Chasing Spring

I love spring! It's been my favorite season ever since we moved to Illinois. I was surprised when my granddaughter told me a couple of years ago that her favorite season is winter. She loves the snow which means she can go skiing. 

Once our kids were grown Art wanted to really see more of the world. It's his passion to visit all the places he's heard about. We generally traveled during the winter because that's when I had my 2 week holiday break from school. The year 2000 was the only time we traveled during spring break. Barcelona and Madrid was just beginning to leave winter behind.

Generally speaking, I didn't want to travel during spring because I liked seeing it burst forth at home.

I loved my sour cherry tree with its beautiful white blossoms that then turned into wonderful fruit that you could make cherry cobblers with.

Then there were my two lilac bushes along with forsythia and honeysuckle that welcomed spring every year.

In 2007, just before our final move back to Hawaii, Art wanted to do a bike trip in the Netherlands.

The tulip gardens of Keukenhof, Netherlands was breathtaking!

Now that we were back in Hawaii where you don't even notice the change of seasons very much, I was on the hunt for spring.

Art wanted mom to see more of the world so he insisted we take her to Butchart Garden in Vancouver Island, Canada. Our daughter had been there and told us that we would love it. Mom loves gardens so it was a no brainer.

On the way there, we bumped into Skagit Valley and were absolutely blown away. Totally blown away! There were ribbons of tulips as far as the eye could see.

Mom was totally astonished at the cherry blossoms in Stanley Park. 

She'd read of hanafubuki (flower blizzard) in books and poetry where the falling cherry blossom petals would create a floral blizzard.

As we walked along the Stanley Park cherry trees with petals fluttering about us, I remember her saying, "I can now die in peace for I've seen everything."

But then there was Butchart Garden and she never tired of walking along all the spring displays. She even asked to go back again the following day.

In 2010 we took mom and my Auntie Grace to Japan to visit with their family and explore the country they love in the season they dream about.

We traveled south and worked our way north. Mom and Auntie Grace felt their parents were looking out for them because we managed to follow the blooming of cherry blossoms all the way back to Tokyo.

The following month, Art and I traveled to Illinois to babysit our granddaughter to give her parents a chance to go on a cruise together.

And we managed to welcome spring again.

The chestnut tree had fallen during a freak wind storm a few years back so we planted a weeping cherry tree in its spot like we saw in Japan.

Our daughter sent a photo of the tree a week ago. 

It's glorious!

In 2013, we looked for spring in China.

Our tour guide made a point of telling us that these beautiful trees were not Japanese cherry trees, but Chinese cherry trees.

We asked mom where she would want to travel if she could travel anywhere in the world.

Blew us away when she told us Butchart Gardens and Skagit Valley.

Plane tickets were already bought for late April so we'd be there the same time as 2009.

Bloggers DJan and Linda told me that flowers were blooming earlier this year and we should change our travel date.

Art was reluctant at first because there was that $200 change fee per ticket.

However, he did it and we were really, really glad and grateful to Linda and DJan because indeed, the flowers were at their peak. We would have missed it if we went later.

Mom had fun seeing that bloggers are real people.

Art and I went on a Viking River Cruise in 2018 and saw spring in several countries.

Mom was 90 years old in 2019 and said she would be willing to take one final trip.

We were lucky in so many ways.

Mom got to see all of her relatives and spent precious time with them. They all knew it would be her last trip to see them.

We then boarded the Diamond Princess in Yokohama. One of the stops was Niigata where the cherry blossoms took your breath away. Mom was in heaven!

We returned to Yokohama, went by bus to Narita and boarded our flight back to Hawaii. It was truly a fabulous last trip for mom.

And yes, that was the same Diamond Princess where the following year would find it quarantined in port due to COVID-19.

Mom still thinks her parents were looking out for her.

I have enjoyed looking at everyone's posts about spring and had to look back at our spring adventures.

We shall look forward to seeing spring again with our own eyes some day. 

What is your favorite season?

