City, country, winery, fish

"Each time Honolulu city lights stir up memories in me.
Each night Honolulu city lights bring me back again...." (Keola Beamer)

Ron and I did something crazy on Sunday. We went to Honolulu for the DAY.

"No we're not the jet set.....
We're the old Chevrolet set....." (Tammy Wynette)

Ah yes, life is just one song lyric after another. Anywho, we flew to Honolulu to have lunch with one of Ron's clients who was on vacation on that far away isle. It's just a one hour flight from Hilo. (I wonder if there's a Hawaiian word for boondoggle?) We spent most of our time on the bus, traveling between the airport and Waikiki. That's because we aren't even the Chev-ro-let set. We ride da bus, brah! Hey, isn't using mass transit one of the best ways to help curb our use of greenhouse gases and stem the tide of global warming? Besides, it only cost $2 each way rather that $40 by cab. So there you go. I used the money I saved to buy a new aloha shirt and some shorts at ABC. I know locals deride ABC stores as tacky tourist traps. But I love them. There's one on every corner in Waikiki. Need a beach mat? Go to ABC. Forget your sunscreen? ABC. Got liquor? Check out the fine spirits at ABC. Chocolate covered macadamia nuts anyone? They got those too.
Lunch was nice at Duke's. There are Duke's on the mainland now, so I guess technically it's just another chain, but it's still nice. I had the ono Caesar. It was ono. And yes, it was ono, too. OK let me explain. There's a local fish here called ono. It's also known as wahoo.

The Hawaiian's named it that, 'cuz it broke da mout,' cuz'. It's onolicious. So, I had the Caesar salad with ono fish. It was ono. Duke's at Waikiki is right at the beach, overlooking the water, the surfers and Diamond Head. The Hawaiian name for Diamond Head is Le'ahi, which translates to "brow of the yellow-finned ahi (tuna)."

It was called Diamond Head by 19th century British sailors who mistook sparkly calcite crystals on the slopes of the crater for diamonds.
The winery was slammin' today. We didn't get much of a breather all day. My throat's actually a little sore from delivering my tasting shpeel so many times, time after time. Whew!
The weather was nasty, so it was a good day to be at work. Yesterday and the day before were nice. So I've included some pretty pics here of flowers and my new tea cuttings (bottom left) for your enjoyment. The orange blossoms (bottom right) smell like heaven. We didn't have any last year. Too much rain. And those bright pink/purple things right below this text are amazing too. The photo here's a little blurry, but you get the picture. They grow right out ofthe side of a tree fern. They appear to be some sort of bromeliad.

A hui hou. Aloha!

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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

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.

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

Mountains and Islands

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