Big Island Update II, Volcanoes National Park

Tuesday was a busy day visiting with a childhood friend who lives in Hilo and then going to Volcanoes National Park.

But first, breakfast at Ken's House of Pancakes. KC felt she should have her own menu to read.


One of our stops was the Thurston Lava Tube.



It was fun to see the Halemaumau crater. We could see gases billowing from the crater.



Devastation Trail was our last stop where we saw the destruction from the 1959 eruption.



We left Jon and Sarah to their camping and we returned to Oahu last night. This morning at dawn, we said goodbye to Tif's husband, Ed who is returning home to go back to work while Tif and KC continue their visit with us. Jon and Sarah will join us again tomorrow evening and we'll get to hear about their adventures.

Catching Up, Part 1

It's been a whirlwind week and a half with still another week to go before we settle down a bit. We've had more activities in the past few days than we've had in a couple of months.


After a day of our son and his girlfriend, Sarah catching their breath, we had a party on Thursday with the family of one of my college roommates and still close friend. It was a lot of fun to see our children become reacquainted with one another.


With everyone together in one place for this brief time, we had to make sure we remembered it by having our photos taken by our dear photographer friend, Dave on Friday evening.



Here is Art, Jon, Sarah and Tiffany's husband, Ed checking out Jon's new camera while Dave takes photos of the rest of us.


Saturday was our "Cousins Pot Luck Party." My mother's sisters and their children (my cousins) all got together for a fabulous meal. I'm starting to gain weight here.



Tiffany and Jon took this opportunity to give me a gorgeous orchid lei and my 2nd birthday cake celebration.

On Sunday we had another party with more close friends, Diane and Joanne and their families.

Then came Monday! It was my real birthday! We got up before dawn to catch a flight to the Big Island.


We landed in Hilo and saw a statue that looked very new of King Kamehameha I. The Big Island is the birthplace of King Kamehameha I.


We were startled to see this rather strange looking bird. Does anybody have an idea what kind of duck this is? Or is it a goose?

Our next stop was Honokaa, Art's hometown. We saw right away that because of the Japanese movie, Honokaa Boy which was filmed there, the town had become a tourist stop.


We'd bought a lot of anthiriums at a Farmer's Market in Hilo to arrange for the columbarium where Art's parents have their ashes resting as well as for the temple where we arranged to have a memorial service conducted.

After the service, we drove to the family grave site and arranged more flowers. Unfortunately, we were attacked by a cloud of starving mosquitoes that swarmed around us.


After tending to all the gravestones we headed back to Honokaa. The buildings were all the original structures but the stores had changed to cater to tourists.


Art found the building where his parents once had their restaurant. The current owner was thrilled to hear Art's stories of what it used to be like. You could even see the shadows of the bases of the counter stools where they once sold milk shakes, lunches and dinners.


We returned to Hilo where "the kids" treated me to a birthday dinner and another candle to blow out.

Blocked From Blogging

Hello everybody,
I am very sorry I haven't been able to get to my computer to do any blogging in the last few days. I've barely had time to upload the photos I've been taking. We've been happily babysitting KC and having one party after another. I can't wait to organize my photos and post some but I can't seem to find the time. KC also takes her naps, sleeps and plays in my office. The last few times I've tried to get to my computer she actually swiveled my office chair until I was dizzy so I'd pay attention to her. This time is so precious I really did have to stop and play with her.

I'm using Art's laptop now to get this message out. We've got another whirlwind of activities with our full house. Time is flying! We have to make every moment count.

Meeting Uncle Jonny and Auntie Sarah

My daughter, Tif and her husband, Ed are in Waikiki right now while Art and I have the very precious opportunity to babysit. KC is keeping us quite busy.

Yesterday, KC had some serious water play and then we went to the airport to pick up her Uncle Jonny and Auntie Sarah. She knew just which lei to give each person but when the moment came, she got flustered and handed the wrong "necklace." However, tonight she saw the kukui nut lei and correctly said, "That Unca Jonny neckas." Sarah received a puka shell lei which she is holding in her hand.


Sarah quickly became a favorite and Jon says he knows now how I must feel with KC always asking for grandpa.

