Mountains and Islands

I had a check-up with the allergy doctor this morning. It took all of about 15 minutes for her to determine that I am well. The office has moved and the description of the new location, as delivered on their answering machine message, places the new digs near the police station and St. Joseph's School. Both of those landmarks are vague to me; I'm not a Catholic School child, nor am I a parent. I've only been to the police station once to get a state I.D. card. When I finally found the place, I knew exactly where I was. I was right behind Nori's Saimin and Snacks. Why didn't they just say so! For me, the best landmarks are always food vendors. Nori's is the bomb! Dey get da bes saimin, fo real, brah! Da kine serve wit' one ono chicken terriyaki stick. They also make this chocolate mochi cake that is divine. Broke da mout', cuz! Poor Crawford has developed yet another affliction. Her left back leg was injured way before we adopted her. It was broken badly....

How do you like the new look o' the blog? The banner at the top was cut from a photo of a giant leaf covered in rain drops. Pretty cool, huh? I think I need to change the color of the heading font, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. The tropical depression that's come and gone left us with a generally soggy weekend. We spent it puttering around the house. The dog's are bored stiff. Today, Ron chased a passel o' pigs from the yard with his trusty .22 caliber rifle. That provided some excitement to an otherwise dull day. He didn't hit any of them, but he scared them away. Our neighbor has hit two in the past few days. He's a much better shot than Ron. He's smokin ' 'em up. I'm actually glad Ron didn't hit one. I wouldn't know what to do with it if he did. Actually, I would know what to do with it but I wouldn't want to do it. I know the pigs are just trying to survive in this world, just like we are. But they are a menace...

We're tucked away in our little hovel tonight, riding out what has turned out to be a very mellow Tropical Depression Cosme. Earlier this evening, we ventured down to Kea'au to check out the catfish and gumbo special at Paradise Bar and Grill. En route, we spotted a large, white pickup truck overturned just off the side of the highway. It was upside down with it's cab, ever-so-luckily poking downward into a fairly wide ditch. The fourth of four passengers was wiggling out of the driver's side window as we pulled up and stopped. When I asked, everyone said that they were OK and had all gotten out of the truck. It was obvious that they had all been wearing seat belts. They were, however, noticeably shaken up. That included a little boy of about four who seemed all but frozen in fear. He just stood there staring blankly. Poor kid. That would scare me too. It was raining pretty hard at the time and the truck just lost its grip on the road, veered and flipped. It happened in...

Yesterday in the checkout line at Puna Fresh Foods, I struck up conversation with a local boy. He was a young man, really. I'd say he looked to be about 20 years old. He was buying a bottle of Vitamin Water and a copy of High Times. I guess it's all about balance in life, isn't it? Ying and yang? I didn't even know they still published High Times. The young man had an elaborate, Hawaiian style tattoo that covered his entire left shoulder and upper arm. It was all black; a pattern of shaded geometric shapes. Embedded in it all was capital "A" in curvy script. I am usually not enamored with tattoos, but this one was really cool. So, I told him so. "Fer real?" He asked. "Yeah. It's one of the best I've seen in a long time," I assured. "Fer real?" He asked again. I hoped this time his question was it was rhetorical . We could go back and forth with compliments and fer reals for a long time. "Thanks for noticing,...

Saturday was sunny and beautiful, a nice day for a job interview. I think it went well. If nothing comes of it, at least I got to eat lunch at Cafe Pesto with an interesting person. She said she'd call sometime this week to let me know about the job. Meanwhile, today I learned that the Hawaii Island Journal is going to print one of my stories next issue - as it's cover story. Cool! It took 'em long enough. Sunday was Ron's big day; the big 6-0. Wow! First, he did a little farm work, tilling up some dirt on his trusty steed(aka the tractor). Then we went to Luquin's (where we always go) in Pahoa . There, we drank mango and guava margaritas, ate a boatload of heavy Mexican food, then came home to take a long, digestive nap. It was a very satisfying day for me. I think he enjoyed it to. I know Mr. Sox relished his snooze while we were away on such a warm, sunny day. We've got zucchini coming out our ears, as you can see here. This morning, our neighbor's baby...

I received a welcome call this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll meet with an editor about a job as a reporter. Yay! Don't know if I'll be the one selected, but at least I have a chance. Today I fared marginally better on the two sample test segments i took. If I can carry that through to the entire test, I'll bump my score up by about 4 points, which is just enough to give me a solid chance of getting accepted to a second tier school like UH. I will definitely need to not only improve my test-taking skills but a little luck to pull this off. Make that a lot of luck. Today, while I was strolling through Hilo Town shopping for Ron's birthday gifts, a man, sitting on a concrete divider wall with his buddy, shouted out a hearty "aloha" to me as I walked by. I didn't know him and he didn't know me. He was just being friendly. I returned the greeting. That was nice. The aloha spirit is alive and well. I'll take a few pictures downtown tomorrow en-route to o...

