Almost Normal With Patty and Paul: Part 1

We were watching TV last week when we got a surprise phone call from our friends, Patty and Paul. They were in Hawaii!!! We (actually probably me, I'm sure) got our schedules crossed. They'd planned to come to Hawaii last year for their 50th wedding anniversary, but their trip had to be cancelled because of COVID just as our trip to Europe had been cancelled. We rescheduled for 2022. My brain somehow thought they were also planning on coming in 2022 so I'd expressed my chagrin and sadness that we would be missing them since we'd be leaving for Europe the day before they came.

Patty saw from my blog that we were still in Hawaii so they decided to give us a call. 

Somehow the stars were all aligned. If they came the following week, we'd be up to our ears in various appointments. On top of that, we'd have been very leery of meeting anybody in close proximity coming in from out of state or going to Waikiki. However, the CDC had updated their recommendations saying that people could get together if everyone was fully vaccinated.

And yes, we are all fully vaccinated. They were also pre-tested according to Hawaii Travel Restrictions. On top of all that, Paul was once a Navy medical officer so we knew he'd be super careful.

Art and Paul were in the School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii together and we all became good friends. 

They were even at our wedding 48 years ago and they were now here celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary.

We made plans to meet for lunch in town and my brother recommended The Highway Inn in Salt, Kakaako.

I looked it up and it sounded very good, having won 1st place in the 2019 Star Advertiser People's Choice Awards.

Art and I ordered the Tofu and Watercress Salad which was a mistake. There were crazy HUGE slabs of tofu on top of the greens. That must have been a whole container of tofu and the dressing was too mild to make up for the bland tofu.

Patty and Paul ordered the fish tacos which they said was good although they prefer Maui Tacos which they say is excellent.

We shall have to try that. We've seen the Maui Tacos restaurant, but have never entered the shop.

It was nice to see that Highway Inn was very careful about keeping contact tracing information and spacing tables apart. Everyone was masked unless they were eating.

We then drove together to the University of Hawaii where our friendship began. Gosh! That was a long time ago.

On the top photo, you can see the side of Hamilton library where I worked for two years, or was it three? I loved working there.

I can't begin to estimate how many times I'd walked up and down that mall. 

I remember being part of the Vietnam protest movement for a while.... such a long time ago.

So many memories...

We then decided to see their hotel in Waikiki, walk around like tourists and just catch up on our lives before heading out to dinner which I'll post about tomorrow.

On the way there, we were behind this truck with this tire cover and I had to take a photo of it for our two grandsons. Patty and Paul also have two gorgeous grandsons so we got to exchange photos on our phone. Their son and daughter-in-law are also gorgeous.

Their last trip to Hawaii was 5 years ago, but it's amazing how friends can just pick up as though they'd been apart only a few days.

But that's what true friendships are like.

It Takes a Village to Clean After a Tree

The tree on the curbside of our neighbor's property was planted by the City of Honolulu. City tree crews come out every so many years to trim it back. I know many of the trees that were planted a long time ago must have been cut down by property owners or perhaps died because I don't see many of them in our neighborhood. 

The problem with this tree is that it seasonally drops flowers, leaves, twigs and berries onto the sidewalk and road.

It is now twig and berry season.

Mom has made it her neighborhood call to keep cleaning up after it. She says it's her exercise and that trashy droppings on the sidewalk and streets will have people thinking that uneducated, uncultured people live here. 😕 She keeps saying it's the Japanese way to keep things clean and orderly.

The other day, Art was looking out the window and saw another neighbor coming up to help mom with his own broom.  

"Hmmm," he said. "Looks like I'll need to go out there and help them."

I went out to the window to see how they were doing and was surprised to see that yet another neighbor had come and taken mom's broom and trash pan to help them out.

I had to chuckle thinking mom must feel odd to see everybody taking over what she thought was her job.

I asked her why she was so adamant about getting it all done. She answered that the neighbors were having a drive by graduation and lots of people would be driving by and seeing how the street looked. She didn't want people to think.... yup... that uneducated, uncultured people lived here.