A Visit to the Podiatrist

Art jogs once a week for about 5 miles. That's what he tells me. I suspect it's farther and he's just keeping it from me. The cardiologist once recommended he only do 3 miles and no longer do marathons or even half marathons. We also walk every morning when it's not raining or drizzling or threatening to rain.

Since I am basically lazy, I can't understand why he likes to run so much. He talks about a Runner's High. Seriously? 

Anyway.... here I am going off on a tangent again. Where was I? Oh yes...

For the last year or so he's been dealing with a hard lump of skin under the ball of his foot. Since he is not as flexible as I am, he can't see the bottom of his foot so I was in charge of dealing with it. Our primary care physician had recommended salicylic acid (Compound W). Therefore I've been applying it and peeling off the dead skin regularly. However, it just keeps recurring over and over again. We suspected it was actually a wart because it had a little dot in the center.

Finally, Art was referred to a podiatrist. I went also since I am the primary foot caretaker and it was quite interesting. We learned a number of things.

* It's not a wart. Warts have a cauliflower look to it. It's actually a callus.

* The callus should continue to be treated with the Compound W, but I should stop applying and peeling off the dead skin when it gets too close to the more sensitive layer (I don't know what you'd call it).

* Art needs to change his running shoes every 500 miles. 

The doctor then cut off more of the skin on the callus and it looked quite nice.

Art will now be on the market to look for more running shoes. He usually has a tough time of it because he's got super wide feet. 

Hmmmm... you know I haven't had this problem with my feet and I don't have to change shoes so often. For some reason I don't get these calluses. 

Art is rolling his eyes. 🙄

Afraid of Needles?

Did you see that 49% of Republican men do not want to get vaccinated. Compare this to 6% of Democratic men. Pretty interesting.

Why would Republicans not want it as opposed to Democrats? How do Republicans hope to gain herd immunity so we can open up businesses and help the economy if we don't get more people vaccinated?

Well one thing that doesn't help, I think, are the videos we see on TV constantly of people getting their shots.

Tell me WHY you have to show CLOSE-UPS of needles going into arms over and over and over?

Every time they show a news segment about the vaccine, you see at least 3-4 views of those needles puncturing skin on arms.

Puh-leeease... Is that really necessary? Do you think that will make people say, "Oh goodie! I want to have that done to me?"

The fact of the matter is that the shot itself hardly hurts at all. You can believe me because I have never liked shots.

I never look.

I was even surprised after getting the first shot that I hardly felt it.

Granted there was a little arm ache later, but that's fine. I didn't mind the ache.

However, I still feel squeamish when I see that needle going in during the news. 

Weird thing is I'm perfectly fine watching medical shows where they show fake surgeries, etc. 

Anyway, maybe if they stopped showing those needles poking arms so much, those Republican men would be more willing to get those shots.

Just kidding.

Battle of the Birds: Round 2

OK. We admit we lost the first battle with the mynah birds. They insist on building a nest on our precarious roof ledge dropping tons of dead leaves, branches, weeds, flowers, etc. on the ground and aggravating my mother who has to pick them up every morning.

The stainless steel bird spikes (similar to what Costco uses) worked for just one week and then the nest building started again. Incredibly, they started weaving long grass stems around the spikes.

What the heck!

I refused to believe that bird brains are better than ours. I suggested putting the spikes on the back of the beam also and moving the spikes closer to the edge. I thought that would prevent them from having a place to have a foothold.

It did take a while to undo the spikes to move them and add more spikes to the back beam, but Art managed to finish it in about an hour.

Will it work?

Or will there be a 3rd battle?

Just to let you know there are a lot of trees in the area that would be much more appropriate for building nests. Do you suppose those mynah maniacs are just not wanting to let us win the battle?

POSTSCRIPT: 

OK, it's been a week and so far so good. Fingers crossed. However, if they do come back, we have a Plan C we haven't tried yet. 😁

A Gift of Poems from My Mother’s Sister

Quite a while ago, my mother's youngest sister in Sendai, Japan gave me a book of poems for children written by a poet named Kaneko Teru. I think the poems have a different feel than those written for children in the west.