Tonight, Jon and Tif are spending time with their cousins. I love it.

Celebrating Our 60th Year!

A couple of years ago, an idea began germinating to see my grade school to high school friends from Waipahu when we moved back to Hawaii. Last night it happened.

I bought a long buffet table for the food everybody was bringing for the pot luck.


I set out the high school yearbooks I found when we packed to make the move to Hawaii from Illinois.




Everybody outdid themselves! The food was absolutely incredible. Tiffany, Ed and KC had flown in from Chicago a few hours earlier and were absolutely blown away with the bountiful, delicious island fare.




I had not seen some of these friends in 40 years. However, as we started talking the years seemed to melt away. I'd looked at the yearbooks the day before for the first time in over 40 years and couldn't quite remember the girl I was then. As the night danced along, that girl I was and still am began to reappear from the fog of my poor memory.


The birthday cake was a little larger than I bargained for but everybody took some home along with warm memories of a beautiful night together....again.



I was extremely grateful that our photographer friend, Dave was with us to record this very precious night. I hope we'll have another night like this again someday.

The Night Before...

Tomorrow begins a month of family and parties that we have been anticipating for a long time. It seemed like tomorrow was a long way off but suddenly it's here!

It begins with Tiffany, her husband Ed and our precious dumpling, KC arriving from Illinois in early afternoon. In the evening I am having a potluck here with several elementary and high school friends. We will all be celebrating our 60th birthday together. Am I really going to be 60 in a few days? 40 wasn't so much a milestone, 50 went by without too much to-do but 60 feels important. I feel like I'm truly leaving girlhood behind. I'm a grown-up now! Maybe. I've dug up my high school yearbooks so we can all look at them again. I've reread many end-of-year comments friends wrote in my yearbooks and it sounds like they were writing to somebody else. Who was I back then anyway?

I didn't mean to have the party on the same day that Tif and her family arrives but there wasn't a choice. This was the day all the childhood buddies could make.

On Tuesday, our son Jon and his Sarah will arrive and next Saturday will be another potluck with all my cousins, aunts and uncle on my mother's side. The Saturday after that will be a potluck with Art's relatives.

In between all that is a FULL schedule of meeting other friends and relatives to show off our children and grandchild. I know it will all fly by so I'm hoping to savor this special time as much as I can. Please forgive me if I'm not able to visit you all very much in the coming days.

It'll all be over much too soon.

Conserving Water in Hawaii

I've watched public service announcements on TV asking people in Hawaii to conserve water by turning off the shower while washing. They show somebody behind a curtain turning on the water to rinse themselves and then turning off the water while they soap themselves clean. Then they turn the water back on to rinse off the soap. I've watched it but I'm sorry to say I didn't actually do it. I thought I'd get chilled or that I wouldn't get as clean.

This brought to mind my son's experiences in Mali when he was in the Peace Corps. He told me that he took a shower with one bucket of water that had to be lugged over from the village well.


I just never thought I could do that.

Art went to visit Jon for a month and said it is possible. This is a photo of Jon's bathroom for 2 years.

And then I broke my foot. I couldn't take a normal shower standing on one foot. I had to sit in the tub, wash up with the shower off and then rinse the soap away with the shower wand. That was quite a revelation.

Now I'm continuing to take showers using much less water than before. I really don't think I could have done this in Chicago in January but in summer? Sure! Sometimes, it takes an accident to open our eyes.

Line Dancing Surprise!

I went to Line Dancing last night since my doctor did give me permission. No stomping or twisting of the foot was allowed but I could do the movements without much pain. Since it went off fine, I decided to register for the class.

Linda, who was doing the registering is somebody I've seen before and have chatted with quite cordially a number of times. She saw me write my address and suddenly almost shrieked, "You're living in my house!"

"Oh, my gosh! Are you a N--?" I asked.

"Yes, your mom and dad bought the house from my parents. They were the first ones to see the house and paid full price for it. Frankly, I didn't think the house would sell at all because it's got such a strange floor plan. My dad did these crazy things to the house. None of the rooms had 4 solid walls. There was no privacy!"

"Uh, hunh! Tell me about it," I laughed. "That's why we had to build on top in order to live there."

