Compared to the rest of the world our march was small. Maybe 1,000 women, men, girls and boys. Plus a few dogs. But, it’s size and Aloha spirit meant that the very young and the very old could participate.
Not a single professionally prepared sign. Very few pussy hats. I’d guess it is our weather that nixed the hats. But, Kate’s Mom knitted her own pussy hat.
I am glad it happened. And glad that I went. There are going to be many ugly days ahead. But, I can look back on this sunny Saturday afternoon and know that Aloha trumps Hate.
I have to believe that it is going to be OK. Fucking scarey, but in the end OK. But, the liberals among us are going to have to get our shit together. And that starts at the local level. Take back some states. And, due to the wonders of gerrymandering – that is going to be hard. And, if there are not enough of us liberals around to take back the local governments – well – then maybe our time is over. Maybe it is time to ride into the sunset and let the chips fall where they may. We can just dither away. We had a good run, but it will be completely over if we fail to recognize that the battle changed and we can not keep fighting the last war.
Remember – we survived Warren G Harding. Maybe Florence really did poison him.
Remember one of the most skillful politicians of the last century went from a landslide “All the Way with LBJ” victory to “Hey Hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today” in wink.
It ain’t going to be pretty boys and girls. But it sure is going to be interesting.
Got a fine (well, fine as can be with my camera) picture of the Achilles Tang. Haven’t been in the ocean in a few day, so, it was great to be back in the ocean. The Achilles Tang was just lagniappe.
Ringling Brothers Circus is closing down in May. They don’t have elephants any more and that means they don’t have customers anymore. But, I am thinking that they are closing down because there is only room for one circus in the USA, and that circus is opening in DC this Friday.
My Republican friends are chatting among themselves about boycotting the Oscars. I think this is like the circus. DC is now the entertainment capital of the world. So, not sure the Oscars really don’t matter.
Not my circus. Not my monkeys.
Chicken, rice and asparagus on tap for dinner tonight.
Mahukona so called Beach. There is no beach here. But it is very interesting. From 1881 until World War II, it was the terminus of the Hawaiian Railway. There was a sugar mill and it was a busy harbor.
Went up north today, to check out a wood carving exhibition. And to eat lunch. And to look for whales. Everything was good. But no whales. Not even a blow.
Getting it together. No, not my life! My trip back to east.
Room for 3 nights at Grand Canyon. Done
Train from Flagstaff to Washington DC. Done
Plane to San Diego. Done.
San Diego to Grand Canyon. Not Done.
Grand Canyon to Flagstaff. Not Done.
Room for 1 night in Flagstaff. Not Done.
Why San Diego, you might ask? Price. $190 from Kona to San Diego. $330 from Kona to Los Angeles. A no brainer. And if I want to actually end up in LA – well, nothing says I have to get on that plane from LA to San Diego. The hidden city ploy. But, for now, I am cool with going to to San Diego.
I let my apolitical shields down – and the coming darkness rushed in. I fear for the republic. It happened on my watch. Mea culpa. Enough said. Please, giant meteor – just do it. Just finish us off.
Planning the rest of the way back to the asylum. Still thinking about flying to LAX. Spend the day in LA. Once I get to Union Station in LA, there are lots of options for things to do, depending on how perky I feel after a night on the plane. Then 10 hours to Flagstaff on the train. In Flagstaff, catch a bus to Grand Canyon. Spend 3 nights in Grand Canyon. Bus back to Flagstaff. Spend night in Flagstaff. Back on train at 5:30AM one night to Chicago. Spend six hours in Chicago. Then on the train for one last night. Back to Union Station, DC. Then metro to metro center to pentagon. Bus to asylum in time for dinner. But, the only reservations that I have are for 3 nights in Grand Canyon.
Well, and there are a boatload of reservations about the future! There are reservations and reservations.
Rotisserie Chicken and rice was lunch. Maybe egg sandwich on tap for dinner.
