life in the old lane

I have just realized that I am getting down to my last couple of weeks here in Kona. A couple of weeks ago, when I got the ticket home, I made a going home “to do list”. Then, I promptly forgot that I was actually going to be heading east.

So –

I took a picture of my fantastic salad. I’ll try to remember it in a couple of months when all the veggies on the east coast have come from hundreds of miles away. This salad was all from Big Island – except for the raspberries. Raspberries from California are cheaper here than they are in Virginia – so – raspberries not tomatoes.

I know that several non-US folk read this blog. Thanks!… So, here is a little run up to the next topic.

In way too many parts of the United States way too many people are “armed and dangerous”. Three apparently upstanding Muslim young people were shot by Craig Hicks in Chapel Hill North Carolina last night. There were rumors that this was a hate crime against Muslims.

Now, let the rant begin… According to the Washington Post:

Later on Wednesday, Hicks’s wife insisted that the shooting was only due to parking arguments and not to any bigotry. “I can say with my absolute belief that this incident had nothing to do with religion or victims faith, but in fact was related to the long-standing parking disputes that my husband had with the neighbors.

Now, exactly how is killing three unarmed people over a parking space better than killing three unarmed people over religion?

Another note to non-US readers. Actually if the killing was over religion – that is a federal offense. Killing someone over a parking space is a state offense.

Which reminds me of one of Flip Wilson’s Reverend Leroy routines – Rev Leroy updated the 10 commandment – to include “Thou Shalt Not Kill – Unless they cut you off on the freeway”. BUT, HELLO, it was humor not how to live your life.

Found this fine old Ford at the old airport this morning. Gotta love anything that is older than I am that still works.

After a walk around the beach and the Maka’Eo Walking Path – it was off to the all day craft project to make a little turtle purse.

This is what the project is supposed to look like when it is done.

However, my turtle purse has a long way to go. Very long. Maybe even impossibly long. I refuse to be discouraged. I also think that my little hotel room is not a suitable for working on the turtle. SO, I boxed the turtle and all of it’s parts up. I’ll just send it back to Virginia. And work on it in my well lighted living room.

Note to Carlton: Yes, I will finish it. I do not need to hear about your first wife and her unfinished projects again. But, it might take 6 months. What say, I’ll try to get it done by the anniversary of your death. Not one day at a time … one bead at a time.

Winter here today. Not cold. Not even chilly. But windy with choppy sea. From my bed, I can see the mast light on the sailboat above – so – I can keep track of the weather all night long.

I went on a “fast” 3 mile walk this morning and then had a fine yoga class on the beach. Our teacher didn’t show up. But that didn’t stop the class. Just do it. I finished off my walking with another 2 miles at a stately pace. All this left me tired – so I took the afternoon off.

I lost my mind last week and signed up for an all-day craft class tomorrow. I think I am trying to get ready for the old ladies asylum. I have NEVER taken a craft class. I don’t do crafts. On the plus side – I went to pick up my class ticket – they gave me a nice little package the included some chocolate. That is a promising start. I’ll report on the class tomorrow.

Smart boaters move to any safe harbor they can access when the ocean gets crazy. The Kinikini was leaving anchorage and the second crew member swam out to the sailing canoe.

Note to Carlton: Your friend, Chris died on Saturday. He took roses to Harpers Ferry for you – I feel I should take roses to Gettysburg to honor him.

Nice little sunset yesterday in the village.

Had I nice day today. Frankly, I have had a lot of nice days here in Kona. I may have mentioned that for I while I was concerned that I wasn’t sufficiently bereaved. Whatever that means. Finally, I figured out that I was bereaved every single day from December 2, 2012 until October 3, 2014. I was shocked and surprised on October 3 when I found Carlton dead. But I wasn’t any sadder than I had been on October 2. As the shock wore off so did the sadness. I had prepaid my grieving.

Some random thoughts:

1. I hate washing dishes. I didn’t know I hated washing dishes because Carlton washed every single dish. Or he put them in the dishwasher. (I did wash all the cooking pots, pans and utensils – just not glasses, cups, plates and silverware.)
2. I haven’t a clue how to run Carlton’s fancy vacuum cleaner. Hopefully, he saved the instruction manual.
3. I have never in my 71 years cleaned a toilet. I have two toilets. Guess I’ll have to Google “How to clean a toilet”.
4. When I start my Sunday off with a tasty restaurant breakfast – I have used up an entire day’s worth of calories before 10AM!
5. Moving to the old ladies asylum will take care to #2 and #3 and I’ll have to be sure I get a dishwasher in my unit. Because I don’t want to wash dishes.

