It's three days and counting until the big adventure to Alaska and my immersion into the land of graduate school. I am excited about the trip but reluctant, as always, to leave my furry babies, especially Crawford. I know Ron will take good care of them, but I still worry. I think I inherited that worry gene from my grandmother. She was the best worrier I ever knew.
I hope July fourth was a fun one for all of you out there in cyber-land. I worked a sweaty day at the winery. It was a holiday, however, so I earned time-and-a-half for my trouble. Cha-ching!
Doc was not so thrilled with the festivities Friday night. When he heard the neighbors' firecrackers, he insisted on sitting in my lap, putting his paws on my shoulders and burrowing his head in my chest. Poor baby boy. Poor enormous, heavy baby boy. He just couldn't get close enough. Lucy sat on the end of the couch with us for awhile. Whenever she heard the sound of a bottle rocket - that tell-tale whistling that goes gradually from a high pitch to a lower one - she would look up at the ceiling. It was as though she instinctively knew from the sound that something ominous was descending from the sky.
Meanwhile, Crawford and Hopps - both hard of hearing - slept blissfully through it all.
Today's big adventure was a trip to the Kea'au transfer station to dispose of my recycling. In Hawaii, you can either have your beverage containers counted or weighed. They're worth five cents each if you count them. My approach is to weigh the heavy glass bottles and aluminum cans and count the plastic water bottles. The aluminum cans don't weigh much, but I find I earn the same with them whether I weigh them or county them. Weighing them is easier for the workers at the recycling center, so that's what I do. That seems to give me the the best return. Today's haul was $8.41! Woohoo! I'll spend that and then some going to lunch tomorrow with my neighbor. Of course, I spent a good portion of that just driving to and from the recycling center.
Yesterday, I filled in for a few hours at the winery. We recently began offering tours and had our first paying customers for that service on Saturday morning. They loved it! Kathie took them on a stroll through the vineyard, telling them about the grapes and the history of the place. They saw the vat room, then got a free, private tasting. When I first started working at the winery, I thought everyone was calling it the Bat Room. Seriously. I thought that for months. It's the room where the wine is made and I just figured the name was some kind of inside joke. Anyway, if the weather's nice, the tour takers' tasting takes place outside at a picnic table. If not, they come in to one of our tasting room bars. The tour takers receive a nice little goodie bag, including a Volcano Winery logo glass. I think it's going to be a hit.
This afternoon, I drove up to Volcanoes National Park for a workout at the Kilauea Military Camp gym. The air seemed fine all along the way, but the moment I passed through the entry gate, I could see the haze. By the time I got to KMC, the vog was thicker than pea soup. I stepped out of the car, thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad as it looked. It was. I could instantly taste that nasty, mineral-laden soot on my tongue. Sucking in toxic fumes while trudging on the treadmill isn't my idea of a healthy activity. The gym is not air conditioned, so the windows are always open. It still gets pretty stuffy in there unless you open the doors, too. So, I drove back out of the park, then hung a left off the highway into Volcano Village where the air was miraculously clear. I parked the car at the Village Store, then took a little adventure walk up an unfamiliar road. To be honest, it wasn't totally unfamiliar. My ukulele lessons were on a side street just off that particular stretch. But I had never been up as far as I went today. It was toasty and the sweat was soaking through my clothes, but it felt a little cooler than my house. The road was well shaded, which helped too. I encountered a few friendly people, saw some cute cottages and a handful of ramshackle old heaps. I met three friendly dogs. You really can tell a friendly dog from a mean one. The friendly ones approach with their tails wagging. They seem to be thinking, "Oh boy! A person!" I walked for an hour. I'd have take the dogs, but I spent too long in front of the computer this morning writing and re-writing assignments for school. By the time I was finished, it was way too hot for the Hoppster and the Doctor Dog. They were still a little pooped from our walk Saturday afternoon. I returned home to cool off by washing the car. Doc and Crawford watched. Hopps stayed inside, parked directly in front of the biggest fan. Did I mention it's been hot? Sorry no photos today. Charging the camera battery.
