life in the old lane

Most everyone knows that Carlton had 41 years in AA. So, I know a little about the grand daddy 12 step program. I am powerless over the impending 

1. I am powerless over the impending geopolitical trainwreck. Not my circus – not my monkeys.
2. Just say no to CNN, HUFFPOST, MSNBC… Treat them like FOXNEWS. They are all toxic to me. 
3. Remove all “Alerts” from devices. 
4. Use the local Honolulu news. If anything really important (like a giant asteroid) happens they will mention it. And, if it is a giant asteroid – it will be news because it will make for great surfing. 
5. Counteract every five minutes of Facebooking with five minutes of Zen Sitting. Because, Facebook scatters my mind. 
6. At least 30 minutes of yoga every day. No excuses. 
7. No “windows hopping” at online stores. Just a waste of time. Retail therapy isn’t working for me on this one. 
8. Make one origami model every day and master a new one every week. Just because.
9. Avoid nonfiction. It would be too easy to accidentally pick up some scary historical parallel. Hell, even Thucydides is scary: “What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta.”
10. Read fiction. Any kind fiction. Chick Lit, Sci-Fi, the Classics. It doesn’t matter. I must achieve reality escape velocity. 
11. Don’t get mad. Don’t get depressed. Either ignore the bastards. Or get even. If I just sputter around like a mad wet cat or sulk around like a sea cucumber – they win and I lose. I haven’t decided which tack to take. I am a little too old – notice that hand up top – to really get even. So, for now… They don’t exist. 
12. But, don’t count me out – you never know when when Aunty Peg will start settin’ the woods on fire. 

So, no more politics. Until I figure out what I can do to change anything at all – I will be in ostrich mode. 

Been cold and rainy all day. I have been in the room. Reading. Folding paper. Doing yoga. And, paying for peaking at Facebook by Zen Sitting. Life is good.

Dinner – maybe a meatloaf sandwich. With the last of the papayas. Oh wait – I never showed you the papaya did I? 

Nice sunny day here. Rather a lot of chop this morning so, more than a few canoes flipped. Lots of family and friends out watching today. Good fun. And a good chance to work with the not loved long lens. Once again – the monopod makes all the difference. 

All that chop made the for poor fish photography. But, I still had a nice swim. 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep politics out of my brain. I fear we are on the brink of losing our democracy. I don’t believe the Constitution and our revered “Checks and Balances” are going to hold. I feel bad about it. It is happening on my watch. And, I can not stop it. If I feel this bad… How does Obama feel?  

I still blame John McCain for all this. If he hadn’t pandered to the Tea Party by running the remarkably unqualified Ms Palin . . .    

As my Canadian, former East German, friend reminded me several times this winter: “We actually elected Hitler.” 

Not my circus. Not my monkeys. 

Dinner is going to be Meatloaf, avocado, pineapple and papaya again. It might be possible to make “meatloaf for one”, but I sure don’t know how. 

This guy is just plain creepy looking with vacant yellow eyes and buck teeth. Zombie Fish.

It started out cold and rainy today. But, by the time I got back from Safeway – the sun was out and I went for a swim. 

And that was about it for me for the day. 2 mile round trip trek to Safeway and 45 minutes of swimming. Spent the rest of the day lounging. Reading. And trying to not watch the trainwreck. And for a sideshow we have the state of North Carolina. I must remind besure to not invest in anything that has anything to do with North Carolina. And, to avoid all things North Carolina. No great sacrifice that I can see. Wait. I believe that Carlton was born in North Carolina. Not his fault. He gets a pass. 

To those of you who do not follow American politics – North Carolina elected a Democrat as governor earlier this week. So, the Republican controlled state house stipped the govenor of all power. I suppose it is legal. But it sure isn’t right. 

Remind self. You are old. You did your part. You actually voted. There isn’t anything you can do. Chill. 
Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

Meatloaf with avocado, papaya and pineapple on tap for dinner today. 

I notice that it is 17° back at the asylum. So, I shall not complain, not one little bit, about it being a chilly and rainy 69° here. I am just happy that I have some lentil soup, which will make a fine dinner. And, instead of a cold beer – I’ll have a little warm sake and be grateful for the 52 degrees of separation.

No complaints about the day. Cleaned up the “office” part of my room. Made plans for Xmas Dinner. Ordered a last minute gift to take to said dinner from Amazon. “Scanned”, using Scanner Pro app on my iPad, all of the important documents that were forwarded from the asylum. Before the rain started, I went to the farm market for avocados. I reviewed my finances. And, I notice that I will be getting less from Social Security next year than this year. Medicare payment went up. 

Oh, and I made origami fish while listening to a book. I think a could make an Escher type thing with these fishes. But, these fishes are going to be little Xmas ornaments. 

