life in the old lane

It stopped raining for a bit and I really wanted to go look at the ocean. But, since the roof seemed to be coming off a rather large building across the street, I decided that maybe I didn’t really need to look at the ocean. And maybe I should do some simple stuff like fill up my wonderful Zojirushi coffee mug with hot coffee and be sure all my electronics are charged. Somehow, common sense seemed to have escaped me today.

Let’s see what have they promised us:

1. 1. 1. 1. Up to 2 feet of rain
         2. Flooding
         3. Blizzard conditions maybe down to 8,000 feet
         4. High winds
         5. High surf

I have electricity. Coffee. Food for a couple of days. The unit appears to be water-tight. I did go out this morning for brunch. I messed with photos, did origami, read, napped, moved the plants to the rainy part of the lanai so I didn’t have to water them today. I think the worst is over for Kona. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. It’s all good. Unless you happen to have come to Hawai’i for a one week vacation.

“Cold” and rainy in the village today. Long pants, long sleeves, socks, oatmeal, soup, hot chocolate. That kind of a day. Also predicting blizzard conditions on my island. Plus high surf and flooding. Nothing unusually. Except some of the islands have been really chilly. But we really need the rain here in Kona. I am totally enjoying tropical winter. 

Plan B – The Times calls my thought process: making high-stakes health-risk assessments in the face of incomplete information.  My incomplete info indicates that omicron is real, is circulating, is highly transmittable, infects the fully vaccinated with ease, but at least among the vaccinated it doesn’t seem to be terribly a serious illness. Rather like a nasty cold. All that could change in a heartbeat. But for today, Plan B is just a plan and not an action. 

This ficus tree, yes the same tree the people try to grow in the living room, is from yesterday’s field trip with Billy. I was just liked all of the aerial roots.  Some ficus trees are considered invasive. But, the living room ficus is still tolerated.

So, what did I do on this rainy day? Well, I sat on my lanai and read. Did some laundry. Scurried up to the grocery store. Always enjoy a nice cloudy and rainy day here in Kona.

I am really tired of covid. Must remind myself that the Black Death lasted maybe 4 years after it first appeared in the 1300s.  And then kept reappearing every 10 years or so for the next 300 – each time killing off 20% of the population of London.  

It’s really not good for me to have too much free time. I wander down mental rat holes. Wreckage of the future. Yes, Carlton. I hear you. 

Plan B – It’s pretty clear that omicron is in circulation. Don’t expect there to be any news over the weekend that might cause me to bail. So, I am good.

Well, my friends are there. But, my friends are here too. It would be a heck of a lot easier if The Asylum were on the Left Coast and not the Right One. 

No dolphins, no whales, no breakfast at the Coffee Mill. But, it was still a fine day. 

This is about 7 miles south of the village.  On the grounds of what is now an Outrigger Hotel. They have the legally mandated free 6 “beach access” parking spaces. So, if we get there early enough we get a space and watch for whales. No whales today. 

After no whales, we went up mauka (up the mountain) to a favorite breakfast joint. But, it has been “discovered” and there was a line out the door. Neither Billy nor I wait well. So, it was back to the village and our normal breakfast spot.   (Where breakfast is better and cheaper anyhow.)

I waddled home after breakfast, did some bookkeeping. waddled down to the pier and floated around. No gear. Just me, my swim togs and rashie.  I hoped to see some dolphins. No dolphins. 

Plan B. No action necessary. A case of the omicron variant showed up on Oahu today. The victim hadn’t traveled anywhere. Was un-vaxxed. But had had Covid earlier. And there are spaces on planes through Sunday. 

May I just need a better phone! Got my eye on the Pixel 6 Pro. The last phone I ordered from Google was DOA. See Pixel 5a – Epic Fail. I didn’t really want that phone anyway. I was just afraid to be stuck without a working phone. Fingers crossed with Shamu. 

