Blog Hiatus

Blog buddies know that (unlike Art) I get very stressed before a trip. I do. Sigh...

We'll be leaving soon for the Winter Festival in Hokkaido. It was a moment of weakness when other travelers (including my cousin) in April of last year mentioned enjoying the trip and the incredible ice sculptures they saw in that northernmost island of Japan. So we signed up for it. These are photos my cousin texted me. He's done this trip 3 times!

Without a doubt, it's good for us to get a break from caring for my mom whose memory seems to be fading by the day. People have told us we're very lucky that she is in such good shape at 96 and so happy. Mom is always grateful for everyone caring for her. 

But still... we need this time away. I could not be handling everything without Art. Truly. And he really needs to travel because that's always been one of his favorite things to do. That's the reason my blog address is https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/

Mom's worsening condition is making it more and more difficult for me to visit other bloggers or even to keep my blog posting on schedule. And yet, I need to maintain my writing to try to keep my brain operating. I'm getting awfully scary forgetful.

I am also very lucky that I have a brother who will drop everything to come and help. He'll be staying with mom to care for her and keep her company.

Therefore... I'm taking this hiatus now and will let you know how the trip went when I get back. Stay well everybody and stay warm. 

Oh gosh... what more to pack? Gloves, scarves, snow cleats, jackets, thermal underwear, medications, ACK! 

A Rare Monarch Sighting

I went out to water the garden and saw a flash of orange on the carport support pillar. When I got closer, I saw that it was a monarch butterfly.

I've mentioned before that when my brother and I were children we saw monarchs all the time. All the crown flower bushes were covered with holes, caterpillar poop and monarch chrysalis. We even took some home just to see the transformation and then watching them fly off.

But now...all the crown flower bushes these days are pristine and there's not a caterpillar in sight. It's sad.

And yet, here was a monarch. 

Maybe it had just come out of the chrysalis and was resting. I was really happy to see it and took photos from every angle. It didn't move, but I saw it fly away much later. 

I just found this on AI:

Seeing a monarch butterfly often symbolizes transformation, rebirth, and hope, representing life's journey, change, and spiritual growth, while in many cultures, it's seen as a messenger from deceased loved ones or a sign of endurance and new beginnings. 

I've lost so many dear friends in the last couple of years. I like to think that they might have come to tell me not to stress about our upcoming trip and to enjoy the time I have. 

Hawaiian Humor

I've seen this sign several times on our way into Honolulu and could never get a good photo of it. I finally did last week.

I first saw it when we were going into Waikiki with our daughter and family while they were visiting from Chicago earlier this month.

The sign is Hawaiian pidgin.

It says, "NO BE A STINKAH,

USE ONE BLINKAH"

Translation: "Don't be a stinker. Use your blinker."

It's a good thing to remember because Art does get aggravated when people cut into our lane often without signaling their intention. 

I thought I'd heard some time ago that Hawaii had some of the worst drivers in the nation. Uuummm....

And then I found this on AI:

As of January 2026, Hawaii is ranked as the worst state in the nation for overall driving, according to a WalletHub study that considered factors like cost, safety, and traffic. The state frequently tops lists for bad driver behavior, including high rates of speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence, though state officials note recent safety and infrastructure improvements. 

Key 2025–2026 Rankings and Data:

• Overall Driver Quality: Ranked #1 worst in the nation for 2024–2025 due to poor behaviors like improper lane changes, running red lights, and speeding.
• State Driving Conditions: Ranked 50th (dead last) in the 2026 WalletHub study, which cited high gas prices, heavy congestion, and poor road quality.
• Specific Behaviors: Hawaii ranked 1st for drunk driving, 4th for speeding, and 4th for texting while driving, according to a report from The Law Office of R. Patrick McPherson.
• Traffic & Infrastructure: While rated poorly, Hawaii Department of Transportation officials stated the state's ranking in this specific category improved from 43rd in 2022 to 39th in 2026, notes Hawaii News Now. 

Despite the poor ranking for behavior, Hawaii often ranks better (top 10 to 15) in terms of actual traffic fatalities and major crashes compared to other states. 

Good grief! How embarrassing! Let's hope that 2026 will find Hawaii drivers showing less stink behavior and more good kine driving on the roads. 

