life in the old lane

By the time I get back home this evening after not one but two Thanksgiving parties, I may be too tired to do anything more than crash into bed.

So, come along with me on a little walk along the ocean early this morning.

It was just another lazy day. Yesterday evening, I finished one of my “just for me” projects—my Kindle/AudioBook spreadsheet is now updated and complete with prices. That will remind me that I have more to read and hear than I have time left to read and hear.

I got a nice brisk walk this morning and some extra yoga. I am under no illusions about this exercise regime of mine. It will not give me one extra day of life, but it might give me a few extra days of quality life. Or, I might get hit by a bus when I am out walking. Nobody is promised tomorrow, and nobody gets out alive.

But I wasn’t about to tramp through the bushes to get closer. These big spiders were accidentally introduced but are appreciated because they catch many bugs. Their webs are very impressive. 

This lovely tree is another introduction. This time intentionally. It’s one of my favorite local street trees. It is sterile and isn’t a threat to the native trees. And, the large purple flowers sometimes have a nice fragrance. These are along the other side of the condo building. 

Think I’ll have shrimp, avocado and tomatoes for dinner tonight. 

However, you might find plastic ones. You never know.

The Twilight Zone

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I can no longer multiprocess. You know, things like walking and chewing gum at the same time. This morning,  I empirically determined that I can no longer carry my breakfast and open a screen door at the same time. I used to be able to do that. 

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I cherish my friendship with Barbara Nobriga. A woman, tough as nails but soft as silk. Years ago I took a picture of her, riding her horse in a Parade. (Kona loves parades.)

She is riding sidesaddle and barefoot as well. That is the traditional way. The pa’u rider way.

A few years ago, a lovely short film was produced about Auntie Barbara and her ohana. I think you might enjoy it at this friends and family time of year.

One month from now, I will be back at the Asylum. Unless I come up with a good Plan B. At this instant, I am thinking Plan B should be to just go back home. Do taxes. Visit Dentist. Escape. Thinking about going to look for northern lights again. I got lucky last time. But will we even be able to leave the country after January 20. Or will any other country let us in?

“May you live in interesting times” really isn’t an ancient Chinese curse. But it’s still a curse.

This year, I have had to push myself to go for a swim in the ocean. I don’t think I have gotten lazier. I have been walking about 3 miles a day, and at least one of the miles is either as fast as I can walk or seriously uphill. I think my serious ocean swimming days are over.  Accept and adapt.

It’s not busy in the Village. Yesterday, the Trump Campaign HQ cleaned out its storefront. They offered me a free T-shirt. I said No, Thank You, very nicely.

Today I cataloged and culled my Sapporo images. 

Today I have been working on the 1043+ photos that I took in Japan. And nothing diminishes my desire to take pictures more than a giant cull and catalog job.

But Photoshop has gotten scary good at removing crap from photos.



 
I could do this myself, but it would take forever and wouldn’t be worth the effort. Photoshop AI did it in less than two minutes. How easy it is to remove undesirable people from the family albums! Maybe too easy. We need to remember some of those men who didn’t meet requirements. 

After all that, we are hungry. BREAKFAST! Monique wants poke. And fortunately it’s almost 9am. 

But wait. We need tomatoes. Stop at another market. This one is more crafts and less food. But, they have tomatoes.

Quiet, that’s how I like things these days.The older I get the quieter I like it. But, my hearing isn’t what it used to be. So, maybe that’s why things seem quiet.

Which reminds me, I need to fold some stars.

The Lana’i sugar plantation was a complete and speedy failure. 500 Japanese workers arrived. A village was constructed. This would be in 1899. In 1900 plague struck in Honolulu and it made its way to Lana’i. And the plantation’s source of fresh water turned brackish in 1901. The train was blamed for all the problems since a heiau (temple) was destroyed when the tracks were laid for the train. The sugar plantation closed in 1901. 

Cat picture below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She is small. But good at her job.

One evening, I went for a walk along the road to get some exercise. This was the only time I had ever taken a walk in an “urban area” and encountered a deer skeleton and a deer in the process of becoming a skeleton. Guess no needed deer meat.

Other grown up stuff was checking to be sure I had the “best” medicare coverage.

And, I thought “would I like to take a last lap around the planet?” And if so, how? It’s common among my neighbors at the home to take a world cruise. That’s not for me.

Out doing my aerobic exercise this sort of early this morning. In the afternoon I went for a little swim. The bathrooms and shower were closed. I am sure that made many of the cruisers very unhappy. It made me unhappy. Had to walk home with sandy feet. Anyhow, public bathrooms are scarce in Kona.

Did I tell you this story about Molokai? We were out in the car and decided that we needed a pitstop. SO. We went to the airport. It was nearby. Parking was easy and about 100 feet away from the terminal. And there were no guards or TSA. Just nice clean bathrooms. Can you imagine going to Dulles Airport just to use the restroom?

Just Science Fiction? I am re-reading Robert Heinlein’s 1982 classic Friday.  Two quotes:

• • It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn’t the whole population.

  • Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms such as you have named…but a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.

Just Science Fiction?

Went out to Old Airport with Billy to welcome the sun this morning. We also did breakfast and cruised around doing errands and visiting.

One stop was at the hardware store. It doesn’t sell origami paper anymore. That was a bummer. I’ll make my holiday origami out of an old calendar as planned.

This was the end of cruising around in Billy’s truck.

One of today’s projects was to get cracking on some holiday origami. So, it was off to the thrift shop where I hoped to score some sheet music no luck. So, I had to get a book or two to turn into origami paper. I left the Bush and Cheney books. And settled for a 2021 calendar (free) and a Japanese book (75 cents).

I have never folded this star because it starts from not a square of paper but a pentagram. The pentagram was just too much trouble. Well, it turns out, as long as you have scissors, the pentagram is not a problem, and the star is a crease-and-collapse model, so it’s all rather fun.

Gratitude

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I am grateful to not be using the Pixel Phone to update the blog. 

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Five weeks. Then back to “real” life at The Asylum.

I hope to make good use of my five weeks. I have several computer projects to work on. Just for me projects.

I really need to increase my aerobic fitness. There is a fine hill right out my door. Everyday Carlton walked up that hill. BEFORE his first cup of coffee. The man did die at 79. But, except for terminal cancer, he “died in good health”. So. I am not sure I can do it BEFORE the first cup of coffee however.

Guess Carlton is on my mind today. I had his favorite local breakfast – spam musubi. And I did his walk. Now I am having coffee and Diamond Bakery Graham Crackers at 4PM. That was another Carlton Kona ritual. Sometimes he swapped out the Diamond Bakery Graham Crackers for Hilo Creme Crackers. 

Gratitude

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Thank you Carlton.

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One of those computer projects is to get the 2024 photos, current number 4035, culled and cataloged.