When it comes to holidays, living in Hawaii is a lot like going to Catholic school. I used to relish the fact that we not only got the typical national holidays off, but a bunch of additional saints' days, too. Here in the islands, there are several additional holidays that hearken back to the days before statehood. Most honor a member of Hawaiian royalty. Earlier in the year we celebrated Prince Kuhio Day. (The shopping mall in Hilo is named after him.) Today was King Kamehameha Day, celebrating the life and accomplishments of arguably the most famous Hawaiian. While most hail Kamehameha for "uniting" all the islands, some prefer to use what is probably the more accurate term, "conquer." Plenty of blood was shed and many died defending their individual island kingdoms against the forces of Kamehameha. Still, the ultimate result was unification, so there you go. Here's a statue of the King. He was a formidable man. This one, located in the town of Hawi (pronounced Hahvee) is similar to others scattered around the islands. There's one in Hilo and another in Honolulu. Hawi, however, is the king's birthplace, so this one is special.I went to town with the intention of spending 3-4 hours studying for the LSAT and learned that the library was closed. Silly me. Of course. It was King Kamehameha Day. What was I thinking? So I ate some sushi, filled up a couple of big drinking water jugs at a reverse osmosis spigot and came home.
It's been raining now for three days and the tank is already filling back up. Despite doing two loads of laundry, the level has risen about six inches. I'm therefore no longer worried about our water supply. Now if we can just get the pipe leading into the house fixed and the water pressure up in the shower, I'll be a happy girl.
Lucy has taken to waking me up at 5:30 every morning. She jumps up on me, then paws at the blankets until I pet her. I'm so tired, but she's so cute. She is the only kitty I've ever known who likes to lick me. She gives my hand and arm a good, scratchy, sandpaper-tongue cleaning. Maybe I need it. Here she is in the grass, looking for tiny lizards. Actually, it seems for this shot she stopped for a moment to pose for the camera. She likes to pounce on the little critters as they slither through the grass. Sometimes, she'll just entertain herself (and me) batting a leaf around. She's sitting in my lap as I type this, purring like a Harley. Lucy's a bit of a popoki pupule (poopoolay) - a crazy cat. One minute she loves you. The next, she's playing a bit too rough. I fully expect her to take a bite outa me at any moment. That's OK. I still love her.
A hui hou. Aloha!
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