I noticed the book again while rearranging my bookshelf and read through it. This one made me smile.

A Little Bird, a Bell, and Me

Even though I open my arms wide,

I still can't fly in the sky at all.

But a little bird who can fly,

Can't run on the ground as fast as me.

Even though I shake my body,

I still can't make a sound as beautiful as a bell,

But that ringing bell

Doesn't know as many songs as me.

A bell, a little bird, and me,

We're all different and wonderful.

When I looked at the information about the author, I noticed she died very young at 26. I found quite a bit of information about her. This was on Wikipedia:

"Misuzu Kaneko (金子 みすゞ, Kaneko Misuzu, April 11, 1903 – March 10, 1930) was a Japanese poet, known for her poetry for children. She was born Teru Kaneko (金子 テル, Kaneko Teru) in the fishing village of Senzaki, now part of Nagato, Yamaguchi prefecture. Motifs of fishing and the sea often make appearances in her poems. Celebrated during her lifetime, her works fell into obscurity after her death, until being rediscovered in the 1980s. Since then, she has been regarded as one of Japan's most beloved children's poets."

I wanted to know why she died so young and found this on the same Wikipedia page: 

"Kaneko's private life was not as fortunate, however. In 1926, she entered into a marriage arranged by her uncle, with a clerk in the family bookstore. A daughter, Fusae, was born in November. Her new husband was unfaithful and contracted a venereal disease, which he passed on to Kaneko, causing her lifelong physical pain. He also forced her to stop writing, while putting the family through the strain of four moves within two years to pursue failing business ventures. She finally divorced him in 1930, but this meant also losing custody of her daughter to her husband. Japanese law at the time automatically granted the father indisputable custody to the child.

On March 9, 1930, the day before her husband was due to take custody, Kaneko felt no recourse except to commit suicide in protest. After bathing Fusae and sharing a sakuramochi, Kaneko wrote a letter to her husband asking that he let her mother raise the girl instead, and overdosed on sedatives, dying the next day, only a month before her 27th birthday. Her daughter was ultimately raised by the grandmother."

Hearts

Even though my mother

Is big and grown up,

My mother's heart 

Must be small.

'Cause, my mother said,

It's been all filled up with little me.

But , even though I am little

And just a child,

My heart 

Must be big.

"Cause, my heart

Can hold my big mother

And still have room for lots more.

I found more information about her on the website, World Literature Today.

Somehow knowing about her life history brings more poignancy to her poetry. She had such sadness in her life, but she left a gift of beauty for the children that came after her.

Experimenting with Aloe

We used to try to convince mom to use Bacitracin for her burns and wounds but she insisted the liquid from the aloe leaves were much better. Well, she recently had several wounds on her arm that healed really nicely so I thought I'd try it out.

I have historically formed keloids whenever I get any sort of cut or scratch. This keloid line formed on what was a small scratch I got about 3 decades ago. Keloids are overgrowths of scar tissue. 

When I fell a couple of weeks ago, I scratched my knee and figured it would form another big scar.

I decided to try mom's method with the aloe juice.

I applied the aloe leaf liquid morning and night and even in between. 

Art had actually already tried mom's method a while ago when he sliced his hand.

He told me the main thing was to make sure whatever scab forms is not accidentally ripped off.

Since I didn't have much to write about, I figured I could do a blog post sequence about how the wound heals.

Granted this was like that saying "A watched pot never boils."

It started out with one spot showing a deeper gouge, therefore forming a harder darker colored scab.

Gradually the lesser scabs fell off.

I kept applying the aloe about three times a day. 

I cut the edges of the big scab as it disengaged from the skin along the edges so it wouldn't get snagged off.

And then one day the big darker colored scab dropped off and there was a lighter scab underneath.

OK. Now that was interesting.

I've always had this deep compulsion to peel sunburns, labels, paint, whatever. It took self control not to peel the scabs off.