Being a Woman of Leisure (read Lazy)  this month. My “project” is to make books out of the 2019 and 2020 photos. That was always a project that I did in the winter in Kona. And I seriously considered stopping making photo books. I really made them for Carlton. It seems rather frivolous. However, doing “memoirs” is a perfectly acceptable old people activity. My “memoirs” just happen to be photos. 

Plan B Update. No action necessary.

After an entire month, I have finally relaxed into Kona-time. And pretty soon it will be tomorrow and I’ll be going home “this month”. When I first got here I was tired. Everything was all different. I was trying to do more than my old body wanted to do. Indeed, I think I remembered that I used to do more than I actually did. But, now I am as chill as I ever get. 

One thing that didn’t change is our homeless. I recognize many of them. They seem to have survived covid fine. Well, they get lots of fresh air.

And that’s about my day. Well, there was zoom yoga. 

Plan B. Everything that needs to be prepared is prepared. Just enjoy each day. Which is a damn good plan 100% of the time. 

Picked this up at the grocery this morning. Grilled salted salmon. Rice with pickled accents, mash turnips with horseradish, and seaweed. The plan was to eat half and have the rest of dinner. Yeah. Right. Just finished a big ole salad that I put together for dinner. It was good too.  

Did some prep work for Plan B today. Got flat rate boxes from Post Office. I decided not to ship off anything just yet. And, I went by the UPS store. It is closer than the Post Office. AND, if I throw enough money at them, they will pack the stuff and ship it. I disposed of everything that I am not taking or shipping back to the Asylum. So, that is done. Will not revisit this part of the plan.

Considered the horror that The Asylum might lock me up again. I will not be locked up again. Many of the residents praise management to the heavens for “keeping us safe”. But I felt like I was an animal in an old-style zoo. If faced with another lockup, I will either find somewhere else to live or take legal action against The Asylum. The second option seems rather harsh. So, I’ll just find somewhere else to live. But, that’s “wreckage of the future” of the worst kind. 

Everything is good here in Kona. Oh, I checked my HoyHoy Roach Motels. They are like Hotel California for roaches: You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!

A wonderful hour of snorkeling around this morning. It almost didn’t happen. Before I got in the water I saw 3 jellyfish. I am pretty fearless in the ocean. Except for cold. And jellyfish. And our jellyfish aren’t even that dangerous. But, there were lots of people in the ocean. None of them seemed to be getting stung. So, in I went. Clear water. Perfect conditions.

Took lots of video. None worth showing. But, Not often do I come upon a flounder. this guy is small and was in 20 feet of water. With my wet suit and covid 5 pounds – I couldn’t get very close. But:  

It’s pretty bad. I was messing with my GoPro Settings. What part of “if it works don’t fix it” am I having trouble with?

But thinking. Thinking about the Omicron variant. (FYI – the greek alphabet has 24 letters, omicron is 15? Going to run out of letters before we run out of covid)

Thinking that I got lucky with my trip to Alaska. I was safely back in the Asylum before the summer covid surge kicked in. It might still be safe on Xmas Eve. But, things might get worse. Fast. The prudent move would be to just go back to the asylum next week. So not happening.  

Plan B is to be prepared to leave Kona within 12 hours. Morning. Wakeup. Access situation. If necessary, get a flight out at 10ish that night. Back in the Asylum by 4PM the next day. That would leave about 6 frantic hours of “breaking camp”. I know that it is nearly always possible to get a flight to DCA from here same day. I even checked this morning. Just to be sure.

So, all this really means is that I have to keep my “camp” here a bit more organized. Anything that I am not going to use should be shipped home soon. (I found some things in the box that I had stored at the Seaside hotel that really would like to keep. My fish book. A jeans skirt. A stupid white dress. Some t-shirts that don’t have cats and/or snarky sayings on them. Stuff that I don’t need but am willing to put in a flat rate box to send home.) And I should dispose of the rest of the stuff. Now. Not later.

I will not go all crazy and not buy a box of oatmeal or 6 pack of beer “because I might bail tomorrow.”

Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.

What would make me decide to bail? If they say that my 3 Pfizer shots will not provide protection. And the variant is really surging in the US. 

