life in the old lane

The reason that I didn’t see the sun this morning is that there wasn’t any sun to see. 

Happy to report that I seem to have returned to “normal” today. I think the underlying cause of my symptoms was not some new bad thing – but my long standing sinus issues. And, I know that I had gotten a lot of water in my ears over the last week. And, we had a lot of vog (volcano smog) late last week. Sudafed and Zyrtec are on the menu!

Decades ago, I worked on the HC&S sugar plantation in Maui. Today, they hauled the last load of cane to the mill in Puunene. The mill will close next week. And that will be it for sugarcane in Hawaii. 

Today I went to the Xmas Tea at Hulihe’e Palace. The problem with “Tea” is that it is “Tea” and not “Coffee”. But, they had mimosas. 

I noticed that there was a guy at the tea. So, I put myself next to him. Turns out that he is Kaimana Barcarse, one of the crew of the Hōkūleʻa. He has served as educator, captain, and navigator. Last winter he was on the leg that went through the Indian Ocean to South Africa. His job that pays the rent is with Kamehameha Schools. 

Both of the boat photos were taken from my lanai – using the long lens that I don’t like so very much. But, I have to add – it takes much better pictures when I use my new old monopod. (THANKS TRUDE)

Little old lady victories:

1. Getting a jar of salsa opened without having to get one of the maintenance guys to help.
2. Figuring out how to use one of the many “features” of my rubber watch. It does a bunch of things – besides telling the date and time. I have learned how to use the stopwatch feature. And, I might try to figure out the alarm feature. Except, I know how the alarms work on my iPad and cell phone. 

1500 days until the Presidential Inauguration January 20, 2021. I was assured by a Trump supporter today that “Things will be fine”. Sure. Roger that.

Tomato soup and cheese sandwich coming up for dinner. 

And yes I was glad to see the sun come up. But, not because it has been raining for a week. Because, last night, while watching the Xmas Parade, I had a serious presyncope episode.  Which is medical mumbo jumbo for damn near fainted right out on the street. Most unpleasant and more than a little scary. I continue to feel a little punk today.

Guess this is just another of nature’s ways of reminding me that I am getting to the last act. 

Oh, so what did I do? Well, I made my way back to my room. Took my BP. It was low for me – but not extremely low.  Had some tea. Had some dinner. Found my Medicare/Insurance cards. Just in case I had to 911 it. Decided to skip my BP pill. Worried some. Went to bed with a book. 

Today: I stayed close to home. Did not go swimming. Nevermind that it was sunny. Made an effort to eat 3 “good” meals. Drank water. Took a couple of Sudafeds. Went to Xmas Concert at the Palace, but decided to watch the Boat Parade from my lanai. And, I resisted the temptation to have a beer. I did take my BP drugs. 

And, I wished that I was back at the asylum, where I could just call the nurse. Instead, I had to be the nurse.  

The Xmas Concert was sort of sad. I didn’t stick around afterward to see if anyone else noticed. 

Very few in the audience. And very few singers and dancers. Guess age is catching on the old Palace gang too. But, the grass has enjoyed all the rain! And, it isn’t being trampled by too many people. 

 

The school was still hanging around – but a bit out in the “boat area”. Some divers were following me out. I hoped they had good lights with them – but no luck. Oh well, you shoot what you get with what you have.

Spotted fat fish.

Another spotted fat fish.

These are two of my favorite fish. In pictures, they look pretty much alike. But the spotted boxfish is tiny while the spotted puffer can be quite large – a foot maybe. This one was 6 inches max. 

They are very different – the boxfish has a skeleton that keeps it box shaped. While the puffer puffs itself up. This is it’s normally puffed size/shape. It can puff into an almost perfect ball shape. 

And, I saw a little eel today. But, it was on a mission and didn’t stop for a photo. 

Christmas Parade tonight. Hope it doesn’t rain on our parade.