So after a month, it's nice to see that a keloid did not form. The secondary lighter scab fell off on its own (sort of on its own) and left a smooth skin surface.

There's still a discoloration, but I'm hoping that it will fade in the months to come.

OK...

So maybe mom was right.

Teriyaki Vienna Sausages

We always buy a (small) case of Vienna sausages each year in case of a hurricane. We then donate them to the food drive once the threat is gone. We donated to the food drive several times this past year, but it was always monetary/online. 

So now I was noticing that I had these cans of Vienna sausages which we normally don't eat. 

I know they're not healthy and I know what I'm going to tell you is even worse. If you want to eat healthy, please stop reading and come back tomorrow.

I don't know where I learned to do this. I'm thinking mom must have made it this way when we were kids. She'll probably deny it. I think it's a Hawaii thing. Maybe it was my brother who showed me. He used to fry bacon in sugar. Totally, totally decadent. Don't do it! 

Anyway, all you do is caramelize 1/4 cup brown sugar to 1/4 cup soy sauce. It doesn't have to be 1/4 cup. It's just 1 part brown sugar to 1 part soy sauce.

I then dropped in the 3 small cans of Vienna sausages and simmered it again in the thick sauce.

Yes, it's bad for you, I'm sure.

But maybe once in a blue moon, it wouldn't cause too much damage? It's got to be better than sugar coated bacon, right?

I Love Birds... But...

We do love birds. Honest. We really do. We even had a bird feeder in Illinois that we set out every winter. However, here in Hawaii, they can be a problem.

We dealt with petite Java sparrows who were working hard to make a nest in our attic by poking holes through the roof vent screens. Painters had to be hired to add these bird guards.

Now we've got larger pigeons or mynahs or bulbuls trying to build a nest on a ledge under the roof for the last few weeks.

It's been aggravating mom who takes care of the yard.

She's seeing the persistent mynahs trying to build a nest every morning on that thin ledge that just keeps getting blown away leaving a huge scattering of debris on the ground. (We did discover that they were mynahs when we caught them in the act.)

And the other day, Art was looking out our window and saw this in our gutter. Apparently, it must have been there a long time.

Sigh.

We decided it was time to do something about this daily problem.

We've seen these stainless steel bird spikes at the outside mall of Costco. Hopefully it will work. The directions do say that it probably won't work for small birds. We're hoping it will discourage them.

Art got on a ladder and installed them.

Fingers crossed.

Yay! It's the first time in quite a while that there wasn't a mountain of debris on the ground and on the ledge. 

OK... Now we have a few more ledges that will probably need the same deterrent. We'll see where the birds choose to roost next. It's not easy to keep up with bird brains.

POSTSCRIPT: (One week later)

Are you kidding me?!? 😣

We were having breakfast and mom called us to display another bucket of debris she found on the ground.

Sigh...

Art went to check. He couldn't believe it! 

Now what?

The battle of the birds continues.

A Rock From Every Angle

I was out working on some yard clean-up when Art came over to get my help moving a rock.

"A rock? What rock?" I asked.

"The landscaping rock," he replied. "Mom pushed over the rock." 

When I walked over I was surprised to see the rock had indeed been pushed over. The previous owners of our house had put ornamental rocks here and there like in a Japanese garden.

(It wasn't until after we moved the rock back in place that I realized I should have taken a BEFORE and AFTER photo. I had to dig this out of our archives.)

It is a very HEAVY rock, a very, very heavy rock. It definitely took both of us to stand it up.

Then I had this idea to reposition it.

The reason it fell was that the rock was just placed there and not sunk into the ground; probably because it's so heavy that nobody thought someone could tip it over.

The bottom of rock surface that sits on the ground is also angled a bit.

So we turned it onto another side that was more level and sank it into the ground a bit to secure it. It took both of us and a LOT of huffing and puffing to move that rock. 😅 Why the heck is it so heavy anyway? I know it's not made of lead. 

Mom loves it!

And we're asking ourselves now, how  did she manage to accidentally push it over while trimming the hedges anyway?

