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 coffee trees. The plan is to put them in the ground and wait a couple of months. If we can manage to keep them alive, we'll buy more.
It's July 4th and there are plenty of goings on around the island today. We'll probably stay home or maybe take a short trip mid day, then be sure to be here well before dark to hang with the pooches. Hoppsy is especially nervous about loud noises. So we'll dose her heavily with some herbal calmatives and keep her quietly inside. With any luck, there won't be too many local fire crackers exploding in the neighborhood. It should be better for her here than in Gunnison, where we could actually watch and hear the Rotary Club Fireworks show from our yard. Hoppsy just does not appreciate the bombs bursting in air.
I played a few points against my young tennis coach yesterday. Shoots. I actually aced him twice. Not bad for an old broad. We played two 10-point sets (he called them super tie breaks?). I lost, but actually made a game of it. Considering he's 26, plays on the UH Hilo team and is a certified United States Tennis Association instructor (not to mention about 6'4" tall) I think I held my own pretty well. In a previous post I think I said I thought he was younger. It seems the older I get, the younger everyone else seems to be. Anyway, the kid does hit with some gnarly spin. His topspin forehand lands right at no-man's land on the court then bounces up well over my head. Sometimes, it not only bounces up, but veers left or right. Tricky. After two hours of tennis yesterday, I was bonding with a friendly ice pack in front of the tube most of last night. (At our house, it really still is the tube. The HDTV is still a few paychecks away....) Probably should have had a beer or two too, but hops and barley in liquid form are not on my diet right now.
I saw a pretty funny bumper sticker yesterday in the Leong's Chop Suey parking lot. It said, "Work harder. Millions on welfare are counting on you." Kinda funny, huh?
Today looks like a good day to write a few query letters to send to magazines to see if I can get a writing assignment. I figure, why not bombard the the editors with story ideas. Somebody out there might need a piece for their rag, right?
There is a small but vocal faction here who will not be celebrating today. They claim no allegiance to the US flag and are fighting the spirited (if futile) fight for complete Hawaiian sovereignty and secession. They want to restore the Monarchy (which, incidentally, was a democratically elected position toward the end of its reign). Meanwhile, however, Hawaii is also one of the most patriotic states in the union, what with the Pacific Fleet, US Marines and overall humungous military presence here. Plenty Hawaii citizens of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including Native Hawaiians, have served or are serving in the US Military. So the celebration here is as big, if not bigger than anywhere.
Have a safe and festive Independence Day. And remember, if can, can. If no can, no can. Shoots! Aloha!
I have now planted all our fruit trees. Last week, we purchase 10 coffee trees. The plan is to put them in the ground and wait a couple of months. If we can manage to keep them alive, we'll buy more.
It's July 4th and there are plenty of goings on around the island today. We'll probably stay home or maybe take a short trip mid day, then be sure to be here well before dark to hang with the pooches. Hoppsy is especially nervous about loud noises. So we'll dose her heavily with some herbal calmatives and keep her quietly inside. With any luck, there won't be too many local fire crackers exploding in the neighborhood. It should be better for her here than in Gunnison, where we could actually watch and hear the Rotary Club Fireworks show from our yard. Hoppsy just does not appreciate the bombs bursting in air.
I played a few points against my young tennis coach yesterday. Shoots. I actually aced him twice. Not bad for an old broad. We played two 10-point sets (he called them super tie breaks?). I lost, but actually made a game of it. Considering he's 26, plays on the UH Hilo team and is a certified United States Tennis Association instructor (not to mention about 6'4" tall) I think I held my own pretty well. In a previous post I think I said I thought he was younger. It seems the older I get, the younger everyone else seems to be. Anyway, the kid does hit with some gnarly spin. His topspin forehand lands right at no-man's land on the court then bounces up well over my head. Sometimes, it not only bounces up, but veers left or right. Tricky. After two hours of tennis yesterday, I was bonding with a friendly ice pack in front of the tube most of last night. (At our house, it really still is the tube. The HDTV is still a few paychecks away....) Probably should have had a beer or two too, but hops and barley in liquid form are not on my diet right now.
I saw a pretty funny bumper sticker yesterday in the Leong's Chop Suey parking lot. It said, "Work harder. Millions on welfare are counting on you." Kinda funny, huh?
Today looks like a good day to write a few query letters to send to magazines to see if I can get a writing assignment. I figure, why not bombard the the editors with story ideas. Somebody out there might need a piece for their rag, right?
There is a small but vocal faction here who will not be celebrating today. They claim no allegiance to the US flag and are fighting the spirited (if futile) fight for complete Hawaiian sovereignty and secession. They want to restore the Monarchy (which, incidentally, was a democratically elected position toward the end of its reign). Meanwhile, however, Hawaii is also one of the most patriotic states in the union, what with the Pacific Fleet, US Marines and overall humungous military presence here. Plenty Hawaii citizens of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including Native Hawaiians, have served or are serving in the US Military. So the celebration here is as big, if not bigger than anywhere.
Have a safe and festive Independence Day. And remember, if can, can. If no can, no can. Shoots! Aloha!
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