Granddaughter's Secret

Art and I are planning for our trip to Hokkaido to see various snow and ice festivals. We haven't experienced freezing temperatures much since we left Chicago in 2008. We're older now and I hope the cold doesn't bother me too much.

Our temperature here in Hawaii was about 64 degrees F this morning and I put on a fleece jacket.

In planning for this trip to Hokkaido, I was looking in my scarf, glove and hat drawer and saw this little slip of paper.

Our daughter, Tiffany and family left over a week ago so I've looked through this drawer since then to see what we have.

I never saw that note.

Granddaughter KC started leaving us notes since 2018 when she was 12 years old.

There were 9 notes to find all over the place in 2018.

We found 16 notes in 2019.

KC outdid that number in 2022 with 18 notes.

They were being careful near mom especially because of the COVID pandemic.

Since their visit was so short this time, I see that she must have left just 8 notes. KC is 19 years old now and it's nostalgic to see the growth and fun in her notes.

I was surprised that their last visit to Hawaii was 4 years ago. We've been with them every year either in Chicago or meeting them in Japan so I didn't realize it had been such a long time. They did use this visit to enjoy shave ice, malasadas, andagi, udon, beef jun, etc. etc. etc.

Problem now is that since KC is much older, she's also gotten smarter... sneakier? 😄 Ever since I found that note, I haven't been able to find the other 7.

But don't worry. I'll find them like I did the others.

I think.

The Curse of the Centipede

I was telling my brother about our cousin, Lorna's awful centipede attacks. I was shocked to hear she'd been bitten 5 times.

I've never been bitten/stung by a centipede. Actually, when I looked at a close-up photo we took of the centipede, I couldn't figure out if they bite or sting. I found this on Wikipedia:

A centipede bite is an injury resulting from the action of a centipede's forcipules, stinger-like appendages that pierce the skin and inject venom into the wound. Such a wound is not strictly speaking a bite, as the forcipules are a modified first pair of legs rather than true mouthparts. Clinically, the wound is viewed as a cutaneous condition characterized by paired hemorrhagic marks that form a chevron shape caused by the paired forcipules.

The centipede's venom causes pain and swelling in the area of the bite, and may cause other reactions throughout the body. The majority of bites are not life-threatening to humans and present the greatest risk to children and those who develop allergic reactions.

Anyway, Dennis had an even more awful (for him definitely) story to tell me. 

I worked at the pineapple cannery when I was in High School. It was extremely exhausting work and we carry it as a badge of honor for having done it.

However, there were no centipedes in the cannery that I could see.

Dennis, on the other hand toiled in the sugar cane fields. I have no idea why he chose the cane fields to the cannery. (This is a picsart generated photo.)

One day, as he walked through the fields he felt something crawling up his pant leg. It crawled up one pant leg and luckily went past the part that's very important to guys and then decided to sting him there. 

My brother is very allergic to bee and other insect venom like my mom. His leg swelled to an alarming degree and he had to be taken to the hospital.

"Wouldn't you know….” he said.  "They sent in a young intern to check me out? And it was a woman!!!”

I guess she must have administered something like an epinephrine because he survived that mishap. 

I imagine this must be why he made a career out of working in a sterile police photo lab where he would be far removed from any other stings or bites.

I don't remember ever getting a really bad reaction to bites or stings, but my daughter is just like her uncle and grandmother. I guess they have my mom to blame for this possibly genetic predisposition. Luckily, Tiffany also works in an office away from centipedes or bees or whatever. Oops! But they do have mosquitoes in Illinois. 😕

POSTSCRIPT: I asked my brother why he chose to work in the fields. He said that cannery workers were being offered $1.75 an hour but sugar plantation workers could get $2.25. He's 3 years younger than me. I don't remember being paid $1.75 a hour to work in the cannery. It was MUCH less. 😏

Monster Arthropod

I was seeing mom off on the Handi-Van taking her to the day care which she absolutely loves. The drivers are all so very caring, making sure her belt is secured and that she's comfortable.

Art was in the carport and decided to come and wave goodbye to mom along with me. Mom always loves to have us see her off. We often chuckle that it's like seeing our child off to school. Well... except our children walked to school every morning when we lived in Illinois. 

Anyway... as the Handi-Van took off, Art looked down and saw this HUGE centipede! It has to be the biggest one I've seen in a long, long time.