On Tuesday, I was asked at the winery if I would mind a schedule change. "Could I," they asked," work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rather than Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday?" "Sure," I said. "That's no problem." "Great," they said. "That would help us out a lot." They said they'd let me know when the schedule change would take effect. Today, just two days later, after extensive deliberations among the "managers" I was pulled aside and told that, due to the financial situation at the winery, all part timers would be restricted to two days per week. My days would be reduced to Tuesday and Thursday only. Gee? I wonder why that is? Maybe because three days bumps an employee up to enough hours to qualify for health care coverage? Ironically, I am the only part timer who's been working that much, so I am the only one who loses that coverage. I've only had the coverage for one month so I guess it's no gre...

The lava has returned to Pu'u O'o on Kilauea. It's not flowing to the ocean, but it can be seen in the crater. Click here to see the lava live via the USGS Live Webcam. If you log on after dark (that's after dark in Hawaii, of course) you can really see the ribbons of lava. We’ve gotten a bit jumpy here in the rainforest. Now, every time a dog barks, Ron shouts, “Is it pigs? Is it pigs?” Oddly, it never is. Or maybe it is, but by the time we go out to look, they're gone. I’ve been seeing tell-tale signs of the pigs around the neighborhood. They leave strange trails where they’ve rooted up the ground along the sides of the roadway in search of worms, roots and grubs. They've returned to the yard, too. The other night, I took a stroll down the driveway in the dark with a flashlight. I was listening for coquis. The battery in my light failing and the light was dimming. As I listened to the frogs chirping, “co-QUI, co-QUI,” I heard a “snorty snorty snort" in ...

Happy Independence Day!There are people here in the Hawaiian Islands for whom true independence would mean a return to sovereignty. It's a vocal faction and I actually believe their ranks are growing. Not that it's likely the United States will ever revoke Hawaii's statehood. A symbol of support for the sovereignty movement is the Hawaii state flag (formerly the flag of the Republic of Hawaii) flown upside down. For some, it's less about sovereignty and more about spreading the fundamental understanding of how Hawaii became a US Territory. It was an illegal overthrow of the Queen (Hawaii was a constitutional monarchy by 1993, the year she was removed from the thrown) by American businessmen, supported by the US marines with the US government looking the other way. Plenty of folk have been stewing about it ever since. The late 1970s mark what's called the Hawaiian renaissance, a resurgence of Hawaiian cultural pride and an interest in understanding the true history o...

Have I mentioned I have a toe-a- noma ? OK I'll admit that would be an exaggeration . What I have is a funky toenail. It all started a couple of years ago when I bruised it running. After that, I somehow managed to stub it pretty badly once or twice. Then Doc, the wonder dog, stepped on it before it had the chance to heal. The end result was a toenail that rebelled. A year or so ago it began to grow funny. It separated from my toe, developing a very high, vertical ridge in the middle. It was as though two continents, in the form of the two sides of my toenail, collided and formed the Himalayas upon my largest left digit. It became thick and looked a little gnarly. All that trauma apparently made it susceptible to (yikes!) a fungus! Can you imagine? Fungus growing here, in the rain forest ? On MY toe? Anywho , I finally broke down and went to see a foot doctor. He confirmed a mild fungal infection and said I had two options. One was to take an oral medication called Lamisil (Th...

This little piggy dug a coffee tree. This one uprooted a tangerine. This little piggy went wee wee wee wee all the way through the yard without the dogs barking one yip. Yes, we have pigs. This time, it's not just a handful. It's a whole extended family. There are mommy and daddy pigs, uncle and auntie pigs, plenty of baby pigs and probably even a grandma and grandpa pig. They are wreaking havoc on our yard. Ron was frantic the other day. They had toppled several coffee trees and plowed up the turf big time. They got into his corn and rooted around two small citrus trees. They came right up to the back lanai, to within about 10 feet. The dogs didn't notice. They bark at every other phantom noise they hear, but when there's a real invader, they just snooze away. So we've now replanted the toppled trees and put some quick fencing around them to deter those snorty omnivores. I think I prefer the occasion bear in my trash. Trash is trash. Coffee trees cost money. The ...

The big news around here is being referred to by geologists as "Episode 56." Last Sunday, Kilauea summit began to do a little shaking. (Kilauea is the mountain from which the current volcanic eruption is spewing.) Apparently, they experienced some 200 or so small earthquakes, one after another, starting at about 2:30 a.m. and lasting all day. I say "they" because we didn't experience a thing. We're very close to Volcanoes National Park, where all the shaking occured, so the quakes must have been tiny. We always feel the bigger ones. Anyway, scientists and park officials felt something was up, so they evacuated all the campers from the park and closed it. It's the first time the park has been closed in a decade. Pu'u O'o, the vent from which the lava has flowed for the past 10 years all the way to the ocean, had stopped. The crater floor and edges began to collapse. In the photo above you can see that what was once a circular crater has sprouted w...

Tis the season to eat lychee. I actually shot a couple of pictures myself of lychee purchased at the market yesterday, but for some reason, my technology failed. So I stole these from wikipedia. Driving through Hilo, you can see the trees everywhere, laden with fruit. What does it taste like? Hmmmmm... That's kind of like asking what peaches taste like or apples. They taste like peaches and apples. Lychee tastes like lychee. It's sweet and juicy with it's own unique flavor. They taste a little like a rambutan, if that helps. When I was growing up, we heard of something called a lychee nut, with the word pronounced leechee . I think the nut part comes from the appearance of the seed, which you can see looks like a nut, but to my knowledge nobody eats that part. Here, it's pronounced lie-chee . I spent a few hours at the library yesterday. I actually love the Hilo library. At it's center is a landscaped courtyard. The walls on the courtyard side... well, there are n...

