Mountains and Islands

Ron has a new word.  He heard it on CNBC Friday and decided to try it out on me today.  "Oh don't be so pejorative ," he said.  "Here, can you help me with this pejorative project?" And, "I'm feeling a little pejorative.  Can you get me a beer?"  It became clear after he said it about a dozen times that he really didn't know what it meant.  So we looked it up.  It's not an everyday word in everyday America, after all.  Now we know. Friday night we attended a very unique party, thrown by our neighbors, Cam and Elia .  I'm not too sure of the spelling of her name.  Cam is a biology professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo with a specialty in genetics.  They have two maniacal border collies that bark themselves into a frenzy whenever the poochies and I walk by.  Anyway, every year, Cam invites his graduate students to a bash to kick off the school year.  Neighbors and assorted friends are also invited.  That's where we came in....

They had shaved a small patch of hair from her front leg.  It's where the technicians had inserted her I.V. line.  My sweet Hoppsy had one tooth pulled Monday and the rest of them cleaned.  I hated leaving her there.  I tried to tell her I'd be right back.  It would just be a few hours.  She would be home again that afternoon.  But she didn't understand.  Worse, I dropped her off, but had to work that day so Ron picked her up.  That's always how it goes.  I'm the bad guy, he's the hero.   The good news is that she came through her ordeal just fine and is loving the all-wet food she's been getting.  It's back to the crunchy stuff tomorrow. We have lost yet another employee at the winery.  My friend Mandy is moving on.  Today is her last.  She's worked there for nearly five years and has recently scored a position at Macy's, hocking cosmetics.  It's the perfect job for her.  She's a girly girl who is always put together perfectly.  I will...

There are lots of rocks atom Mauna Kea , way up there at 13,796 feet.  There's also a lake very near the summit.  It's called Lake Waiau . (Pronounced wy -ow)  Ancient eruptions from summit cinder cones deposited fine particles that lay like a thin layer of cement in the bottom of a depression, making it leak-proof.  The depression filled first with with glacial ice melt.  Yes, believe it or not, there were glaciers on Mauna Kea 30,000 years ago.  Today, annual snow melt and rainfall keep the lake from going dry. The only things that live in the lake are algae and bacteria, both of which have evolved to generate their own natural protection against solar radiation in order to survive the intensity of the sun's rays at this elevation.  The air is definitely thin up there.  I could feel it before we got out of our vehicles.   Here, you see the Keck telescopes, the twins as they are called, against the perfect blue sky.  When these and the earlier telescopes were built on ...

OLYMPICS!   Yay !  I love the Olympics.  The opening ceremonies were spectacular and I have high hopes for a peaceful, competitive and entertaining games.   Closer to home, Crawford got a hair cut the other day.  We trimmed her cute ears and snipped away her shaggy butt fur so as to avoid too many cling- ons .  This photo's a little blurry, but isn't she the cutest?   The winery was slow and quiet until the last hour of the day today, when the whole world came in.  Many tasted, some purchased, but few tipped.  What's going on, people?  I teach visitors cool local phrases like okole maluna (bottoms up) and pau hana (happy hour 0r work is finished).  I make jokes about there being no macadamia nuts in the Macadamia Nut Honey Wine because the nuts make the wine too crunchy.  I share the knowledge that our Guava Wine makes the perfect accompaniment to Spam.  People laugh.  They think it's great.  I'm entertaining. I'm funny.  I'm informative.  I tell them t...

It's been so nice the last several days that I really have nothing to complain about.  Oh sure, I could probably find plenty to justify a good whine, but I just don't feel like it.  Tonight, Ron brought home some Coronas and after I poured mine into a frosty mug from the freezer, I noticed him trudging into the back yard.  So I shouted for him to please toss me a lime.  He picked one off the tree and underhanded the lovely, tangy green orb right up to me over the railing of the lanai.  Now that's livin '.   Lately, I've taken to singing a little ditty from Uncle Albert (Paul McCartney) to Crawford whenever I take her for a walk in her sling.  She can't hear me, but I sing to her anyway.  Her back legs hang, so I have to be sure to keep them from dragging.  The other day there I was, singing, " Weedle weedle , little Crawford get around (get around), get your feet up off the ground, weedle weedle get around.... "What are you singing?"  Ron asked...

Ode to Wild Wilburs Four youngster piggies came into our yard We saw them coming close and we tried real hard To shoo them all away before they did their deed But they toppled coffee trees with tremendous speed With broom in hand, Ron ran, yelled and swung We couldn't bear to shoot them, they were so young They may have been piglets, but their noses dug well enough to do damage, I'm writing here to tell When the pigs get bigger, all bets are off The oinkers will be braver, at us they will scoff  So instead of just a broom, a .22's sting Or a giant metal trap might be just the thing Poor poor piggies, they're just trying to eat Everybody wants them, to smoke their meat A bounty's on their head, they're always on the run When one yard gets to dicey , they find another one Yes, the pigs returned with a vengeance tonight. They did topple one tree and were getting set to do what they do when we spotted them in the twilight.  Scat! Cute little buggahs .  Not for lon...