"And isn't it so weird? We're all sort of related, right?" Linda asked.

"That's right," I told her. "My mom asked me to call your parents when we came to Hawaii to thank them properly in English for the kindnesses they showed them during the sale of the house. When I talked to your mom and told her my name, she asked me if I knew Alan and Bessie. I told her they were my mother and father-in-law. Then I asked her what her maiden name was and she told me it was F-. I told her that was the name of my husband's Uncle Bob who was married to his mother's sister. That's when she told me he was her brother."

There were more coincidences. Her name was Natsue which happens to be my middle name. The address of the house was the same number as that of my dearest childhood friend who lives 5 minutes away.

It's amazing how some things in life seem destined. When we first saw this house, we saw the strange configuration but figured since it was just my parents who'd be living here, it would be OK. We didn't think that we'd one day be living here as well.

This bedroom had two accordion door type folding walls. We took it down and made it into our dining room.

It's cost a precious penny or two to renovate this house to make it comfortable for us and to have enough guest rooms for our visiting family but it's been worth it. Since we couldn't afford to have the contractor do everything, you've seen Art doing all the finishing work. It's been an interesting ongoing retirement project.

Yesterday, Art discovered that a childhood friend of his lives two blocks away and went to have coffee with him.

I told Linda she would be most welcome to visit anytime she liked although the house is quite changed from the time she lived here. She gave me a hug and said she would most certainly come to visit.

Isn't this all so amazing... even for Hawaii?

Bed Update:

Remember how I was looking for a good pillow for the King bed? Well, we bought one at Ross to try it out and even though I bought the softest, flattest one I could find, it was too fat and my head was cocked uncomfortably. Then, an idea came to me! I undid the seam at the end and pulled out a quarter of the polyester fiber filling. Now it's just right! Woohoo!

Craigslist Buy in Makiki: Night stands, Foot and Bed Updates

I've been looking for a pair of night stands for the Guest room/Art's office for the longest time. The biggest problem was the bed's super height. When we were sleeping on it I felt like I could touch the ceiling. OK... I'm exaggerating. Anyway, it was very difficult to find night stands that would be tall enough.


And then... Hurrah! This pair came up yesterday, just in time for all our guests who will be arriving next week. The height was just right and I got them both for $130. Incredibly, the person who was selling them turned out to be a relative of a good friend of ours. Hawaii is like that. That was quite a surprise.


There were some scuff and paint marks on them and the legs were wobbly. A screw driver tightened the legs up perfectly and my fingernail managed to scrape off the paint. That was a surprise. Now they look almost brand new. Not exactly in our style but it matched our older looking furniture.

Bring on the guests!

Foot Update: I went to see the new orthopedic doctor today and Dr. Quinn said my foot is almost completely healed but it will be another two months for it to be truly like new because there is actually little blood supply going to that part of my foot. Art liked Dr. Quinn the best because he noticed that this doctor actually asked me to remove my shoe to look at and manipulate my foot instead of just studying the X-ray. I don't have to wear my cast anymore but he wants me to get new gym shoes.

Bed Update: I e-mailed Chris, the owner of America's Mattress who sold us our bed and told him my concerns. He wrote back right away, "Kay, the latex will not get body impressions, however, the Tranquility has convuluted foam and Body Loft foam in the quilt which give it some softness. Slight body impressions are normal and supposed to occur as the material mold to your body's impressions."

Chris also said he was going home and sleeping on his Tranquility mattress and would take notice of what kind of body impressions he can see. I do have to say I've been sleeping through the night without getting up (except last night) and the bed is comfortable. I just have to find a good pillow. Art says he's fine with anything and that he can sleep on the wood floor just fine, too. He can be so aggravating.

Dr. S and Art's Heart

Art's dad had his first heart attack in his late 40's and then he died of a heart attack at 70. For this reason Art has watched his diet and kept up a jogging regimen for as long as I've known him.

Our nurse practitioner at Tripler Army Hospital was concerned when Art said he wanted to train for a marathon. She scheduled a stress test for Art. We were told that the stress test showed his blood pressure being too high for strenuous exercise. He was immediately put on the lowest dose of blood pressure medication. The medication had a nasty side effect of making him constantly cough. I'm sure there were people who thought he had swine flu. His blood pressure was also terribly low a few minutes after a jog.

