Freebie
Hemispheres magazine (the United Airlines in-flight) is offering free downloads of eleven popular Hawaiian songs. Add a little aloha to your Friday afternoon!
Archive for island life
Father Damien achieves Sainthood
If you don’t know who Father Damien is, I highly recommend that you read The Colony. It’s a fascinating account of the development and interment of people afflicted with Hansen’s Disease (otherwise known as Leprosy) at Kalaupapa on Molokai. The saga is fully researched but reads like a novel. Father Damien was the heroic soul who took charge of caring for many of the people who were exiled from their homes and sent to live on the remote Hawaiian island.
The Vatican has elevated him to sainthood, based on the premise of two medical miracles. The article does not state what those miracles are, but I’m highly curious. Also, I had no idea that the church still collects relics! Relics of saints played a large part of pilgrimages during the medieval era, but they’re still collecting body parts today??
I’m no Catholic, and while I don’t know if he was a Saint, Father Damien surely deserves to be honored for his selflessness. He’s pretty revered in the islands, but this accolade may bring his story to the rest of the world.
I’m looking forward to…
Fresh tomatoes! Woot!
Sending my kids outside to play, knowing there’s plenty of space to do so.
Diving into my excellent group of homeschool families. Head first. Watch out!
Sitting on my patio. The one that we installed in a single, hot day and which permanently damaged my wrists.
Zinnias. I love the lushness of Hawai’i, but summertime zinnias make me smile.
I will NOT miss…
Living in a house that’s right next to a steep road and the loud traffic as cars, trucks, and mopeds try to climb the hill.
The vog.
The never-ending ant infestations. Honestly. They are everywhere, always.
Gecko poo on my walls.
Rude tourists who treat the locals and locales with little respect. For instance, the woman who walked her son across the street -downtown- to pee in the ocean instead of seeking out a restroom.
I will miss…
The game birds that live in the bushes outside my window and how they trill.
Rice with everything. No such thing as meat and potatoes here. Sticky rice is served breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Pidgin. Some folks are disturbed by the local slang and can’t understand it, but I find it completely endearing.
Lei. There is something very magical about wearing a string of flowers around your neck.
Television news on aloha Friday. The whole news team lined up behind the desk in aloha wear creates a huge clash of color; something that wouldn’t be allowed by TV execs on the mainland, I’m sure.
This is going to get interesting
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.
Pau.
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.
Ocean Views
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!