Another cloudy damp cool day. I spent most of the day making origami fish and listening to an audiobook. No problem with that.

I was going to walk to Target this morning – but – the street and sidewalk was closed. Some sort of bomb scare. The street/sidewalk was closed until a bomb guys could get over here from Honolulu. Think it was a false alarm. Didn’t hear any explosions. 

Took the “underwater” camera with me on my walk today. 

This property is sort of overboard on  “thou shalt not” signage.

And … I think this is the last one. 

It is an incredible indictment of the coming dark ages, when the best news today is that John Glenn died. Once we went to the moon. Now, in 43 days, our country will be run by a bunch of billionaires who don’t believe in science.  And, barring impeachment or some sort of Electoral College nullification, we are stuck with that circus and those monkeys for another 1504 days. Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

What a strange day? I was 1/2 way through my walk. Perched on a rock. Watching the ocean. When my phone starts telling me “Tsunami Possible”… But, I didn’t hear the sirens – so I sort of ignore it. When I get back to the hotel, I do plug in all my toys – just in case. But, soon – “they” decide – no tsunami today. So, I start my laundry.

Then, I get a phone message – the akule school is within easy swimming range and more important – near a specific buoy.  But, I still have to finish my laundry. And, it is cold and cloudy.

Remembering Carlton’s advice: Just Shut up, Suit up and Show up… I was the only person in the ocean. I had my own private ocean. Well, I had to share it with a whole bunch of fish.

The big fish are amberjacks. They came for lunch.

Color correction is darn near impossible for these fish with my cheap camera and no sun – and I like black and white better anyhow.

When I got really cold and decided to come in – a dive boat showed up and all the paying customers jumped in. My fun was free. 

Dinner time. Tomato soup and cheese sandwich, I am thinking. Maybe with a nice beer. The best of kid and grown up.

Oh, and there was a little eel. Keeping a friendly eye on me.

 

Had a nice day. Walk. Swim. Eat breakfast. Ride up road. Crash the Four Seasons hotel. Visit Costco.

December 7th is taken a lot more seriously in Hawai’i than on the Mainland. When I lived here in the ’60s almost everyone “Remembered Pearl Harbor”. My husband worked at Pearl Harbor and many of the people he worked with had worked at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. This all makes me feel very old. I don’t “remember Pearl Harbor” – but – I remember people who did. 

Yesterday, I saw an eel. Whitemouth Moray. But, it wasn’t picture worthy. Just a continuation of my eel experience.

Today’s eel is photo worthy. I think he was maybe 2 feet long – max. 

Strangely – the Four Season’s Hotel wasn’t decorated for Xmas. Maybe folks who spend $1,000 and up (way up) for a room don’t want to rush the season. Or maybe Xmas isn’t one of the Four Seasons? So for today’s Holiday Photo – this fine old car was out front of Four Seasons.

Still in Not my circus, Not my monkeys mode about the upcoming  of administration  nevertheless I am underwhelmed with some (many?) of the appointments. 

Oh, I went to Costco. Because that is where the truck I was riding in was going. Costco is always a vaguely unsettling experience for me. There is SO MUCH. American excess to the max. But, I always enjoy the free samples.  

Gee, here it is dinner time. What will it be? Salad maybe? Or baked potato. Cheese and avocado sandwich? Choices. Make one.

What a difference a day makes in mollusk photography. I can not get to the bottom. My wetsuit makes me too floaty. Which is one of the reasons I wear the wetsuit. I am not an authority on conch shells – I think this one is a Charonia tritonis or Triton Conch.

Nice day today. The sun returned. The FitBit is happy. Swam for about 45 minutes. Lounged around reading this afternoon. Had an early dinner with friends. 

But, I didn’t stop thinking about the next great adventure.

And, it would be whimpy to start or stop the trip in Paris. It should begin/end at St Pancras Station in London. Nothing says I couldn’t stop over in Paris – just long enough to get some great underwear. (Nevermind that I am old and the only person who would see said great undies.) 