As we were walking away from the rock, I looked back and wondered aloud if we should move it a little more to the side. 

Art looked at me with eyebrows raised. 

"Nothing," I said. "Nothing, I'm perfectly happy."

iPad Holder for ZOOMing

I wrote a blog post a while ago about the lengths I went through to make an iPad holder for our ZOOM calls with the kids/grandkids.

I used an old shoe box and made this cardboard holder which worked pretty well. 

I'd looked online and saw adequate iPad holders on Amazon for $10- $20. Then there were those that were much, much, much more expensive. 

My cardboard iPad holder is not adjustable, but it was more of less OK and I was more or less satisfied.

A couple of months later, my daughter said she was surprised to find an iPad holder at an Asian discount store called Hello Tokyo in Niles, Illinois that she rarely goes to but had to stop by to see what they had on the way home from some distant outing. Everything at that store is $2. 

We have one of those discount stores in Hawaii called Daiso. Almost everything in the store is $1.50 and you can't help but buy something you might never use when you go there. Whenever local people go on tours to Japan, they would invariably stop at all the Daisos they can find in what seems like every city. There's also Seria and a number of others that I can't remember the name of. 

Well... anyway, I was really envious of Tiffany's adjustable iPad stand. Just to show you what a wonderful daughter I have, this is what we found in the next flat rate box she sent us. 

And guess what. It works perfectly! 

This might make me want to take a trip to our Daiso store here in Hawaii.

PJ Problem

Art doesn't buy clothing much at all. He's had a hard time finding PJs that he likes to wear in Hawaii. I've bought him several when I've been lucky to spot them on Amazon. However, he tends to wear them until they're virtually falling off of him. 🙄

His latest favorite is really in great condition EXCEPT for the waist band elastic.

Yes, Art is very slim. I'm being kind. He's actually skinny. Unlike me his weight is not lodged at his tummy. Yes, I'm jealous.

Anyway, the waistband elastic of this PJ is totally (and I mean TOTALLY) stretched out. I didn't take a photo of the stretched out elastic so I had to hunt through his drawer to find something similar.

Those pajama bottoms don't have a casing. If it did, I could have just replaced the elastic.

Like the underwear at the bottom, it has the thin elastic sewn on which deteriorates and stretches out pretty easily.

I asked Art how he's able to hold the pants up and he said he tucks it into his underwear band. 

"Why don't you just give up and toss the PJ?" I asked.

"Because the top is still great," he answered. "And it's otherwise in great condition."

What can I do? Hmmm.... Maybe I can sew on an elastic casing right over the worn elastic?

It WASN'T easy and took way longer than I thought it would.

I had him try it on before I put in the final stitches.

"Too loose," he said. "Maybe 1/2 inch tighter."

2nd fitting: 

"Still too loose... Could you make it 1/2 inch tighter?"

3rd fitting:

"Uuuummm.... Sorry... Could you make it another 1/2 inch tighter?"

I made it 1 inch tighter or was it more?

"Perfect!" he said.

It's so annoying to know how much smaller his waist is than mine. 😆

Ah well... It's done. He's happy and now he doesn't have to worry about his pants falling down.

Racism in the Virginia Police Department

 Did you see this in the news?

This was in the New York Times:

"Caron Nazario, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, was driving to Petersburg, Va., from a drill weekend the night of Dec. 5 when he saw police lights flashing behind him.

Too nervous to stop on a darkened road, Lieutenant Nazario, who is Black and Latino, drove about a mile to a gas station, pulled over and placed his cellphone on his dashboard, according to a lawsuit and video footage of the encounter."

No, he wasn't killed. But he was pepper sprayed point blank, kicked, forced on the ground and handcuffed despite the fact that he wasn't fighting or being violent.

I watched this on the news this past Friday evening and it flabbergasted me. I know about the problems African Americans keep suffering at the hands of law enforcement, but this really hit me with visceral punch.

This is what is happening in America. This is what has been happening. Yes, racism is thriving.

What we're all learning from this is to be sure you video record whenever you see something happening that is criminal either by criminals or police.

