Day #3 Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful

Jon arrived at 7:50 AM after sleeping in his tent about an hour's drive away from us. He was surprised to find us still in bed after we'd told him we'd be ready at 7:30.


I could still hardly believe our son had driven 16 hours to join us at Yellowstone so we could all be together. I took a million photos of him just to prove he was there with us.


We ate breakfast at the Mammoth Hot Springs Dining room and saw elk along the way.


After breakfast we went to the Visitors' Center where Art got KC a National Park Passport. Tif and Uncle Jonny helped her apply her sticker for Mammoth Hot Springs and stamp her passport.


Mammoth Hot Springs is really spectacular and both my mother and Auntie Grace were awestruck. My mother would have enjoyed it even more if she wasn't freezing from the cold.


As we made our way to Old Faithful, we stopped at Jon's campsite which is halfway between the two points. Auntie was amazed to think of Jon sleeping out in the cold by himself. We had all offered him a space in our rooms, but he refused.


We loved seeing our first beautiful Glacier Lily.


These bison caused a minor traffic jam. We couldn't believe how close they got to us!


We had to keep a close eye on KC who was darting here and there just loving the beauty all around her.


We took hundreds and hundreds of photos of the bubbling, boiling mud volcanoes.


The hot, boiling pools of mineral water had Auntie Grace commenting that the park service should set up an area for onsens (hot baths).


I can't imagine taking a bath here.

The colors, the sounds and sunny weather that we were blessed with made our day memorable.


My mother and aunt were probably the most layered and bundled people in the park.


There was so much to see!


We saw these golden monkey flowers near the warm areas of the park.


Jon and Art had a lot of catching up to do.


Auntie Grace would later say that the incredible colors of the pools of azure waters with the skies adding even more depth and beauty would be impossible for an artist to truly capture. This is what she would remember most about this trip.


There was that occasional bit of clowning around.


The museum had explanations in Japanese which thrilled my mother and aunt. They felt that they learned a lot about the scientific wonder of the park.


We arrived at Old Faithful to find that it wasn't quite as faithful as it used to be but it did still erupt almost every 90 minutes. We were able to watch it go off a couple of times before Jon had to drive back to his campsite. Tiffany treated us all to a fancy dinner, wanting her only brother well sustained before he went back out into the cold.


We saw this bluebird out by the Old Faithful geyser and my mother called it the Shiawase no Aoi Tori. That surprised me. I didn't know the Japanese called it the Bluebird of Happiness too!

That beautiful bird did symbolise our feelings that day. We were very happy... cold... but very, very happy!

Day #1 and #2 Hawaii to Yellowstone

My pilot cousin, Arnold flew back from Pago Pago and drove his mother and us to Honolulu International Airport at 7:30 PM. Our flight left at 10:00 PM. All our plans to bring my mother's wheelchair went out the window when we saw how much luggage we had and how much space the rental minivan would allot us.

Mom wore the puffy ski jacket we bought her last year onto the airplane because it took up too much room in the luggage. It was hot on the way to the airport, but she was the only comfortable person on the United flight because they had that cabin way, way too cold!!! She still said her nose was cold.

Our daughter, Tiffany and granddaughter, KC flew in from Chicago to join us at the connecting layover in Denver, Colorado.


We landed in Billings, Montana, picked up and packed our rental Kia minivan and drove to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park.

When we got to the Mammoth Hotel, Tiffany and Art went in to register us while I waited in the car with my mom, aunt and KC.

Suddenly the side door slid open and a young man with a jacket and ski hat stuck his head in saying some pleasantry like, "How are you all enjoying your trip so far?"

I was so shocked that I stared at this rather forward person and said in my teacher voice, "May I help you?"

My mother and aunt were taken aback too. We thought he might have been some staff personnel telling us to move the van.

The handsome, though slightly disheveled man looked startled, shocked and perhaps disbelieving.

"Mom!" my exasperated son said.