So, this is why I wisely didn’t move to Portland or Seattle. Never mind the legal pot and assisted suicide. It is rainy and cloudy for 3 or 4 days and I am going nuts. Reduced to photographing disgusting Giant African Snails slithering around my hotel.

I also started thinking about going back to the Asylum. Like the Asylum is going to be better? I wasn’t thinking about going to the airport and hopping on a plane going east. I was thinking about taking the long way home. Going west. Including taking the Siberian Express from Vladivostok to Paris. 

No fish photos, no holiday photos, no hibiscus photos. Just a Giant African Snail. 

Four Years and Five Days Ago

What to have for dinner? Thinking about chicken, cheese, pineapple sandwich. 

Mr Sun started the morning out with a forgotten promise of things to come. But, not too worry. After grocery shopping, I bundled up in my wetsuit and jumped in for a nice swim. Nevermind that it was cold, murky and rough. I needed some swim time. 

And, I saw “my” flounder. And, another eel. This one was little. That just about does it – the eel is my ‘aumakua. Or maybe it is Carlton’s ‘aumakua come to check up on me. Or maybe we share this ‘aumakua. After all, we were/are a “family”. Albeit small. And some would say dysfunctional family. 

My bar for underwater shots was very low today. It was bumpy, murky and rainy.

The grocery is getting geared up the holidays.

Some of our holiday “necessities” you would recognize. Others – not so much.

And what did I do on this rainy day. Swim, grocery shop, finished reading a serious dead tree book – with footnotes about Kamehameha III, read the Sunday paper – dead tree for West Hawaii Today, iPad Washington Post/NY Times. Now, I am thinking  “what for dinner”?  Maybe lentil soup and salad. With a sliver of cheesecake for dessert? 

Mother nature seems to be getting into the spirit of the season.

The weather was more normal today. But, I didn’t manage to make it out to swim. First the ocean was too “full”. There was a swim contest and canoe races. And, it was pretty choppy. After lunch I suited up and went over to the pier – but by then it was choppy, windy, and the sun had vanished. I didn’t swim. It is supposed to be fun. And cold is not fun.

Took the cheap long slow not very loved lens out late this afternoon. With the monopod. I shot this dog.

Getting hungary. Veggie cheese burger with pineapple maybe? It is either veggie burger or peanut butter sandwich or oatmeal. Hey, 3 choices. Life is good. 

 

That is Mauna Kea – where the snow is. As usual, I didn’t have the “right” lens. But, I sure had the “right” lens for the clouds – which were more impressive than the snow from this vantage point.

And, a foot of snow is on tap for tonight. 

This morning’s walk was through the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) area. Not exactly scenic – but interesting. And, it is smooth and flat. 

Only in Kona would people (well, not visitor people) be happy when the day is “cold” and damp. We put on our long sleeved shirts, hoodies, even socks. Enjoyed hot cocoa and soup. And, got serious about Xmas.

I made Holiday Fish and addressed cards. If we have another wintery day – I’ll be all done. But wait! Time to deploy the Holiday Theme.

It was chilly and damp today. About an hour ago, I put on my swimsuit, went out on the lanai for my towel, and came back in, took off my swimsuit and headed off for a nice hot shower. It was just too chilly for a swim. Even with a 3 mm wetsuit. Rain on the mountains increases the amount of cold fresh water that the springs put into the bay. And snow on the mountain cools the breeze.

Are we 3 weeks out from the election? I have been trying to be a gracious “loser”. Nevermind that my side won the popular vote. And all of you who couldn’t be bothered to vote. Or who didn’t like the choices… Pox on both your houses.

But, I have just been wondering – what is going to happen when the good people who did vote for The Trumpet realize that they have elected the greatest con artist since Charles Ponzi (Or Jefferson Randolph Smith for all you Alaskan types)? Seriously, are they going to get mad? Or are they just going the shrug it off as business as usual?