Art says it looks like the berry season is ending so she should be happy. I don't want to tell her that it's probably leaf dropping season coming up. 

Making a Sign for a Drive-By Graduation

We have been invited to a drive-by high school graduation party by our neighbor. Since we'd been to our uncle's 101st drive-by birthday party a couple months ago I still had another poster board and paints to make a sign which I offered to make for them.

However, I had learned some tricks when I made my uncle's signs and was better prepared.

First of all, you have to plan carefully, very carefully.

I printed out what I wanted to do on the computer.

Then I measured and measured again, putting light lines where the letters would be and dividing the board into halves and quarters to make sure things fit properly.

I penciled in the letters first and used a permanent marker to outline each letter to make sure the printing would be clear before painting them in with black paint.

When I looked at the finished product, it seemed rather plain, so I thought I'd add some balloons.

I made a balloon stencil and placed them around the board. Again, I outlined each balloon with permanent marker so I would stay within the lines.

I have OLD tubes of acrylic paint (many of which have dried out) so I'm glad I had these extra bottles of very cheap (under a $1) liquid acrylic paint which I'd gotten from Walmart and I forget where else.

All finished! 

I'm rather pleased with it. 😁

Laminating Our COVID-19 Vaccination Card

One of my Zumba buddies texted me that Office Max/Depot was offering to laminate a COPY of our COVID-19 vaccination card for free. It’s nationwide. We went last week and it's true.

I was really surprised at the quality of the thick lamination. She copied both the front and the back of the card so it really looks like the original. 

They were also selling plastic sleeves for the originals ($1.50) so... what the heck! We bought three of them.

I'm sure it's all unnecessary. But gosh! The cards seem so valuable (historic even) that we decided to do it anyway. 

The girl who worked on our cards worked so hard and so carefully that I gave her one of my homemade masks too. 😁

Just for the fun of it!

POSTSCRIPT:

I see from comments that friends did not understand that Office Max/Depot DON’T laminate the original knowing boosters would be recorded on it. They make a COPY of the original and laminate the COPY.

Someone told me Staples also offers free lamination of COVID vaccinations.

Magical Stain Remover?

I was making my twice-a-month blueberry muffins for mom and Art's breakfast treats when Art noticed that I had somehow managed to get a chunk of mashed fresh blueberry onto my Canadian t-shirt.

Doggone it! It WOULD fly onto the white part! 

I tried to wash it out, but it wouldn't budge. In fact, it made it worse. 

Art suggested using the Oxi Clean stain remover that he uses. OK, now you know who does the laundry most of the time.

I sprayed a tiny bit on and tried to wash it out, but nothing happened.

Art walked in and said, "Nooo... You have to just leave it on for a while."

😕

OK...

So I sprayed again and left it to soak for about 10 minutes.

And good grief! 😃

The stain had disappeared. That's when I wished I'd taken a photo of it BEFORE and AFTER.

Shucks!

But then I found another blueberry drop. However, it was so tiny you probably can't see it.

I'm afraid you'll have to just take my word for it. It does work.

Which all goes to prove that Art should continue to do the laundry since he's so good at it. 😁

17 Year Cicadas Coming

You've all been hearing about the 17 year cicadas that are supposed to rise from the ground this spring. The poor insects get to spend just a few weeks above ground, have a little fun procreating and then leave their progeny developing in the ground for another 17 years before flying to the great beyond.

They've been saying the 17 year cicadas would be emerging this spring/summer all the way to Chicago so I was telling our daughter and granddaughter that they needed to update this photo.

This photo of our granddaughter, KC was taken when she wasn't even 2 years old. She's 14 now. We wanted to document the 17 year emergence in 2007 by placing the RED-EYED 17 year cicada on her pants.

I asked our daughter if she would take another photo of KC with the cicada on her pants so I could put it on my blog. 

She said, "NO WAY!" Apparently neither KC nor Tiffany want to touch the famous bug.