Nice day. The waves showed up as promised. Vog still here, but it didn’t seem to trouble me too much. Got my 5 miles walking in just looking at waves. No swimming. But an hour of yoga. Aside: I have a friend who says she has “old skin”, well, after an hour of yoga – there is no doubt that I have “old ligaments”.
Thought about what I might do at Grand Canyon. The really wimpy “Rim Trail” is 13 miles long. I can do 1/2 of it one day and the other half the next day. Then I could do a small more challenging trail on the arrival or departure day. I can also read by the fireplace and drink hot chocolate.
No mules for me. They are big and smelly. And, if I train it back to the asylum – I don’t want to smell like a mule for 55 hours! Also, I’d need to get a pair of jeans. Not to mention shoes and a jacket. No mules.
Waves with boogie boarder
Dinner will be avocado and something. And, I’ll finish up the Grace Hopper book. Also, start a new audiobook. That will be my exciting Saturday night. Which is fine.
Rockmover Wrasse – I rarely see one at this location. From November 25.
It was still voggy and the ocean was still cloudy. But, I went out for my 30 minutes of ocean swimming. For no apparent reason, I took the camera. And, a found a cute little juvenile rockmover wrasse. Which I strange, because rarely if ever do I see any rockmover wrasses where I was swimming today. But, I did see one on November 25 – maybe – we now know what she was doing here.
juvenile rockmover wrasse – from today
The juveniles look like little fragments of seaweed. And, they flop around in the ocean like seaweed as well.
Big surf is predicted for tomorrow. High tide is at 5:30AM. We haven’t had any big surf on this side this winter. And, they haven’t had much surf on the north shores either. We might get 8 to 10 foot waves. The north shores maybe 30 footers.
Speaking of waves… One of our neighbor restaurants trimmed a tree, big time. Yesterday. When I was doing yoga, I realized that I could see more of the shoreline. In fact, I can actually see where I put Carlton. He’ll have a fine view of tomorrow’s waves – if they come.
Carlton”s Current Address – 19°38’21” N 155°59’40” W
No decisions have been made about how to get to the Grand Canyon and how to get home from the Grand Canyon. Occam’s Razor. It will be real easy to over complicate this.
Sort of a yucky day for me. We are having a stretch of vog (volcano fog) and I am one of the unfortunate souls troubled by even “moderate” vog. And the ocean was junky. I logged my 10,000 steps and did my yoga. And just took things easy. And the only photo is from my walk this morning.
Oh, what is vog? Vog is a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases and particles emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight. When we are lucky the tradewinds blow it away. When the tradewinds vanish – we get vog. This is the first day that I have really troubled by it this winter.
456 – that is how many pictures I took of surfers this morning. The waves were small. The surfers were not all that good. One looked bored. He might have been hanging wall paper. The other one was fat. Not all that uncommon… but this very white guy’s belly and butt kept peeking out of his shirt and shorts. And, the photographer wasn’t on her “A” game either – or I would have managed at least 1 keeper out of 456.
Grand Canyon is a go. Have to coordinate plane, train, bus and hotel. The hotel is the hardest part of the puzzle.
Availability at El Tovar
As you can see, there are not many days left. February was all full too. I have a room on March 1 and 2 and then I move to another room on March 3. Now, I just have to figure out how to get there. And out of the there. And back to the Asylum.
Conditions not favorable for photography today. So, here is one from yesterday – which gives another view of the akule school.
Pretty sure that I’ll stop off at the Grand Canyon (GRCA) on the way home. One of Carlton’s old college buddies said he and his lady spent 4 nights at GRCA last year. Which makes me rethink how long to stay.
Just have to smooth out the logistics and make reservations. Where trains, planes, and greyhound busses are involved reservations are not optional.
Oh, I find myself reading a real book. Well, the book isn’t real, but the subject matter is: a biography of Commander Hopper. “Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age”.
And that is about it from my very boring apolitical self.
