life in the old lane

What was I thinking? How could I have missed the avocado festival? Bad Bad Bad. Heck, I didn’t even know about the avocado festival until I walked by this sign this morning when I was on walkabout.

And what else did I discover this morning? The Emerald Princess.

I pretty well have my May adventure thought out. Now I just have to commit some cash.

• • • 4-8 Days in Iceland. Iceland is a bitch without a car.
    • 1-2 Days reposition myself to Great Britain
    • 6 Days Tour the Cotswolds – this one is set.
    • 1-2 Days hang out in London.
    • 7 Days crossing the Atlantic on Queen Mary 2. Most likely being seasick. And unfashionably dressed. But, it is an adventure. Heck, everything is an adventure if you do it with enough wild abandon.
    • Take the train from NYC back to the Asylum.
    • AND, accomplish all of this with only my tiny backpack. Don’t think I’ll have the requisite ball gown for Gala evenings on QM2. Hello, room service.

Gratitude

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Avocados, even if I missed the festival. And papayas.

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Yes, Carlton, I am spending “your” money.  And for that, I thank you greatly.

The elderly body was feeling a little creaky today so I gave myself the day off. Only walked 2 miles today and I declared it too nippy for swimming. I may still do a little yoga. Yesterday I read an article that said the average American will live to be 78. (Yikes! That is two years away.) But, that they only make it 66 years of living well. Well, for all my grumbling about my diminished physical abilities – IMHO I am still living well. So.

Gratitude

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Really Grateful to be living well after all these years.

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Reading a book, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World (on my Kindle-not sure I am with the program 100%). It is making a lot of sense to me as I try to regain my ability to be focused. Do real things. Not virtual things. Do things with real living persons. Limit social media. Limit news feeds. Remove apps from your devices. Plan your leisure activities. And, that is a biggie for an old retired person. Leisure activities should involve hands, brains, muscles, and people. But solitude is important too. It remains to be seen if this old bat can learn some new tricks. The book isn’t suggesting Luddism. But, do you really think that the Orange Lord would be any more than a washed-up property developer were not for social media. And reality TV?

Normally, I post pictures of the Beach part of the Old Airport Beach. Today it is the Airport part. Featuring Mauna Loa with her nice dusting of snow this morning.

These are from the Mauna Kea webcams. A lovely snow day in Hawai’i.

And, it was chilly today. I had to haul out my cozy black travel shirt for my walk to Old Airport this morning.

Gratitude

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Chicken wings.

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Have a great Aloha Friday.

A little movie of yesterday’s bait school. I showed some tourists from the Wednesday cruise ship the school. They made me feel like Jacques Cousteau. They said that they couldn’t imagine anything so wonderful only a small swim from the shore. And you, dear viewer only have to click “play”. BTW: about 20 seconds in the school gets scared. I didn’t scare them. They are not afraid of me. A rather helpless black and white blob making strange noises. Something more serious like a predatory fish scared them.

Gratitude

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Kindle books from the library! I had more or less forgotten about that. Carlton read lots of Kindle library books. He couldn’t find them on line. Or get them checked out and on his Kindle. But, he could read them.

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It is cold and rainy here today. So, after a hardy breakfast of Spam and eggs, I did some accounting chores, listened to an audiobook and took a nap. Then, I started thinking about my May trip. Instead of clicking and Googling Iceland like a mad woman – I remembered my almost expired Arlington County library card and I happily download a Kindle guidebook to Iceland. Spent a rather focused 2 hours reading it. Pretty damn old school, don’t you think? And, I haven’t given up on the idea of snorkeling from North America to Europe.

This afternoon I was “busy” planning my next adventure. Then I reminded myself that I love the ocean. And the ocean is  ½ a block away. And why wasn’t I out in the silky calm clear ocean? Especially since conditions are predicted to deteriorate over the next couple of days. Why was I planning a trip for May? Focus on today.

Out I went, and I swam smack into a fine little bait school. The picture up top is just a cute little ball of fish. The bait school is much larger, but no where near as huge as it was a couple of years ago.

Gratitude

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Simple blessings – Crawling under the covers at night, feeling all safe and cosy.

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I have been working on “being present in the moment” or “focused”. I lost that ability when Carlton was sick. And, I never really regained it. I suspect that social media, which I used a lot after Carlton died is part of the problem. I am doing better. I don’t think that losing the ability to focus and concentrate on a single thing is a normal part of aging. At least it isn’t going to be a part of my aging if I can help it.

Picked up, off the free table at the thrift shop the other day the dead tree version of The Mayo Clinic Plan for Healthy Aging – How to find happiness and vitality as you age. Now, the Mayo Clinic is a pretty responsible outfit. Heck, my hospital proudly touts its relationship with the Mayo Clinic. So, I figure – the price is right and I might actually learn something. Well, I sort of skipped over the rather large section about “when it is time to stop driving” and landed on this paragraph of suggestions to alternatives to driving:

“…you may wish to look into mo-peds and scooters. If you live in an urban setting and are close to a grocery store, for example, a mo-ped can help you make the trip there and back with minimal effort and all you to bring your purchases back home with you.”

What is the Mayo Clinic thinking? You can not drive a car, but a mo-ped would be a good Plan B? I don’t think so.

