For Carlene

We've lost a treasure in you, but I'm glad you're no longer in pain.
I will always remember your laughter, and your wisdom and wit that lit up a room; lit up our lives.

Me ke aloha pumehana, Carlene.
A hui hou...

Ah! The Golden Gate

Oh so many photos from our trip!

On the way back to Sonoma from Sunnyvale, the sun came out. Confronted with one of my favorite vistas on the planet, I decided to do something I hadn't done in probably fifteen years - walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was very cold, but the view was as lovely as ever.

So until I get a chance to go through all these photos, here are a few I took of the view from the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Vista Point on the north end.


Aloha and stay tuned...

Cold Dark Warmth and Light

"I may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I know there is one.”
~ Maya Angelou

So it's winter solstice today, and here I am in Sunnyvale visiting my mom for a day or two. It's been lovely to see everyone, and I am beyond grateful to my sister and her family, and my mom. But it's very weird to be so cold, and to have this sense of extended deja vu. I cannot get warm, and I'm really feeling wintry; sort of going into hibernation mode. I'm terribly homesick for the warmth of the island and our little house in Kaimuki. This depth of feeling is wholly unexpected and I'm not exactly sure what to do with it.

So I listened to my mom's talk at her church this morning regarding Hannukah, Advent and the Winter Solstice, and some of the things she said made me think. It was about relationships and how we run into problems when we expect permanence; when we assume things won't change, and that if they do, we've failed. When in actuality, things are always in flux. Seasons change, people change and grow, circumstances change, and our lives are shaped by how we handle those changes.

Reflecting on the illusion of permanence, the transformations inherent in change, and the hope inherent in transformation...

Aloha pumehana

Whirlwind

Phew! Busy, busy, busy.

We had the Kaimuki Christmas Parade on Thursday night. Friday night we drove up to a little coffee house in Wahiawa to hear slack-key master Ledward Kaapana (I cannot overstate how amazing that evening was!).

And last night there was sunset dinner at Don Ho's on the water, followed by the huge Honolulu City Lights Electrical Parade downtown. Afterwards, a mosey around and through Honolulu Hale to see the gigantic lighted Santa and Mrs Claus fountain and all the decorated Christmas trees inside the hall. Each Honolulu City and County department decorates a tree and/or gingerbread house. It's a big competition and they put them all in the big hall there. The whole thing - parade, lights, trees, fountains, Clauses, giant Snow People - was incredibly impressive, reminded me of Disneyland for a minute there.

And today we're snorkeling and then baking cookies for friends. And then we're leaving on a jet plane in a couple days. It's a freakin' whirlwind, I tell ya!

I have photos of a lot of this, but haven't had time to download them...funny that...heh.
Will post some soon, I promise!

Happy Holidays Everybody!!!!!!!!

Aloha pumehana...

Magic...

Months ago I took a stephanotis cutting and put it in a pot on the lanai, where it's been very happy. Then a few weeks ago, I met a menehune named Mac and invited him to live with us. I told a friend and he was curious, "I wonder what he'll do..."

Well, now I know. I watered the stephanotis last night, and saw nothing amiss. Then this morning, THIS:


Shrooms!!! Not just one mushroom, but a whole freakin' forest-let! Overnight, just like that. Magic Mushrooms!! And who should be standing there looking cheeky...mm-hmm...

How'd he get out there from the kitchen?!? o0

Giving Thanks For Friends And Newbies

Kevin and I spent Thanksgiving with a group of friends at one of their homes in Maunawili. Maunawili is tucked back up under the Ko'olau mountains. The house had a view from which you can see towering waterfalls gushing down the mountains when the rains come. It's a beautiful area, and the drive up there reminded me of driving on Sonoma Mountain in the winter. In fact, it could've been Bennett Valley Road, which was kinda weird, like a dream.

Anyway, we had folks of all ages, including two young soldiers back from Iraq, and two newbies; three-month old Sophia and one-month-old Kylie. In fact, we were so busy talking and eating and holding babies, that we didn't get very many photos. Here's Kevin with Sophia:


So we had some great practice for holding Emma when we see her, not to mention Petie. Thank you Sophia, and Kylie, too, for being such sweet babies, and to their moms for letting us hold them.