Resolve to stop thinking about anything political. Let us see, what would Carlton say? “Hello, my name is Peg and I am powerless over politics.”  Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

This Christmas wrasse is from yesterday’s snorkel. I always try to get a picture or two of this colorful fish between Thanksgiving and Xmas. It isn’t easy to photograph because it hangs out in the surge zone. I was zipping over these rocks, going where the water wanted me to go, trying to keep myself off the rocks when the wrasse came swimming along. Just point and shoot. The christmas wasse, like most wasses, can change sex. This would be a “terminal” or “super” male. 

Fine glorious clear sunny breezy perfect day today. 

Went for a walk. Then to the grocery for some sliced turkey – because I was very bored with cheese or peanut butter sandwiches. Then a nice long snorkel out in the bay. Today, I was trying to take a picture of a pinktail triggerfish. Just because. 

This is the best one. But, it has to share the stage with the yellowtangs. The pinktail triggerfish is just cute. I don’t think it is good for anything besides being cute. I took 185 pictures in an hour and came away with 5 keepers – max. Thank goodness for digital. 

Wish I could think of something optimistic about the coming trainwreck. If Carlton were here – he would say “The Republic survived Warren Harding”. Yes, but in 1921, I think that Russia was still trying to get things sorted out after the Revolution. And, I am sure that we didn’t have nuclear weapons in 1921. One way or the other – there will be blood in the streets before this is over. And, then Carlton would say – “Well, the confirmation hearings will be great theater, anyhow”. However, the Dems in Congress had best start getting ready to rumble. 

Carlton was the family optimist. I am the realist. We knew each other so well that I can still have whole conversations with him. 

Not my circus, not my monkeys. 

I am learning, ever so slowly, what the cheap long lens can do. Especially if I take the monopod along.

The plan was to “catch up” on the paperwork today. Well, I really haven’t. “Catch up” just precipitated more paperwork. And of course, I get distracted along the way…

Like – I have to go for a swim. Then I have to look a pictures. Oh, and I have to take a nap. And, there is the time that I spend ranting – mostly to myself – about the incoming administration. 

So, now a couple of pictures from today’s swim.

The Saddle Wrasse, like other wrasses, change sex. This one is a male. He started life as a female and changed into a male. Females that change sex to become males have a white bar behind the red saddle. These guys are known as “terminal males” and they are dominant territory holders maintaining a harem of females.

The humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa is a rather uninteresting triggerfish. In olden days, it wasn’t much prized for food. But, it was used as fuel. “Hey, honey while you’re up – throw another fish on the fire”. 

Speaking of fish. I ran out of origami fish. So, that is more paperwork. 

The reason that I didn’t see the sun this morning is that there wasn’t any sun to see. 

Happy to report that I seem to have returned to “normal” today. I think the underlying cause of my symptoms was not some new bad thing – but my long standing sinus issues. And, I know that I had gotten a lot of water in my ears over the last week. And, we had a lot of vog (volcano smog) late last week. Sudafed and Zyrtec are on the menu!

Decades ago, I worked on the HC&S sugar plantation in Maui. Today, they hauled the last load of cane to the mill in Puunene. The mill will close next week. And that will be it for sugarcane in Hawaii. 

Today I went to the Xmas Tea at Hulihe’e Palace. The problem with “Tea” is that it is “Tea” and not “Coffee”. But, they had mimosas. 

I noticed that there was a guy at the tea. So, I put myself next to him. Turns out that he is Kaimana Barcarse, one of the crew of the Hōkūleʻa. He has served as educator, captain, and navigator. Last winter he was on the leg that went through the Indian Ocean to South Africa. His job that pays the rent is with Kamehameha Schools. 

Both of the boat photos were taken from my lanai – using the long lens that I don’t like so very much. But, I have to add – it takes much better pictures when I use my new old monopod. (THANKS TRUDE)

Little old lady victories:

1. Getting a jar of salsa opened without having to get one of the maintenance guys to help.
2. Figuring out how to use one of the many “features” of my rubber watch. It does a bunch of things – besides telling the date and time. I have learned how to use the stopwatch feature. And, I might try to figure out the alarm feature. Except, I know how the alarms work on my iPad and cell phone. 

1500 days until the Presidential Inauguration January 20, 2021. I was assured by a Trump supporter today that “Things will be fine”. Sure. Roger that.

Tomato soup and cheese sandwich coming up for dinner. 

And yes I was glad to see the sun come up. But, not because it has been raining for a week. Because, last night, while watching the Xmas Parade, I had a serious presyncope episode.  Which is medical mumbo jumbo for damn near fainted right out on the street. Most unpleasant and more than a little scary. I continue to feel a little punk today.

Guess this is just another of nature’s ways of reminding me that I am getting to the last act. 

Oh, so what did I do? Well, I made my way back to my room. Took my BP. It was low for me – but not extremely low.  Had some tea. Had some dinner. Found my Medicare/Insurance cards. Just in case I had to 911 it. Decided to skip my BP pill. Worried some. Went to bed with a book. 