A hui hou. Aloha!
I hope July fourth was a fun one for all of you out there in cyber-land. I worked a sweaty day at the winery. It was a holiday, however, so I earned time-and-a-half for my trouble. Cha-ching!
Doc was not so thrilled with the festivities Friday night. When he heard the neighbors' firecrackers, he insisted on sitting in my lap, putting his paws on my shoulders and burrowing his head in my chest. Poor baby boy. Poor enormous, heavy baby boy. He just couldn't get close enough. Lucy sat on the end of the couch with us for awhile. Whenever she heard the sound of a bottle rocket - that tell-tale whistling that goes gradually from a high pitch to a lower one - she would look up at the ceiling. It was as though she instinctively knew from the sound that something ominous was descending from the sky.
Meanwhile, Crawford and Hopps - both hard of hearing - slept blissfully through it all.
Today's big adventure was a trip to the Kea'au transfer station to dispose of my recycling. In Hawaii, you can either have your beverage containers counted or weighed. They're worth five cents each if you count them. My approach is to weigh the heavy glass bottles and aluminum cans and count the plastic water bottles. The aluminum cans don't weigh much, but I find I earn the same with them whether I weigh them or county them. Weighing them is easier for the workers at the recycling center, so that's what I do. That seems to give me the the best return. Today's haul was $8.41! Woohoo! I'll spend that and then some going to lunch tomorrow with my neighbor. Of course, I spent a good portion of that just driving to and from the recycling center.
Yesterday, I filled in for a few hours at the winery. We recently began offering tours and had our first paying customers for that service on Saturday morning. They loved it! Kathie took them on a stroll through the vineyard, telling them about the grapes and the history of the place. They saw the vat room, then got a free, private tasting. When I first started working at the winery, I thought everyone was calling it the Bat Room. Seriously. I thought that for months. It's the room where the wine is made and I just figured the name was some kind of inside joke. Anyway, if the weather's nice, the tour takers' tasting takes place outside at a picnic table. If not, they come in to one of our tasting room bars. The tour takers receive a nice little goodie bag, including a Volcano Winery logo glass. I think it's going to be a hit.
This afternoon, I drove up to Volcanoes National Park for a workout at the Kilauea Military Camp gym. The air seemed fine all along the way, but the moment I passed through the entry gate, I could see the haze. By the time I got to KMC, the vog was thicker than pea soup. I stepped out of the car, thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad as it looked. It was. I could instantly taste that nasty, mineral-laden soot on my tongue. Sucking in toxic fumes while trudging on the treadmill isn't my idea of a healthy activity. The gym is not air conditioned, so the windows are always open. It still gets pretty stuffy in there unless you open the doors, too. So, I drove back out of the park, then hung a left off the highway into Volcano Village where the air was miraculously clear. I parked the car at the Village Store, then took a little adventure walk up an unfamiliar road. To be honest, it wasn't totally unfamiliar. My ukulele lessons were on a side street just off that particular stretch. But I had never been up as far as I went today. It was toasty and the sweat was soaking through my clothes, but it felt a little cooler than my house. The road was well shaded, which helped too. I encountered a few friendly people, saw some cute cottages and a handful of ramshackle old heaps. I met three friendly dogs. You really can tell a friendly dog from a mean one. The friendly ones approach with their tails wagging. They seem to be thinking, "Oh boy! A person!" I walked for an hour. I'd have take the dogs, but I spent too long in front of the computer this morning writing and re-writing assignments for school. By the time I was finished, it was way too hot for the Hoppster and the Doctor Dog. They were still a little pooped from our walk Saturday afternoon. I returned home to cool off by washing the car. Doc and Crawford watched. Hopps stayed inside, parked directly in front of the biggest fan. Did I mention it's been hot? Sorry no photos today. Charging the camera battery.
A hui hou. Aloha!
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