"Oh my gosh," I said. "I need to take a photo of this for my blog. Could you put your hand there to show how big it is?"

Uuuummm... This was the closest to this monster arthropod as Art was willing to put his hand.

He's very kind to help me find ideas for my blog.

I sent photos of this to my friends here and Illinois as well as my favorite Kauai cousins.

This was the conversation by text I had with my cousins, Lorna and Holly.

Lorna: Ugh! I absolutely hate them. I've been bitten about 5 times already, and those bites burn!!! Even small ones' bites hurt just as much.

Holly: Holy cow! That is one healthy looking centipede! At least it wasn't IN the car! 😬

Lorna: And the first time I was bitten, it hurt so much I drank a lot of vodka hoping it would dull the pain. Nope. Then, a couple of days later, I noticed a red line moving up my leg. It was infected (the doctor said centipedes eat things like roaches, which is a good thing, but yuck), so that's probably why it got infected. Had to get a shot (you know where) of antibiotics.

Me: 😄

Holly: You should have poured the vodka on the bite. 😂

Lorna: Didn't think of that. It could have killed some of the bacteria though. Or maybe I should have had a second shot of vodka.

Like I said before, they are my favorite Kauai cousins and are the most fun ever!

And I just had to give you an even better close up view of this big guy.

My friend, Diane asked if Art had killed it. I told her that Art had sent the huge fellow down the drain in the street.

And Diane replied, "What? We had a centipede come out of the toilet a long time ago!" 😯

Oops!

Plumbing Genius?

Our daughter, Tiffany and her family are here visiting with us from Chicago and we were preparing to have our professional photographer friend, Dave take our photos.

Tiffany was getting her dress ready for the photo session and asked to have a small safety pin to secure a strap. Unfortunately, ummm... she laid the pin down on the sink and it slipped down the drain. 😦

Poor Art was aghast thinking of the trouble we'd have if the sink became clogged with hair or whatever getting snagged on the safety pin.

He went to the tool shed to look for some kind of magnet contraption he could design to retrieve the pin.

But then I'm thinking....

Hmmm...

How deep is that drain? I have a paintbrush that's about that long.

Hmmm... You know how sticky duct tape is, right? So... I covered the end of the paintbrush with duct tape, pulled out the stopper over the drain and poked the paint brush end down the drain.

😁

It worked.

I sent Tiffany down to the tool shed to call Art who was rather flabbergasted.

Did I gloat about it? 

Of course not.

I just smiled humbly.😄

No, not smugly. 😌 Just very modestly.

Yup. Yup.

Amazing Wedding Cakes

Many decades ago, Art and I went to a wedding in Chicago. It was for the daughter of one of the friends he worked with at the USEPA.

He reminded me that it was also the first time we'd heard Pachebel's Canon in D for a wedding march. It was absolutely beautiful with Lake Michigan in view through the giant glass windows of the church. 

So much was different from the weddings we'd been to in Hawaii. Another first was the wedding cake. It was made of cream puffs. We were amazed. I just looked it up online and goodness! There's a name for that cream puff wedding cake.

I found this photo on Wikipedia.

I thought this would be the most unusual wedding cake we'd ever seen.

However, earlier this month we were at the wedding of the daughter of one of our best friends. 

The only time I've ever cried at a wedding was when our daughter Tiffany came walking down the aisle on Art's arm. I really thought I was perfectly fine and then suddenly, I burst into (quiet) tears... quiet torrential tears. My teacher buddies behind me saw what was happening and quickly sent up tissues. 

Well... I've been to many weddings since without any tears at all so didn't expect it to happen again. I promise you, I'm not normally a crier. But his wonderful young woman getting married was very, very special and it happened again.

The wedding was beautifully planned and organized by family and friends. But then I saw the most amazing thing. The bride is allergic to eggs so a family member made this cake for the wedding couple.

It's a watermelon cake!!! A truly beautiful, meticulously created wedding cake. I've written before about how Art LOVES watermelon. We usually celebrate his birthday with a watermelon slice. Therefore this wedding cake absolutely blew us away.

And yes, there was the tradition of the wedding couple cutting a slice of wedding watermelon for each other.

There were two other regular giant cakes for family and friends.

Have you seen any interesting wedding cakes?