It seems to be almost the only protection you can have and that is frightening.

Perhaps it's hitting me extra hard because I've just heard from a friend traveling to the mainland that her daughter-in-law who lives there is afraid to venture out very much because of the incidences of Asian hate crimes. 

I know they say racial prejudice has always been there... but it really does sound much worse now.

I worry.

Teeny Tiny Eenie Weenie Mosquito?

For quite a while now we've been getting these weird insect bites on the weirdest part of our body. Thigh, tummy, under the chin, under arm. We wondered if we had bed bugs. We checked our sheets carefully, washed them regularly with no sign of insect infestation. 

I started getting these bites first and Art felt sorry for me, but he thought it was something to do with me. Oh ho! But now he's getting them and it's really confounded him.

I then noticed these extremely tiny bugs flying outside my window screens on some mornings. I thought they were too small to be mosquitoes. But when I caught one in our bathroom and took a photo with macro lens, it's looking more like a mosquito.

But how can it be a mosquito? It's too tiny. Is it a gnat?

I learned online that Hawaii has eight species of mosquitoes. Six of them bite humans. Two are active only at night. This is the reason I don't like to hike in the rain forests here unless I have some kind of repellent on me.

I got this following on the Maui Maui website:

"Yes, all of the Hawaiian islands have mosquitoes. They were most likely introduced from bilge water carried in whaling ships in the early 19th century. Aedes aegypti is one of the most common species noted by black and white spots. It is very invasive and found on all the islands."

I've sent a photo by email to the Department of Health since I can't find an email for the Vector Control Branch. We'll see what they say.

If it turns out that the insect I swatted isn't a mosquito or that it's one of the two that don't bite, we'll have to keep hunting for this elusive, aggravating, mysterious bug lurking in some corner of our house.

I can't believe Hawaii has SIX different kinds of biting mosquitoes. One would have been too many, BUT SIX!!! Arrrghhh! 😫

Shower Curtain Dilemma

 Art and I agree on a LOT of things, but sometimes... it takes us forever to see eye to eye.

This brings me to the monumental decision of choosing (you won't believe this) a shower curtain.

I was getting tired of the shower curtain we bought at Walmart in 2013. Our other shower curtain (I think it was plastic) had deteriorated back then. The curtain is right next to the window blowing in a lot of Hawaiian salty air. We looked everywhere for a polyester fabric curtain and couldn't find any.  Therefore, when we saw this at Walmart and we didn't hate it, we agreed it would do.

The thing is... the toilet is right in front of that shower curtain. So when you're sitting there minding your business, you stare at that curtain day in and day out.

Well, my sister-in-law gave me a monetary gift so I decided this might be a time to check out Amazon.

You know... if you don't have much of a choice, it's sometimes easier.

There's a TON of shower curtains on Amazon.

I started out looking at more floral curtains which I thought would work. Here's what Art said:

#1 Too fantasy like

#2 Too red, might stand out too much in a light blue bathroom

#3 Too similar to what we had before those giant pond flowers

#4 Nah

Sigh...

OK, I like forests so I thought it would be pleasant to look at a forest scene.

I liked #1 a lot but when I looked at it more closely, those sunbeams somehow didn't work for me. Still, it would be my choice. Maybe. Art looked at it and said, "It's a deciduous forest. We don't have deciduous forests in Hawaii." 🙄

#2 Meh

So I looked at water color type curtains. #3 might work. Wait. Are those crows? Is that foreboding?

#4 So so, sort of gloomy?

And there we are. #1 is still calling to me though.

Which would you pick?

Celebrating 101 Years!

The day of uncle's 101st Drive-By Birthday Celebration started out very ominously. The party was to be between 11:00-12:30.

This is what I saw at 8:00 in the morning and it did not improve one iota at 9:00. 

Not to worry said Art. "Look at the weather forecast."

"They're wrong 50% of the time," I countered.

"And how often have I been right," he insisted confidently.

"50% of the time," I smirked.

