Mountains and Islands

I chose to deliver a resume in person on Monday to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens at Onomea Bay just north of Hilo Town. It's located along a scenic four-mile drive that takes drivers along a narrow winding road makai (toward the ocean) from the highway. The road is covered with a canopy of foliage along many stretches. There's a short trail that leads from the cliffs above down to the shoreline of the bay. I have always wanted to take that little trek. So after dropping off my application, I did just that. It's short and not too steep with beautiful views of the crashing Pacific along the way. Hawaii Botanical Gardens is beautiful. It's meandering trails skirt Onomea Bay. Along the way, you'll pass through the most beautiful flora and fauna found anywhere. It's separated into designated areas, like orchids and bromeliads. Before the current owners found the land, it had been used as an illegal dump. The transformation is spectacular. It's a place I ...

To get a sense of the real Puna, particularly the area near the village of Pahoa, a great place to check out is the Maku'u Farmers' Market. While tourists do happen upon it, it is truly a locals venue. There, you'll find people selling everything from professionally grown and displayed produce and plants to the junk from their houses. You can buy a tropical plant or fresh herbs. You can also get a massage, acupuncture or a tarrot reading. Food vendors schlepp crepes, loco mocos and tamales. I sampled a killer green papaya salad, with a side of bbq banana sticky rice. Yes, you can pick up a couple of tomatoes there, just like any farmers' market. But if fruits, veggies and plants aren't your bag, you can ogle a used blender, flip through dog eared paperbacks, purchase hand strung jewelry, try on a pair of draw-string pants made from hemp and a tie-dye t-shirt to match. It's a hodgepodge, for sure. And if the goods aren't interesting enough for you, the peopl...

It was a pretty uneventful day. I was hell-bent on releasing endorphins so as to squelch the depression I'm feeling over my new hair color. To quote another person prone to big-time blunders, "Mission accomplished!" I cruised four miles in 46:27 on the treadmill today. That's a steady trudge for me. All in all, including the two miles logged with the dogs this morning, I propelled myself 6.8 miles today, all on foot. Not bad for a peri-menopausal chick. No sore knees. No swollen ankles. Only a battered toe. It's the same toe that I injured more than two years ago and which, because it is sensitive, just keeps getting re-smooshed. If Doc accidentally steps on me, it's always on that toe. If I drop a can out of the pantry, it lands on that toe. Poor toe. It rained a little today. OK, that's not entirely accurate. It rained a lot today. There was a little sunshine too. That combination made for a lovely rainbow just before dusk. Lucy spent most of the day cu...

Or, as they say, 'When in Rome...' Wait. Make that, 'When in Hawaii, do as the locals do....' So, I've gone brunette. Not by choice, mind you. It's just that it's tough finding a hair stylist around here who's familiar with haoli hair. The haircut I got today was great. But the color? Not so good. Here's how it all began. My last haircut and highlight in Gunnison was done by the amazing and talented Kimmi Peacock. Kimmi does great work. In a small town like Gunnison, I had to make my appointments over a month in advance. That girl was in demand for good reason. She had a knack for not only cutting, but for blending multi-tonal highlights with lowlights to camouflage, but not completely cover the little bits of grey. It looked good, yet natural. By April, my Kimmi hairdo was all but gone and in need of an update. I got a decent trim from a local woman. But the color was not great, so I opted to do it myself. Big mistake. It looked brassy and bleached,...

It's been an OK weekend. Saturday, I wandered around the Hilo Farmers' Market, which I must say was hoppin.' There was one stall with a small display case filled with yummy looking individual pizzas. They also had a sample plate of bread squares, which the proprietor proudly exclaimed as the base for the pizza crust. She insisted I try. I did. "All organic, whole grains, healthy and delicious too," she exclaimed. I took a small bite. It tasted not unlike a combination of dirt and shredded cardboard, but without the flavor. "Hmmmmm..." I said, as politely as I could. I walked away, then tossed the remaining portion to the birds. The pizzas actually looked good. I'm sure they might have actually sold a few if they'd nixed the samples. I did buy two humungous slices of homemade carrot cake for $1.50 each. We ate them for dessert last night. Ono! After the market, I made my way to Safeway, where I encountered an older Hawaiian man, a kupuna if you w...

