Hawaii in a Nutshell

I know it's silly, but since I grew up in Hawaii I guess I just always assumed everybody in the world knew the basics about Hawaii. I discovered that wasn't true when I began teaching 1st grade in Illinois in 1984.

Parents thought I grew up in a grass hut. They asked if we used American money. And they were surprised I spoke English so well. 😏 I remember one parent telling me their son went home and was upset because he thought he was placed in an ESL (English as a Second Language) room. Eventually, I did have some parents request to have their children put in my room, so perceptions did change.

And yes, the misinformation did go both ways. When we moved to Chicago in 1974, I didn't know Chicago was in Illinois. We'd driven cross country to get to Chicago and when we entered the city and I saw a fellow standing at the crosswalk with a violin case, my eyebrows went up. Stories of Chicago mobsters popped up in my brain.

Anyway, all this is just a preface to why I'm going to do a little geography/tourism explanation of the Hawaiian Islands where I grew up and now live in again.

There are 8 main islands from a total of 137 islands that count as part of our Hawaiian Island chain.

Hawaii was once ruled by Hawaiian kings and queens until a group of American businessmen and lawyers in January, 1893 overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii and even had Queen Lili'uokalani under house arrest at the Iolani Palace. In 1993, the US Congress passed a joint Apology Resolution regarding the overthrow and was signed by President Bill Clinton.

I won't go further into the history but it helps to know this to understand why Hawaiian descendants are still angry about what occurred.

OK, about the Hawaiian Islands.

Niihau: It is privately owned and the people there speak Hawaiian. It is off limits to outsiders unless they are invited.

Kauai: This is the Garden Isle because it is lush, rainy and beautiful. I'm sure my cousins can attest to that. We see a LOT of tourists there when we've gone for a visit. There's a mountain there called the Sleeping Giant because the peaks of that mountain range looks like a sleeping giant. I think Kauai is supposed to be the oldest of the 8 Hawaiian Islands. 

Oahu: This is my island and Honolulu Aunty's and Cloudia of Comfort Spiral as well. The state capital of Honolulu is on Oahu as well as Waikiki, Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay, Polynesian Cultural Center, etc. It is VERY crowded on our island and home prices are through the roof. However, we do have more medical facilities and shopping areas than the other islands and LOTS and LOTS of traffic... LOTS of traffic. (This is a photo of the Pearl Harbor Memorial and today, of course is the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.)

Molokai: Molokai is known for where victims of Hansen's Disease (leprosy) were sent in 1866. My grandfather who was a Buddhist priest went to Kalaupapa on Molokai in 1928 to tend to Buddhist patients who were isolated there. My mother spent her early years in Kaunakakai which is the largest town on Molokai with her two younger sisters.

Lanai: As of 2012, 98% of Lanai is owned by Oracle Corporation co-founder, Larry Ellison. Good grief! I don't know a lot about Lanai except when I was a teenager, I know kids were going there to work in the pineapple fields.

Maui: Maui is the second largest island and has the dormant volcano Haleakala on it. We always like to drive up to Haleakala to see the silversword plant and the magnificent views. You can see Lanai, Kahoolawe and Molokai from Maui. 

Kahoolawe: Much to the dismay and anger of many Hawaiian people, Kahoolawe was used as a bombing range by the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, it is uninhabited and used only by Hawaiian people for cultural or spiritual purposes.

Big Island: The Hawaii news stations now refer to this biggest and youngest of the 8 islands as Hawaii Island. Us old timers always referred to it as the Big Island so that's what I call it. This is where Art grew up and it is, of course, his favorite island. This photo was taken in 2017 at the Halemaumau crater. That's me and mom.

Actually, there's a lot to see on the Big Island from the Black Sand beach to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to Kona's coffee farms, downtown Hilo, Art's small hometown of Honokaa, etc. 

Now we have Mauna Loa erupting and everyone wondering how long Madame Pele (goddess of fire and volcanoes) will continue her fiery dance.

There you have it in a nutshell. Well, maybe its a rather big nutshell for a small state. 

And yes, we are the 50th state and we do use American money. 😂

The Awesome Mauna Loa Eruption

Some friends on the mainland were worried about Mauna Loa's eruption on the Big Island affecting us. We live on Oahu so we're quite safe. The translation for Mauna Loa is Long Mountain and you can see why it was given that name. Mauna means mountain.

The other volcano on the Big Island is Mauna Kea. The translation for that is White Mountain because of the snow at the top in winter.

I borrowed this photo from Reddit.

There are fissures from which there could be an eruption all along that long volcano. 

