Author: Peg

Fine Sunday. I got my trip to Samoa mojo back today. In deed, I broke my resolution to not take underwater pictures anymore. BH Photo has a great price on Panasonic’s low end “rugged” camera. $99. Which is less than it would cost to rent a low end rugged camera. I did have to shell out nine bucks to get it delivered next week.

And, I went out and collected a few 3 ounce bottles of important potions. Bug repellent, hair conditioner, sunscreen, toothpaste, Dr Bonner’s, baby shampoo, neosporin, deodorant. My 1 quart baggie is stuffed full. I’d best not declare anything else “important”.

I still need to get some dorky reef shoes and a pair of boardshorts. Seems that regulation North American old lady one piece bathing suits are considered too revealing. WalMart will provide cheap dorky reef shoes and the thrift shop will provide boardshorts.

Bring on the enormous bats and huge crabs. Hold the packs of wild (but rabies free) dogs, please.

When going out for an early snorkel – a huge cruise ship showed up. Our little village was stuffed with happy shopping, eating and drinking visitors. Which made for a nice early Xmas present for the merchants.

 

Note to Carlton: Santa aka Mongol says Hi. He wondered why he hadn’t seen you. I told him you were busy.

OUCH. Double OUCH. Got two shots this afternoon. I am now good to go to Samoa. Well, I will be in a couple of weeks. Have to let the anti-bodies kick in. Typhoid and Hep A.

I was having a wee bit of buyers remorse about going to Pago Pago… A town with bats with 3 foot wing span, land crabs as big a a VW bug, packs of wild dogs and NOTHING to do. Suggested activities include: visiting the library and going to church. For this, I got 2 shots?

Why travel is good for old women.

• Increased sense of self sufficiency and self control. Ain’t nobody going to bail me out.
• Stepping outside of my comfort zone makes me stronger. I hope.
• I should learn something.
• I am responsible for myself – hence the shots.
• Operating on another time table – should shift my “reality”.
• Little things become more important. Things like drinkable water.
• I should become less fearful. I sure hope so, I am starting to feel a creeping fear of the unknown. A decreasing quest for adventure. I fear this is an “old age” thing. Gotta fight it. I should not be afraid of travel. Adult diapers. Dementia. Those are things to fear. Not the TSA lines. Or VW size crabs.
• It will make me appreciate “home” and it’s comforts.

The Veendam stayed late last evening and brighten up our little village nicely. It will spend a couple more days floating around the islands and then head back to San Diego.

Today, walk some, swim some, go to the hardware store for origami paper (hey, this is Kona), nap a little, make origami stars. Just another day in the life of an old woman.

I think I’ll have figured out how get the shots that I overlooked the need for for my trip to American Samoa. Safeway. I found out that they have the vaccines in stock and an online service is supposed to be sending the prescription to the grocery where I’ll go get a couple of shots. That will be 2 weeks out. 3 weeks would be better. But 2 weeks will be OK.

Went out on the lanai to check on my wetsuit and I sneaked up on the gecko. On this one, it is easy to see why they are called the “Gold Dust Gecko”.

Xmas Day 3 – so where is the green and red? The decorations? The presents? Well, lounging under a tree with the macro lens taking pictures of surfers – for me that is an Xmas present.

Speaking of Xmas presents – time to spring into serious origami mode.

Little wrinkle with the trip. I was thinking that I was going to AMERICAN samoa. According to the CDC I am going to american SAMOA. As a result I should already have some shots that I haven’t had. And, here I am in far distant Kona – trying to figure out how to make it happen. If I can’t – I am not going to worry. After all, I am currently at ground zero for dengue fever here in Kona. We also have rat lung and ciguatera for openers. And this is AMERICA. I’ll take my chances with typhoid in American Samoa. But, I might pass on raw fish and salads. And the whole buffet scene.

Making a small test. If I find WiFi how will I get my pictures uploaded.

The Google phone took this picture and is doing WordPress.

Back at the computer – the WordPress app doesn’t tweak image size. But, if I have wifi or cell coverage – I should be able to update the old lane blog.

We Americans are shooting each other again. I have no idea how we will get out of this mess. Somehow, I don’t think this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind with the 2nd Amendment. The founding mothers are not amused.

Had dinner with Canadian friends last night. They wanted to know if “President Trump” was a possibility. I told them that I hope not – but if it does happen they had better start building a bigass fence fast, because a lot of us were going to be seeking political asylum.

 

Pago Pago – but wait – there is more. Not only do they have bigass bats with a three foot wingspan. They also have a monster terrestrial crab. It is the largest land-living arthropod on the planet with a weight of up to nine pounds. It can grow to up to three feet in length from leg to leg.

What next? Think I’d best round up a 3 ounce container of bug spray. I just bet they have huge mosquitoes. Speaking of which, we are up to 117 cases of dengue fever.

Taking a little vacation to Pago Pago in late December. Got my tickets and my lodgings reserved. About 7,000 people visit American Samoa annually. That averages out to about 20 per day. And, I don’t know if it includes people that come in by cruise ship. 18 cruise ships stopped by in 2015. The 7,000 most like is a count of non-cruisers.