Today, I ran my first three miles on the treadmill in 33 minutes, 42 seconds. Now, I know you hard core runners out there are probably saying to yourself, "Sheesh. My great grandmother can move faster than that with her walker around the halls of the old folks home." Maybe so. But I am not genetically predisposed to speed. So running a mile in just a hair over 11 minutes is lightning fast for me. Doing three of them is a miracle. The only trouble I have running at Spencer's gym is the heat and humidity. The air conditioning is weak there, especially near the cardio area where it really should be blasting. The temperature feels like about 80 degrees, with about 80 percent humidity. That means plenty of sweat. By the time I've finished my jog, I'm soaked. Now, I don't really care if my shirt is drenched, but the crotch area of my shorts can be a bit embarrassing. As the locals might say here, "look like I make one shi-shi!" So, I go over to the giant f...

It was a glorious weekend. We had sunshine every day. In fact, we hadn't had a drop of rain for four days and were just marveling at that today. This afternoon, however, the skies opened up and are now dumping what may very well be the entire contents of the Pacific Ocean. Guess we're back to normal. I drug Ron to see a show this weekend. Hapa, my favorite musicians from Hawaii, played in Hilo Saturday night. Hapa, which means "half" in Hawaiian, is Nathan Aweau and Barry Flanagan; a Hawaiian guy and a haoli guy. They were joined by Charles Ka'upu. Charles is their chanter and the guy who talks story in between songs. He steals the show at times, chatting up the audience with great humor. What a character. Nathan has one of the most beautiful voices I I've ever heard and is a master of Hawaiian falsetto. He also plays a killer, seven string bass. Barry doesn't sing solo on many tracks, but he has a very nice voice in his own right and blends beautifully wi...

Last night, just before turning in, I saw a flash of light in the sky just out the window. The weather kahunas had forecast thunderstorms on the evening news, so I should have taken precautions then and slipped Hoppsy an herbal calmer. She hates thunder. At about 5:00 this morning, she was in the bed, shaking like a leaf, panicked. The thunder was rumbling. Within moments, Doc jumped in too. It was cozy, but a little cramped and very hot. So I got up to get her the herbal and found the cats all gathered in the kitchen, waiting for breakfast. I fed them. That rousted Crawford, who is none too fond of thunder herself, but can't hear it so well anymore. She is, however, very keen on the smell of cat food. Anyway, after all this, going back to bed didn't seem all that practical. I didn't think I'd get much sleep anyway. So, I brewed up a pot of coffee and here I am. Lucy has taken my place in the bed, right next to Doc and Ron. The three of them are snoozing peacefully. Cra...

Here's a cheesy picture for ya! That shaka is pretty feeble. I gotta work on that. My reference to Pick Your Nose in the last post reminds me of Freddie's. That's what we used to call Fred Meyer, a buy-everything-you-need-in one-place place that popped up all over the Pacific Northwest long before Walmart ever rose to dominance. Anyway, we always called it Freddie's, until the passing of the company's founder. Then we called it Dead Fred's. Here on the island, there's a mortuary called A Hui Hou, which is Hawaiian for Until We Meet Again. Kind of sweet, don't you think? In Buffalo, NY there's a chain of mortuaries called Amigon. Ron says that when he was a kid, everyone called it Am I gone? Some years ago, I remember reading about the brilliant minds at General Motors, scratching their heads at why the Nova didn't sell well in Latin America. They didn't get the fact that no va means no go or it doesn't go in Spanish. In Southern Califor...