And here's a couple photos of Blue, the neighborhood peacock who comes to the door. He's a bit shy and quick on his feet, so Kevin was trying to keep up and these are a little blurry, but Blue's gorgeous!




And one of the garden out back, just because it's so incredibly pretty. The lady of the house has a very green thumb.


Then there was the food, which was extremely yummy! Add in lots of laughter and interesting conversation, and it was a lovely holiday.

We are very blessed indeed!

Me ke aloha pumehana...

Ack!

Okay, this is lame I know, but it's a placeholder post because we're incredibly BUSY lately! We did get to see Twilight, which is incredibly romantic, and if you haven't seen Bolt yet, please do! It's the hamster...we laughed out loud in the theatre...again. :)

Should have a better post after Thanksgiving in Maunawili, which we're looking forward to. But I dunno, there's so much to do to get ready for our trip that I'm in a bit of a stress mode. It's a good stress, but wish me peace, please.

Happy Turkey Day, Everybody!!!

Maluhia 'oe...

Food + Music = Bliss

Today was yet another celebration of why I love living on this island and so close to Waikiki! And why I should never, NEVER, leave the house without a camera again...sigh. After the beautiful-even-in-the-rain drive up country to Surf N Sea in Hale'iwa to get Kevin some swim fins, we toddled on down to Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki.

On the way there, we discovered a Thai festival in Kapiolani Park. It happened to be a celebration of the "175th Anniversary of the Thai-U.S.A. Relationship" sponsored by the Royal Thai Consulate of Hawai'i, the Thai Buddhist Temple and the Thai community of Hawai'i. It also happened to fall at the third lunar moon in November, which heralds the Loi Krathong festival. Loi Krathong is celebrated to honor the Mother of Waters. You light a krathong, a beautiful colorful lotus made of colored papers, incense, and a candle.


Then you make a wish, and set it afloat, in this case, on the pond in Kapiolani Park. So you end up with these lovely lighted lotus blossoms floating all over the pond, with a team of three beautiful little girls dressed in traditional golden attire tending the pond with sticks to push the floating lights back out into the middle when they hit the side. It was lovely.

Not to mention the FOOD!! Omigosh, tent after tent of fresh Thai cooking, prepared in huge portable woks at the back of the tent. A whole Thai meal of homecooked ono goodness with three main dishes and rice for $5. Washed it all down with Thai iced tea and it was bliss!

Then there was Sunset on the Beach, which featured a free concert of three legendary local music groups on stage on the beach at Waikiki. Na Leo, a favorite trio of women who sing wonderful harmonies. Also another favorite Ho'okena, with its rich warm harmonies, and Na Palapalai, who I know now :)

To top it all off, the music was accompanied by beautiful hula dancers here from around the world for the International Waikiki Hula Conference. It was lovely to relax on the beach under the palms and be entertained by such talented people. So I bought the new Na Leo cd, E Hula Mai Kakou, and had it autographed, just for fun.

Aloha pumehana!

Things That Make Me Smile #242

Diego

Pick A Pearl

Last weekend we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory downtown. Yummy!! I recommend the Thai lettuce wraps appetizer...mmm...definitely! And of course, we had cheesecake....Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple, the seasonal Pumpkin cheesecake, and my favorite, the Chocolate Coconut Cream cheesecake...oh yeah!

Afterwards, we wandered over to the International Marketplace, which I had not been to yet...I know, I know, it's a Waikiki staple, and I live here, no excuse. There are so many places I haven't seen yet. Anyway, they have this incredibly fun thing called "Pick-A-Pearl", a little kiosk run by Maui Divers. They have giant bowls of humble ugly oysters. You choose one (Kevin helped)- the hairiest ugliest one - then tap it three times, shout A-LO-HA! (that's mandatory, of course), and they open it up right in front of you and pull out your pearl. I lucked out and got a huge deep purple one, and I was even luckier to be able to choose a pretty gold and diamond orchid setting.