Today: I stayed close to home. Did not go swimming. Nevermind that it was sunny. Made an effort to eat 3 “good” meals. Drank water. Took a couple of Sudafeds. Went to Xmas Concert at the Palace, but decided to watch the Boat Parade from my lanai. And, I resisted the temptation to have a beer. I did take my BP drugs. 

And, I wished that I was back at the asylum, where I could just call the nurse. Instead, I had to be the nurse.  

The Xmas Concert was sort of sad. I didn’t stick around afterward to see if anyone else noticed. 

Very few in the audience. And very few singers and dancers. Guess age is catching on the old Palace gang too. But, the grass has enjoyed all the rain! And, it isn’t being trampled by too many people. 

 

The school was still hanging around – but a bit out in the “boat area”. Some divers were following me out. I hoped they had good lights with them – but no luck. Oh well, you shoot what you get with what you have.

Spotted fat fish.

Another spotted fat fish.

These are two of my favorite fish. In pictures, they look pretty much alike. But the spotted boxfish is tiny while the spotted puffer can be quite large – a foot maybe. This one was 6 inches max. 

They are very different – the boxfish has a skeleton that keeps it box shaped. While the puffer puffs itself up. This is it’s normally puffed size/shape. It can puff into an almost perfect ball shape. 

And, I saw a little eel today. But, it was on a mission and didn’t stop for a photo. 

Christmas Parade tonight. Hope it doesn’t rain on our parade.

Another cloudy damp cool day. I spent most of the day making origami fish and listening to an audiobook. No problem with that.

I was going to walk to Target this morning – but – the street and sidewalk was closed. Some sort of bomb scare. The street/sidewalk was closed until a bomb guys could get over here from Honolulu. Think it was a false alarm. Didn’t hear any explosions. 

Took the “underwater” camera with me on my walk today. 

This property is sort of overboard on  “thou shalt not” signage.

And … I think this is the last one. 

It is an incredible indictment of the coming dark ages, when the best news today is that John Glenn died. Once we went to the moon. Now, in 43 days, our country will be run by a bunch of billionaires who don’t believe in science.  And, barring impeachment or some sort of Electoral College nullification, we are stuck with that circus and those monkeys for another 1504 days. Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

What a strange day? I was 1/2 way through my walk. Perched on a rock. Watching the ocean. When my phone starts telling me “Tsunami Possible”… But, I didn’t hear the sirens – so I sort of ignore it. When I get back to the hotel, I do plug in all my toys – just in case. But, soon – “they” decide – no tsunami today. So, I start my laundry.

Then, I get a phone message – the akule school is within easy swimming range and more important – near a specific buoy.  But, I still have to finish my laundry. And, it is cold and cloudy.

Remembering Carlton’s advice: Just Shut up, Suit up and Show up… I was the only person in the ocean. I had my own private ocean. Well, I had to share it with a whole bunch of fish.

The big fish are amberjacks. They came for lunch.

Color correction is darn near impossible for these fish with my cheap camera and no sun – and I like black and white better anyhow.

When I got really cold and decided to come in – a dive boat showed up and all the paying customers jumped in. My fun was free. 

Dinner time. Tomato soup and cheese sandwich, I am thinking. Maybe with a nice beer. The best of kid and grown up.

Oh, and there was a little eel. Keeping a friendly eye on me.

 

Had a nice day. Walk. Swim. Eat breakfast. Ride up road. Crash the Four Seasons hotel. Visit Costco.

December 7th is taken a lot more seriously in Hawai’i than on the Mainland. When I lived here in the ’60s almost everyone “Remembered Pearl Harbor”. My husband worked at Pearl Harbor and many of the people he worked with had worked at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. This all makes me feel very old. I don’t “remember Pearl Harbor” – but – I remember people who did. 

Yesterday, I saw an eel. Whitemouth Moray. But, it wasn’t picture worthy. Just a continuation of my eel experience.

Today’s eel is photo worthy. I think he was maybe 2 feet long – max. 

Strangely – the Four Season’s Hotel wasn’t decorated for Xmas. Maybe folks who spend $1,000 and up (way up) for a room don’t want to rush the season. Or maybe Xmas isn’t one of the Four Seasons? So for today’s Holiday Photo – this fine old car was out front of Four Seasons.

Still in Not my circus, Not my monkeys mode about the upcoming  of administration  nevertheless I am underwhelmed with some (many?) of the appointments. 

Oh, I went to Costco. Because that is where the truck I was riding in was going. Costco is always a vaguely unsettling experience for me. There is SO MUCH. American excess to the max. But, I always enjoy the free samples.  

Gee, here it is dinner time. What will it be? Salad maybe? Or baked potato. Cheese and avocado sandwich? Choices. Make one.