rendition of "A Pirate Looks at Forty" by Jimmy Buffet, a native Mobilian. That alone was worth the price of admission.Winning the award for weirdest thing to happen that night was my run-in with a former high school classmate of mine. I was just hanging out when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a profile that I knew was a guy that I went to school with long ago. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember anything about him. When I finally mustered up the courage to go ask if he knew me too, he said, "Hey Sarah." How did he do that? It's especially weird given that I have not laid eyes on him in over 13 years. I even tried in vain to find him in my yearbooks. But there, in the dark, in a festival of many thousands of people, there he was. Weird.My friends Tricia and Morgan got me a ticket again this year and made some kick-ass food to share. I left the ball and chain at home (Jeff said, "Dave Matthews sucks" which won him yet another night home with baby) so that could let my hair down. Mostly, I just sat on the blanket and ate all of my friends' food while everyone else stood up because I'm too old to pay a lot of money to stand up and listen to music. I can do that at home. Then the moon rose over Diamond Head and made it all alright. Next year, I'm going to sit outside the amphitheater and enjoy the music for free, I think. That way I will reduce my money-wasting, reuse the music drifting over the walls, and recycle the memories I have of this year's festival. I'm an eco-genius.