I'm a lucky lady...mm-hmm!

Here's hoping you all find a pearl in something ugly today...heh...

Aloha pumehana!!

Today

One vet I know has cemented my perspective on veterans forever. His life was radically changed, not only by his service during the conflict in Vietnam, but even more so by the way he was treated when he came home. If he had been shown the gratitude and honor he deserved for his service instead of outright hostility, disdain and derision, who knows what he might have done with his life, what he might have become. He would've had a chance at happiness. As it is, he never did. A wonderful brave creative sensitive dear soul was crushed beyond redemption. And his is a tragedy repeated thousand-fold across the country.

When someone enlists in the military (or is drafted), they agree to put their lives on the line. Whether they see combat or not, they are willing to fight, and possibly die for the rest of us. While they're in, they are subject to the will of history and fate in a very visceral way; they literally make themselves pawns for the greater good....our greater good. Their service becomes our responsibility.

Please thank a veteran today.

Aloha pumehana...

Il est très simple...

On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur,

l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

C'est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose
qui fait ta rose si importante.

Merci, mon ami, merci <3

Obama Sunset

We were supposed to go to an election night potluck at the church last night, but since it was a school night, Kevin and I decided to stay home and watch the election returns together.

As the results were coming in and I was finishing up the dishes, I saw the sky turn color from the kitchen window, and I just knew it would be "one of those" sunsets. As I grabbed the camera and ran outside, I passed beneath our open living room window and heard the anchorman call the election for Obama, and Kevin exclaim, "Mom! Oh my God, he won, Mom! He won!"

Then I looked up at the sky mauka from our driveway and here's what I saw, this big lovely break in the clouds, a giant glowing O in the sky...well, sort of...heh...too funny:


I showed Kevin and then ran up the hill a bit and got this one real quick. Not the best photo, but look at the colors!! No touch-ups I swear. It was gorgeous!! :


It's a SIGN!...heh.
Actually, the best signs of hope for the future that I've seen in quite a long time were McCain's gracious concession speech followed by Obama's historic and eloquent speech from Grant Park. It was so incredibly moving, I cried...such a marshmallow.

Aloha pumehana...

Vote!

Our freedom and our rights are precious. They've been defended at great sacrifice by so many. How can we even contemplate failing to protect them by not exercising our long fought right to vote?

And the fight was indeed long, particularly for women:

The single most impressive fact about the attempt by American women to obtain the right to vote is how long it took.
Alice Rossi, _The Feminist Papers_ (1973)

Seventy-five years it took, count 'em! And women have only had that right for eighty-eight years. Lest we forget the struggle, here are some images:



I'll be voting tomorrow with gratitude, respect, and excitement.
Hope you will be, too. :)

Aloha...

Hallowbaloo!

[Update Nov. 2 - Judging from the Metromix party pix this event really did turn into a bash, with some really cool costumes. We did see the stilt-walker peacock lady, but she went by through a crowd with her tail-feathers down and I couldn't get a good shot of her. Anyway, the photos are fun, so check 'em out. :)]

Tonight Kevin and I moseyed on down to Chinatown for the first annual Hallowbaloo Music and Arts Festival. This very old historic section of Honolulu has become a fulcrum of the arts community here, with galleries and antique shops and some very lovely restaurants.

This was the first Hallowbaloo, and since I brought Kevin, we went and left early. It was a bit slow in starting, but by the time we left around 8 pm, it was hoppin' with costumed people of all ages, wonderful food, dancing Chinese dragons, and some really fine music. For a first annual event, it was very well attended, and looked like it would become a rollicking bash by the time it ends at 1:30 am. All in all, quite the good time.

Of course, it was a perfect excuse to take some photos, too. :)











Aloha and Happy Halloween!!!

Natatorium

Here's another favorite spot of mine.

