But the sun called in reinforcements: wind. Which meant it was still too cold outside for my tastes. So, I sulked indoors today. Accomplished very little. But I didn’t kill anyone. That’s a win.
That’s about $3 per strawberry.
This is from Japan, specifically Yokohama. They cost a little more in Tokyo.
Speaking of the cost of food: the cost of food at The Asylum has increased dramatically. The cost and quality have a clear inverse relationship. However, they did not raise the price of yuca and lima beans. Still $9.95.
RIP Bobby. Thank you for a real good time!
I’ll say this: I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived. That’s it. Bob Weir, 2025 American Songwriter Magazine
Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia – December 19, 2025
Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Stop #4 on my little adventure last month.
About an hour after leaving Kosrae, Pohnpei appears. Pohnpei: an Eden-like landscape, a mind-numbing ceremonial drink called sakau, and the world-class surfing break at Palikir Pass. My kinda place. If I were decades younger.
The state of Pohnpei is located roughly midway between Honolulu and Manila. Its land area is about 133 square miles. Most of Pohnpei Island is volcanic, with the highest peak of around 2,600 feet. The island is roughly circular, with an 80-mile coastline surrounded by a coral reef. The population is approximately 37,000.
Pohnpei. A couple of the fishing boats.
I presume most of the state revenue comes from commercial fishing licenses. There were many large commercial fishing vessels inside the reef.
Pohnpei International Airport – 2017. Thanks Google Maps.
You can see why the pilots love this flight. Who wouldn’t want to land a Boeing 737 here a couple of times a week?
This is what the runway looks like from the plane.
Once again, we were not permitted to deplane. We were late. Strangely, no one seemed upset about staying on board. There were four of us who were simply along for the ride. Others were trying to get home for the holidays, to Guam or Manila.
We were perfectly content watching roughly 150 passengers cycle on and off the plane. The segments from Kosrae to Pohnpei to Chuuk felt a lot like riding the Metro bus at rush hour—only with palm trees, clouds, and coral reefs outside the windows
Just in case I am lucky ‘nuf to make it back to Japan, I included these stairs in my morning walk.
Scuttled out for a walk this morning while my room was being cleaned and made a point of doing some stairs. Of course, “doing stairs” is almost as necessary at the Asylum as it is in Japan.
When I returned on Christmas Day, two of our four elevators were on vacation. By late Tuesday, they were all back at work. By this morning, two were on vacation. Again.
Gratitude
Grateful that I can make it up to my room on the 11th floor using the stairs.
Note: Just because I can doesn’t mean I like it.
The Asylum Peony.
When I was in Japan, I ran into several peony gardens. From the locked gates, I could see the peonies blooming madly. But “Peony Viewing Season” didn’t open until January 1. One must respect tradition.
So I enjoyed our Asylum peonies after my walk.
Been wondering why my garden box hasn’t been performing up to expectations in recent years. JANUARY2026Well, maybe it’s because the bushes behind my box are blocking the afternoon sun. JULY2016.
Fortunately, Ray Rosemary and the sage are plugging along nicely. Time to think about coleus and maybe even impatiens
Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia – December 19, 2025.
Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia. Stop #3 on my little adventure last month.
Somewhere along the way, we collected rain clouds. They stayed with us. We didn’t deplane here, which was expected — we were already late, and it was raining steadily.
The plane was about half full when we landed. Many of the Pacific Islanders got off. Then many people boarded — whole families — and we departed at over 100% capacity, if you count lap babies.
Final approach to Kosrae International Airport.
I was curious about this airport. So, checked it out on Google Maps.
The airport is constructed on a reef and connected to the island by a bridge. The runway is 5,751 feet long — quite generous for the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Of course, there is absolutely no margin for error.
Kosrae is the second-largest island in the Federated States of Micronesia, with 42 square miles and a population of about 7,700. Mount Finkol is the highest point at 2,080 feet. It’s a lush, mountainous island with young, sharp peaks. The government is the state’s largest employer, and the main attraction is diving on the coral reef that surrounds the island.
If I were even ten years younger, I might consider visiting. There are two modest hotels.
Well, we haven’t invaded Greenland yet. So I guess that makes today a good day.
I had a splendid little two-mile walk this morning.
Gratitude
Grateful that I can still enjoy a two-mile walk on a warm winter day.
Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. Stop #2 on my little adventure last month.
Getting off the plane or taking pictures out the window while the plane is on the ground is verboten. They didn’t say anything about taking pictures before the plane landed.
Kwajalein is the 14th-largest coral atoll by area of enclosed water. It comprises 97 islands and islets, with a land area of just 6.3 square miles, surrounding one of the largest lagoons in the world — 839 square miles of water. The average elevation is about six feet above sea level. Kwajalein Island itself has a population of roughly 1,000 people, mostly American military, along with a small number of Marshall Islanders and other nationalities. Everyone requires explicit permission from the U.S. Army to live there.
