I went out for a swim early this morning and found:
No one in the water
No gear stashed in the rack
A friendly warning
Look around – box jellies.
So, not a good day for me to swim out. I have an irrational fear of jellyfish. (Nevermind that once I went to Chicago just to see a jellyfish exhibit.)
Our Hawaiian box jellyfish are related to the Australian box jellies. But not as vicious. Also, ours come like clockwork 8-10 days after the full moon. They will be gone tomorrow.
Started packing for the Way Back train trip. I packed my iPad with audiobooks. (The trip is a month away. Start packing early!)
Regular readers may recall that I won this fine quilt. Fine, handmade, HUGE quilt. Even hand quilted. It has been stuffed in a big trash bag and is on the floor by “Carlton’s side” of the bed here in the Kona Seaside.
I wish I could figure out what to do with it. Get it shipped back to the Old Bat Cave, I guess.
Refresher. I did massive downsizing last year. And, had a studio apartment renovated to my specs. I has two gray walls. Pictures were framed to go on those two walls. My bed, which I had built 50 years ago in Hawai’i is queen size and has 12 drawers. My clothes are in one side – and “Carlton’s side” is used for storage. Which is to say, the California king size quilt in the picture will cover the drawers. I am not sure that would be OK.
There is a trunk in the corner that Carlton liked. It is filled with old quilts. Quilts that I made. Quilts that my Grandmother made. Quilts that my Great grandmother made. (My Mother didn’t make quilts.) The quilt that is on the bed – I made. It isn’t finely made. Big applique. All machine work. Carlton died on that quilt.
These quilts have been a part of my life. They went to NPS jobs in the summer. They went to picnics. Cosy naps were taken wrapped up in them. A lot of sex was enjoyed under these quilts on cold nights and rainy afternoons. Babies played on these quilts. Cats purred happily on these quilts and kneaded little snags into the fabric. Coffee has been spilt on these quilts. And, tears shed. Did I mention – love made? And, this is just what has happened to these quilts since they have been a part of my life. Who knows what happened to them earlier. There are six quilts. The oldest dates from maybe the 1920s. The “newest” – I made in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Which brings up the Hawaiian quilt. A beauty. But, there is no room in the quilt trunk. There is no room for it in the Old Bat Cave. If I had gotten it last winter – I would have made room for it one of the walls. I would have had the walls painted beige. And, it would have pride of place on one of my walls.
But, quilts don’t belong on walls. They belong on beds. This new quilt deserves a life. It doesn’t deserve to be stashed in a trash bag in my storage cage.
Started out the morning on the pier. Thinking about doing some street shooting. But, it is a fine morning and I see some surfers in the distance. So, edgy street photography loses out to surfers.
I got about 120 shots out of three waves this I caught this guy catching. And, to make it more fun for me – he came up and introduced himself and asked me to email him some pictures. No great shots – but some good ones. If you can not get too many surf shots – check out 50 more at:
Yep, I am cleaning off the photos that have stacked up on my desktop. (Click on them for larger versions)
Cloudy and cool and breezy today. So, I think it will be soup for dinner.
Zika and Dengue Virus. When I was in Samoa they had big signs warning about the dangers of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika. I had to Google Zika. What a difference a month makes. Now Zika is on the national news every night. Dengue is still on the local news every day here in Hawai’i. And Chikungunya is still off the US radar.
I was expecting to have second thoughts about my train trip. But, no buyers remorse. Five days of napping, reading, eating, looking out the window, coffee drinking, giving the fitbit a rest… what’s not to love?
Found 2 pennies while doing my fitbit walk today. Figured that was a sign from Carlton that it was OK to take the long way home. (Picking up pennies was a big deal to Mr C)
Early this morning returing a coffee walk… There were a couple of cop cars outside the hotel – a not unheard at the Seaside. There was a news report of a stabbing at a westside hotel. So, figured that the Seaside was where it happened.
Came up to my room where I see a woman with a Marilyn Monroe complex in a pretty white slipdress with a train case talking to two cops just outside the hotel property. Hummm, she must be the problem. She looked a little like a working girl – but they are usually too savvy to get caught by the cops like that. They can be entrapped, but not busted for some “hotel” offense or the other. So, I figure she was just some silly girl who made a really bad choice man-wise. And, later I notice 3 overstuffed suitcases on the sidewalk as well.
Time passes. She is screaming into her phone. “You said you would be here 2 hours ago. Coming to get me has to me your highest priority today. He left at 3:30 yesterday and the hotel threw me out at 8AM…”
Another couple of hours pass. I am having lunch and notice a man stuffing all the luggage into a late model sedan. The girl is not in sight. I assume she was already in the car.
I hope she learned something from this little drama. Always have a viable Plan B girlfriend. I guess she had a Plan B – it was the guy who came and scooped her off the sidewalk. Sge needs a better Plan B.
Just a normal day today. Got lunch at the grocery and ate it at the beach. 3 guys surfing. 2 girls sunning. This wasn’t the best place to surf today – but it was the best place to eat lunch.
Thank you, Carlton for my new previously owned long slow lens.
Woke up this morning to a little rain and a pirate ship in the harbor. I have been in Kona almost 3 months – and this was the first “damp” day. I really don’t think I can call it a rainy day. It was just damp. And, a little drizzly.
I started thinking about “taxes”. I can either do my own taxes or pay someone big bucks to do it for me. I should get some backup for my tax preparation. As long as my brain works – I think I should do my own taxes. (Well, me and TurboTax) But, how will I know when I am no longer capable of doing my own taxes? And, it seems that it will take about as much work to get my stuff together for the CPA as doing my own taxes…
TurboTax and I did my taxes and Carlton’s taxes. And, Carlton checked them. I miss my checker. Come to think of it – Carlton checked everything. Me, not so much… I sort of wing it.
But, I did check on trains across America. The California Zephyr – which goes thru Colorado during the day – and the Sunset Limited – which just sound cool – are my candidates. The Empire Builder is the easiest. There is something to be said for “easiest”. Just get to Seattle. Take light rail from airport to train station. Planes arrive in the early AM and train leaves in late afternoon.
The Sunset Limited leaves from Los Angeles – you can get from the airport to the train station by public transit – but 3 or 4 transfers are required. The CZ – not sure how I would connect with it. Most likely go to Seattle and take a train to the Sacramento and join the Zephyr there.
I am not very happy with any of these images… I think you can click on them and make them larger if you want to be critical.
Going back home – thinking about taking the train. Well from the coast. The Empire Builder can be joined in Portland or Seattle. The most scenic, California Zephyr, can be jumped on in Sacramento. Los Angeles is where you get the Sunset Limited. At my advanced age, I can get across country for about $225. But, it is not about the money. It is about the journey.
Totally exhausted today. Every muscle, but especially the legs, is complaining. I put myself into recovery mode today. NO exercising. NO fitness nonsense. No walking upstairs. Ignore the fitbit. Got 4 miles today – just doing normal stuff – going to the farm market and the grocery. That is enough. Let the old muscles rest. And, eat enough calories.
I have no sense. I must realize that I am an old woman. I don’t bounce back as quickly.
Carlton used to tell me to “slow down”. Nobody doesn’t that anymore. I need to be responsible for my own body. Think I am going to need to take tomorrow off too.