The old Natatorium was built to honor the 101 soldiers lost from Hawai'i and the veterans of WWI. It reminds me of the ruins of the Sutro Baths out at Cliff House in San Francisco. The filigree gate and the neoclassical arches are lovely; vaguely Parisian in a way that's difficult to describe. I keep trying to get a good photo that really captures that faded yet rather determined elegance quietly enduring amidst the usually bustling backdrop of Waikiki. Haven't quite accomplished it yet, but these are two that I like so far:


Along with many other spots on this island, it's one that's stolen a piece of my heart. <3

Aloha pumehana...

Vacation Time

We have tickets for our trip!

Finally! After a year and a half, I truly need this vacation.

Three weeks at the holidays with my boy, surrounded by the people we love in one of the prettiest places on Earth, the lovely Valley of the Moon. Twinkling lights on the Plaza, Christmas dinner with all the fixins, Murphy's!, Mary's!, Rin's!, a hike or two to precious places, a trip to SF, and best of all, visiting with family and friends who are sorely missed. I can honestly say there is no place on the planet I'd rather be for the holidays! :)

Aloha pumehana...

Emma's Here!!

Emma Ann

6 lbs., 11 oz.

Welcome to the world, sweet baby girl!

Images of Favorite Haunts

I realize I've been lax with posting photos lately. So here a few from Malaekahana Beach up toward North Shore and then a couple from walking down around Diamond Head, which is very close to home and a favorite place to walk.

Malaekahana is a good beach for privacy or solitude. It's gorgeous and always empty. When I took these, there were some taiko drummers up on the hill in the trees, but the beach was empty. It was very primal, with the drum rythms wafting down from the hill. This is also the beach where I saw R5AY, my first Hawaiian Monk Seal about a year ago. The island in close off the beach is Goat Island, which you can swim to or walk to out over the reef at low tide.





And some glimpses of a little beach below Diamond Head and the house perched there over the sea. The bougainvilla above this post belongs to the same house and adorns their gate streetside.





Aloha pumehana...

Kahala Beach to IHS

Phew, we're pooped!

But in a good way. We had a busy day today.

First, there was the semiannual monk seal count this morning. That involved wandering the beaches from Black Point to Wailupe in search of wayward monk seals. Wayward because the seals almost never haul out in this area, one fronted by the exclusive Kahala Resort and multi-million dollar homes, but it still needs to be searched for the official count. Since walking on the beach is one of my favorite pasttimes anyway, it was a pleasure for me, and Kevin enjoyed it, and we met a new volunteer. So that was fun.

Then this afternoon, we met up with other youth and parents from the U-U Church of Honolulu at the Institute for Human Services downtown. This is the local homeless shelter, with two facilities, one for men and one for women and children. Together we all cooked a lasagna dinner for 300 people. Kevin with a butcher knife chopping onions...it took all my will to detach and let that happen, lemme tell ya. Then we split up, and the gals went to the women's shelter, and the fellas stayed at the men's shelter, and we all served up yummy hot meals to people in need.

The irony of societal extremes was not lost on me. As a silent reminder from the windows of the dining hall on the 2nd floor of the women's shelter, a docked luxury cruise ship dominated the view.

But all in all, we do what we can. Good works in good company. It was a very full and satisfying day for both of us.

Aloha pumehana...

L'Ennui d'Henri

Merci, Kelley...Trop Drole!




Reminds me of your suicidal dog song, Alan P. :)

Virtual Photograph

Aloooooha!

Busy week and weekend. Very busy with work, busy with Kevin, busy laughing (it's that tickle spot, dadgummit), and awaiting little Emma's arrival. :)

Too many malasadas (warm doughy, cinnamon covered dollops of heaven, my favorite being the almost-as-good-as-sex haupia filled numbers from Leonard's Bakery) make a woman pretty tubby, so among other activities, I took a hike out to the Makapu'u cliffs on the lighthouse trail, where I like to walk. Of course, I don't bring the camera every time, but I'm learning that...um...perhaps I should.