From Honolulu to Kwajalein, my seatmate was one of the two onboard mechanics. At Kwajalein, he was replaced by a very attractive and slightly dangerous-looking gentleman headed for Manila. He looked exactly like how I imagine Ranger from the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich.
Almost all of the Westerners got off the plane here. A few got on, heading west, including Ranger, and another man I would later spend an afternoon with in the Guam airport.
The first week of January usually means a return to ordinary time. Except these times are anything but ordinary for this country.
The U.S. has gone completely off the rails many times in its history. January 2026 feels different only because it’s gone bonkers in too many ways at the same time.
I revisited and updated my “death planning” documents today, in preparation for a visit to my lawyer. When you are somewhere between 80 and dead, this isn’t a depressing task. It’s oddly reassuring. I feel better knowing I’ve cleared the path a bit for the inevitable.
I was hijacked into getting married. I was the Ninja Bride. Carlton was just smug — because he tricked me into getting married. From that day forth, Carlton referred to me as “my current wife.” Well, I am now “his last wife.”
Our wedding was really just an administrative nicety. It made things much easier later, when the time came to change joint accounts into individual ones.
The real importance of today is this: January 5, 1973, was Carlton’s AA sobriety date. And AA made everything possible.
I haven’t posted one of Carlton’s AA talks in a long time. This one is from October 2004, and it was among the last talks he gave. He wanted to stop speaking while he was still at the top of his game.
It’s an hour long. I’m going to listen to it. You can pass. I’ll never know.
AA gave me the man I married and all the years we had together. Thank you. Bill Wilson, Doctor Bob, Cliff Kendall, Dr. Earl Mitchell, Buck Doyle.
OK. Things are looking up. We haven’t invaded Greenland—yet. The sun looks like it might make an appearance today. And it’s finally Sunday. I’ve been thinking every day was Sunday so far this year.
And since today really is Sunday, it was time to show the orchids some love. There were twelve: three blooming, three with buds, four just growing leaves, and two on life support.
Now there are ten.
One of the departed was an orphan I acquired in October 2024. It was never quite well, though it did bloom once. The other had an acquisition date of January 1, 2021, which means it was a New Year’s offering from Asylum Management during COVID. It’s been in declining health for at least a year.
Not only is it still winter, but overnight my country appears to have attacked Venezuela and kidnapped its President and First Lady. We have done such things in the past. Panama, Grenada, and long ago the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi come to mind. And there is always Vietnam. But this feels particularly egregious.
I hope the UN or someone kicks our sorry ass. So bring me up on charges of treason. I am an old woman. Bring it on.
On a more cheerful note: Majuro, Marshall Islands. Stop #1 on my little adventure last month.
Majuro has a population of about 24,000 and is the capital of the Marshall Islands. It is a large coral atoll made up of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, virtually on the Equator. The atoll has a land area of just 3.7 square miles and encloses a lagoon of 114 square miles. It has a tropical trade-wind climate, with an average temperature of about 81°F.
It took me a while to realize that this was a flight like none other flown by a major US carrier.
But, on Jan 24th, friend Christie and I will be cruising down to the Eastern Caribbean. For 12 days.
Gratitude
I am just about the luckiest old woman on the planet.
Made it outside for a small walk this morning. And got some computer stuff set up for next year. Every year, I forget how to set up my Lightroom Folders panel the way I like it for the new year. It’s fairly presumptuous of me to think that I’ll be setting up my folders in Lightroom next year. But, just in case I am still around and am still trying to get my LR Folders tidy:
LR folders: Right-click date folder → Show Parent Folder
While I ate breakfast this morning, my sheets were changed, the bathroom was cleaned, new towels appeared, and my kitchen was tidied up. A friend at breakfast pointed out that my Airbnb in Hawai’i was real “independent living”. The Asylum is pretend “independent living”.
OK, this is not what I want to see on New Year’s Day. Snow.
Not much snow. But snow. Snow that was driven by howling winds up to the edges of the parking lot.
I have been back at The Asylum a week and haven’t ventured out on foot until this morning, when I got all bundled up and went to get bagels for the family. The Asylum has New Year’s Day Brunch. And it is quite acceptable. Unless you like bagels. They do not serve bagels. They serve hockey pucks.
Silly Peg lived here for 10 years and complained loudly about the bagels. Finally, I stopped complaining and started BYOB — Bring Your Own Bagel. So, on Family Brunch Days, I get the bagels.
BYOB is Accept and Adapt in action. Accept and Adapt is my affirmation for 2026.