Speaking of aging, You all know that I haven’t been happy with the “aging process”. But, I have been trying hard to match my aspirations with my abilities. And, I tell myself that up to a point aging beats the alternative.

I thought I was doing pretty well. Until this afternoon. Researching possible tours in Iceland. A tour right? Sounds suitable for an old woman. That was my thinking. But, I was actually checking out snorkeling tours of the tiny rift between the North American and European plates in 2°C water, It still sounds awesome. Snorkel from North America to Europe and back. If not now when? And, it doesn’t involve riding in a boat. It’s a walk-in deal.

Gratitude

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Simple blessings- sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean with a good friend, a mug of coffee and a take-out breakfast from the grocery store.

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Yesterday, while checking out Mr. C’s final destination, I found a yellow phase trumpetfish pretending to be a yellow tang. It’s a good strategy. Trumpetfish are ambush hunters and yellow tangs are vegetarians. They color match exactly. Shape not even close. But, if there are a lot of yellow tangs the trumpetfish is well hidden.

The ocean was really calm and pretty chilly this afternoon. Chilly is good. The ocean is supposed to be chilly in winter.  I found myself over by Carlton’s drop off location.

Lots of yellow tangs. I was hoping to find a turtle, but just tangs. That’s OK. Carlton liked tangs.

Figured out why the Super Bowl half time show reminded me of an aerobic class in the 1980’s. Well, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira are about the same age as I was in the mid 1980’s. And, for 5 or 6 years I took a really hard aerobics class twice a week taught by a Puerto Rican dominatrix. We would crawl out of the class. (I didn’t look anything like Jennifer or Shakira.) And props to the ladies for the kids in cages and the Puerto Rican flag.

Gratitude

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Asparagus. I love asparagus. And it is actually good for you too.

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I missed the silky smooth ocean this morning. I waited until it warmed up a bit. And the got pretty choppy. But, I had a great time bouncing around. It has been at least a week since I was in the ocean. What with being sick, guests and generally crappy ocean conditions. And, I am in my last month. Gotta get all stocked up with ocean time. Enough to last until next winter. I am not counting on “next” anything. But, I am planning on a “next” winter. Here. In Kona.  In the ocean.

Almost half time on the Super Bowl. So far, the commercials are underwhelming. I really hated the Trump commercial. That shouldn’t  surprise anyone. And, I don’t much care about either of the teams.

Gratitude

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Katie Sowers – 1st woman coach at Super Bowl. She said she felt it was her responsibility to be sure she wasn’t the last woman coach. And, I so know how she feels. That was always my fear whenever I cracked another 1st woman barrier. I didn’t want them to ever say “We had a woman once but she didn’t work out.” Good on you Katie.

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And why does the half time show look like a really wicked ass hard aerobics class ca 1987?

A fine way to start my last month in Kona for this winter. And since it is Saturday. The old guys brought their old cars to the village for breakfast.

Not sure what kind of a car this thing is. It has an Alpha Romero engine. And, it is bereft of windows, doors or any kind of a top. Very practical basic transportation.

Time to start thinking about my bus tour to the Cotswolds. Namely, how to get there and what to do. No way am I flying to Jolly Old for just 6 days. Heck, it takes me 6 days to get over jet lag. I enjoyed that bordello of a hotel that I stayed in last summer as I recall. I also recall that it was rather pricey. But, they brought me bacon sandwiches and excellent french press coffee in bed every morning. And there is always the train to Paris. I wonder what Brexit will actually do? Don’t imagine that it will be to my advantage.

And I am toying with the idea of taking the Queen Mary 2 back to NYC. Yes, I know I get seasick. It could turn out to be a very expensive weight reduction program. Or it could introduce me to a whole new way to spend Carlton’s money. You don’t really expect me to spend MY money, do you?

Gratitude

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Good sox.

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Now remember to hit the publish button so your friends don’t think you died, Peg.

Wrapped up a great visit with the granddaughter today. Carlton would have been so happy and proud that she turned into a grownup real human person. I always said that the best way to get grandkids was to marry a grandfather.

Gratitude

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The people who clean the porta-potties.

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OOPS! forgot to hit the publish button last night.

And now I am tired. And it is dark outside. So, I am calling today done. Well done. But done.

Gratitude

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Fish tacos, beer, and cars.

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Yesterday Sam and I ventured over to Hilo to checkout our county’s tiny zoo. It is really tiny and I am sure that it doesn’t support any endangered species breeding programs or good stuff like that. But, it is a ZOO. It is free. It is the only zoo that most of our local kids will see. Nothing at all fancy. But totally charming. And. It is always better to be lucky than smart. We went to a zoo in a rainforest and forgot our umbrellas. Mother Nature was very forgiving. Not even a sprinkle after we got out of the car.

Then we went over to Hilo Bay for a little walkabout before heading back to Kona via the Hamakua Coast and Waipio overlook.  Folk who know Big Island will know that we went to the Waipio overlook and not down to the valley.

Today we went to Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park. And took the afternoon off from having fun. Sam is going out to see the manta rays tonight. Since I don’t do boats very well, I am passing on this adventure. Tomorrow we go to see what is left of the volcano.

Oh, and my hotel room got fixed. So, I am back “home” in my own bed tonight.

Gratitude

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Shoes and grownup grandkids who understand that tutu needs a little downtime.

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