I started my walk before sunset. The sky was strewn with high clouds and I could see the misty rain clinging to the Pali in the distance, so there were only a sprinkling of intrepid humans and canines out for a constitutional. The wind up there was quite strong, but warm and invigorating. As I reached the top, I looked down over the lighthouse, and caught my breath. The water was so beautiful, not just pretty blue as it normally is, but something about the light gave it a depth of color that was intense. It was cobalt blue, just the color of that deep blue glass that I've always loved. Deep deep cobalt, with the whitecaps and the lighthouse with its bright red top...lovely.

So I was happy tripping back down the path when I turned a crook and gasped a little. There was the almost full moon, large and bright white against the sky over the water. One of those reach-out-and-touch-me moons...lovely.

So my heart was full and content as I moseyed on down the path between the rocky hills, when I turned another corner on the other side, and took in a true gasp, loud enough to stop a man and his hound behind me. The sun was setting over the whole valley from the Ka'Iwi shoreline on one side, up and over the rich green Pali shrouded in the deepest glowing pinks and purples and oranges, all the way over to the turquoise waters of the Windward shore. Every hue of every color of the rainbow was painted clear across that sky. Nowhere have I seen such depth and softness of color all at once. It was breathtaking...literally. I turned to the man and his dog, and he smiled and said, "Didn't bring mine either, happens to me all the time." Then he winked and turned back as he walked on. He tapped the side of his head and yelled over the wind, "Take it in and store it up here".

So I did. :)

Cuteness

This is just the most adorable child...

Rest In Peace

Okay, this is the capper to a pretty crappy week. One of our volunteers found a monk seal deceased on the beach in Waimanalo this morning, and it's the pup we were watching up in Kahuku all summer. He was tagged and given the permanent name of Hoku when he was moved to Rabbit Island and was doing quite well there with a number of others, still kinda roly poly and easy-going like he was as a pup.

But Hoku is gone now. The NOAA scientists will be doing a necropsy to figure out why. I'm so sad today...need to go sit on a beach somewhere and cry.

Rest in peace, sweet Hoku...

Living Things...

...in the kitchen...



Yes, it was time for the 7th grade science experiment, proving that yeast is a living thing. Big bowl, water, sugar and Baker's Yeast. Yum!

Kevin observed the percentage of surface area bubble coverage every fifteen minutes while I wondered if I'd ever get that Guinness-y smell out of my baking bowl.

It's funny, I never did any experiments all through school in science. Somehow, I missed it all. We were always doing plate tectonics or genetics or something from the book, never any hands-on lab science. I'm so glad Kevin is apparently getting a better education than I did. I even taught him how to do a time-concentration plot to graph his data for his report, since I do these for work all the time. That was fun.

Unfortunately, this science project came due the same day (today) as two English papers for Kevin, which created a twee bit of stress at our home this week. It's been a looooooong week, with lots of other things and people on my mind, too, including a three-day migraine and three friends I'm concerned about (if you're reading this, hang in there and know you're on my mind :).

But the weekend is here, Kevin is practicing ZZ Top's 'La Grange' and I'm more than ready to go out somewhere for a nice meal with my boy. Okay, time to get out of the house.

Aloha...

Sunset Last Night

Visited a friend yesterday. A peaceful evening in good company at the loveliest house right on the water in Aina Haina. Here's the sunset from the backyard :)









Aloha!

For A Friend

Wish the video were better for this.
You're on my mind today :)

Little Things, Simple Happies

Ah, I love this neighborhood!

Three blocks away, we have a community park, which has a pool. The pool was closed for repairs when we got here, but it's open now, and it's wonderful.

Remember those lazy summer days playing at the pool when we were kids? Well, Kevin has that now, too. Free swim every afternoon with a lifeguard, right around the corner, and it's free. So when we can't get to the beach during the week, there's the pool. :)

My class is also going much better than expected. The teacher shocked me last night by asking if I wanted to bump up to the next level class. I know I'm not ready, and she said that's fine, but she thinks I should at least come and try out the harder class. I actually feel like I'm starting to "get it", and it feels great!