"Oh my gosh, Jon? Jon!?!??" Everybody was now yelling at the same time. My mother was now realizing who it was and we could hardly believe it! Jon had driven 16 hours all the way from Albuquerque, NM to surprise us at Yellowstone. He'd camped in the FREEZING park, checked out places that would be convenient for his grandmother and grand-aunt to see and then waited over an hour for us to arrive.

He then left us to surprise his sister and father.

Don't they write stories about mothers who recognize the children they lost when they were younger and could recognize them after decades apart? Elephants know where their babies are all the time, right? Aren't penguins able to recognize their young out of millions of other babies on the frozen tundra?

Sigh...

And Tiffany? She tells me she recognized her brother instantly.

Sigh...

The Quiet Before IT Starts

We're going to be leaving today. The flight is at 10:00 PM. We'll leave the house around 8 PM. My cousin will be bringing his mom over to our house at 7:30 PM. Then he'll drive us all to the airport in our van. This is awfully nice of him since he's a pilot and has just flown home from Pago Pago at 5:40 this morning. He's going to sleep now and will get up to take us to the airport.

It's a weird feeling knowing we're going to be leaving late tonight. We'll let all our other neighbors know because they're really great about keeping tabs on everything. They'll be taking our trash out, too! Although we've got a LOT of hyper-sensitive dogs everywhere that wake us up at night, they really do deter burglaries.

Timers are on.

The VCRs are set to tape the shows my mother doesn't want to miss.

Windows are closed.

The fridge is pretty much emptied of perishables.

Charged my MP3 player, cellphone, camera batteries, Kindle.

The clothes are laid out to wear to the airport.

We'll check the weather forecast again; hoping, hoping, hoping there's no snow at Yellowstone or Glacier since my mom hates the cold. (Anything below 75 degrees F is cold to her.) There was this LITTLE error in our planning. We assumed that since Chicago gets pretty warm by June, that Yellowstone would be the same. However, there is that little matter of elevation and this year has been a WEIRD and WILD weather year.

We're washing our bedsheets (Mom is insisting!) so that we'll have a clean bed to come home to.

So now we're twiddling our thumbs... waiting.

Waiting... before IT all starts.

Packed and Ready to Go!

We started packing over a week before it was time to leave. We like to put everything in freezer bags to keep it organized and in case they decide to open our suitcases for inspection. It also helps to save space. I label most of the bags with painters masking tape so I quickly know what's in them. The bags are reused for every trip. I've also found 2 gallon freezer bags for Art's big shoes or for jackets. Most of the clothes are rolled to minimize wrinkling.


Mom and my aunt will each have their own suitcase. Art and I are sharing one.


Art's hand carry backpack will hold one change of clothes and PJs for everybody just in case they lose our luggage, maps, laptop, etc. My backpack holds snacks, technology wiring, travel journals, magazines, my Kindle, everybody's medications, crosswords.

I'm now checking my list, charging my batteries, setting the timers in the house, and telling all the neighbors. I've put on hold the newspapers, Netflix and mail conveniently online.

OK... am I ready? I hope so!

God

People are quick to give credit to or blame God.

"God gave my team the victory." (I have to raise my eyebrows when I see teams praying to God to help their team win. Why should He help their team and not the other side?)
"God is on our side." (our?)
"God loves us." (Who are they really meaning by us?)
"God will protect us." (Isn't there the saying, "God helps those who help themselves?)
"We must do His will." (However, different people interpret that will in different ways.)
"I believe in God, so I will get to heaven whereas those other heathens won't." (Who do you really mean by heathens?)
"God will punish those who don't believe." (Sigh... Some denominations go so far as to say you have to believe in their church alone; just believing in God is not enough.)

In the aftermath of the tornadoes, a survivor was asked how they thought they survived. They replied that they felt "God saved them."

Then why were the others not saved?

I've seen people lose their faith for a while when something terrible happened to a loved one. Their question was, "How could God allow this to happen?"

And to this, my eyebrows go up again. Do you realize how many bad things have happened in history? Something bad happened to you, but something far worse has happened before (and is still happening). Was there no God back then? Will you say it's because they did not believe as you did? (I've heard this one, too.)

