Mountains and Islands

Today's a beautiful day in paradise. It's warm and a bit breezy. The sun is peeking through the clouds. Mr. Sox has been basking in the day's balminess. We're still awaiting arrival of the tractor. Today would be an ideal day to give it a first spin through the cane grass. I spoke with a neighbor up the road this morning while on my daily walk with the pooches. She has two teenaged daughters and is currently sending them to a nice charter school in Volcano. She's not looking forward to their graduation to high school, as she's not too happy with the secondary school choices available here on the island. Too much violence and not enough actual education, she claims. Sounds familiar. I've heard similar concerns from parents all over the country. The news is full of stories about failing American schools. She's considering home schooling her kids. Any random thoughts out there on the state of public education in the US? From what I hear from people across t...

The sky was so clear and blue this morning that the snow atop Mauna Kea shone brighter than dandruff on a black t-shirt. And prettier, too. There's about a foot of the white stuff up there. Today, we played, strolled, baked, weed whacked and just generally enjoyed a perfect day of sunshine graced with lovely, cooling tradewinds. The cats were all in kitty heaven. This is Lucy. Isn't she a cutie? She came with the house. We have fallen head over heals in love with her. Abner likes her too. Now, it's raining. No. It's pouring. It's so loud I can hardly hear the keys on the keyboard as I type this. My dad is preparing for the biggest trip of his life. He is coming to the island to visit us for a couple of weeks in April. He's never been on an airplane longer than two hours, never been east of the Mississippi or west of the West Coast of Mainland USA. So this should be quite an experience for him. I'll meet him in Honolulu. It's a small, yet notoriously chal...

Ron and I walked outside this morning and looked to the sky. We shaded our eyes, squinting, rubbing them with wonder and awe. What, pray tell, was that foreign object in the sky; an orange orb lighting up the world? It was the sun, of course! We just hadn't seen it in so long..... Happy St. Patrick's Day, ya'all. Even in Hawaii, everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's Day. We're headed downtown this afternoon, to a bastion of Haoli-ness. It's an Irish Pub called Nichols Public House. They promised to open at 8 a.m. this morning to be serving cornbeef and cabbage all day. It'll be a nice change from all the sushi, saimin and stir fry we've been consuming lately. We did find a tasty little gourmet pizza at the Kiawe Grill in Volcano a few nights ago. Anyway, we're going to the pub early so we can still make our bedtime. That's important when you get to be our age. The rain has brought out some beautiful wonders around the yard. Yesterday, I discovered thi...

Ron says he didn't think there was this much water is the entire world. Yes, it is still raining, with flash flood warnings across all the islands. I accidentally dropped an empty plastic water bottle out of my car yesterday afternoon and the water running down the edge of the street in Hilo was so strong that the bottle was a block away before I could chase it down and retrieve it. Not only would I not want to litter, but that little sucker is worth five cents! Ron just came it to inform me that it's raining. He does this every so often, like it's a news flash. He thinks he's pretty entertaining. Our lemon tree is covered with blossoms. I hope the bees can see through the rain well enough to pollinate them so we actually get some fruit. Not much is new today. I expect to have a new podcast posted by next Monday. More blog entries will come this week. If you'd like, add a comment or two. Help jazz this site up a bit. Aloha.

Hopps and Crawford say Alo-o-o-ha! People are really into bumper stickers and decals for cars here on the Big Island. I saw another funny one today. It said, "Horn broken. Watch for finger." On the mainland bumper stickers are popular too. The messages run the gamut, to be sure. But here, drivers sport memorial decals. I've never seen them before. I will admit that I've lived life a bit sheltered from big city trends for the past several years. Still, if these were a hot new thing in Colorado, I'm sure I'd have seen at least one car wearing one as it passed through Gunnison. Anyway, these tributes to a lost loved one are usually white, in the back windshield and say something like "In loving memory of James Keoki Chang" in flowery lettering. There's usually a cross or angel to complete the presentation. It seems a bit morbid to carry around the sadness of loss everywhere you go. Maybe its a cultural thing and I just don't get it. That's p...

Language fascinates me. I find it interesting that different people from different parts of the US (or the world for that matter) use different words predominantly for the same thing. I ask you; is it a sofa, a couch or a Davenport? Growing up, my mom always called in a Davenport. She hailed from the same hometown as Henry Davenport. I think he was a guy who created a sofa named after himself, and the name (like Xerox or Kleenex or Qtip) stuck. I'm guessing. I really don't know and it's not quite interesting enough to warrant further research. So there you go. In some parts of the country, they drink soda. In others, it's pop. Some people commonly refer to their refuse as trash or garbage. Here in Hawaii, its usually called rubbish. Yesterday at the grocery store, the gal at the checkout asked us if we wanted a wagon. We both did a double take. On the mainland, we'd have been asked if we wanted a cart. So wagon took a nano-second to process. The girl also told Ron h...

Aloha! Yesterday we woke up to sunny skies, birds chirping and the perfect weather for cutting grass. So, that's just what I did. No tractor yet. I just mowed the immediate lawn around the house with the little Craftsman. Good thing I had that inkling. It was my window of opportunity. Who knows when we'll get another totally dry day. Today it's raining torrentially, coming down in sheets as you can see from the photo. It's a great day to nap, or to update a blog. We found the most amazing Thai restaurant the other day. It was recommended by two locals who referred to it as "Tina's Place." That's not actually what it's called. I don't recall the official name. Something like Garden Fresh. I know where it is though and plan to return soon. Anyway, Tina, the owner and cook, prepares each dish fresh as you order it. Nothing is cooked in advance. It takes a little longer to get your meal but it is absolutely worth the wait. Unbelievable!! We actuall...

The big news in the islands this week is the prediction of a poi shortage in coming months. The heavy rains on Kauai have flooded the taro patches of Hanalei, which supplies some 70 percent of the state's total. Ron's been getting good mileage out of my comment about how taro-ble it will be. One of his clients responded to the news with "poi oh poi. I hope it doesn't make us any poi-er." Personally, I was devastated, as I had just embarked upon the poi-pous driven life. I'm sure you get the poi-nt by now. It's all so poi-nient when you think about it. Now that I've poi-nted this big of news out to you, I hope you are poi-sed to deal with it. I know, I know... this blog has been punn - ishing. Or should I say poi-nishing? Of course, if you eat poi, you generate Poipu, a famous beach on Kauai. OK. I'm all pau now. Done. Finito. Period. (Period.... hey, that's a poi-nt at the end of a sentence.....) Help me!!!!!! I need a new brain!