life in the old lane

Sorry, I am not real tolerant of the religion these days.

Went out for a swim this morning. It was just OK. The water was clear. But, the fish were none too plenty and I was sort of fighting the current. So, I head back to shallow waters. 

And… what do I find but an octopus.

As soon as I spotted him he oozed under a rock – not to be seen again by me, at least. But, that was cool. I spotted an octopus. 

I continue mostly floating in. 

But, wait – is that a fin? Could that really be a huge Devil Scorpion Fish? In less than a foot of water?

Not a rock. A huge devil scorpion fish. If I poked him, he would move a couple of inches and flash the orange insides of his fins at me. But, this is a big old fish. It would be rude to disturb him/her just for a photo op. 

Devil Scorpionfish are not as bad as their name indicates. But, if you step on one or grab one – you will get stung. Not fatal. But attention getting for sure. If a little fish swims by this big boy will open that mouth and inhale the unfortunate little fish.

So, today’s little lesson from Mother Nature, who is a bitch, is about seeing. And not seeing. And, it could be about survival by blending in. 

So, my just OK swim turned out to be great. I just have to see the unseen.

 

When will I learn, if it is working – don’t fix it. I had Alexa tethered to my iPad. It had been working 24/7 for a couple of weeks. Well, today, I decided to ruin a perfectly good afternoon. I decided to move Alexa. When I plugged her back in – I couldn’t get her to connect to the iPad again. I tried everything. Now, I have no Alexa. 

Other than that, it was a nice (but chilly) day. I did most of my year-end financial stuff. Cleaned out some more of my digital clutter. This time – the contacts. Not sure why I  worry about how many contracts I have. Yesterday, I read that David Rockefeller had 200,000 cards in this custom Rolodex. He who dies with the biggest Rolodex wins!

 

It is a sad and tragic photo – but sort of sweet too. The dog has a shirt to keep him warm. 

Friend Billy wanted a picture of this cool bike – if one picture is good three is better. 

Today was mostly about swimming. I left my camera on shore and just swam. Then I swam back. I didn’t see anything that made me regret leaving the camera. 

Back home, nice hot bubble bath, lunch, nap, do some work for the hospital, go for a little walk, now it is time to decide what to fix for dinner. It is “cold”. Maybe, I’ll make a can of soup! 

Today was a grim day in the USA. The orange lord’s tax legislation is a train wreck for all but the uber rich. The orange lord’s lawyer says that “President cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution’s Article II]…” The orange lord destroyed two national monuments. And that is just the top level crap.

How to deal with the end of my country as I knew it? Nothing lasts forever. If the younger people want what “we” wanted starting with Roosevelt (either one) through JFK, LBJ, Clinton, Obama et al. If they want that vision of America – well they will have to get their butts to the polls for each and every election. From dog catcher to president. It is time for a “new generation”. 

These little guys were everywhere today. 

Nice Sunday. Logged my five miles walking  and 30 minutes of swimming. And, resupplied my “kitchen”. Today’s bonus was chicken caesar salad from Costco. 

Also, got some more bath goodies. I am taking full advantage of my hotel room’s tub. The Old Bat Cave is a senior safe tub free unit. I am sure it is “for my own good”. 

Better late than never: been playing Sea Hero Quest – as a video game – it is rather lame. But, as a concept it is pretty cool. Sort of citizen science like the old Seti project when we “donated” our PCs downtime to search for intelligent life in the universe. Maybe we should try searching for intelligent life here in the USA? 

But, Sea Hero Quest is a cute little cartoony game – what you do and how you do it goes to researchers in the UK who are studying dementia. Read about it. 

Earlier this month on one of our morning walks – Billy asks – What is that?

It looked vaguely familiar. It is about as tall as I am, has slightly misshaped large fruits, and small flowers. I think it might be some sort of cocoa plant, except it isn’t. I don’t think much more of the mystery tree.

Until. Thursday, when I am going walkabout at the old airport. I wander over to check it out more carefully. 