Oh, and for my cooking friends who might appreciate this, a friend helped me move the electric stove over a smidge to center it under a shelf. Lo and behold, behind the stove is a gas hookup. So when we get a new stove, it can be a gas range, which is something I've missed for years now. Woo-Hoo!!

It's the little things in life...

The Moon...The Moon!

Took a walk last night, rushed out camera in hand to capture the sunset, but I missed it. So I headed back up to Diamond Head, and there was this gorgeous glow behind a bank of clouds. The full moon; the harvest moon. Such a gift, so I'll share. Here it is from the little Amelia Earhart monument underneath Diamond Head overlooking the ocean.

...And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon
The moon!
The moon!
They danced by the light of the moon....

That's for you, Chris :)

Aloha pumehana...

Truer Words...

...for a new millennium...

"We can't kill our way to victory."
~ Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

There are leaders who understand this, and leaders who don't. Those who don't will never win.

Honor heroes and the fallen innocent; all of them, every day.

Button

Break Out The Bubbly!

[Update 9/12/08: The alternative theory to the Big Bang that I mention; the evolution of quantum foam theory, is actually that of my friend Alan P. Scott, and you can read it HERE. A few years ago, we were emailing back and forth about the origins of the universe, and he posited this theory that was a real eye-opener for me; intuitively, it just makes so much more sense than the Big Bang. Should note that I'm neither atheist nor agnostic, though. For more on that, just email me...heh.]

They've fired the sucker up! Literally! And unless we're in a parallel universe, we didn't get sucked into a black hole, either....woo-hoo!

The Large Hadron Collider was started up today, and so far, is working like a charm. This is BIG, on so many levels. Scientists are chomping at the bit to find the Higgs Bosun, a particle that would validate current theories of the existence of dark matter and the Big Bang itself. I'm particularly interested in this because despite that scientific theory, a Big Bang makes absolutely no sense to me on a purely intuitive level. Everything else appears to be some form of evolutionary process, so why should the mother of all beginnings of all evolutionary processes be any different? An evolutionary process of quantum foam; dynamic "bubble" formation with occasional random mutations has been posited and makes much more intuitive sense to me. But hey, I know nothing. All I can say is it's absolutely fascinating and I'm more than a little curious as to what they'll find.

There are just two niggling little buggers on my mind:

The LHC scientists say not to worry about the black holes that will most likely be formed by the LHC, because they'll be too small to form into anything dangerous anyway. Yet in the next breath, they say they don't know if they'll form at all, and then excitedly "We have no idea what we're going to find!"
...heh...heh....yeah...tra-la-la, faith is a beautiful thing, people.

Then second, since the LHC will recreate the conditions of the Big Bang only on a miniscule scale, what if we inadvertently form a Whoville of sorts? Or Whoville(s), plural? Ya know, the little microscopic world with little Whos at our mercy? What would be the ethics involved there? Would we be responsible for the new little universe(s)? Would they die when the LHC is powered down? Think about it. We could end up with a real live 'Horton Hears A Who' scenario.

Anyway, it's all very exciting. Makes me all tingly :)

Oh and here's some gee!-krap that's been floating around. It's cute in a nerdy way, and actually does an excellent job of explaining the LHC in a nutshell.

Certain Subjects...

Tonight Kevin innocently asked me to watch a YouTube video because he thought it was SO funny that I'd love it, too. To my utter shock and horror, it made a joke out of something that is NEVER a joke, in ANY context, under ANY circumstances, for ANY reason.

I was alarmed and offended and incensed to think that my child is exposed to this CRAP that's teaching him that such things are funny. I lost it and went into a rant all about precisely WHY that video is incredibly offensive, NOT FUNNY, will never BE funny, and the harsh realities of life concerning the subject that it mocked with such unfathomable flippancy. Suffice it to say, I hammered it home and sent him, completely blown out of the water by my reaction, to his room to think about everything I'd just explained to him.

So he comes out of his room later, contrite and apologetic, and says to me, "I get it now, Mom. Man, you should've been a prosecutor!"

HAH! Now THAT made me laugh. :)

I do so hope we both make it through his adolescence...