The house is quiet right now. Art is having coffee with one of his old hometown buddies. I'm just sitting here thinking.

Countless bad things are happening now. Who do you blame this on? I don't blame God. I don't blame anyone. That's just the way it is. I only ask for strength to handle all that's been happening to the world and even the small annoyances I'm dealing with. I ask for understanding. I ask for calm in choosing the best way to deal with life.

Please forgive me if I've caused any disturbance with this post. I guess I'm just thinking with my keyboard since I'm all by myself.

Senior Citizen Pedestrians at Risk on Hawaii Roads

There was a time when we used to visit Hawaii that Art would always comment how Hawaii drivers were the nicest in the nation because they would let you merge in front of them.

Our children had to learn to be a bit aggressive in Chicago or you could be waiting forever to get into traffic. They enjoyed driving in Hawaii.

Well times and driver etiquette has been slowly eroding. Could it be because we've got more cars on the road? The congestion is horrible on Oahu.

This poll was in the Star Advertiser recently.

Here's part of an article from last month that was in the Star Advertiser:
"Hawaii again ranked first among senior pedestrian deaths, this time in a study released by the state Health Department using statistics provided by the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System studying a four-year data period from 2005-2009.

That study showed Hawaii had 69 seniors killed from 2005-2009, or 28 for every 100,000 people age 60 and older. Second highest was California, with 978 deaths, or 18.1 deaths per 100,000."

They've shown road videos of a senior citizen crossing in a sidewalk getting run over by a bus! For goodness sakes!

When we're in the crosswalk on the way to the Farmers Market, only about 10% of the time will people stop for us. AND it's the law here! If a pedestrian is in the crosswalk, you have to stop or risk a $97.00 fine. During the winter, I have a flashlight that I flash in front of me when I cross the street to make sure they see us. Even then, there are some drivers that don't slow down fast enough.

This is a warning for anybody coming to Hawaii. Look both ways before you cross and keep looking as you cross. Then, make sure you're ready to sprint in case some terrible driver is still illegally talking on a cellphone or worse... texting! But then that's gist for another post.

Remembering Dr. Cibul

There are people in your lives that leave a memory that you just cannot forget. These are memories you cherish because you have met angels that made a difference.

One of our angels was Dr. Cibul. He was our kids' pediatrician in Chicago.

A year after we arrived in Chicago, Tiffany was born. Art's cousin was a social worker at Children's Memorial Hospital and recommended Dr. Herbert Cibul. We loved him as soon as we met him. Dr. Cibul reminded me a little of Gene Wilder. He always met us with a smile, always made time for any questions and always pronounced Tiffany and Jonathan as the most beautiful children in the world.

He told us we were doing a great job and gave us lots of wonderful advice. When I asked him what I should do about Jon always stuffing a cloth diaper in his mouth for comfort Dr. Cibul said, "Well... it's a choice actually. You can pay $2,000 for braces or $30,000 later for psychological services." He was joking, but he was telling us not to sweat the small stuff.

However, when he detected a heart murmur in Tiffany, he sent us to one of the top cardiologists in Chicago. We learned when we got to his office that he was the head of the department. He did a whole bunch of tests on Tif and told us she had a functional heart murmur. He also said we could bring her back anytime. He would not charge us anything because he had such high regard for Dr. Cibul.

Another time Dr. Cibul insisted we bring Jon to Children's Memorial to be checked out by the head of another department because he had an enlarged spleen. She looked Jon over carefully, ran some tests and told us he probably had an infection but it wasn't anything to worry about. She laughed and said, "Herbert Cibul loves and worries about his kids even more than the parents." Again, she would not charge us anything for her services.


Things like this happened several more times. When Jon broke his arm, a keloid formed at his elbow which caused his arm to retract so he couldn't fully extend his arm. We took him to a plastic surgeon in a fancy office in Northbrook who told us there was no hope. He said he could remove the keloid, but it would come back again. He could use radiation, but it would only shorten Jon's life. So we decided to let it go.