When I see the seeds I realized that this is a monster milkweed. A milkweed tree.  Google declares it to be Calotropis Procera – Apple of Sodom. (Solanum linnaeanum is also called Apple of Sodom.) But this big thing is the Biblical Apple of Sodom. Josephus, that ever popular Roman Jewish historian saw  growing near Sodom: “…as well as the ashes growing in their fruits; which fruits have a color as if they were fit to be eaten, but if you pluck them with your hands, they dissolve into smoke and ashes.” 

The Apple of Sodom has been used by John Milton, Marilyn Manson, JS Bach and others as an allegory for something that looks great on the outside – but is something else entirely on the inside. Did I mention it’s latex sap contains some serious cardiac poisons? 

Have a nice day. An Apple of Sodom a day keeps long life away. A totally unpleasant plant. 

The menu from the Asylum for today has Lobster Mac and Cheese as a choice. I will have Avocado Mac and Cheese. 

The State of Hawai’i wants us to take cover and stay covered for 14 days. I don’t think so. I plan to grab some beers, sit on the pier and watch show. 

Kiss your ass goodbye.

On more positive notes: I got passport photos today. And, winter friends from Wyoming arrived last night.

I frequently put up images of the beach side of the old airport. That is to the left side. On the right side – where the terminal was – there are interesting plants, mongoose, and feral cats. Today the right side.

This is the kapok tree. Not too many people remember it – but – for the first part of the last century kapok was the floatation part of the life vest. I remember having kapok stuffed pillows when I was a kid. Downside to kapok is it is pretty flammable. 

Walking, swimming, photography, reading today.

Scrambled some eggs for breakfast, tuna and tomato sandwich for lunch… Avocado will anchor dinner.

Oh, the old airport was a WWII landing strip. After the war it was The Airport. In 1970 the New Airport opened, and now the only planes that land are radio controlled. 

This is youtube

this is my web server

Well, if I don’t sleep well tonight, I have only myself to blame. Came back from a fine afternoon out – I came home and decided to take a “little” nap  Next thing I know, it is after 5PM. But, hey I am trying to dial it back. Take it easy. Stop being the Energizer Bunny. Did real good at that this afternoon.

Making gold foil butterflies for Xmas. They flutter really nice on the tree. I put a couple on “my” hotel tree. 

I have never used foil paper. It is very thin and holds the fold really well. I forgot to bring any origami paper with me so I decided to try foil. Only in Kona do you go to Ace Hardware for origami papers. And, good Japanese paper it is. 

Ok, it has been over a year. The orange lord has been president too long. When will the madness end? Today Hawai’i County had meeting to tell residents what to do in case of nuclear attack. I think in case of nuclear attack I will just die. That was my plan back in the day when I had a whole life ahead; and it is my plan when a have a whole life behind. 

 

Sweet gray cloudy coolish day. We “locals” like days like this – because they are so rare here in ever sunny Kailua-Kona. 

I spent the day doing a little walking and puttering around with a little “Thank You” video to show back at the Asylum. And reading. And napping. 

Here it is 1915 hours. And I am thinking about firing up the coffee maker. Glad coffee doesn’t keep me awake. 

Food today: poached egg and English muffin, baked potato with avocado, chicken “burger” with the rest of the avocado. Plus the usual yogurt or two and “medicinal” chocolate.

Just sort of gray all day. It hasn’t rained down here at the ocean, yet. But, I can smell the rain. And see the snow on the Mauna Kea web cams. So, I will not be surprised if I get “rained in” tomorrow. 

The videos from the Last Great Photo Shoot have been running 24/7 on TV monitors back at the asylum. They did the job. Funds were raised to give nice cash presents to our long suffering staff members. 

Today, I almost talked myself into going back to the Asylum for a few days to receive accolades and make a “Thank you” video. Then I heard Carlton say “That would just be an ego trip”. Right. And friend Billy said that would be  a stupid thing to do. Right. So, I will rest on my laurels right out here in the middle of the Pacific. And continue simplifying/decluttering my life.

My back continues to improve. Dinner was avocado, cheese, spinach wrap. Have enough food on hand so I don’t have to go out tomorrow if it is all wet.