On Saturday, we spent a little while at the Cultural Heritage Festival downtown, where dancers and drummers performed, representing the the varied cultural makeup of Hawaii. There were also booths selling food and crafts; Portuguese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Okinawan, Japanese, Korean. I didn't see any bagpipes and kilts and no lederhosen, but that's OK. It was small, but still pretty cool. We caught a glimpse of the Korean Lion dance for one, along with a few other Asian performances. I approached the Hawaiian booth and was frowned at by an enormous Hawaiian couple. Not much aloha there. They didn't seem too happy to be there. In turn, not many people were making purchases at their booth. Maybe that's why they were miffed. Or maybe it was because of their grumpiness that nobody lingered long there or pulled out a wallet. As I scanned their wares (mostly jewelry) I read signs describing the materials from which the necklaces were made. They read something like, ...

We bought ten more coffee trees yesterday. The ladies at Hilo Coffee Mill are great. That's where we bought them. Their primary business is wholesale coffee, either green or roasted to your taste. But they also have their own coffee orchard and sell coffee seedlings. They have a website, too: www.hilocoffeemill.com . If you want to try the best coffee Hawaii has to offer besides Kona coffee, or some other great beans from around the world, check 'em out. They coffee from Guatemala, Mexico, Africa, Brazil etc. Ask for Jeanette or Kathy. We bought baby trees this time. They're about half as big, for half the price. Since we're pretty sure they'll grow, it seemed the prudent way to go. Now all we have to do is wait 3-5 years for the perfect cup of home grown java. Today's weather has been pretty horrible. I started raining at about 10 a.m. and hasn't stopped since. Tomorrow however, is another day. The weather forecasters are actually predicting sun for our ar...

This morning, my neighbor, who apparently has a rain gauge, reported to me in passing on the road that we received 1.25 inches of rain last night. It did rain pretty hard. I guess in most places, that much rain in one night would be quite a lot. Here, it's a pretty normal night. This morning, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Within a very short while it felt not unlike a sauna outside with all that moisture evaporating into the atmosphere. Whew! It was even muggier in town, as always. So while the temperature stayed at about 85 degree, the humidity was at least 85%. Neadless to say, it was a little toasty for Doc and his canine and feline siblings today. We're cooling off nicely now though. The zucchinis are flowering like mad and beginning to get a few fruits on them. It looks like we should have squash coming out our ears before too long. I'm making plans to make zucchini bread. The tomatoes are doing well too, with small, green orbs replacing blossoms there. Ron ha...

. Yesterday, like today, it rained. So it wasn't too tough early in the morning, watching the water fall in sheets from the sky, to make quick plans to drive to Kona. The excuse? We need stuff at Costco, of course. Hey, if I've got to patronize a big box once in awhile to reap some savings, it might as well be one that takes good care of it's employees and puts profits back into the company rather than into the CEO's pocket. Anyway, we donned our swimsuits under our clothes, slid on the slippah and headed to the dry side. Before shopping, we spent a couple of hours at the beach. We crashed our old favorite resort; The Orchid at Mauna Lani. Technically, we do have legal access to their beach, no matter how much stink eye the staff might give. That's because all beaches, even those affiliated with a resort, are public. Nobody can actually own a beach in Hawaii. So, we hung there, and at their pool, posing as wealthy haoli tourists. Then it was off to Costco to buy sun...

Aloha! It's been a pretty hot few days, with south winds usurping the traditional trades. Yesterday the vog was so bad that our zucchini leaves were actually burned by the sulfuric air. They are a bit shriveled, but I think the plants will live. Doc has been staying cool lounging on the lanai. What a pretty boy, huh? I planted an avocado tree yesterday. Tomorrow's chore is to add two more coffee trees and another avocado. There are several species of avocado and the fruit at different times of the year. So with any luck, we'll one day have avocados year 'round. Holy guacamole, batman! I played tennis today with some athletic and talented ladies today. We played indoors at the venerable Edith Kanaka'ole tennis stadium. They are the only covered courts on the island. The surface is rubberized, so is a bit grippy underfoot and the ball comes off pretty fast, making for a bit of a challenge to the reflexes. The lighting is also weird. For some reason, they built the co...