His medication was changed. The coughing was lessened but still not great.

His medication was changed again. The coughing stopped but he still had post nasal drip.

The possibility that he had actually developed an allergy gave him another medication to take.

Now that he has turned 65, he can no longer go to Tripler and needed to find an outside doctor. That is waaaay more easily said than done. Many doctors don't want to take two government insurance plans (Medicare + military). After calling numerous places he found a doctor who was supposed to be a cardiologist and internist according to the receptionist.

We went in to see him. Dr. T said Art's family history and blood pressure showed he had two of the five risk factors that meant he needed to really watch it. Dr.T also recommended he take cholesterol medicine since his cholesterol was a little elevated even though his HDL (I call this the Happy lipids.) was quite high. Then Dr. T said he wasn't an internist because he didn't want to deal with telling patients to go get a colonoscopy or whatnot. I detected a little disdain for regular internists and I was not impressed. I almost said, "You mean you have to know more to be an Internist?" I didn't but I wanted to. He recommended we go to Dr. S who he said was just an internist.

We went to see Dr. S today. OK. I don't believe I've met a doctor quite like Dr. S. before. For one thing, when we met him, there was no greeting. No "Nice to meet you. Welcome to my office. What can I do for you?" He reminded me a bit of Dr. House without the absolute rudeness.

Anyway, Dr. S. checked Art's records and said he didn't think Art should be on the blood pressure medication since it made his blood pressure too low after he exercised. He said there's no reason to believe that Art's heart is enlarged from the kinds of tests that were done in Illinois. He also didn't agree with Dr. T in many of his assessments. The key thing here was he took time to explain why. He made the assumption that we would understand what he was saying which impressed me, and when we asked for clarification, he gave it. From Art's meticulous charts of blood pressure readings and his questions, Dr. S asked if he was an engineer. When we confirmed his impression, Dr. S geared his explanations to an engineering standpoint.

Interestingly, although Dr. S did not have as many of the social niceties and bedside manner that I love, he had a lot of precise and extensive knowledge that he was willing to impart without checking his watch. He's scheduled Art for a couple of tests and says we can make a more educated decision later about what we should do.

He then reached behind, opened the door to indicate we were to leave and said, "I'll see you in 3 three weeks" without looking up from his computer. We left. The funny thing is we rather liked him.

The Life of an Empress

This photo is from the Star Bulletin website.

I just read in the Honolulu Star Bulletin that Empress Michiko and Emperor Akihito of Japan are visiting Hawaii today. Through the years my mother (who shares a birthday with the Empress) has told me stories of the miserable lives that royalty often live. Her heart has always ached for Empress Michiko who has been treated terribly by the palace hierarchy throughout her marriage. My mother's point of view was that the palace staff looked down on the Crown Princess because she was born a commoner. In the 1990's Empress Michiko suffered a nervous breakdown and lost her voice for a time. Now, Crown Princess Masako who has been emotionally tortured because of their inability to bear a male heir seems to also be suffering as her predecessor did.

My mother recalls the time before Michiko san was an Empress and even before she was a Princess. Mom worked for the Hawaii Times (Japanese language) newspaper. Michiko san was being being asked to marry the Crown Prince who had fallen in love with her and wanted her to be his Princess. Perhaps to escape the press and to give herself time to think through what she wanted her future to be... what she was willing to give up, she went on a world wide journey. One of the stops was Hawaii.

The front page reporter for the Hawaii Times was asked by the Japanese Counsulate to show a very important person around Oahu. My mother says he was rather surprised and then embarrassed because he only owned a rather shabby car in which to squire around a potential princess. When he returned he reported how charmed he was by Michiko san.

What really blew him away later and touched him deeply was the very beautiful, very gracious thank you note she personally wrote to thank him for the wonderful time she had while in Hawaii.

Well, you all know how I feel about thank you notes. Hearing this story made me admire this beautiful lady even more. I ache for her, too. Did she make the right decision? Her husband has tried to shelter her as much as he could but it's been a difficult life.