The puzzling thing for us was that it's not been 17 years. Did the Illinois horde of cicadas miscount when they were supposed to emerge? Then I found this Chicago website Chicago WTTW website that cleared up the confusion: 

"If you’ve seen the screaming headlines warning of an impending swarm of millions of cicadas set to emerge from the ground this spring like some biblical plague, relax.

It’s true, a handful of counties in eastern Illinois will be treated to a cicada storm in 2021. (Sorry, good people of Clark, Crawford, Edgar and Vermilion counties.) But the rest of us will be spared, at least temporarily. The Chicago region’s brood of periodical cicadas isn’t due to make its once-every-17-years appearance until 2024."

Wow! I didn't know about the different broods.

Our son sent us this photo from Maryland last week. It was the first cicada he's seen.

Do you see the red eyes?

This must indeed be the famous 17 year cicada. 

But I wondered where the wings were.

Then I remembered.

I took these photos in 2016 when we were visiting in Illinois.

As you can see, these are not the 17 year cicadas by the color of their eyes.

I got this from the Cicada Mania website:

"After the long 2 to 17 years, cicadas emerge from the ground as nymphs. Nymphs climb the nearest available vertical surface (usually a plant) and begin to shed their nymph exoskeleton. Free of their old skin, their wings will inflate with fluid (haemolymph) and their adult skin will harden (sclerotize). Once their new wings and body are ready, they can begin their brief adult life."

OK.

So if the next 17 year cicada brood in Chicago is supposed to erupt from the ground in 2024, perhaps KC will overcome her aversion to red eyed insects in three years and will take a photo with the historical bug for her devoted grandmother.

Maybe.

POSTSCRIPT:

It's official! 

My daughter-in-law sent this photo from Maryland.

Those are definitely the red-eyed 17 year cicadas all right.

Photoshop Advice from My Brother

I did a post last week comparing color photos to black and white. I'd thrown a few color photos onto Photoshop and just changed it to black and white. They were OK, but I guess I didn't get the concept right of what you have to do to make a black and white photo more acceptable. 

I sent my blog post to my brother just for fun and he sent this back to me. The picture on the far right is his correction of my photo.

He said: 

"Just to let you know when converting the color to B&W in photoshop you have the ability to enhance, change or correct tonal relationships.

So I changed the yellows to go darker in the center and made the leaves slightly lighter to increase the separation from the wall."

I see he darkened the wall also and I don't know what else he's done. Whatever the case, now you know why I send my photos to my baby brother when I want something fixed right.

Vaccine Dilemma?

I was talking to a very friendly technician who took care of me recently. I told her I was fully vaccinated and asked if she was able to get vaccinated too. I was mentioning that April and May were filled with appointments for doctor, dentist, eye doctors and other health providers that we had postponed during the pandemic.

She told me that after a lot of long soul searching and feeling she didn't need it, she decided to get vaccinated despite the fact that she knew God alone had kept her safe and would continue to do so throughout the pandemic. Her father was a pastor and she therefore knew she could always rely on Him. (She had also mentioned earlier how a couple members of her family had suffered through the difficulties of COVID-19.)

I told her a condensed version of the following fable. 

A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.

Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, "Jump in, I can save you."

The stranded fellow shouted back, "No, it's OK, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me."

So the rowboat went on.

Then a motorboat came by. "The fellow in the motorboat shouted, "Jump in, I can save you."

To this the stranded man said, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the motorboat went on.

Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, "Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety."

To this the stranded man again replied, "No thanks, I'm praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith."

So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.

Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, "I had faith in you but you didn't save me, you let me drown. I don't understand why!"

To this God replied, "I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"

She thought about it and then said that God would indeed have created the vaccine for everyone. 

We chatted happily after that and before leaving I gave her one of my homemade masks.

An Appreciation Gift from Meals on Wheels

Art and his friend, Dave attended a drive-thru Meals on Wheels Mahalo (Thank You) event in Honolulu on May 1st. Meals on Wheels usually has an appreciation luncheon once a year to thank all their volunteers, but it couldn't be held last year because of COVID. 

