life in the old lane

This tree is sending a message. Never mind that I have had my branches hacked off. And I am planted in a sea of asphalt – I am still going to have bunches of glorious flowers.  Make a note of that, Peg. Don’t let old age and infirmity get you down.

There are advantages to being sans car.

New poke shop since I was last here. Will check them out next week.

Way smaller operation than before time, but still nice to see people and dogs wandering around.

Who knew that chocolate almond peanut butter is a “standard” wonton flavor?

And that was about it for my little walk about this afternoon. Been here 21 days. 33 or so more to go. Good. Not the ½ way point yet.

This morning the gate to Carlton’s beloved Hulihe’e Place was open. So, I darted in to go to the seawall and visit Mr C’s departure point. 

Hard to realize that he has been gone 7 years and it has been 5 years since he went over the seawall  into Kailua Bay. Figure he has made it all the way to Antarctica by now! 

Must be 5PM. I can hear the bells at St Michael’s. Tomorrow morning I can hear the bells at Mokuaikaua Church. That takes care of Sunday services for me.

After I finished doing some chores, I went for a little swim. No pictures worth posting. But, it was excellent.

I always keep track of the glass bottom boat when I am snorkeling  around. We are both looking for fish. And we would both hate it if we ran into each other. 

Speaking of fish – I hear dinner calling me? Fish tacos next door? Grilled tuna down the street? Shrimp something or the other at the Thai place? Definitely fish. And beer. 

We made it through another week without killing anyone. We are entitled to a little sunset. And one of the finest places to be at sunset is on the seawall in front (or is it in back) of the Kona Inn. (where amongst other things John Wayne spent his wedding night – Nov 1, 1954)

So, kickback, relax, pat yourself on the back for making it through another week.The quality is good enough – go for full screen.

Walking and a killer breakfast with Billy this morning. That was about all of the excitement my old body needed for one day.  

I did make a little video of a very nice Lagoon Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus). It is a very close relative of the Reef Triggerfish, our official State Fish. I see these guys more frequently. They are extremely territorial and I can nearly always find this one. Unless it is hiding.

Both the Lagoon and Reef Triggerfish are called humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa in Hawaiian. It’s a fun name to say and makes perfect sense if you take the word apart.

• • • humuhumu = triggerfish
    • nukunu = nose
    • āpuaʻa = pig

So, it’s the triggerfish with a nose like a pig. 

Decided to breakout the wetsuit this morning. I hate being cold. So, why be cold. Also, wetsuits add buoyancy and prevent sunburned butt. All good. Except that my formerly “just slip on like a silk-lined glove” now requires some wiggling and jumping. Went out for 45 minutes or so. Took a lot of video. But it even bored me watching it just now. So, I’ll spare you.

Oh well, snorkeling was way better than the photos. And yesterday I saw a Black phase longnose butterflyfish. No usable pictures.

Here is a cool article about Longnose Butterflyfish from the Waikiki Aquarium. Included is a discussion of the black ones which are found from time to time around Kona. 

Thinking about moving myself here. Then I remember my Asylum Sisters. The dearest friends I ever had. At a time in my life when friends are so very precious.  And, Carlton told me to “Move to Goodwin House”. Be grateful for the good times. Besides, I would miss bitching about the food at The Asylum. 

Did Zoom Yoga at 7AM. Then I went for a fine snorkel. Billy is right, there are enough good days to snorkel. You don’t need to do it on so-so or bad days.That might not be a great plan if you are just here for a week. But when did I ever go to Kona for a week. I think 3 weeks is the absolute minimum I ever did.

I took some video. Don’t know if any is useable. After a nice 45 minutes swimming around, I sat on the pier and dried myself like an old dog. And chatted with a man who was watching his grown daughters snorkel. When they came in they were all excited because they saw a ray. Always great. Only fun thing I saw was a big fat eel. Move too fast for me to photograph.

Eventually, I made it home in time for lunch and an afternoon of chilling. Wrong.   More reports are required. I am only complaining a tiny bit. I really much prefer developing massive spreadsheets on my lanai. Listening to the myna birds. No jackhammering so far this week. But, the air compressor is still outside my door.

After working all afternoon, I am not into editing video. Or much of anything. Think I’ll wander down the street for a burger and a beer soon. 

Note to young people: When you get old, autopilot fails. For example. When you are not old you can wander into the kitchen and just make coffee without thinking about it. On autopilot. Well this morning “on autopilot” I brewed a fine pot of hot water. Autopilot completely skipped the “get out beans, grind beans, put ground beans in filter, put filter in pot, etc” part of the make coffee flight plan.

 

I couldn’t interest myself in just swimming today. And, it wasn’t a good snorkel day. So, I was content to just walk, watch the ocean, do a few chores, a little origami, a lot of reading.  Might sound boring to most of you. But, to me, it was just fine. Heck, I didn’t even take a nap. So, I must have been having fun. Carlton always said: If you think you are having fun, you are having fun. 

My granddaughter says I should find some sort  of semi permanent living solution in Hawai’i. Certainly something to let rattle around in the brain. The Hotel was a fine solution for decades. Don’t know if I can figure out a new solution.