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 (...

Wow! The power of blogging is awesome! Just write a little ditty about a drought and viola! Rain! The big news here in Hawaii is all the critics talking stink about Michelle Wie . It's really quite amazing. Shoots. The girl is only 17 years old. People are saying she's washed up. Her best golf is behind her. Huh? She's a kid. A very talented kid who has yet to hit her prime. Do I think she should be competing against the men just yet? In my opinion, she should stick to the LPGA until she's got more professional experience. But what do I know. I'm just a hacker. She's earned $20 million, so maybe she and those advising her know what they're doing. Last night, I caught the end of a documentary on Mauna Kea and the "development" at the top of that sacred peak. There are oodles of telescopes up there, plus a bunch of support buildings. Supporters say that astronomy is a clean industry and the knowledge gained atop Mauna Kea is of great value to al...

Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.... I'd love to tu-u-u-u-u-u-u-urn You-u-u-u-u-u-u- o-o-o-o-o-o-on..... Woke up... got outa bed....dragged a comb across my head..... It's official. We are now in the midst of a drought . Farmers and ranchers are struggling to water crops and livestock. The average homeowner who lives outside the city limits is also struggling, since they, like we, rely on the rain to keep our water tanks full. As you drive the highway, you see water delivery trucks going everywhere. I talked to a lady at the Laundromat today who was told that the she'd have to wait three weeks for water. They're just that busy. So there I was, sitting at a picnic table waiting for my laundry, when I overheard a worker at the True Value in Volcano (it's adjacent to the Laundromat ) ask a passerby if she knew the cause of the blackout and how long it might last. Blackout? (Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?) I popped off the bench and hustl...

The vines are leafing out at the winery. Be careful what you wish for. It might come true. I've been wishing for the sun to shine for more than two days in a row for some time now. It's been sunny, warm and relatively dry for nearly two weeks now. So now I'm getting worried about our water supply. The tank is down to the last third. To combat this, I have adopted that venerable Fokker's mantra: If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. If this keeps up, I may have to hit the laundrimat soon. If we get really low, we can order water but then we can't brag about getting our water for free anymore. The lack of rain is starting to have a visible impact. Today, there was a huge line at the public county spigot in Kurtistown, which is right on the highway. The county had spigots all around the island for people to fill containers for drinking water. They do this because there are so many people who rely on catchment systems. It's not genera...

Once in a blue moon. By one definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. It didn't look very blue to me tonight, but I shot a picture of it anyway. I watched the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee tonight. Now that's entertainment! Really! I mean it! It's actually great to see these smart kids getting treated like star athletes or rock stars. They are amazing and make me feel hopeful for the future of humankind. As I watched these 12 and 13 year old kids spelling words like zoilus , paronomasia and schuhplattler , I just kept thinking they should post some fine print at the bottom of the screen imploring fans, "Don't try this at home. These are trained professionals." I was on the edge of my seat. Seriously! (By the way, spell-check highlighted each of those words above. See? They're too hard for spell check. Seriously!) Today was screamin ' busy at the winery. I think it was a record sales day with over $5000 in gross sale...

The other day Ron spotted the neighbor over the fence and offered him one of our giant cabbages. We certainly have plenty, after all, and have shared with two other neighbors as well. This neighbor, a Hawaiian, had a gift in return: two bags of freshly smoked pork! Onolicious ! It's really good just dipped in the sweet-hot Hickory Farms mustard we got for Christmas. Giving and sharing whatever you have is a strong part of Hawaiian culture. Once, at the airport, I commented on how nice a woman's lei smelled. She smiled and gave it to me. What a lovely custom. Not all cultural practices and customs are created equal, however. There was a front page article in the paper today about the impact of a new federal law making cock fighting a felony. Cock fighting is technically illegal in Hawaii, but it's fairly prevalent here, especially in the Filipino community. Arguments in favor of cock fighting in the paper came from frustrated chicken owners who feel their culture, customs...

They say that home ownership is the American dream. It's a bit more like a nightmare at times if you ask me. Sometimes, I really do pine for the good ol ' days, when any malfunction whatsoever could be fixed with a call to the landlord. We have a pipe that leads into our utility room and pump. That pipe is firmly embedded, ensconced and totally stuck in sidewalk cement outside. It is also PVC, which isn't supposed to be exposed to the elements. But it is, cuz copper costs plenny kala and we've pretty much concluded that our house was a no frills kind of construction project. Anyway, the pipe coming up from the cement elbows at a right angle then goes through a hole in the siding and into the utility room. Several weeks ago, I heard a hissing sound coming from what I thought were our gas tanks, located right next to the pipe. At first I thought it was a gas leak. Yikes. Thankfully, it was not. Instead, the elbow in the pipe had sprung a tiny leak and was misting wat...