Mountains and Islands

Smaller in diameter that a dime and cute as can be, the coqui frog is nonetheless much maligned here on Hawaii Island. Many view the little buggahs as disruptors of the peace, invaders who have turned our once quiet evenings riotous. By contrast, the bitty frogs are much beloved in their native Puerto Rico, and threatened there as a species. But they thrive here, the first of them having arrived as stow-aways on imported plants sometime in the 90s. Named for their sound -- coQUI, coQUI -- only the males sing, and only after dark. During the day, the frogs are quiet. For a time, it was all out war against the frogs. The county advocated and supplied a variety of chemical sprays -- caffeine, citric acid, hydrated lime -- with huge promotional campaigns aimed at eradication. They're still here, more than ever and in the Puna and Hilo districts here in The Big Island, it would appear that, for lack of funding in these austere times and a waning of the will to murder the little beasts, ...

One of the best things about shopping at Costco is the samples. At the end of almost every aisle, you'll find a cheerful, apron-clad, white-hatted person - usually a woman - doling out some goodie or other; a new juice in tiny paper cups, a slice of some new smoked ham on a cracker, a bite-sized hunk of granola bar. Sadly, it was one of those very offerings yesterday, there within those hallowed warehouse halls, that sparked a pang of internal angst regarding the level of laziness to which we as a species have fallen. One of the women had placed pieces of something from a box into small, wavy-edged cupcake papers. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the something was wedges of hard boiled egg! These were prepackaged hard boiled eggs. Eggs already hard boiled FOR YOU. Each one is individually wrapped inside the box. I'm still reeling. It was good to get out of the rain for the day, eat a fresh malasada and some cheap-but-OK-for-the-price sushi. Other than the eggs and...

Today I put the finishing touches on my concept for a newspaper ad for the winery and sent it off to the ad dude at the paper for tweaking. It's kinda cute if I don't say so myself. It shows two fish, the state fish to be exact, facing each other as though they're going to kiss. One has a bubble over his head and says, "You're my humu-humu honey." (The state fish is called the humuhumunukunukuapua'a.) The other fish says, "Ah, you're making me blush." Then the text reads, "Macadamia Nut Honey and Volcano Blush . Just two of the award winning wines made here on the Big Island by Volcano Winery..... yadda yadda yadda. Cute huh? It's fun to be doing something a little different. You can only give the speel (or is that shpeel?) to visitors so many times without losing just a tad of your enthusiasm. Next week I hope to begin peddling the winery's wares to restaurants around the island. That will require the speel (shpeel) too, but i...

"Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything's right...." Paolo Nutini - Lyrics from "New Shoes." The other day, as I lumbered along the belt of the treadmill with my iPod cranked for musical inspiration, it occurred to me that I was probably the only person in the gym who was listening to Alison Krauss through my earbuds . (Never mind the fact that I was the only person in the gym just then.) I also thought it likely that I was the only person on the whole island listening to Alison. Maybe I was the only person in all of Hawaii. That same experience happened to me today. This time, the artist was Roger Miller. Hey, King of the Road is a good song and fits in nicely with my folk/country/bluegrass playlist . DON"T MAKE FUN OF ME! Roger Miller was a genius! Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let - fifty cents..... Or how about the classic , You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd? You've gotta admit ...

After a malasada for the road and lunch at the Kona Inn, Ron and I combed the aisles of Costco. That was our Sunday. It was a cash and carry day. Costco only takes American Express or cash. I guess they take debit cards too, but Homey (the Financial Planner) don't play dat. We used to have an American Express card. It was Ron's business card, although I was an authorized signer. He had the thing for 30 years and never missed a payment. I almost never use it, but have on several occasions over the years. Historically, we'd call Amex customer service to let them know that I would be using the card. We tried that again recently. I had planned to got to town and Ron thought he'd just give me the American Express card to stock up on some business supplies he needed. He called Amex and got an agent in India with a very heavy accent. The guy, who identified himself as Kevin or Steve or some other bogus Anglified name, told him that I could no longer use the card, despite the ...

The Volcano Farmers' Market has become, as they say here, "choke." That means it's really busy and packed with people. I think it would be safe to say that the little venue has been discovered. It's always been a hoppin' place, a great community gathering of locals and the occasional visitor on Sunday mornings. This past weekend, there wasn't a parking spot anywhere near the Cooper Center where the market is held. I had to park about 1/4 mile up the road. And that was at 7:30 a.m! There are more vendors now than ever. The Volcano Farmers' Market has become popular, I think, because word has spread that it's a really great place to buy some beautiful produce and delicious prepared foods. It's really different than the bigger markets. It's 100% local. Really local. It's not just stuff grown or made in Hawaii or even on the Big Island. Most of the goods sold there are made or grown either in Volcano or within a few miles of the village. I...