Paradise Found

When Aloha Airlines shut down earlier this month, their cargo division remained open. They’ve been responsible for transporting 85% of the goods that move between the islands. Yesterday, Aloha’s cargo division shut its doors.

People who had dropped packages to ship were called to pick them up. The major bakery (think Wonderbread) in the islands usually ships its product from Oahu to the Big Island or Kauai via Aloha Cargo. With no other way to serve customers, Maui will receive its daily bread via the controversial Super Ferry and the rest will be delivered via a temporary route that takes the bread all the way to the mainland and back. The US mail is also scrambling for an alternative in a place where its already notoriously slow.

Courtesy USGS

Background: Monsanto, the company that brings us Roundup herbicide (weed-killer) decided it would be groovy to genetically modify soybean seeds to resist Roundup. This, so that entire crops of food we eat can be sprayed with poison and survive.  These seeds were cleverly tagged “Roundup Ready”, and Monsanto now boasts a whole line of genetically modified seeds.

I’ve been a critic of Monsanto and its genetically modified seeds for years but people mostly just roll their eyes at me. Finally, Vanity Fair takes Monsanto to task. It’s a long article, but one that I think is very important to read, especially if this is the first you’ve heard of Monsanto’s atrocities. Here are just a few tidbits:

“Monsanto spends more than $2 million a day in research to identify, test, develop and bring to market innovative new seeds and technologies that benefit farmers,” Monsanto spokesman Darren Wallis [says].

Huh. Mother Nature does it for free. And do these seeds really benefit farmers? Or Monsanto? Monsanto’s seeds cannot be saved year to year and planted; rather, each year farmers must buy a new batch if they want to continue to be able to use Roundup Ready seeds (here, let me just say thank you to the farmers who opt out of Roundup Ready seeds). Monsanto has convinced growers that their product saves them time and money, and now holds a corner on that market.

And now they’re trying to mess with milk:

The company is also seeking to extend its reach into milk production by marketing an artificial growth hormone for cows that increases their output, and it is taking aggressive steps to put those who don’t want to use growth hormone at a commercial disadvantage.

The impact on the environment and our food supply is scary, but Monsanto – now the largest seed company in the world -  is attacking small farmers and interfering with legislation that will require labeling of milk for growth hormone content. This company is nasty.

This whole scenario reminds me of A Wrinkle in Time. Remember IT? The brain that offeres security in exchange for compliance? Well, I want to be the  kid who fights back.

**Note** The USA does not require the labeling of products grown from genetically modified seeds. The only way to avoid these products is to buy organic.

Remember this?

We’ve stretched our original one-two years in Hawaii into nearly three, but it’s finally time to go home. I’ve spent the last month mourning the end of this adventure and anticipating life back in the country, but mostly, trying to figure out how in the world we acquired so much stuff. We may have come here with only eight suitcases, but the stack to go home? Decidedly bigger.

Of course, we are taking home FIVE ‘ukuleles, an electric guitar, and a drum set that have all joined the family since we’ve come. It’s certainly been a musical few years.

We have two more weeks before we fly out. Thankfully, I turned in the final edits for my medieval book yesterday. I can now focus on all it takes to move across the Pacific and arrange as many hikes and beach visits as possible.

Despite the tears that I know will be shed over the next couple of weeks, in the words of my 15-year-old, “I’m so glad we did this!” So glad.

Nothing wrong with a child thinking her mom is beautiful, right? But a book that helps kids cope with a “new” mommy, all fresh and taut and lifted by the local plastic surgeon? You’ve got to be kidding me.

And, if you want to read about another “alternative” book today, Andrea posts about It’s Just a Plant, here.

I’ll stick with Roxaboxen and Weslandia, thanks.

Hey homeschoolers, please go welcome my writer friend Jody to the world of homeschooling and help her come up with a name for her new school.

Artist Melanie Coles figured these days people spend hours pouring over Google Earth images looking for things, so why not give them a Waldo to find? The story on NPR – complete with a slide show – is worth a read. This is the epitome of thinking beyond boundaries.

The vog from the volcano continues to be heavy. On Wednesday, evacuations were necessary on the southern part of the island because of the health danger from sulfur emissions. Air quality is definitely compromised. Here’s a view from a house lot advertising “ocean views”:

One of my favorite views on the island is the gentle upslope of Hualalai. It’s lush and vivid green and it makes me happy every time I see it on my drive home. It looks like this lately:

And here’s a view across Kona’s only highway, looking at Hualalai from a different angle. Truly, there IS a mountain there!

I spoke with an editor in NYC this morning. Funny how easy it is to forget how the rest of the world communicates. Here, pretty much any phone call – even business calls – start with an exchange of “how are yous” and friendly conversation. My NYC conversation opened with a direct question related to an article that’s scheduled to run in August. No “hi, I’m the editor working on your story” or “how’s the weather?” Just straight to business.

She wasn’t unfriendly at all, and actually we worked into a friendly conversation. But the order in which it happened seemed quite foreign to me. People here – except for visitors – wouldn’t dream of being so direct.

The final issue of Sights from the now-defunct ATA Airlines featured my story about making music – ‘ukuleles, to be specific. Read about two luthiers who turn out museum-quality instruments on the Big Island of Hawai’i. The title – Guitar Heroes – is decidedly inaccurate, an unfortunate change made in the editorial offices.