But just to make him happy, I looked at the radar map and this is what it was predicting.

I felt awful for the worry and anxiety my cousins must be feeling after reserving the park for the celebration and all the other preparations they must have made. I knew they had bought plate lunches for everyone who would be driving by.

After not being able to celebrate his 100th birthday last spring with the whole family, I hated to think this celebration would be postponed again.

At 9:15 AM, I saw a rainbow.

Could it be?

"Can I say I told you so?" asked Art.

🙄

At 10:30 Rain started.

Then my brother, nephews and their families started arriving so I passed out the posters and we drove to the park in a caravan.

It was 11:30 and no, the sun didn't come out and the drizzle didn't totally go away, but it was enough.

Uncle was excited and so very happy to see the huge gathering of friends and relatives who came with their best wishes, masked and as distanced as could be. Happily, all vulnerable people were vaccinated so it felt safe. My cousin told me that 19 vehicles showed up with over 50 people waving with happy smiles of love and admiration.

Since the cars were wet, we couldn't tape the posters to the vehicles and had to hold them up for uncle who was thrilled to see mom's Japanese printing. Uncle is a veteran of WWII having served his country as part of the MIS (Military Intelligence Corps) even while his father and eldest brother had been sent away to the mainland with other Japanese Americans and locked in Internment camps.

It was now time to celebrate his 101 years of trials, sadness, happiness, pride and now contentment in a life well lived in the loving embrace of the family who now honored him.

The happy day was also a time we enjoyed seeing so many relatives after a year apart.

And then the rain began.

It didn't matter. We all went home and had the lunches our cousins had given us. 

And we took a nap. When we woke up, the sun was shining high in the clear, blue Hawaiian sky.

Drive By 101st Birthday Celebration Preparation!

My uncle was determined to live to 100. Art has always enjoyed talking to him and whenever we visited, uncle would say, "5 more years!" with a laugh. And then "4 more years," "3 more years,"2 more years!" When he finally got to 100 last spring my cousins planned at first to have his 100th year celebration anyway. 

I felt guilty saying that we weren't comfortable taking mom to a big party with her advanced age during the pandemic. My cousins postponed the party.

This year, my cousins decided to have a drive-by 101st birthday celebration just as many in Hawaii are doing and asked me to get a head/car count. With so many people busy, I offered to make signs for my brother and nephews.

I figured I could just throw some paint on poster boards and attach it to the cars. We went to Walmart and got some poster boards and I thought I was ready.

I dug out my 20 year old acrylic paints. Some had hardened and had to be thrown away. Selection of colors was borderline. I didn't have a good selection of wide bristle brushes. 

I hadn't painted in such a long time.

The little bit of black paint I had was so hard it had to be thrown away.

My brother, Dennis was stopping by Walmart the next day so he offered to pick up some glossy black paint for me.

The small plastic bottles of acrylic paint cost between 50-97 cents.

That's really CHEAP.

I remembered seeing them and was ALMOST tempted to buy some except that I don't paint anymore.

AND... here is something interesting. 

Since I was writing this post, I wanted to make sure the pricing that my brother told me was correct.

Holy smokes! 😲

The Walmart website said $7.99 a bottle!!! I checked my bottle and it was the exact same!

It then occurred to me that MAYBE the walmart.com website might be posting a different price from the local Walmart. 

Sure enough! When I typed in Walmart and my local address, I found the same paint (in the inventory) at the cheaper price although this is the matte version. The gloss version was 97  cents.

BUYER BEWARE!

Mom's eyesight is failing.

One eye is a blur. The other is somewhat OK. We'll be taking her to the ophthalmologist this month.

Art thought it would be a good idea for mom to take part in the poster painting so I measured and  marked where she should write. 

It was extremely difficult for her, not just because of her eyesight, but she hadn't written using a brush in a LONG time.

Still... she did a great job with that bottled acrylic paint which I diluted.

It took me the whole day to finish the paintings. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to paint on a huge board. 

I had a hard time controlling the brush. 

Anyway....

They're done.