Found a couple of pikake plants this morning. The pikake is an unimaginably fragrant tiny flower. It grows on a slightly thorny bush.

According to the University of Hawai’i:

Pikake is the Hawaiian name for a jasmine, Jasminum sambac, which is one of about a dozen Jasminum species grown in Hawaii as ornamentals. The name is adapted from the word “peacock,” because the Hawaiian Princess Kaiulani reportedly was fond both of this flower and the bird. …  J. sambac is known as sampaguita in the Philippines, where it is the national flower, gunda mallige in India, mo li in parts of China, and Arabian jasmine in the mainland USA. It is grown commercially in India, Thailand, China, and the Philippines for its fresh flowers, which are also used to make perfume and as flavoring for tea. In Hawaii, pikake is grown in landscapes and gardens and by commercial producers of lei flowers.

In lei making, buds are strung soon after they are harvested. A single lei strand is 36–38 inches long. The number of buds in a single strand of buds strung lengthwise varies with the length of the strand and the time of the year. During summer when the buds are large, about 85 are needed to make a single strand. During winter when the buds are smaller, about 125 buds may be needed. A large, fancy rope lei with the buds strung crosswise takes approximately 1000 buds. A pikake lei can be kept for 4–6 days with no loss of fragrance or quality when stored in a plastic bag at 40–45°F.

 Above, we have the Password Directory. Sold by The Container Store. Now, I don’t know about you – but that looks a heck of a lot like my Mother’s address book. And, how safe would that be anyhow?

Walking on the beach this morning – round about the time Carlton died, I found a tiny plastic action figure. Maybe it is a Ninja Turtle? A Power Ranger? Who knows. Not me. Don’t know how old it is or where it is from. In my fanciful moments – I’ll choose to believe that it is a tiny message from Carlton – telling me to get my sorry ass in gear. Hence the gear on the little guy.

An altogether fine day. My origami – well, let us just say that I have 3 dollar bills all crumpled up and no new figures. Why money origami? Well “good” origami paper costs about 50cents a sheet. And when you screw up – you just have a scrap of paper to recycle. If you totally screw up a money figure – you just smooth it out and put it in your pocket and turn it into a cup of coffee… Nevertheless – I picked up a packet of real origami paper at Ace Hardware today. (Think about that – Peg in a Hardware Store, a hardware store that sells origami paper.)

I think I am already living in an old folks asylum – when I went out to the beach early this morning, I was reminded that I should go back to my room and get a sweater, When I was going out for a swim, I was warned that it was cool and windy and that I should be careful. It is actually pretty nice to be looked after.

Have a fine lunch today. Poke. When you live in Hawai’i you have to believe that mercury poisoning is a good thing. Because you are going to eat all the poke you can get your hands or chopsticks on. Just to refresh the memory – poke – is the Hawaiian version of elegant Japanese sashimi. Simply chop up some really fresh fish. Add favorite spicy seasonings. Eat until it is gone. No such thing as leftover poke.

It was a turtle kind of a day. First, this little turtle appears at the end of the pier. He is a regular. Then I found a huge turtle while swimming. I followed him around for a while. But, no surprise, the turtle can swim better than I can.

A little front came through early this morning… so, it was a little wet. But, it dried up nicely.

I spent my 5 mile walking time pondering my move to the Senior Asylum. Any Senior Asylum. But, with the focus on the Goodwin Houses in Northern Virginia. A little summary:

I don’t consider myself “old”. That is denial. Plain and simple. Denial. I am old. I have been getting Social Security for 9 years. No one ever cards me – they just give me the senior discount. In Hawai’i, I am called Auntie. People address me as mam. I don’t enjoy rap music. I have no visible tattoos. I never go commando these days. I am old and in denial.

The average age for moving into a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) is 80. I am not 80. So, I am definitely too young to move to a CCRC. More denial

The Goodwin Houses require a serious chunk of change as a “non-refundable admission fee”. SO, it would make economic good sense to move in sooner rather than later and amortize that cost over more years. I have no problem with the non-refundability of the admission fee. I’ll be dead. If I want to move – well, then I’ll be screwed. So, it behooves me to choose wisely.

Moving to Kona really isn’t an option. I love it here. Adore it here. But part of the charm is that I don’t have any responsibilities. I am a city person. Not a village person. I don’t want to ever need an oncologist. But, if I do need one, I don’t want to have to go on a plane ride to see one. I really like Trader Joe. And public transit. Baseball games. And the ballet. Not the opera. Don’t need opera. Face it – I am a devout city person.