A Funny Thing That Happened

Well... it wasn't funny exactly. It's just something that surprised me and stayed in my head days later. I'm only writing about it now because I jotted the incident down on a scrap of paper as something I might write a post about later.

Art and I were doing some shopping at the Navy commissary at Pearl Harbor. It was a bit crowded and I told Art we should move our shopping cart to the side to let someone get by. I then smiled at the well dressed attractive woman in what looked like a business suit as she went by us. She did not look like a local person.

Anyway, as she rushed past us, she turned and said, "You have a nice haircut." 

I'd cut mom and Art's hair a couple of weeks before and I had been planning to cut my own hair soon.

So I'm wondering...

Why would this stranger suddenly make it a point to tell me I had a nice haircut?

Uuumm...

I should have felt complimented, right?

Instead I was puzzled.

The funny thing is, since that time, I haven't cut my hair. 😄

I will though... soon.

Hidden TESLA

I wrote before about how I thought someone had removed that Tesla "T" from the back of their car. https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/search?q=tesla

Well...

The other day we were driving home after shopping and Art pointed out another Tesla car. I laughed and said they must have removed their T also. Art said he thought the TESLA wording would appear in lights when the car stopped at the stoplight. 

It didn't.

But then I looked closely and saw this.

I had to use Photoshop to highlight the TESLA wording so you can see it.

Pretty funny! Is Elon purposely trying to hide it so people leaning to the left can still buy the car without their friends knowing it's the car made by the maybe trillionaire who was once Trump's buddy? 😂

Which Time Period Would You Choose to Live In?

I saw something in the news a while back that had me wondering what I would choose. There's been a number of these kinds of studies.

Pew research was asking what time period would people live in if they could choose.  I got the following results from the Pew Research Center.

So I'm wondering. Well, I'm sure there will be lots and lots of technological advances in the future. Will I like them? There's also global warming up ahead, lots of pollution with plastics in the ocean, overfilled landfills, etc. I'm also rather uncomfortable with the amount of racial prejudice I'm seeing in our country now as well as insensitivity toward others.

The present has problems too. I know that. But would I like the past better?

I've just been to the dentist who had to work on fixing my broken front tooth. She was very careful to make sure I wasn't in any pain. My brother and I used to call our childhood dentist "the Butcher," because there was always pain going to him. 

With so much research having been done since those earlier days, we've got inoculations, cures, and much more understanding than before. I'm glad my children and grandchildren today didn't have to suffer through measles, chicken pox and mumps like I did. Unfortunately, we now have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who doesn't appear to approve of them. Sighhh... 

And yes... we didn't have much back then. We didn't have cellphones, blogs, faster airplanes, and all that. However, I have happy memories of those long ago days.

I don't have photos of me having fun like my brother here. He was always full of curiosity, taking risks and having fun. And yes, he had accidents too. I like to remind him how I had to carry him home on my back when he cut his foot. 

But would he want to go back? I don't think so. He likes all that technology can do now too.

But what about you? What would you choose?

Sending a Photobook With Love to Grandsons

Our son and family were here in July for a whole glorious month. They had a lot of fun doing all kinds of things we don't normally do on our own. I wrote blog posts (https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2025/09/july-fun-with-our-son-and-family-part-2.html) about so many of the things we did together. 

I began organizing the many photos we took to go into a Shutterfly photobook. 

As I finished each page, I asked my grandsons to write their own comments and even add speech bubbles. (They LOVE speech bubbles💬! 😃) 

I took me a while to finish the book after they left and I asked my artistic brother to design the cover for me. 

A couple of months passed before the book was completed and then it took quite a while more before it reached Keola and his family at their next home overseas.

My daughter-in-law sent this photo so I could see them enjoying the book together.

I loved seeing Keola and the boys recalling all the fun they had enjoying Hawaii and being with extended family.

I did write in some detailed information of places they'd been to, Hawaiian legends of areas they visited on the Big Island and all the relatives they spent time with. I also added a little about the country they lived in prior to this big move as well as how they were able to visit with their other grandparents in DC before flying out of the country.

Both grandsons were early readers so I know they were able to  read everything without any problems. I think they liked their own speech bubbles best though. 😄

I'm just glad they will always have a record of their time spent with us so it can jog a memory as they get older.