The past several days have been more wet than dry, with the past two all wet. In fact, we were cranking up the volume on the TV to hear it over the sound of the downpour. Today, however, is showing the promise of some blue sky peaking through the clouds. We'll have to wait until the foliage dries out a bit before we can mow. The rain was the result of the remnants of tropical depression Daniel. The storm began as Hurricane Daniel, then became Tropical Storm Daniel as it got nearer to us, then became a tropical depression (whatever that is) then because nothing more than some rain. It wasn't very exciting. We didn't lose power or anything. Ron and I have a new thing when the power goes out. We hang out on the lanai with a giant flashlight and play scrabble. We have too much stuff. Despite our efforts to purge in Colorado before the move, we still have more than we need, want or have room for. This is a tiny house, after all. We've been making trips to Wal-mart and Home D...

Life is mellow here in the rainforest. We erected a shelter for our tractor last week so we could move the machine off the driveway to make room for stuff. The stuff came, all the way from Colorado. We are now finding places to put the stuff, one box at a time. Despite our attempts to simplify our lives and purge a huge amount of stuff before moving here, we still find we have too much stuff. That's the American way though, right? We converted an old dog Kennel just off the driveway into a storage shed. We were planning (and still are) to actually build a structure there, but in the meantime, we opted for tarps, a shower curtain and some 2x4s. Hey, there are people living in shelters less attractive and secure than this. Hey. It works. We had both a bad and good car buying experience this weekend. We recently decided that, since my old purple truck is now deceased, we should buy an economical commuter car to zip to town and back when we don't need the utilitarian virtues of the...

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...

Howdy ya'all. Oh, and alo-o-o-o-oha! I heard word this weekend that a giant double cottonwood tree in the front yard of my Colorado cabin was blown down by the wind. That is a big tree so it must have been some strong wind. It toppled over roots up, with one segment going across a portion of the driveway and one toward the road. The good news is that it didn't hit the electrical wire that runs very nearby, nor did it hit the barn or the house or anyone's car or anyone's head. Whew! My renter-buddy Mark is already on top of the situation, having begun the arduous task of cutting it up. He'll have plenty of firewood this winter. The fourth of July festivities were pretty low-key at our house. We dosed the dogs with herbal doggie mellow-out pills, then did our best to keep them calm as the neighbor's grandkids fired off bottle rockets and other noisemakers. We also roasted a leg of lamb in our new smoker/bbq/grill. It's a very cool little contraption, and it wa...

Aloha all you blog fans. Sorry it's been several days since my last post. We've been busy, taking advantage of the nice weather, to mow, scoop, plant and till. Ron has continued his frenzied quest to rototill the entire island, or at our entire five acres, grinding up patches of dirt in one place to scoop up and drop into another place. His tilling has been curtailed, however, because of the huge amount of water it takes to clean the thing after each use. With the nice weather, our water catchment tank went from full to half in a very short time. So, it was either cut back on the tilling and subsequent need for massive amounts of water or resign ourselves to schlepping the dirty clothes off the the Laundromat and taking showers at the pool. Today, however, it is pouring. Mother Nature is doing her part to replenish our supply so we could be tilling again in a few days. That is, of course, weather permitting. I have now planted all our fruit trees. Last week, we purchase 10 coff...

Those of you who know me know I am not one who is known for her speed. "That Toni's got wheels" is not something anyone would ever say about me. I am reminded of my Deluxe softball days and, in thinking back, can still feel Tom Finocchiaro's hot breath on the back of my head, his hand gently but firmly pushing me in the back, trying to get me to run faster around the bases. Tom always batted cleanup. I was often up just before him and could be counted on for a single most of the time. I would get myself to first. Then Tom would hit me in with a colossal smash. Before I could reach second base, he was on my tail. That's how fast he was and how slow I was. "C'mon Toni," he would say from about one foot behind me. Sometimes he would even clip the backs of my heals with his toes. "Let's go! Keep going! You can do it. Run faster." If he'd only known how hard I was working to go that slowly. On a tennis court, however, I do have wheels. I...