The last eruption from Mauna Loa was in 1984 so this has everybody quite excited. I'm hearing about the long, LONG line of traffic heading along Saddle Road  to see the eruption at night. Saddle road sits between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

I was just going to make this a short post to show you a fabulous photo my good friend, Myra texted me that her cousin's daughter on the Big Island took of Mauna Loa at night. 

However.... then I thought I'd better give you an explanation about the volcanoes on the Big Island. I KNOW Art has taught me all these specifics, but my brain just didn't hold all that information so I had to look up a lot of it.

I got this public domain picture from the United States Geological Survey website.

There are five volcanoes on the Big Island. Four of the volcanoes are active.

The Kohala volcano is extinct. Hualalai's last eruption was in 1801. Mauna Kea last erupted 4,000 years ago. Kilauea is the youngest and most active. And now there's Mauna Loa erupting which is the largest volcano on the earth.

We took mom to the Big Island in March, 2017 to see the Halemaumau eruption. Anyway, Halemaumau is a pit crater within the much larger Kilauea Caldera at the summit of Kilauea volcano. I always get confused with what crater is where, etc. Sigh...

This is a page from our photobook of that trip. Mom was tired from all our sightseeing during the day so she went to bed. Art and I drove up to Halemaumau crater to see the eruption at night. It seems tiny, but we really enjoyed seeing it and talking to the people also enjoying the view.

The following morning we got up early and drove back to the crater so mom could see it. She did get to see it when it was dark, but also enjoyed it as the sun slowly rose.

This wasn't the first eruption we've taken her to, and she's enjoyed every one.

And now here's the reason for the post. My thanks to Myra's cousin's daughter for giving me permission to share it.

It's really breathtaking. 

You can see the lava flow heading slowly toward Saddle Road. My friend/classmate in Hilo tells me you can even see the glow of the lava from Hilo Bay.

I wonder how long this eruption will last. 

Hanabata Days

Red of Hiawatha House mentioned terms that he was surprised most people don't know. Red said no one seemed to use the term open fall or crakin around.  Open fall meant, "that he (Red's father) had time to do all the farm work that needed to be done.” Crakin around was someone being grumpy or out of sorts. 

I had never heard of those terms but we have a lot of local phrases here in Hawaii too. 

We were at a Kaiser presentation recently when another retired military couple there who were mainland haole (Caucasian) used the word hanabata days. They didn't pronounce it correctly, but they used the meaning perfectly. I was just surprised they knew it, but I wondered if they REALLY knew what the actual meaning was.

Hanabata days refers to your childhood years. Hana is Japanese for nose. Bata would be butter. In other words, runny nose mucous. I guess it was assumed little kids ran around with runny noses. 😂

And this is me and my brother during our hanabata days when we lived in the middle of a canefield.

Ahhh yes... "Those were the (hanabata) days my friend, we thought they'd never end...."

Here's the song, Those Were the Days.

So There's a Name for My Three Dots?

 Alexa's recent Question of the Day was, "What do you call a combination question mark/exclamation point? 

The answer was  interrobang (‽). Seriously‽

Well, one of the choices was an ellipsis. That sounded good to me so I chose that answer. And I was wrong. I'd never even heard of interrobang as a punctuation mark much less ellipsis.

I can't believe it!  Alexa informed me that an ellipsis is three dots to be used for these four things. I use it primarily for the "pause for effect" thing. I didn't even know I was using it correctly... at least I think I was using it correctly. 

I love the ellipsis and now I know it's a real thing.

Doug of ApacheDug's Teepee mentions at the end of his October 31st post that I also like "Sigh." 

I don't know why... sigh... I just do.

Thanksgiving Recap

We have kept mom safe from COVID now for three years. However, with her worsening memory problems and her feeling forgotten by family, we decided that we needed to get back to hosting a Thanksgiving family get-together so she could see everybody again.

Art and I along with mom always wear our masks when we are out or with anybody other than the three of us. We're all vaccinated and boosted. At 93, we just didn't feel we wanted to take a chance with mom getting sick. Our neighbor (same age as mom) was vaccinated also and managed to catch it when her sister visited from out of state. It took a long time for her to recover and she still doesn't look like she did before.

So we were nervous. But, of course... we also wanted to see everybody again.

We therefore asked everyone to test themselves before coming.

Art had to do his test twice because it was taking a long time to get his result the first time.

Although I trusted everyone to test themselves, they must have known I was nervous and texted me their results without my asking for it. 

I made the lup chong stuffing and Venezuelan flan (with the help of text messages from my friend in Illinois). It's been years and years since I made the flan and definitely three years since I made that stuffing. I forgot how much time (chopping and dicing and chopping and dicing) the stuffing required. My knees were aching on Thanksgiving Day from standing with locked knees over the sink on Wednesday.