One thing this omicron variant has done is to quash any hope I had that the Seaside Hotel might reopen in January and I could have another month of Kona. The state has leased the hotel to stash covid quarantines. I gotta think the state will want to keep the hotel for another 3 months.

Wreckage of the future, Carlton would say. Wreckage of the future. So, I have my plan. I will attend to shipping some stuff back home. And I will enjoy every minute of Kona. Hopefully until Dec 24.

Walked about a mile south to Honls Surf Break. Time to pay respects to Tom Morey who died late last month at the age of 86.

Text from the memorial wayside —
Here on the beach at Wai’aha, which translates as Gathering Water, also known as Honl’s Beach, renowned surfer, musician, and visionary innovator Tom Morey fashioned the first-ever boogie board and invented the sport of boogie boarding. When he rode that first wave here on his new creation on July 7, 1971, he revolutionized surfing and changed surf culture forever.

Living in a house that once stood here on the beach, Tom took out of his garage a 9-foot piece. of polyethylene foam he had intended to shape into a surfboard. Instead, he cut it in half with his wife Marchia’s electric carving knife to form a torso-sized plank.

Later, he outlined a short board with a square tail, no fins, and a squared-off nose that could be gripped for easier control and handling while riding waves in the prone position. To finish shaping his prototype, Tom laid down a copy of The Honolulu Advertiser newspaper on the foam and applied a hot clothes Iron to smooth it and make the board somewhat watertight.

Anxious to find out how his new lightweight invention would handle in the surf, Tom paddled out past the reef here in Wai’aha Bay to catch a wave: Success! “I could feel the wave under me, I could feel everything, and I thought, this is nice, this is special-and maybe it could be something important.” In that magic moment, the boogie board was invented.

Tom deliberately chose the word ‘boogie’ to describe his board, based on his love of jazz music. Thanks to his creative genius and passion for surfing, Tom Morey became the Father of Boogie Boarding, and made the thrill of wave riding accessible and fun for millions of people of all ages around the world.
—-
It doesn’t say so on the wayside, but his wife took the second test ride on Tom’s new invention. She was 8 and a half months pregnant. She would be the Mother of Boogie Boarding. 

Come, sit on the rock for a minute and enjoy Honl’s Surf Break.

(Looks good on full screen. But take care, you might get splashed!)

Very lazy day for me. Well, after yoga. Had a good nap and little walk. That’s about it for adventures.  I decided that it was too choppy for snorkeling.

But, it was a good day for taking in the scenery. I am old. But, I can still admire the view.

I have a nice plate of thanksgiving leftovers. I was going to save it for tomorrow. But, nobody is promised tomorrow – so I am going to have the leftovers tonight. 

The most exciting thing that happened today is a voicemail from “Amazon” saying they were checking to see if I actually ordered a $759 iPhone 12. I should press one to speak to and “account representative”. Yeah, right. It’s not nice to scam helpless little old ladies.

Maybe I’ll start to worry about the Omicron variant. Which will accomplish absolutely zero. So, I’ll pass on that for now and go nuke turkey, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, and STUFFING. Oh and a slice of pumpkin pie.

A perfectly delightful Thanksgiving with one old friend and five new friends. Plus assorted dogs, goats, sheep, chickens and a concerned African parrot. 

I love Billy’s girlfriend, she is too good for him. Her mother and I got along great. And one of the other guests, a fishing captain, is from El Paso. Who would have expected to find a boat captain from El Paso in Kona?

Good conversation. Good food. Great coffee. Grown on site. Plus, in Hawaiian style – a plate of leftovers to take home.

We have lemons, lemon grass, and custard apple. I got avocado, bananas, and a lemon. The market is but a shadow of what it was before. 

I was going to have a nice do nothing Thanksgiving Home Alone. But, last minute invite that I really can not turn down. So, I turned today into my do nothing day. Well, nothing except origami. 

On a somber note. 9 people have died at The Asylum this month. Just a reminder. Nobody is promised tomorrow.