But then Art asked, "What if it rains? Or drizzles?" 😳

Aha! I had some water based polyurethane so I coated all the posters with it. 

There! I'm ready for rain, hail, snow. 

"What if it's too windy?" Art asked.

Arrrrghhhhh!

My daughter said when they do drive-bys in Illinois, people park a block away to tape the posters on the car before going to the celebrant's house.

OK... got it!

We bought painter's tape. That way, it won't affect the car's finish. Hopefully.

Then Dennis said he uses RainX Wax and NOTHING will stick to it. 😖

Arrrghhh....

He'll have to hold up the sign as we drive by.

It's forecasted to be VERY windy and maybe rain.

Sigh....

🤞

Rainbow Capital of the WORLD!

Seriously? Hawaii is #1 in the world for rainbows? I'd heard this in the news and found a website called Mint Lounge which explains why.

A lot of it is technical, but suffice to say that Hawaii has clean air due to being far away from everything in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, lots of rain showers and bright sunlight.

After living in Chicago for 35 years, I remember how we used to be so amazed whenever we saw any rainbow. And I think we only saw a handful at best in all the time we lived there.

Here in Hawaii, it's quite commonplace. You see them everywhere right out your car window.

We saw them while practicing tai chi and even saw it reflected ON our car window.

Despite the fact that we see them constantly, we still stand transfixed for a moment every time they decorate our Hawaiian skies.

Gee... it's nice to be #1 in something. And how wonderful to have it be rainbows.

POSTSCRIPT:

You're not going to believe this but April 3rd was National Find a Rainbow Day!

Which just goes to prove that there's day for everything.

Charging Your Cellphone Overnight

We've always liked charging our cellphones overnight at our charging station. It's just a nice feeling to be 100% charged in the morning. 

With a 100% charge I can go the whole day without worrying.

So you can imagine how dismayed I was to see this on Yahoo News.

I found more information on the PC website:

Here are some important points from the website:

"If you leave the smartphone plugged in overnight, it is going to use a bit of energy constantly trickling new juice to the battery every time it falls to 99%. That is eating into your phone's lifespan."

They all say not to put your phone under your pillow at night. The heat build up is very bad for your phone.

Having your phone where it's too hot (car dashboard in the hot Hawaiian sun) or freezing is bad.

"Running a smartphone until it's dead—a full discharge—every time is not the way to go with modern lithium-ion batteries. Don't even let it get that close to 0%. That wears out a lithium-ion battery even faster than normal. Partial discharge is the way to go."

"Plug the phone in before it asks you to enter a low-power mode; iOS will ask you to turn that on when you hit 20% power. Plug it in when the phone is between 30-40%. Phones will get to 80% quickly if you're doing a fast charge. Pull the plug at 80-90%, as going to full 100% when using a high-voltage charger can put some strain on the battery. Keep the phone battery charge between 30-80% to increase its lifespan."

OK... It's a bit more inconvenient, but I'll have to change my iPhone charging habits from now on.

Darn! 😕

Hummmm

I have often teased Art about his snoring. He's been tested for sleep apnea and been diagnosed with such a mild case that it was unnecessary to provide treatment. 

I'm often just jealous that he can fall asleep immediately and pretty much stay asleep. My Fitbit and his Apple Watch records how much sleep we get as well as how good a rest it was and his sleep is far superior to mine.  

But he does snore and sometimes it does bother me enough that I have to gently rouse him so that he can move onto his side.

When I complain mention his snoring, he tells me that I make noises too. In fact, I do at times wake him with my sleep talking. Oh... true... I did once punch him during a nightmare. 

But I don't snore. I don't.

It's true that I've recorded Art's snoring just to prove to him how much he snores. True. True.

Well...

The other night, he used his Apple Watch to record me.

Uuuummm... That was a surprise. I didn't know he could do that. 

I thought I was a truly silent sleeper (unless I'm talking).

As it turns out there appears to be occasions when I hummm. I inhale and gently, melodiously hummm on the exhale. 

But I repeat... I don't snore.