I like travelling. The idea of a bumming around the country in a VW bus is appealing. Around the world in 80 days – where do I sign up? But, this has nothing to do with the Senior Asylum – Unless – I move on to a cruiseship. Old ladies have done that.

Carlton and I both paid $300 to be on the waiting list at the Goodwin Houses. Three days later Carlton died. (No, Carlton – I can not get your money back. Yes, I tried.) While on the waiting list, I can use the gym, eat in the restaurants, and take part in the activities. (Bingo, here I come!). When I get home, I have to absolutely force myself to do something every week at one of the two Goodwin Houses. I know this will help me get a “good” unit. This is working on my denial issues.

The Asylum will cost less per month than I am paying now. And, they feed me one meal a day.

I wandered into a quilting shop and first thing I knew – I had signed up for a all day purse making class. All day next Tuesday, with 2 hours off for lunch. It is across the street from my hotel. Last thing I need is another hobby. But this is a one time project. And doesn’t require any accouterments.

I haven’t figured out how to make origami penguins. These guys have been recycled into money. I think I’ll give the penguins a rest for now.

Went out to lunch with my three friends from Iowa. Iowa is not like Arlington. But we always enjoy visiting. One of the women’s husband was almost as fugal as Carlton. The other two ladies seem to have had more normal husbands.

I am wondering what I am going to do with the rest of my life. Keep calm and carry on, I guess.

Haven’t had a bird in a while. This guy wasn’t real close – but it is our Hawaiian Coot. The Hawaiian Coot is recognized as a subspecies of the American Coot. There are a couple thousand of them and they are on the Endangered Species List. I saw this one this morning at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Park.

Had a busy day. I started and finished a project. That feels good. Very good. The project was simple. I scanned some old family photos for a friend – and photoshopped one of them into a printable 5×7. And, I printed it. At WalMart.

Guess I shouldn’t complain about only having 4 weeks left in Kona. In fact 4 weeks from right now – 6:30 PM – I’ll be scurrying around doing last minute stuff before heading out to the airport to wait for my plane that leaves at 11:30 or some such ungodly time.

Great yoga class this morning. Hard. But good. The teacher forgot his keys to the yoga room, so we had our class on the luau stage overlooking the ocean. Best yoga venue ever.

We have very choppy lumpy seas this afternoon. I went out and just floated around on my back. It was grand bouncy fun. The ocean was empty. Not good for swimming or snorkeling. Or surfing or diving or kayaking. But it was fine for wallowing.

Sport Report for Carlton. And this afternoon with less than 30 seconds and 18 inches – the sun went down on Paul Allen’s Super Bowl hopes. The Patriots won. On my morning 5 mile walk this morning, I saw ZERO Patriots jerseys but MANY SeaHawk shirts. Guess there are a lot of unhappy fans in the village right now.

You would have hated the ads. They were very “preachy”. Or self congratulatory. Or both. Neither of us fit into the modern touchy feely, kinder gentler, politically correct world. But, I guess that is a non-issue for you. I still have to tread carefully. Remembering that I am an ethical/moral dinosaur.

Tennis: Serena beat Sharapova and Djokovic beat Andy Murray at the Australian Open.

Golf: Tiger went 12 over at the Trash Collection tournament in Phoenix. For now, he seems to be toast.

Absolutely glorious day today. No vog. The ocean was clear as “water” and like glass. And, later in the day, nice surf picked up for the surfers amongst us.

I did my normal “long” snorkel run this morning. I was swimming back in and thought “Shootz, get back out there. It doesn’t get any better.” So, out I went.

After that I got on the bus and went 7 miles down the road to a hula contest. Yes, boys and girls, in Hawai’i hula is competitive. One does not boo the opposition. But, one does yell and shout encouragement to the dancers. We tell our visitors that hula is “sacred”. What must they think if they end up at a hula contest and discover people whooping at a dancer who executes a powerful and usually sensual move well? Good fun. But, it was indoors. And, indoors was not where I wanted to be today.

So, out I went and discovered STRAWBERRY MOCHI!!!

I love this Japanese treat. I told you all about them back in November. Check it out.

Note to Carlton: Your buddy Craig is going to take me paddle boarding after work someday soon. No, not standup – old school paddle boarding. Haven’t done that in 40 years. We’ll see if it happens and how it works out. Stay tuned.

And now, I am going out to see if the sunset is as glorious as the rest of the day. I am thinking not. But, you miss 100% of the sunsets you don’t go look for…