American Samoa’s land area is about as big as Washington DC.  It has the highest rate of enlistment in the US military of any state or territory and a Samoan male is 56 times more likely to play in the NFL than an American non-Samoan. The main “industry” is tuna canning.  I am pretty sure that exciting downtown Pago Pago smells like cat food.

And, internet is almost non-existent. But, there is a McDonald’s. And enormous bats.

Leaving Kailua-Kona mid-day December 21 and returning Dec 29 at about 8AM.

Note to Carlton: I am sure it is safer in Pago Pago than it is in Kona. Both places have dengue fever. And, I am not renting a car. So, don’t worry about me. The water is drinkable. The biggest danger will be being squashed on the plane getting to Samoa. Think about the middle seat on a plane full of Samoans. Because it sure isn’t going to be tourists on the plane.

That image is not photographic excellence. It is a research project. Yes, it is a true kamani tree. Not native to Hawai’i – but rather a canoe plant. Brought to Hawai’i voyaging Polynesians. Those big fat nuts are not eaten and are, in fact, poisonous. But, they can be used as candles. The wood was used for all manner of things – from food bowls to canoes.

Thinking about my Xmas vacation. American Samoa is the leading contender at the moment. It is near by – well – just one time zone earlier. Nonstop a couple of times a week from Honolulu. It is way way off the tourist track. It might be raining the whole time. And, I think it smells bad. So, why not go? I have been to Samoa. But never American Samoa. Going to where “the weather suits my clothes” seems slightly smarter than going to Fairbanks Alaska – current temperature 4 degrees. Pago Pago – current temperature 81 degrees. Kona is 80.

Those of you who wonder what I am doing about food:

Breakfast – oatmeal, banana, granola bar and grapes.

Lunch – Chicken, cheese, avocado sandwich and yogurt

Snack – apple and cheese

Dinner – something involving spinach and eggs because that is what I have. And, a nice cold Stella Artois.

Decked the lobby tree this afternoon. Kicked a Windows 10 machine around for a friend this morning. He got “Critical Error – your start menu has stopped working…” message. I got it going again by restarting the machine in safe mode. More research indicated that Microsoft is clueless about how to effect (or is it affect) a long term fix. Restarting in safe mode applied 32 updates. I am just hoping one of those updates had some secret sauce that fixes that bug.

As for me, I am getting a serious case of “jackrabbits in boots”. Before – the Paris attacks I was toying with the idea of going to Paris for Xmas. The downside being Paris is a long way away. But, after the attacks – going to Paris seem like a good thing to do. But Paris is a long way away.

Also toying with going to American Samoa. It is about 8 hours away and has some killer snorkel sites. And, I have the correct clothes for American Samoa.

Or Tokyo. I absolutely love Japan for no apparent reason. Like Paris, I’d need to do some clothing thrift shopping for Japan.

How about Brisbane? Take the train up to Airlie Beach and the Great Barrier Reef. I have the right clothes and gear for that.

Or head up to Fairbanks Alaska and hope for Northern Lights? (My first stop in Alaska would have to be the Goodwill store!)

Since my hotel is “home”. I have no problem taking a trip. I am not on vacation. I am in my winter quarters.

 

Went for an early morning walk with the camera and took a bunch of shots with my macro lens.

This is the Crown Flower – Sorry Doreen – I told you it was a Jade Flower – Hope you got your crown flower lei home safely. It is a GIANT member of the milkweed family and our local butterflies love it. So did Queen Liliuokalani.

Then I did chores. Grocery shopping, laundry, general tidy up around the room. Hard to believe that 25% of my Hawai’i time is over.

So, I made a little movie (with the real camera – and the plastic wide lens) on this morning’s walk. This is in case I need a little “ocean” when I am back in the asylum.

 

Click on any of today’s images for bigger versions. I took the macro lens out for a nice photo shoot this morning. Even tried movies. Movies were not pretty. Maybe I’ll RTFM.

This time last year is wasn’t two months into my widow woman act. Yes, this year is better. I am starting to figure out how to live my own life. Carlton left me well prepared, emotionally and financially to carry on. And, that is what I am most grateful for today.

And, I am grateful everyday that we had no “issues” outstanding. No apologies that need to be made. No promised made that were not kept. No loose ends. We didn’t get the chance to say goodbye. We didn’t need to say anything. It had all been said.

2015 – having Thanksgiving Dinner with friends this evening. A few more images from this morning’s “macro walk”

The new macro lens made the trip to Kona. I bought it in the middle of all of last summer’s moving and downsizing angst – retail therapy you know. But, I am not really 100% comfortable with it. So, I’ll make a point of using it – for macro shots and for anything else that works.

Cloudy and damp here today. But no worries.

Oldest granddaughter’s birthday today. Grandmotherhood helps tie you to the universe. For Sam – a little advice. Choose your life partner very very carefully. Travel often. Be honest in all activities. Don’t worry too much. Always remember – no one is promised tomorrow – not even the young.