During our next yearly visit, Dr. Cibul frowned and said, "Why haven't you done anything about that?" We told him what the other doctor said. Dr. Cibul insisted we take him to another doctor at Children's Memorial. We learned later that this doctor was world famous. He wasn't the nicest or friendliest doctor in the world (another Dr. House type) but he removed the keloid and had us wrap it with koban bandages. Today, Jon has full mobility of his arm and had a very (I don't want to brag) successful high school sports career.

Soon Dr. Cibul decided to close his pediatric practice and focus on child psychology instead. We really missed him.

I checked on line several years ago to learn that he had passed away much too soon. But you know what? I still think he's around watching over all children who need a guardian angel.

Brown Anole Lizard

When I was growing up I remember seeing a lot of brown geckos darting across our window screens. I didn't mind that at all since they ate mosquitoes.

I never saw the Jackson Chameleon which is now found in Hawaii's golf courses or the green anole. Returning to live in Hawaii after 35 years in Illinois, I'm hearing about wallaby, peacocks, bulbuls, finches and all species of wild life I never saw or even heard of while growing up here.

I took this photo of a brown anole lizard while visiting my aunt. I couldn't get a good shot with that red fan below his chin so I had to get this off of Wikipedia.


While going for walks in the evening, Art and I have to be careful how we step because these brown anole are constantly getting underfoot. Since they're probably here to stay, all I can say is, I hope they eat a lot of mosquitoes too.

26 Windows, Almost Done!

Our home renovation required quite a number of windows. Art has to do the finishing work. Part of it required building window sills for 26 windows. That's a heck of a lot of windows and it was rather daunting when he contemplated it.

However, Art dove into the project. We went to Home Depot and chose the moulding for the sills and the aprons below it. He measured, cut and painted each piece.


This window was a bit of a challenge because it was so deep.


Art cut a pattern for it using cardboard before cutting the wood.


Once he was done, I was assigned to caulk, plaster, sand and paint to hide the nail holes and spaces along the edges.


On to the next window.


Once he got a feel for how to do the sills, it went a lot faster.


And then there were 24 more to go.

He's now pretty much done with them, which means it's my turn to get to work while he figures out how to do the baseboards. Plastering, caulking, sanding and painting are not my favorite things to do, but I do love looking at the windows when it's all finished.

Eating the WHOLE Crab

We were at a potluck hosted by some wonderful friends and could hardly believe all the amazing food that was spread on top of the table.

One of the relatives brought over a huge platter of crabs. What amazed me was the fact that they were excited about eating the WHOLE crab, not just the legs. It had never occurred to me that you could eat the whole crab, body and all, minus the shell. They were coaxing me to try, saying I can't know if I'm not going to like something unless I try it first.

There was a brief moment when I thought I should. I really did think I would. But, on second thought didn't know if I could. Remember, I'm the one who didn't want to eat okra. Then I saw them take the crab apart and pull off the bottom shell to reveal the guts, and I lost all resolve.

I'm afraid I didn't eat any of the crabs' innards. Waste not, want not just didn't work for me.

Did I tell you I'm not a great fan of tomatoes either?

Art Picks Up a Hitchhiker

Art goes jogging before the sun comes up. This morning he brought home something that jumped onto his back during his run.

At first we thought it was something like a millipede with lots of legs. I could barely see it. I took a photo of it using my macro feature on my new Canon Powershot SX30IS. I have to report that this camera truly doesn't take macro shots well in low light. I had to take the bug to the window to get this clearer shot.

Anway, I blew up the photo and was surprised to find it was actually a caterpillar. When I fiddled with it to move it near the ruler it curved its back and stuck out the little spikes. If it's meant to intimidate a predator, it sure wouldn't do the trick since it's only about half a centimeter big, barely an appetizer for an early bird.

I sure hope we get a lot of sunny days in Yellowstone so I can get some decent photos.

Show Tunes at the Hospice

Stanley lives a few streets down from us. We met him at the Farmer's Market. He enjoys talking to Art. Stanley is 87 years old and full of energy.

Before his wife died a few years ago, she stayed at the Maurice J. Sullivan Hospice Center in Ewa. Stanley would go there and play the piano in the lobby so she could hear it through her open door.