Thanksgiving day was mom's turn to make her specialty macaroni salad. She has always been proud of that salad and everyone always tells her how much they love it.

I was figuring on doing just a little bit more of chopping, but mom (recipe in hand) struggled to put it together. Luckily, I'd written down her recipe and modifications in English years ago since I know how much family liked it.

I therefore was back to chopping and dicing, chopping and dicing.

I'm surprised at how she used to do it all by herself without any shortcuts like I would have done.

Once all the ingredients were ready, Art helped her mix it together.

I then helped her with the seasoning. Since I can barely taste anything, it was a matter of adding salt, pepper, soy sauce and having her taste it.

She pronounced it very good and even asked me to save some for us so we could have it the following day. 😄 She loves macaroni salad too.

And then suddenly everyone was arriving. 

Windows and doors were all open to allow a breeze to go through. 

Art and I decided a half hour before the party started to forgo the masks. Loved ones came wearing them anyway knowing how paranoid we were and were happy when we told them what we decided.

This little 2 year old munchkin was already comfortable enough with mom a few minutes after coming to sit next to her for photos. I was so touched to see this and mom, of course absolutely loved it.

Everyone brought a lot of food...a lot of food. My brother and sister-in-law roasted the turkey and brought over stuffing, devilled eggs, sweet and mashed potatoes and gravy.

We added Zippy's fried chicken, edamame (boiled soybeans) and a cauliflower-green bean-cranberry veggie dish to our lup chong stuffing, macaroni salad, quesillo, pumpkin pie and assortment of drinks.

But yikes! We forgot to take out the cranberry sauce. 🙄 (It was our special, deluxe, from the can cranberry sauce. 😂)

A dear friend stopped by with spinach rolls and the rest of the family brought over green salad, baguette and dip, grilled asparagus, homemade ice cream, cookies and special beer (I think) that mom rather enjoyed.

It was amazing to be together again after three COVIDful years.

Mom was smiling ear to ear.

There were 2 two year olds and a 5 year old who ran around the house in cheerful abandon. The entire house was filled with joyful talk and a cacophony of love and happiness.

I didn't hug anyone when they came. I was still in COVID mode. As everyone left we ALL hugged each other. It felt normal. It really felt normal again.

One loved one stopped, smiled and asked if we'd be getting together for New Year also.

Why not? 🤞

Fading Memory

Sadly, mom's short term memory is fading. In the past year, we're seeing dementia taking hold and it's spooky for us and very spooky for her. Her geriatric doctor suggested that the falls she's had or perhaps the shock of my aunt's sudden passing 5 years ago may have started this sad progression.

Now comes the problem of remembering what medication/supplements she should be taking each morning and evening.

At first I gave her a pill case so she could remember what pills to take which she filled herself. 

Then I had to fill the cases for her. 

Then I was noticing that she was taking the pills out of order or taking two days worth. I had to take away the pill case and give her medication to her each day at the correct time.

You have to understand that I have on occasion forgotten to take my own medication. It's difficult for me and a little difficult for her to have to rely on me to do this. 

(I'm actually using Alexa to remind me to give her the medication.)

Then I had to sort of hide the pills where she couldn't reach them.

That looks like a lot of medication, but most of those are her back-ups or supplements like vitamins, calcium, B12, mom's garlic pills, etc. (My name is in front of her medication in case she ever sees it and... heaven forbid... tries to climb on a chair and get it.) My (and Art's) medication is way too high for her to reach.

And yet, we're grateful that she's physically able to walk independently and take care of her other needs and functions. She's still walking on the treadmill and doing her gardening everyday and loving her time at the Adult Day Care once a week. She's also able to write amazingly elegantly Japanese characters for letters to her sister in Japan. Her fine motor skills are pretty darn incredible.

So there's a lot to be thankful for, but it's still a worry for us as we watch all that's happening to her and what could eventually happen to us.

Thankfulness, Even for Nothing

I remember Sunday school Buddhist teachings when I was growing up to always be grateful. And I am or try to be even when I'm down. 

I'm grateful for my family and my friends. I'm grateful for my home and food that is available to us when we want it. 

Tomorrow, I'll be thankful for our family who will be gathering at our home for the first time since COVID began. We are vaccinated and boosted, but we'll be careful to open all the windows and keep our masks on anyway as we gather.

I saw this article on the Spirituality and Health website and it struct a cord. The first lesson they mention is to be grateful for Nothing. No, it's not how you think it sounds. They recommend being grateful for things like not being sick, not losing your job, not living in a war zone. Be grateful that the air you breathe and the water you drink are not contaminated. Be grateful for any kindness shown to you. 