In fact, senior volunteers haven't been able to deliver meals in almost a year since Meals on Wheels was being very cautious with their senior volunteers. Art has missed seeing many of the people he got to know while delivering those precious meals.

Art and Dave who are both fully vaccinated went to the drive-thru together and received this lovely gift basket and kukui nut lei. I'm thinking the lei was given because in Hawaii, May 1st is considered Lei Day.

Isn't it a gorgeous gift bag? It was filled with a whole bunch of snacks that local people in Hawaii love. I'll list them just for fun since the print is so tiny.

Fortune cookies and colored kettle popcorn (I thought I'd start with the easy ones first.) 

sweet/sour dried apricots, wet lemon slices, honey lemon ginger, sweet/sour seedless ume (pickled plum), juicy/spicy li hing dried lemon, sweet/seedless licorice plum, shoga (ginger) senbei (Japanese crackers), seedless li hing cherry, Komaru senbei, li hing dried mango, norikomaki (nori wrapped arare), original lemon drops

Li Hing Mui powder is often added to various snacks in Hawaii. I found this on Wikipedia.

"Li hing mui powder is made of ground plum skin that has previously been pickled in a combination of licorice, red food coloring, salt, sugar, and occasionally aspartame and or saccharine. It can be used as a flavoring, usually sprinkled on candy and other fruits, notably pineapples, mangoes, guavas and apples. In the United States, Li hing mui powder can be found in Hawaii, where local children like to put it on sour gummy bears, sour gummy worms, sour watermelon candy, sour patch kids, shave ice, sour apple candy, rock candy, popcorn, fruit, and arare (also known as kakimochi and mochi crunch)."

Li Hing flavoring might be an acquired taste since none of my children or grandchildren like it. Art and I haven't had some these treats since we were kids. This is going to be fun.

I guess those lemon drops are meant to cleanse your palate.

And life must be returning more or less to almost maybe normal because both Art and Dave have once more been asked to deliver meals this coming week.

What to Do With Record Albums

While searching for Johnny Crawford's record albums for my blog post the other day, I came across a bunch of other record albums in the box.

Wow! I guess I was really into English singers! There was Peter and Gordon, Herman's Hermits, Chad and Jeremy, and the Beatles. Yes, I was definitely BIG into the Beatles. But where are those albums? I know I had to have put them in a safe place, but I don't know where, not that it matters. We haven't had a record player in decades. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was probably my brother's album as well as the Carpenters. Art says he always liked Neil Diamond. My brother did too. 

But where are my Beatles albums? 

Ah well... another mystery.

Art is still working on his 3,000 piece Beatles puzzle and I remember so many of their early songs.

Where are my Beatles albums?

3,000 Piece Beatles Puzzle

A few months ago, our son sent Art a 3,000 piece Beatles puzzle. I think he was trying to keep us at home.

It was quite daunting to think about even starting it. Prior to this puzzle, the most pieces he's put together is 1,200 pieces. This was more than double that.

In late March, Art got out the portable buffet table and poured out the pieces.

Would you believe there wasn't enough work space? He had to get out a second buffet table. He wouldn't have  been able to do this after the pandemic because we'd never be able to have  our family pot lucks.

A month later, some progress is being made.

He had to turn the puzzle upside down to work on the sky.

You know...

The pandemic could be over by the time he's able to finish.

Every time mom walks by, she shakes her head and laughs.

One thing I should tell you. Art never gives up.

The Passing of My Heartthrob

One of my best friends in high school texted me over a week ago that Johnny Crawford had passed away. That was a sad surprise. He was only 75 and suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. It wasn't a surprise that my friend remembers because she has THE MOST amazing memory. 

But then again, a lot of friends knew I had this mad crush in elementary and high school. 

I remember going to his concert in Honolulu with friends way back then. He was passing out photos or flyers at the entrance and accidentally touched my finger. I don't think I washed that finger for a couple of days.

Johnny Crawford was one of the original Mouseketeers and played the part of Mark McCain on the Rifleman series. He was also a singer and put out several albums (which I just found stored in a box).

