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Nature viewing Hawaiian style

Ah wildlife.  Soaring eagles.  Majestic elk.  Oh wait.  That's the mainland.  This is Hawaii.  So the most prevalent wildlife here is.... Pigs!  Yes, here they are, baby swines - swinettes if you will - scampering through our back 40.  OK, it's our back four.  What's a zero or two among friends?  

This little piggy eats worms by toppling over freshly planted coffee seedlings.  

This little piggy gobbles strawberry guavas and poops the seeds wherever he goes to spread the invasive trees.  

This little piggy roots up the forest, creating holes that fill with water, breading mosquitoes that carry diseases to kill the native bird population. 


The thing is, the little piggies really are cute.  They are only trying to survive, after all, just like we are. We brought them here, then released them.  They survived, then thrived and multiplied.  We declared them a nuisance.  How fair is that? Are humans stupid, or what?

Today we made a quick trip to town for some light shopping and lunch.  We hit one of our favorite local spots: Nori's Saimin and Snacks.  We've learned a new trick at Nori's.  Rather than ordering two separate bowls at $6.95 each, request one mondo-giant saimin, then split it.  It's way cheaper than two separate orders and we actually get more.  Enough, in fact, to bring home for dinner.  Four meals for $10.36, including tax.  Beat that!

Yesterday, we spotted our neighbor Anthony across the fence and gave him a giant cucumber.  I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that we had oodles o' cukes. He loves our home grown produce.  His kids especially love zucchini.  It's a good thing for us.  When we have zucchini, we have lots, just like the cucumbers.  As he accepted our gift yesterday he said, "My wife loves these.  She asked me the other day, 'Are you bugging them?'  I said to her, 'No, no!"  We all got a good laugh out of that.  Anthony is a great neighbor.  He is now nurturing some string beans of his own.  Yesterday, he told me he now has full custody of his two grandsons.  One is in Kindergarten, the other in fourth grade.  His two grown 20-something sons recently moved back in with him too.   Sheesh!  The poor guy needs all the zucchinis we can grow for him!

Last night we watched Vantage Point, a movie about a terrorist plot to kidnap the president of the United States.  It shows the events as they transpire from several different - you guesses it - vantage points.  What a good flick!  Very exciting!  With each viewpoint, the complexity and intelligence of the plot - along with some unintended twists - grows progressively.  It's a definite thumbs up from yours truly.  This afternoon I caught some Charlie Chaplin.  The man was true genius.  He's hilariously funny but also politically and socially savvy. Who needs sound, anyway?  Not Chaplin.  




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