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 an...

We cracked open Ron's birthday present today and christened it with a batch of chicken wings.  It's a fancy shmancy deep fryer with temperature control and a metal basket.  Uptown!  Lucy is now enjoying the box.  Here she is, relaxing.  It's really her house.  We just live here. Today I totally mistook two Kona residents for Punatics .  I could have sworn they were Punatics . I even asked them, "So, are you two visiting from Pahoa ?"  Shoots, cuz .  They looked like 'em. They dressed like 'em.  They smelled like 'em.  It just goes to show you, you can't judge a book by its cover.  It also goes to show you there are pockets of Punatic -like folk all over Hawaii Island.  With the possible exception of Waikaloa , a.k.a Haole -wood.   Here in Hawaii, it's not uncommon to hear cute little ditties on the radio singing about local foods.  There's a very popular song called Fish and Poi, with a chorus that goes like this: I like fish and poi I...

Meet Finn.  He is the adorable mascot of a shop called Suzi's Woollies in downtown Anchorage.  I just couldn't resist shooting his picture, especially since he was so kind as to pose for me.  Here on the island, I'm already back to work at the winery.  With one employee out on short paternity leave and another who up and quit, the place is limping along with a skeleton crew.  I'm picking up extra shifts this week. With any luck, they will need me less next week.  I have oodles of reading and writing to do.  Power was out for two hours this morning.  We were forced to process our sales transactions manually at the winery.  It's amazing how technology spoils you.  Wouldn't you know it, we were actually busy early on, so I was writing receipts like a maniac.  Amazingly, they were all accurate. My arithmetic and hand calculated tax matched the computer-register when the power came on and I could actually enter them into the system.  Thank you to the sisters at Queen...

It's funny how you can feel nostalgic about a place after just a short time there.  Of course, it's rarely just the place that tugs at your heartstrings.  It's the memory of the people you knew and the experiences you had.  I have great affection for Los Angeles, despite the fact that it is, for most intents and purposes, one giant, exhaust-shrouded, sun-scorched, cement covered mass of urban confusion.  How could such a place make a person feel all warm and fuzzy?  But it does.  I also love the tiny town of Solvang , San Francisco, Denver, Gunnison of course and, harking way back, Portland.   Hilo gives me a little tingle every time I emerge from the airplane and into the warm, damp air, where it smells like flowers and coconut oil and the sea.  I discovered some feelings of nostalgia for the University of Anchorage campus today.  That surprised me.  After all, wasn't I just put through the ringer here, sleep deprived, brain tissue soaked and then wrung out like a w...

Moose, mountains and moo cows.  I've seen some!   Yay !  I was getting nervous that there was nothing more than ugly buildings and pretty trees in Alaska and that all those majestic peaks and  grand rivers were a myth perpetuated by the Chamber of Commerce.  Today a small group of ready-to-get-off-this-campus-no-matter-whats climbed into a mini-bus and headed for the hills.  Our first stop was a sustainable farm owned by Alaska Pacific University and operated by a small family who, if you like building and growing stuff, landed the perfect jobs for themselves.  It was cold and raining, but that did not dampen our enthusiasm for this outing. We spent some time in a toasty yurt, warmed by a crackling wood stove.  There, we ate box lunches (mine was a ham and cheese croissant ), listened to the merits of sustainable agriculture and a little poetry.  Then we meandered around - though no for long - before shuttling off to a place called Hatcher Pass.  At the summit, there's an old ...

Today I was workshopped .  That's what they call it around here when it is your piece of writing that's being shredded to pieces.  Actually, it's a very good, constructive process and as a new writer I found it extremely helpful.  Yes, you heard me right.  Or read me right, anyway.  I'm a new writer.  New to fiction, anyway.  I've never had any formal creative writing instruction.  It's all been academic and journalistic.  This is different.  Yesterday, I attended a presentation on a form of Poetry called Ghazal .  It is a poetic form of Arabic origins, but became popular all over the middle east over many centuries and eventually throughout western Europe.  Like many formal, poetic forms, it mandates certain parameters. Each Ghazal begins with a lament.  Each two-line stanza must stand alone.  There is a specific rhyming scheme with the last word or several words matching in each stanza.  Finally, Ghazal requires the author of the poem to include his or her n...

Here I sit in the West Residence Hall at the University of Alaska Anchorage.   Rainforest blog, you say?  Well, a girl's gotta get off the rock sometimes.  I guess I've been off the rock more times in the past few years than most get off in a lifetime.  Hey...it's kept me sane. After just over a day in the beautiful city of Seattle with my most fantastic of friends Gail and Janine, I found my way through the air to the last frontier.  We had a short but pleasant visit in Seattle.  Janine is training to hike Mt. Whitney so we walked.  And walked.  And walked some more.  As we walked after dinner on a quest to find the shore of Lake Union, we happened upon a Mexican restaurant.  It's not where we ate.  But the fact that we found it right when we did was truly a miracle.  I had eaten a few too many Ranier cherries at the Pike St. Market earlier that day and it was just then, at that very moment in time that they decided to kick and do their colon blowing thing.  So I jus...

