Carnivorous cardinals

We have a lovely pair of cardinals that visit our back lanai every morning and afternoon. This timing generally coincides with the feeding of the cats outside. They swoop in and steal the cat food. When there's no cat food out there, they chirp incessantly until there is. We hung a big seed ball for them, but they prefer the kitty kibble. Oh they'll nibble at the seeds. But given the choice, they'll take tuna and salmon flavor over sesame and sunflower any day. They've become carnivorous. Yikes! Keep all the small children inside!
My friend Gail once told me about some wrens visiting a little bird house she'd put out. I asked if they were looking to buy or simply wren-t! Ha ha ha....
Tonight, I was looking for a saucepan big enough to steam some extra long green beans without cutting them. Somehow, I began singing ala Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam "She dreams of colors, she dreams in green... can't find a bigger pan.....It's too small. These beans they won't fit at all.....can't find a bigger pa-an. Can't find a bigger pa-an...." Weird Al, eat your heart out.
I'm looking forward to playing tennis this afternoon with the power girls. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and my arm will hold up to the punishment. With all the rain in Hilo, I've had surprisingly good luck with weather breaks just long enough to dry out the court and play for an hour or more before the rain comes again. The girls not only seem nice, but are a lively, fun and even a bit irreverent group. I like that. Tomorrow I will travel to the leeward side to test drive a few new tennis racquets and a couple of cars, too. My purple truck (may it rest in peace) was deemed un-seaworthy. That is to say, it had too much wrong with it to make it worth fixing and spending $1000 to ship here. Bummer. I loved that rough-ridin' contraption with the back end ripped apart by my psycho-mutt Doc. We have been living with one car since we got here and it's becoming more apparent every day that we need another. If this one breaks down somewhere, the other cannot come to the rescue. If one of us has the car, the other is trapped at home, 20 miles from town. So, it's the perfect excuse to shop for a cute, cheap little gas miser.
It's a little too squishy to drive the tractor today, so we're puttering with chores that don't require diesel power. Ron managed to get one more coffee tree into the ground yesterday. He got a little drenched in the process.
Time for a little more racquet research before the big shopping day tomorrow. Until next time, aloha!

Comments

Born and bred

The creature stared at me, wide-eyed through the florescent glare, Saran Wrap stretched tight across its broad back. Alone in the seafood cooler, he was the only one of his kind, there among the farmed, color-added Atlantic salmon and mud-flavored tilapia, perched on a blue foam tray, legs tucked 'round him like a comfy kitten. He didn't blink. He was dead, red, cooked and chilled, ready to eat. Such a find is rare in the City Market fish department in Gunnison, Colorado. What if nobody takes him home? I thought. This beautiful animal will have died needlessly, ripped from his home, family and friends (Dory, Nemo, Crush and Gill?) only to be tossed in the trash when his expiration date came and went. I lifted him for closer inspection, checked that date, felt the heft of him, scanned his surface for cracks and blemishes. The creature was perfect. I lowered him back into the cooler, nodded farewell, turned to walk away, took one step, and stopped. Shoppers strolled past, stud

Fruity booty

It was a long drive from Glenwood to the northern tip of the island -- three hours -- so for sustenance, we stopped at Baker Tom's for malasadas on the way. My pal Kathy and I were headed to Kapa'au for a hike, one we'd read about in the local newspaper. The couple who run Baker Tom's (not sure if the husband is actually Tom or not) are delightful, with enduring stamina. They're as old as radio, yet they're always on duty, ready to serve behind the counter, as they have for many years, frying, baking, brewing and smiling, there in Papaikou , gateway to the Hamakua Coast. The malasadas are enormous, cheap and delicious, the coffee OK, the tourists all happy to have discovered this place, buzzing with sugar and caffeine. They make a killer pumpkin cheesecake at Baker Tom's, too. It's always a pleasant stop. Ahapua'a . It's a Hawaiian land division, usually a strip or wedge, stretching from mountain to sea. Hawaiians lived in villages wit

On Tennis and Writing and Being Too Nice

I've recently been recruited to play tennis for a local 4.0 ladies tennis league team, referred to as either "Team Debbie" for the nice woman who manages us, or "Have Fun," which is our pre-match chant. We're still looking for a proper name. But we do have fun, despite getting creamed most outings. Last Saturday, we played in the Edith Kanakaole Tennis Stadium in Hilo. Good thing, too, since outside it was pouring, complete with thunder and lightning. It's a substantial structure, covered, yet open all around, most famous for hosting the annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in April. It was about 85 degrees outside and 100 percent humidity, air so thick it took three sucks of my albuterol inhaler just to breath. Several of us arrived early to warm up, but after twenty minutes' steady rallying with my teammate, Keiko, the human backboard, I was drenched. I played doubles with a nice, extremely fit and excellent ground-stroker named Cynthia from Pahoa.

Mountains and Islands

Search This Blog