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A nice day on the island

It's back to life as usual here on Hawaii island. Today, we made a pilgrimage to Costco for toilet paper and other sundries. We also bought ourselves a Christmas present. Better late than never....
Ron and I have been living with a tiny, 20" set with a grainy, slightly off-color picture forever. So today, we bought ourselves a new T.V. Funny. It didn't look so big in the store. Now that it's here, however, it seems enormous. We're going to have to re-arrange the furniture in our tiny hovel so that we can sit a little further away from it. It's awesome!
For the last couple of weeks, I have been eating as though I possess the metabolism of a teenage boy. When my dad was in the hospital, I actually forgot to eat. Now, I can't seem to stop. It's very comforting, but it's also fattening. Starting tomorrow, I must find something else satisfying to do. Writing this blog is one such activity.
It's been a bit crazy around here, what with the Merry Monarch Festival going strong this week and the freak stranding of several thousand travelers due to the bankruptcies and closures of Aloha and ATA. Several people who've come into the winery have told me their tales of woe. Of course, there are worse places to be stranded than Hawaii. I'm not feeling their pain as much as I might be if they were stuck in DeMoine or Fargo.
The festival has gotten huge. It may actually be too huge. The even sells out the first day tickets go on sale months in advance. The crush of people this year was so great that I heard from some people who actually had tickets but chose not to fight the crowd. Instead, they went back to their hotel rooms to watch the dancing on T.V. There's talk of moving the event to Honolulu, which would probably ruin it. People come from near and far to watch the biggest hula competition in the world. They also come because they love Hilo and the sense of old Hawaii you can still get here.
The drive across the island was beautiful today. The Hamakua Coast was lush and green, the ocean glistening in the sunlight. Today was a good day to be on this particular rock in the Pacific, whether you were stranded, visiting or living here.

A hui hou. Aloha!

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