A Letter From Anna

I was cleaning up folders in my Outlook Email program last week and suddenly came across this letter from one of my long ago students dated March 6, 2011. It made me tear up a bit. I remembered Anna when I had her in my 1st grade class in 2001-2002. She was a very bright, beautiful, friendly little girl.

Apparently, her mom had seen my blog back then and shared my email with her daughter. This was in 2011 when Anna was in high school!

Hi Mrs. Kay,

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to email you! I composed a draft of this email a while back and then I never sent it. (Things around here have been super busy.)

How are you doing in Hawaii? You sound great from what I've seen in your blog. The weather here is terrible! I could use a trip to Hawaii. Hopefully spring is on the horizon.

I don't even know where to start with this update, but here goes. I'm a sophomore at --High School  now. My freshman year was great and I absolutely love the school. I'm actually taking Japanese now! I still remember the day when you brought in items of your Hawaiian and Japanese heritage in 1st grade. And when we talked to your son by speakerphone and learned all about Mali. Both of those things, as little as they were, actually left a really big impact on me. For example, I know Peace Corps is a huge leap, but I am definitely interested in looking into it for the future. And I have loved taking Japanese! I'm hosting a student from Japan named Yukari in a few weeks and I'm super excited. (:

I am doing lots of singing and theatre, and I'm on the --High School Speech Team, which is basically competitive acting and speech-making. Both of my parents are doing well, too. It's been a good year so far!

I hope that you and Mr. K are doing great, and I'm so happy that we're finally able to contact you!

Anna 

This brought back so many memories from 2002 when I was teaching 1st grade at an elementary school in our district. 

There were some notable events that year. We had just finished a science unit on weather and just for fun, I wrote to WMAQ TV which is an NBC station in Chicago. I asked if Tammie Souza, their TV meteorologist could come to our school and give a little lesson to our class. You can imagine my shock when they said she would come.

It was such a memorable thing that I invited the other 1st grade classes to join us for this fun time.

Tammie was wonderful.

At one point, she smiled and asked if any of the students knew the colors of the rainbow.

None of the children could name them all and kept their hands down. 

And then Anna's hand went up. I was proud of her for attempting to name them.

But wow! She named all the colors perfectly... and probably in the correct order. Tammie was truly taken aback. Needless to say, I was feeling quite proud for my wonderful student.

So now, when I see a rainbow here in Hawaii, I remember Anna.

Anna mentioned Keola being in the Peace Corps in her letter. The Peace Corps had a teacher partnership program with their volunteers. Keola could select me as the teacher for his partnership. My class loved writing letters to him and Keola faithfully answered all their questions. 

Well.... that year, the Peace Corps had an essay contest for teachers to write why they deserved to have a phone call with their volunteer. And yup. I did submit an essay and wow! I was one of the winners! 

Our principal budgeted a phone to be installed in my classroom and at the appointed time, my students were all able to ask questions of Keola and learn about the African country of Mali.

With all these memories now on my mind, I sent an email to Anna and her mom telling them about that long ago email I'd gotten from them. Anna's mom wrote back to me and passed on my email to Anna who was now living in New York.

What an awesome surprise to get an email back from Anna the following morning.

"Hi Mrs. K!! It's SO great to hear from you -- your emails made my day. I'm so happy you and your family are doing well.... 

That's amazing that your son married another Peace Corps volunteer, and their life sounds so exciting and adventurous. I will never forget talking to him and learning about Mali. I also remember meeting Mr. K and learning about him and your son's Kilimanjaro trek. You were such an incredible teacher and made such an impact -- I credit your class as where I learned to write! 

I actually visited Hawaii a couple years ago for the first time. J--- and I were living in San Francisco and we went on a weeklong vacation to Maui. It was such a great week in the most beautiful place. I'm dying to go back!  I thought of you when we were there 😊 

Sounds like you guys are doing a lot of traveling - that's fantastic. Adding to what my mom said, if you're ever in New York I would love to see you!

Much love, Anna"

This is all bringing back so many more happy memories. I've heard from some other students and parents and it's such a wonderful feeling to learn how well they are doing. I like to think I was able to teach them what they needed to learn in 1st grade, but in the end, they gave me back something more valuable. They gave me memories of all their pride in their accomplishments and mostly, they gave me their trust and love. And that, I will hold forever.