All the other patients and nurses enjoyed the show tunes and old time popular songs he played for them. After his wife, Jackie passed away they asked him to come back and play for them.


He's asked us several times to come and listen so we went with him again. I thought it was cute how he removed one slipper to make it easier for him to feel the pedals.

He played Send in the Clowns for me because he knew I liked it, even though he says it was too difficult for him. Although arthritis makes his fingers ache, he played for over an hour and a half.

Stanley did surprise me with one song that is one of my favorites ever since I heard it in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. I just loved this rendition of Someone to Watch Over Me by Jean Louisa Kelly.



This is really a beautiful hospice. It's fantastic that Stanley continues to share his love of music with everyone there. His music must add a bit of sunshine to their day. It did to mine.

After our musical morning, we took Stanley to lunch. He told us old Army stories about his time in Korea during the war. He said at one point they were freezing and didn't get to take a shower for 2 months. They had to brush their teeth using water from their helmets. He also made sure he flossed his teeth which he credits as the reason he's got all his healthy teeth at 87.

Hmmmm... I wasn't expecting to start off this post with Hospice and end with flossing, but perhaps I could tie it up by saying if you'd like to leave this life with all your teeth, be sure to floss!

Windows Hawaii Fix

My mother was upset because there was a problem with the new replacement vinyl windows that we bought from Windows Hawaii last November. The scissors like bracket that opens and closes the window seemed to have broken off when she tried to close it.


We called and reported the problem to the company and they knew just what the problem was. Thank goodness! They said the rail was too short which caused the brackets to slip out. They ordered rail extenders.


Two friendly fellows came out and fixed the problem in a jiffy for all the windows with problems.


This was a problem you could not foresee. It's really lucky that we did select a company that stands by its products and makes sure we are happy and satisfied. Phew!

Feng Shui Calendar

My cousin just forwarded this e-mail to me and I thought it might be fun to pass along. However I decided to check on its validity first. I found this on Snopes. Apparently it's not true that it happens only once every 823 years and there's nothing Feng Shui about it.



This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags.

So, forward this to your friends and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not forward.....will be without money.

This year we're going to experience four unusual dates.

1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that's not all...

Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born - now add
the age you will be this year,

The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world. This is the year of
the Money!!!

The proverb goes that if you send this to eight good friends money will
appear in next four days as it is explained in Chinese FENGSHUI.


Never mind the sending this e-mail on part according to the Chinese Feng Shui thought. Do you seriously think the Chinese of old thought of forwarding things on to get good luck? I imagine they had far more important things to worry about... not to mention not having the luxury of e-mail.

There's way too much stuff on the Internet zooming around as Forwarded Mail that is just bogus and I'm sure a lot of people get taken in by it.

Awesome Honolulu Clouds

We were driving through Honolulu a few weeks ago and saw this cumulonimbus cloud. It was pretty darn awesome. I couldn't remember seeing anything like that before in Hawaii.


The closer we got to it, the more dramatic, more ominous it looked. And yes, eventually, it did rain on us before we got home.

Rosemary Flowers

Mom wants to keep the rosemary bush that my brother planted tidy. I had every intention of using rosemary in my cooking once I learned how, but since my mother does most of the cooking, I've not touched the plant.

Whenever she trims the plant and tosses the fragrant branches into the trash container for garden waste, the container has a strong, lovely smell. And for some reason, I have an urge to eat some chicken.

My rosemary plant in Illinois never had a chance to grow very much because the growing season was too short. Here in Hawaii, it drives my mother crazy trying to keep the bush small. I told her to let it grow a little bigger and not worry so much about it.


She was surprised to see that the plant had rewarded her with some beautiful purple blossoms. We had no idea rosemary had flowers! I wonder if they're edible.

I just wish our basil plant would take a lesson from the rosemary and do a better job of growing. The lemon grass is going nuts, but I'm not sure what do do with it. I tried making tea and it wasn't very good. Any ideas? How about rosemary? What do you do with that?