If Empress Michiko knew what her life would truly be like, would she still have given herself up to this fate? She appears to share a deep love with her Emperor husband so I'm thinking.... perhaps....

Happy Birthday, Art!

Happy Birthday to my most wonderful husband who is busy right now with another project I thought of. My sister-in-law was just teasing me about the trials I've put Art through whenever I've come up with an idea.

Art has always told me that no matter what happens he feels his life has been blessed. He had terrific parents, a loving sister and grew up in the warm embrace of small town Honokaa. He's been able to travel and see places he's wanted to see and he's got a family that keeps him busy. Ummmm...


Here's Art taking his precious daughter, Tiffany down the aisle to pledge her life to her own path.


Art's trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro with our son, Jon was truly a crowning achievement for him although he still puts delivering Jon in the elevator himself as being the highlight of his life. No, it was not my idea!


Art with his beloved K.C.


To the man I love and am grateful for everyday of my life, Happy Birthday!

French Tourists are the Worst?

I saw this on Yahoo news. I thought for sure it was going to be us because I've seen Americans on trips talking loudly and often acting as though the world owed them something. It made me want to crawl under a table.

The Japanese ranked at the top. I know a lot of Japanese friends who will be pleased to read that!
I think it's really important to be on your best behavior when you're a guest in somebody else's country. Your behavior will reflect on our entire country. Likewise, we should try to be terrific hosts to people who are visiting our country.

PARIS (Reuters Life!) – French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.

They finish in last place in the survey carried out for internet travel agency Expedia by polling company TNS Infratest, which said French holidaymakers don't speak local languages and are seen as impolite.

"It's mainly the fact that they speak little or no English when they're abroad, and they don't speak much of the local language," Expedia Marketing Director Timothee de Roux told radio station France Info.

"The French don't go abroad very much. We're lucky enough to have a country which is magnificent in terms of its landscape and culture," he said, adding that 90 per cent of French people did their traveling at home.

"So when they're on holiday they can be a bit stressed, they're not used to things, and this can lead them to be demanding in a way which could be seen as a certain arrogance."

French tourists are also accused of generally spending less than other nationalities when abroad.

De Roux said the French, not accustomed to leaving large tips at home where a service charge is automatically levied on restaurant bills, can seem "tight-fisted" compared with other nationalities.

The Japanese ranked top of the Best Tourist survey, with the British and the Germans judged the best of the Europeans.

But French tourists received some consolation for their poor performance, finishing third after the Italians and British for dress sense while on holiday.

(Reporting by Joseph Tandy; editing by James Mackenzie)

2nd Bed Update:
After only 2 nights of sleeping on our new Vera Wang, All Latex bed from America's Mattress there is a depression where we were laying. This is rather disappointing since I thought it was supposed to bouce back all the time for 30 years. Ah well...

Canker Sore or Cold Sore?

I bit the inside of my bottom lip twice about three days ago and it turned into what I called a cold sore.

I love the Internet. I've been so frustrated with my sore mouth and noticed that now my gland is swollen and I'm feeling bit tired. It turns out all that is normal and it's not a cold sore which is worse. I have a canker sore. I'm learning new things all the time. Here's what I learned:

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/canker-sores

Are Cold Sores Another Name for Canker Sores?
No, although cold sores and canker sores are often confused for each other, they are not the same. Cold sores, also called a fever blister or herpes simplex type 1, are groups of painful, fluid-filled blisters. Unlike canker sores, cold sores are caused by a virus and are extremely contagious. Also, cold sores typically appear outside the mouth – usually, under the nose, around the lips, or under the chin while canker sores occur inside the mouth

Now then.... If only I could learn not to bite myself.

Bed Update:
My mouth is hurting but we're quite pleased with the new bed. So the first test sleep was good...

The King is Here!

We had such a difficult time deciding between getting the Eastern vs. the California King. I didn't even know there were two different kinds of Kings, beds that is. The Eastern is 76"x80" and the California King is 72"x84". Art simplified it for me by saying the Eastern is for chubbier, shorter people and the California is for tall, thin people. Riiiighhhht! The Eastern King is actually the original King. The California King is called Cal King. We learned all this when we went bed hunting.