I might have even carved our initials on our mango tree way up high where nobody could see it. Yes, I was a monkey back then. 

When Art and I moved to Illinois, I laughingly told my new friend and neighbor, Peggy about this crush. She smiled broadly and said she had the same mad crush when she was a kid. I think that also cemented our friendship because we could laugh at ourselves together.

What was it about Johnny Crawford that touched us so much? We loved all his songs. That's true. He had such a sweet baby face. True.

I remember mom thinking I had lost my mind. She couldn't understand my pre-teen fervor. I guess teenagers have been known to lose their minds now and then. 

Granted, eventually my fickle heart moved on to the Beatles, but that would be another story.

Whatever the case, it's really sad to know that this part of my childhood has passed on. Did you have any heartthrobs when you were a kid? 

Color vs. Black and White

I've seen a lot of black and white photos posted on Canadian Avilcloud's blog and have been intrigued by the concept of whether some photos might be enhanced in black and white. I finally decided to experiment with it.

 Here's a dragon fruit flower I saw on one of our morning walks.

This photo was taken when we took a family trip to Maui. 

I got this information from Wikipedia:

The Hawaiian god Kāne is considered to be the procreator and the provider of life. He is associated with wai (fresh water) as well as clouds, rain, streams, and springs. Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the underworld, is represented by the phallic stone of the Iao Needle.

Kapawa, the king of Hawaiʻi prior to Pili, was buried here. Maui's ruler Kakaʻe, in the late 15th century, designated Iao Valley as an aliʻi burial ground. The remains were buried in secret places. In 1790, the Battle of Kepaniwai took place there, in which Kamehameha the Great defeated Kalanikūpule and the Maui army during his campaign to unify the islands. The battle was said to be so bloody that dead bodies blocked Iao Stream, and the battle site was named Kepaniwai ("the damming of the waters").

This is from the top of Haleakala on Maui also. This is looking down into the crater.

Haleakala means House of the Sun.

This close up of a camellia was taken by my brother in Japan.

And lastly, our good friend, Dave took this photo of mom seven years ago. It's hard for me to say what I like best. I guess it really depends on the photo and whether there is enough contrast to add interest. I do like either photo of mom though.

A Gift of Heart

My son sent me the book Heart of Fire written by Mazie Hirono. She is our U.S. senator from Hawaii since 2013 and yes, we did vote for her. Lately, I've really admired how outspoken she's become and showing up in national news voicing her vision for reforms she'd like to see.

Mom told me she's always voted for Mazie ever since she met her mother. That took me aback. I asked her how that could be. I'm not always 100% sure about mom's recollections. 

She told me that Mazie's mom, Chieko (Laura) worked as a typesetter for the competing Japanese language newspaper, Hawaii Hochi. Mom worked as a typesetter for the Hawaii Times. (The photo to the right is of mom taken at the Hawaii Times.) Apparently one of Laura's friends from Hawaii Hochi moved over to the Hawaii Times and told mom about Laura's many orchids that she kept in a hothouse. This was puzzling to me. 

"How did you get there? Where was the house? Who went with you? Why would she invite you in particular?"

Mom said she didn't know but suspected it was so that Laura could convince her to vote for Mazie.

Hmmm.... strange. Mazie is only two years older than me. When could this have happened?

As I read more of the book things fell logically into place. I know that though mom worked as a typesetter, she also often edited the articles written by one of the reporters who wrote her a very lovely thank you note when he retired. So it's possible, that mom was invited with the possibility that she might have a bit of influence. Maybe. 

The mutual friend had driven mom to Laura's house in Hawaii Kai where she got to enjoy all the beautiful orchids. Laura also secured mom's vote.

I guess I shouldn't have doubted what mom said even though that was a long time ago.

Laura was also born in Hawaii just like mom though she along with her family moved back to Japan when she was 15. Mom was 6 when her Buddhist priest father took his family back to Japan after ministering to patients at Kalaupapa. Laura was born in Waipahu where I actually grew up.