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 whist...

I called Advocats , as promised, where a representative referred me to a woman in Mountain View, who in turn referred me to another woman in Volcano. This woman's name, if you can believe it, is Cat Killum . No lie. Anyway, Cat is a very compassionate person who cares for the critters. She runs a cat shelter at her house. This woman know all about the cat family at the transfer station. She was elated with my call, because she's never gotten a message regarding the cats in which the caller actually offered to help her. She told me she is already feeding the cats. There are, in fact 12 living there that she knows of at this particular dump, along with two very shy dogs. She does not feed them near the dumpsters where people can see her, the food or the animals. She asked me not to feed them there, either. She had very good reasons. Cat explained that if people see food, they know that some one's feeding the animals and view it as a good place to dump their own u...

Today was positively spectacular.  It was just how paradise is suppose to be.  I got up early to shop the Volcano Village farmers' market. If you don't get there by 7:30 or 8:00, a lot of the most ono grinds are sold out.  On my way, I stopped to drop off some trash and recycling at the transfer station.  That's how we do it here.  No garbage service.  Just chuck your smelly bags into the trunk of your car and off to the dump.  It's not bad really.  Regardless of which way you're headed, there's a transfer station on your way.  When I arrived at the Volcano station, I backed up to the dumpster as usual.  When I got out to open the back of the truck, I noticed a mommy kitty and two babies curled up on a rock nearby.  "Ah," I heard myself say out loud .  No matter.  They were the only ones who could hear me.  Mommy looked asleep, but I think she was watching me through squinted eyes, the way cats do.  I lifted two bags out of the truck and flung them in...

Hilo now has what may be the weirdest radio station in the known universe. KHBC is actually a pretty old station, but was previously broadcast only on the AM dial. Now, it's comes into my car via FM signal. Better yet, Kahikina and Lyman, two of my faves from KAPA (and two of the most well known radio personalities on the island), recently defected from their old digs and are now part of the evening drive time, Pau Hana Party show on KHBC . They share the mics with a gal named Pohai . Initially, I wasn't too keen on Pohai , thinking Lyman (formerly one of the boloheads on KAPA) and Kahikina (aka Tommy Ching , the Polynesian Pirate) could handle the show quite nicely on their own. Now, however, I see that she really adds zaniness. In fact, she's hilarious. Pohai has the perfect female radio voice, deep, a little raspy yet uniquely feminine. I like her. KHBC is strange because the station's musical offerings are all over the map. They might play a classi...

I was saddened yesterday to learn of the passing of Tim Russert. With the sorry state of mainstream journalism today, we can ill afford to lose one as brilliant and dedicated as Tim. I can only hope that those he mentored will carry the torch for us all. What a brilliant, yet extremely cool guy. It's funny. Russert was always amazed that he, a simple (albeit genius) boy from Buffalo, was able to hold court with presidents and popes. There are plenty of people out there lucky to have held court with him, too. I would love to have spent just half an hour with him over a beer and some wings at the Anchor Bar. Kudos to NBC for their fantastic tribute to their friend, mentor and colleague last night. After hearing that news, plus the stories of the boy scouts killed by a tornado, yesterday morning was a real tear jerker. I think about my dad, who loved politics, and I think about Tim Russert, who was the voice of American politics, and I feel badly that they are going to miss the ...

I went to the doctor on Monday. Not because I'm really sick or anything. I just finally found one to take me, so went in for an initial checkup and to schedule a physical down the road. Ironically, I did come down with my second cold in as many months last Friday and am still fighting the clog. But I had made the appointment several weeks ago, so I went anyway, even though I was taking a risk that my new doctor would think I had actually come in for a cold. Who goes to the doctor with a cold? What do I look like, a total weenie? Anyway, so what did I learn? (Channel you inner Michael Jackson now....) I learned I'm fat, I'm fat, I'm really really fat, you know I'm fat, I'm fat, you know it..... Ah but my blood pressure is a screemin ' amazin ' 110 over 70. Alrighty then. I'll take that any day. I'm going for a blood test, maybe tomorrow morning, to check my thyroid and a few other things. Seems that's something women of a certain ...

Ron has a cold. The poor guy is miserable. This his morning, he called in sick - to himself, of course - and chose to stay in bed. Abby and I have taken over his office. We're blogging, getting chin scratches and watching our local morning show rather than streaming stock prices and CNBC . Abby sits on the desk blocking about half my view of the screen. I don't mind. He's a sweet boy. So it seems the local boy will be democratic nominee for president. He's over-the-top popular here, and there are plenty of testimonials from people who say they always knew he was destined for greatness. I wonder if he speaks any pidgin. Anybody born and raised here should. It would be totally cool if, instead of addressing a crowd as "fellow Americans," he would come out with an enthusiastic, " Howzit ! How you stay? Da polls goin ' be choke fo vote da local boy, yeah?" I've been called in to work a bunch more hours at the winery this week and ne...