It made sense for us to get the King since Art and I are not all that tall... OK fine, I'm short. I often go to bed later and then have to read to fall asleep whereas Art goes to bed earlier so he can get up before the sun rises to go jogging. It's better for me to be a bit farther away so my reading light doesn't disturb him.

However... and there usually is a however, we figured the King would have a harder time getting up the stairs since it's 4 inches wider. On top of that, we were warned by other mattress stores that in Hawaii everybody gets the Cal King so it would be harder to find King sized bedding.

However... (I told you there would be another however.) the owner of America's Mattress said the latex mattresses bend so much that it shouldn't be a problem getting it past the turn in the stairs. He also said he would give us an even better deal if we bought the King because it's harder to sell in Hawaii and that the movers would take it back and bring a smaller mattress if it couldn't go up. Sounded like a good proposition. Besides we can always order King bedding from Overstock.com and have them mail it to our daughter. Oooooh... she'll love hearing this.

Later:
Whoopie! It's here! It was definitely a struggle to get it up the stairs past the bend. Luckily, it is a latex, bendable, smashable mattress and the delivery guys managed to sqooosh and push it up the stairs with Art and my help.

And guess what? We were able to find sheets at Ross for under $30.00. Perhaps it was because everybody else has the Cal King, we had no trouble finding a selection of (Eastern) Kings to choose from.

Whoopie! Now then... let's see how it'll feel tonight for the test run.

I Love the Irish!

I have a lot of very dear Irish American friends in Illinois. I even have a little clay leprechaun that one of them gave me hanging from my whiteboard. My sister in law is also an Irish American. Gosh! When I think about it there sure are a lot of Irish in Chicago. I guess that's why they dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day.

Anyway, I'm loving the fact that I now have an Irish Irish friend. Wow! I just received this package from Susan of Stony River Farm. I love it that her son helped her choose this sticker book for KC. How did they know she was passionate about stickers? It was exciting to actually receive a package all the way from Ireland.

OK.... That's it! We are definitely going to have to put Ireland at the top of our list for places to see. Everybody tells me how gorgeous it is and I've seen all of Susan's photos although she says it's ummmm.... a bit rainy. But hey, isn't that what Seattle was supposed to be? And look how amazing that was.

Printer's Box

We brought our printer's box from Illinois with us but couldn't find a place to put it in the house. At first we thought we'd just pack it away but it was hanging in our Illinois home for 30 years or so and we felt bad tucking it away in a closet. The printer's tray used to be filled with tiny things like a thimble collection I started, Art's old Air Force eagles, his dad's shaver, a commencement ticket from Tif's University of Illinois graduation, Jon and Art's Kilimanjaro patch (they climbed it), my grandmother's sweater guard (nobody uses those things anymore), tiny pebbles from here and there around the world, shells, ticker tapes from several important parades in Chicago, very old Mickey Mouse pocket knives, a lot of other things and oh yes, printing letters.

Well, we finally found a spot to hang our printer's box. But then Art said he didn't want to just put it up and have it collect dust. With all those tiny things, it's miserable to keep clean and we get a LOT of dust in Hawaii.


Art wanted to put some kind of dust barrier in front of the box. Glass was considered and then we decided on Plexiglas. My brother said we could get it cut for us at Min Plastic in Honolulu.



The next challenge was how to get the Plexiglas to stay on. Wood brackets? Some kind of metal thing? And how? Min Plastic said they could fabricate it... for a price. (Click on this photo to see the clear plastic brackets more clearly.)


They did a great job, Art put it all together and we're quite pleased with the finished effect.

And now... on to the next project!

Trying to Save Energy and Be Safe

Tony from Hawaiian Electric came out today to install the Energy Scout switch that would turn off our water heater for an hour or so if necessary during emergency energy shortages. As a bonus for being part of the program we get $3.00 off a month on our electric bill. Not much but we decided to try and help the state anyway.


Another thing we've bought are these LED lights which are supposed to last 25 years and provide a continuous glow for pennies a year. There are no bulbs and are cool to the touch. We've put them around the house so KC can see where she's at even without the lights turned on.

OK... Let's be honest here, it's for me so I can find my way to the bathroom at night without turning on any bright lights.