I was born when we lived in an isolated sugar cane field plantation home speaking only Japanese until I was 5 years old. Mazie, her mother and brother moved back to Hawaii when she was 8 years old. We both went into 1st grade barely able to speak English.

Mazie writes about her Japanese household and how we were raised to gaman (endure and persevere) and not show a lot of emotion in public. We were also raised not to show a lot of physical affection which we became accustomed to after moving to the mainland. 

She describes playing with paper dolls and marbles in the dirt. My brother and I played with what we called "eggets." I looked that up and realize now it's probably supposed to be a Hawaiian pidgin type translation of agates. I think. There was so much we didn't think about. One of the funny ones I still laugh about is not knowing "Porogee" was Portuguese. I never knew the porogee kids we played with were actually Caucasian. I thought they were just local like everybody else. 

One part of her book that really grabbed me was how she and her brother would wait at the bus stop for their mom to return home from the newspaper.

Oh my gosh! That's what my brother, Dennis and I often did. We'd walk the mile or so to the bus stop and sit on that bench outside this store, keeping an eye out for the bus to come down the street.

Sometimes, we would splurge and sit there eating an ice cake (frozen strawberry juice in a small cup for 5 cents). Store owner, Mr. Takenaka used to call us "Ishkaboo." I have no idea what that meant, but it was said in a laughing, friendly way.

One thing that I was wondering about were the stories Mazie tells about some of the people (the guys) in her life. They don't come out looking very stellar in the book. I imagine they have got to feel.... hmmmm... not great?

Trump? She thinks he's one of the worst presidents... EVER, but most people know that.

I'm not done with the book yet, but I've got several people waiting in line to read it after me.

Hmmmm... Perhaps when the pandemic is over, I can bring this book to Maryland with me so my son can read it too.

Books From My Son

My son loves books now. It makes us smile when we remember how we used to try to encourage him to read during his early teenage years. We even bought subscriptions to sports and nature magazines to entice him. I think it was when he became a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali that he became an avid reader. After all, there was no television in his small West African village. 

So then, every so often he would send me a book he feels I should read. He sent me Letters of a Nation and Lies My Teacher Told Me about 15 years ago.

I must say these books were very interesting. This is a December, 1856 letter that Robert E. Lee wrote to his wife, Mary. Robert E. Lee, of course, was the Commander of the Confederate Army.

"In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution is a moral & political evil in any Country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it however a greater evil to the white than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly interested in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things. How long their subjugation may be necessary is Known & ordered by a wise & merciful Providence. Their emancipation will sooner result from the mild & melting influence of Christianity, than the storms & tempests of fiery Controversy. This influence though slow is sure...."

Art says he wishes that Ulysses S. Grant's thoughts (in 1885) about Robert E. Lee from his memoir could have been in the book, but this quote was not in a letter.

"I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse."

 And here's one that Amelia Earhart wrote to her mother (in case she didn't survive) in May, 1928.

"Even though I have lost, the adventure was worth while. Our family tends to be too secure. My life has really been very happy, and I don't mind contemplating its end in the midst of it."

Lies My Teacher Told Me was an eye opener and very interesting since, yes, I was still teaching at the time he gave me the book. I like to think I was as honest as possible with my first graders.

I don't read regular books anymore. I always use my Kindle. However, after he saw the comment left on my post by Ed from Iowa about Barbara Karnes' hospice care books that Linda from Kansas sent me, I was surprised with Being Mortal that Ed had recommended.

I didn't have the heart to tell Keola that I don't read regular books anymore and actually, I was finding it hard to think about death. (But yes, I'll read this later when I'm more up to it.)

Anyway, I was then surprised to suddenly receive a box with a recently published book by Hawaii's first elected female senator Mazie Hirono, sent by my son for Mother's Day. This time, I did tell him that I don't read hard cover books anymore.

But.... I couldn't resist reading the first chapter and that's all it took to hook me in. I know, I know it's not Mothers Day yet, but that book was staring at me. There was so much in it that I could relate to from her early life. I will write about that for tomorrow. I told my brother and several friends about it and offered to loan it out to them when I'm done.