The Asylum has Tater Tots on the menu tomorrow. Not something I am looking forward to going back to. Tater Tots. Next thing you know they’ll be serving SpaghettiOs. 

Time for dinner. Picked up some sushi this afternoon. Another good dinner.

 

The view from the lanai is fine if you are in the correct chair and look up. Otherwise, it’s an alley. Over looking a couple of bars, a barber shop and a yoga studio.

Today was chores. A trek to the grocery. Water the plants. Then remove the sheets, wash and dry the sheets, put the sheets back on the bed. I haven’t done that in over 6 years. Clean the kitchen, and run the vacuum. I am going to be here another 6 weeks. So, I figure I have to do this twice more. Well, the sheets and vacuuming part. The kitchen will require more frequent attention. And, I will have to go to the grocery. And water the plants. But enough with the sheets and vacuum. 

Last night I went to dinner at the landlord’s bar/”Mexican” restaurant. He runs this bar to support his sport fishing habit. So, the fish tacos are pretty damn sweet. 

While I was enjoying my dinner on the bar balcony, the local anti-vaxxer crazies made their apparently weekly  protest march down the street. This time they were shouting “Lets Go Brandon”. I am trying really hard to be apolitical. I know that some of my friends over here are members of the lunatic fringe. Still I didn’t want my dinner to be interrupted by “Lets Go Brandon”. Well, guess what – the patrons who where closest to the street took up the chant “Thank You Brandon”. 

Tonight’s dinner is sushi from the grocery. 

Headed out on foot this morning and the first thing I encounter is Kumu Keala Ching blessing a new business. I wish all good things for the business, but even in the best of times, not much money has been made at this location. And these are not the best of times. Hopefully, they got a good deal on the rent.

My plan was to walk the 2 miles to the craft fair and catch the bus back home. The bus never showed. So I walked back home. I wasn’t quite as perky as when I left. So, cottage cheese and pineapple plus a lot of water for lunch and then a nap. I really wanted to hop in the ocean, but I couldn’t interest my legs in making the trek to the pier. 

But, here are some lavender tangs doing their feeding frenzy thing from yesterday. These are also called brown tangs. And when they are in the feeding frenzy mode they are nearly always brown. 

I found some of my crafty friends at the fair. I left some money behind. And, was invited to several events over the next month. Everyone said “Auntie bring origami” so, I am glad that I brought some folding paper. Origami is a little different here, because of the humidity. It changes the properties of the paper. 

Note: If you haven’t activated Apple Pay or Google Pay. Consider doing it. Especially with you have a watch that supports these activities. It works almost everywhere and beats fumbling with a card. 

Spent most of the morning hanging with Billy. Walking, talking, drinking coffee, finally eating breakfast. He went off to work on an old boat. I went out for a snorkel.

This looks a lot like the spotted pufferfish from Tuesday, but it isn’t a pufferfish. It doesn’t inflate itself to look fat and fatter. It has a box shaped skeleton. It is also a lot small than the pufferfish. Actually, there might be larger box fix farther out. Near shore they are small. And, this one is a lady. 

I waste entirely too much time every winter trying to identify each and every parrot fish I swim by. Not that it matters one bit. It is a terminal male parrotfish of some sort. Most of my friends work crossword puzzles. I puzzle over parrotfish. 

These guys are no brainers to identify. Like some butterflyfish, they mate for life. These are juveniles. About ½ grown.

I made some videos. But, I’ll spare you those and go get dinner instead. 

I had decided last night that I would have a peanut butter and banana sandwich for dinner and have breakfast this morning. Which I did. Two eggs, rice, awesome bacon, toast, and coffee.

The ocean looked even rougher than usual – so – I decided to make one more run at my old hotel and try to get my wetsuit back. Not only did I get my wetsuit back but I got invited to a retirement lunch for one of my oldest friends on the island. 

So, I am very well fed tonight. Dinner will be coffee. And maybe yogurt. 

I got more than a wetsuit back. I got a big old 25-gallon plastic storage box full of stuff. I guess some of it will follow me back to the asylum. I should just close it back up and take it to the thrift shop without further investigation.

It seems pretty silly to be rapidly approaching 78 and still lug wetsuit, mask, snorkel, and fins around. But, I love snorkeling. I hate being cold. And, I don’t know if I can still wiggle into the wetsuit. There is more to me than there was in March 2020.

The water was warm and pleasantly bouncy. But, it was rather like swimming in a sand storm. No fish pictures today.

There are at least 6 roosters in the condo. This one is on the lanai and his job is to hold underdrawers while they dry. 

Today, Alexa finally agreed to connect to wifi here. I was giving her one last chance before stuffing her back in the suitcase. This time, I plugged into a 12watt adapter vice the original 8watt adapter.  Maybe that little extra juice was what was needed to find new wifi? It is fine now on the original 8watt adapter.  

Two minutes of silliness as two girls venture out into the bay. They were fine. I saw them get out at a break in the sea wall and they walked back. Not sure how well their feet survived a very long block of hot concrete. 

Having my usual dinner debate. In or Out? Eating in is the way to go if I am serious about losing the Covid weight.