Appalling

This is who McCain wants as President should anything happen to him:



And in case there's any benefit of doubt lingering out there, she's a die hard creationist; it's part of her educational policy platform in Alaska.
Enough said.

Walk A Little...

Someday Soon

I think it's time to put myself away
Seek out a little silence
Close the doors and sit a while
Walk a little

And as I put my words away
The flow slows
See this penny in a stream
Picking it up is easy.

Follow the shape of it.
Jump in.
Swallow it whole.
Jump in.

Even though I know my way around
Possibly there's something new I found
Holding on for finding solid ground
Someday soon.
Someday soon.

I'll turn myself into the grass
And I'll grow
Take this space above my head
And live in it a little.

Gonna wear my feathered headdress
Like an Indian chief.
Gonna stretch out both my arms
I'm gonna test the temperature.

Follow the taste of it.
Jump in.
Swallow it whole.
Jump in.

Even though I know my way around
Possibly there's something new I found
Holding on for finding solid ground
Even though I know my way around
Possibly there's something new I found
Holding on for finding solid ground
Someday soon.
Someday soon.

Maybe walk a little
Someday soon.

~ KT Tunstall

Staph Update

Sigh...went to the doc today for what I thought would be a final visit. Not yet. The culture came back and it's a staph infection, so it's being stubborn. So I'm still patched up with bandages and on antibiotics until further notice.

But I'm feeling more human and back working, so that's a good thing. Will have some more interesting posts soon, I promise.

Aloha and stay tuned....

Woo-Hoozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Out of commission here for a few days. Minor surgery today, painful injections of local anesthesia didn't take, so I felt the scalpel, felt the whole thing...not fun. Anyway, home foggy on the couch with fever, antibiotics, and vicodin, which is *very* frustrating since I have a TON of stuff to do. Thank God for the Olympics between naps!! Go Phelps!!

Apologies if incommunicado for a few days. Will catch up on emails when better.

Aloha pumehana...

Movin' On

Philly, DC, NYC, and now Boston. I've got friends moving "back east" in droves. Haven't been to Philadelphia since a school trip to see the Liberty Bell during childhood, but I love DC, I love NYC, and I love BAHstun. Maybe we'll get a chance to visit all of you at some point.

As for our own little moving adventure, it's been just about a year now since we arrived here on O'ahu. Despite some adjustment issues that came, in unexpected waves, during the first six months or so, we're settling in quite nicely now. We have friends here, and great neighbors. Our lives are, for the most part, peaceful and happy. We've even got a friend or two on the Big Island now for visits back and forth.

I'm taking another class that starts in a few weeks, and Kevin is busy with his music, spending more time with friends, and swimming and school...even girls...heh. He's not sure what happened over the summer (I am, he got taller and even cuter :), but all of a sudden, several girls at school are talking to him and that's boosted his self-esteem to no end. He still smiles a lot, and is still the same good-natured teddy-bear of a guy, but he's more confident now, even funny. It's very heartening.

And always, there's the island, the sea and the sky; constant yet ever-changing in the light. It's a haven of peace, truly. To be surrounded by such soul-opening beauty is wonderfully healing and inspires a sense of peace and contentment. There are normal stresses of life here, certainly, but I've never felt them melt away with quite the same evaporative ease as they do here. All it takes is a sunset, a rainbow, the scent of flowers on the air, a view from on high, a walk on the beach. And I can see the same reaction on other faces, too. Absorbing such natural loveliness visibly changes people; muscles relax, eyes blink slowly, soft smiles warm into being from the inside and light people up like tiki torches.

For the foreseeable future, Hawai'i is home.

For what it's worth, I wish all of you rolling stones wonderful new experiences and lots of new friends, and in some cases positive reconnections with family and old friends. If you have those um...waves of adjustment...I'll always be willing to lend an ear or a word of understanding. And certainly, KEEP IN TOUCH no matter how it's going!!

Hopefully, we can visit each other from time to time.

A hui hou...Aloha 'oe!