I decided to remove the dust cover for now and protect the book before I finish reading and loaning it out. I did get a little carried away making a protective cover with some heavy duty butcher paper.

My daughter tells me it reminds her of high school. 😂

This post has gotten longer than I planned. I'll tell you about the book tomorrow.

It's Boys' Day or Children's Day

May 5th is Boys Day. Here is the information from Wikipedia:

"The day was originally called Tango no sekku (端午の節句) – one of the five annual ceremonies held at the imperial court – and was celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth moon in the Chinese calendar. After Japan switched to the Gregorian calendar, the date was moved to May 5. Until 1948, Children's Day was known as Boys' Day (also known as Feast of Banners), celebrating boys and recognizing fathers, as the counterpart to Hinamatsuri, or "Girl's Day" on March 3. In 1948, the name was changed to Children's Day to include both male and female children, as well as recognizing mothers along with fathers and family qualities of unity.

Despite the fact that it's considered Children's Day, we still recognize Girls and Boys Day separately. My aunt in Sendai sent us a card with an elaborate Girls Day display to share with our daughter and granddaughter in March. She also sent one for our son and grandsons a few weeks ago, but it still hasn't been delivered to us.

Whenever May 5th arrives, we remember Keola's elevator birth and how our daughter, Tiffany has since considered him her very own brother to love and protect, no matter how old he's grown.

And of course, Art considers delivering his own son one of the biggest highlights of his life.

Art has imbued his children with a love of travel and discovery.

Since Art retired before I did, he very happily spent some precious time traveling to Peru and Africa with Keola in January 2000 and 2002.

He did ask if I would like to go with them, but I declined since roughing it is not my style. Tiffany also likes her creature comforts as I do.

Keola was a Peace Corps Volunteer in 2002 so Art joined him there to travel from Mali to Kenya to Tanzania where they climbed Kilimajaro and I don't know where else. Art was able to spend a month there and loving every minute.

In between being born and having these adventures with Art, there were many broken bones, growing pains, joys, aggravations, worries, celebrations, etc.

Unlike our son, our daughter was a very easy child to raise. And it sounds like our granddaughter is taking after her mother. I think.

Our son was thrilled when his first son was born, but I think they were hoping their second child would be a girl.

"You're loving this, aren't you, mom?" he laughed ruefully.

The interesting thing is Keola's other half is a woman who is just as brilliant, worldly and adventurous as he is.

And they are incredibly patient and loving with their sons; understanding how to nurture them to their fullest potential.

So today, we celebrate the wonderful boys they are now and the awesome men we hope to be here to see.

Camellia Oil?

Mom is 91 and convinced that camellia oil keeps her hair thicker and blacker. She insists her hair would be all white if it weren't for the rather pricey camellia oil that she applies daily to her hair.

Unfortunately, we haven't been to Japan in a while where it cost a whole lot less ($12) than the Don Quijote here in Hawaii where it's usually sold for over $20 for the small bottle. (We checked last week and they no longer carry it.)

I did look on Amazon and saw this:

I mentioned it to my daughter in Illinois, and she was happy to order it for her grandma to add to her Mothers Day gift.

Strange thing is that when I looked again before writing this blog post, they listed another offer which was slightly less and they said it could be shipped to Hawaii. So weird. 

I guess mom was panicking because her supply was getting so low.

We told her that snowy hair was dramatic and attractive. She said that if her hair was all white, it would make her feel older.

Ummmm... "You're 91," I reminded her. 

"Yes," she answered "but if my hair is white I'll feel weaker." 

I had to break down and tell her that her granddaughter was sending her camellia oil because I didn't want her to fret about it especially when Art teased that we could dye her hair. I almost kicked him under the table at that remark.

It brought back memories of how first mom and then me used to dye my paternal grandmother's hair with a toothbrush such a long, long time ago.

I'm glad we don't have to do that anymore since she'll be getting more camellia oil soon.

Mask Quandary

Doggone it!

I just spent $25.48 at Fabric Mart last Monday buying more material for masks. My supply of masks to give out to all the medical and dental personnel had been running low from all our April appointments. We do have a few more appointments in May. I've just enjoyed seeing how happy everyone was to receive them.

Actually, my family has told me that they prefer the simpler black and white designs, BUT I couldn't help wanting to get the floral one too. Art warned me not to give that to a guy. I know, I know.

HOWEVER, one day after I bought the fabrics, the CDC relaxed their guidelines for fully vaccinated people and I'm wondering if it's worth it for me to sew more masks.

My daughter called from Illinois and told me they're up to 3,000 COVID infections a day! She knows someone whose mother went to a country club function and caught COVID-19. Luckily, she and three others were vaccinated so their symptoms were mild. One unvaccinated person died.

Hmmm... I think I've got some cousins and maybe some friends who might like another mask or two. 😄

A School of Anti-Vaxxers

We came across this news article in the Star Advertiser the other day that blew us away.

The Centner Academy of Miami notified parents that they had a new policy for its two campuses. They were informing parents that teachers and staff who had received the COVID-19 vaccination would be kept away from students. This private school (started by an anti-vaccination activist) said they would not hire any teacher who had been vaccinated.

Seriously?

They also claimed that unvaccinated women had gotten miscarriages and other reproductive problems by standing next to a vaccinated person.

My daughter told me she’d heard about some Minnesota parents who don’t want their children to be tested for COVID because they could miss a game.

I'm sitting here just shaking my head and sighing.

What can you do?

Making the Final Shower Curtain Choice

I wrote earlier about not being able to make up my mind about which shower curtain I wanted to buy. There were too many choices on Amazon.

This is the shower curtain we've had for several years. I just wanted a change.

I was drawn to curtains with forests. I guess it's because I've been locked in at home so much this past year.

Well, my forest arrived.

Hmmmm....

Hmmmmmmm...

I don't know....

I think it's too dark and overpowering.

Art says we'll get used to it. (His favorite color does happen to be green.)

OK. I guess so. But in a few years, I'll probably be changing it again and going through the same quandary.

POSTSCRIPT:

I was taking a shower that evening and saw a magnificent sight. With the light shining through the curtain, this is what I saw.

I felt like I was taking a shower in a forest. I loved it!

(Art thought I was crazy when I wrapped a towel around me, got my cellphone, climbed back in the tub and took this photo. 😂)

Finally Visiting the Dentist

We've not been to the dentist in a year and a half since our teeth could obviously not be checked while we were wearing our masks.

Now that we are all fully vaccinated we are visiting all the health professionals we have not seen in over a year. April has been filled with several appointments every week for the three of us. May will have a few more.

We went to the dentist last week and saw that a LOT of safety measures were in place. We had to wait outside on benches with people spaced 6 feet apart. There were hand sanitizers that you were to use as soon as you entered. A receptionist took your temperature and asked the usual COVID questions about fever, symptoms, travel, etc.

What used to be open doorways to separate rooms now had clear vinyl curtains. You were required to wear your mask at all times, except when they were working in your mouth.

And here's something I found very interesting.

This was a little air sucker-upper thingy that was placed next to you to suck up any aerosols you might be exhaling while the dentist or dental hygienist was working on your teeth.

It was really nice to see everybody again. The dentist said my teeth were doing OK for now though she thought I might be grinding my teeth. She also said this has been a time of teeth grinding so she understood.

Asked if Art might hear me grinding my teeth at night, I burst out laughing. She laughed also when I told her that wasn't possible since he falls asleep in 5 minutes or less. 

The hygienist thoroughly cleaned my teeth and gave me a fluoride treatment. He is just the best hygienist ever because he is so thorough and tells me what to expect every step of the way.

I gave the dentist, the hygienist and the X-ray technician a mask I made to thank them for working through the pandemic although I was told they had to close for three months while safety mechanisms were put into effect.

They were all thrilled to get the masks which definitely made me feel extra happy. 

I've been giving masks to many of the health care professionals we've been seeing this month. It feels like our way to say, "We're back, but safely."