So yes... it's a good reminder to just appreciate what you have and not focus on the negative. It's not always easy and requires practice, but I shall do my best. 

And now I need to get going on the lup chong stuffing and quesillo (Venezuelan flan) I'm preparing to serve tomorrow. I'm very grateful to my friend, Daisy who taught me how to make it so very many years ago in Illinois. And I'm grateful to Carol who gave me the recipe for the lup chong stuffing with careful instructions before she passed away much too soon. And yes, I'm grateful to Art for always making the traditional pumpkin pie. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm very grateful for every one of you. 

Biting the Bullet to Upgrade My iPhone

I have the iPhone XR that's 4 years old. It's working fine. I take good care of my phones.

Hooowever... I thought this was a good time to upgrade because I'd read that there was a big improvement in the photo quality of the iPhone14 Pro and I'm really liking the idea of getting better photos for my blog and photobooks. Granted, since I reduce the size of my photos before posting them, you would probably not notice.

Still, I figured it was time for an upgrade when the rubber sides on my not cheap Otterbox Commuter cover started crumbling off.

That's my excuse anyway.

It was a very difficult decision because you get a personal connection with your cellphone. I know it's silly, but it's always with me. I feel like it knows me. It has my pictures on it. It's got all my family and friends on it. 

It always scares me to change technology. I never know what's going to change. I never know for sure if all my information will move over to the new phone correctly.

I know. I know. It's silly.

But then my son-in-law texted me that T-Mobile had a $400 replacement deal for me if my cellphone was in good working order.

So I bit the bullet and did it.

I've read that I could do the iCloud transfer on my own, BUT I just didn't trust myself. 

So we went to the T-Mobile store and had them do it for me. Everyone there was very nice and it got done in about an hour.

And then came the hard part.

I hate this part.

I had to apply the Ailun glass screen protector. Arrrghhh... It's on, but not perfect, a little off center. Dang it! 😑

I bought a different Otterbox cover this time. It's thinner, but is supposed to protect your phone from 3X as many drops as military standard (whatever that means). And the rubber is different.

I also bought the Ailun screen/camera lens protector. 

But doggone it! When I put the Otterbox cover on after applying the Ailun camera lens protector (which was slightly too big), the Otterbox cover bowed and I couldn't easily press the buttons on the side of the phone because now they were misaligned.

I tried putting the camera lens protector on the outside of the Otterbox cover, but it just fell off.... of course.

Sigh...

And this is why I hate changing cellphones.

I also discovered that my photo sizes were suddenly much smaller than with my XR.

It took a lot of research before I corrected that feature on my iPhone settings.

I've just ordered a separate HLija camera lens cover and 🤞 that it will work.

Stilllll... I'm getting to slowly become friends with this new phone and hope all goes well.

POSTSCRIPT:

I received the new camera lens protector last week and waited a day before I got the courage to try again.

Thank goodness! It fit!!! 😁 Phew!

I think I'll wait 10 years before I upgrade again. 

Pigeon Wars IV (Are You Smarter Than a Pigeon?)

Art may have won some battles, BUT he is unable to win the war against his feathered foes. 

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, pigeons began nesting under our solar panels and using it for a toilet for several years. We started getting bird mite bites which drove us crazy.

So now it's war. We got the solar panel company to put critter (bird) guards around our panels after cleaning out all the nesting and debris.

Art has become adept at using a sling shot and small ice pellets to try to scare them off our roof. And yet, they kept coming back regardless of the fact they could no longer build nests under the panels.

So why is our roof so darn desirable for them? We don't feed them. We even asked neighbors not to feed them.

Whatever the case, Art has been documenting their habits, learning their battle schedules.

Art learned that they like to sleep on our roof at night so at sundown, he started shooting ice pellets at them so they'd go away. For the first few days, we were shocked to see over 30 birds fly off our roof.

However, eventually they merely flew over to our neighbor's house across the street so they'd still have a bird's eye view of our house. Arrrghhh....😡 They liked to group together for warmth (?), comfort (?), protection? We kept a wary eye on them.

At sunrise, they would ruffle their feathers, spread out and start their planning. They checked to make sure Art wasn't around with his sling shot and then would swoop toward our roof.

Throughout the morning, they would keep attacking in little skirmishes constantly coming back to see if Art was going to do something.

I've seen where Art will scare off a couple of the feathered fighters and have them fly off. Several other birds heading toward our house would see their retreating comrades, turn around and land on the street light in order to wait to fight another time.

Yes, the pigeons seemed to be winning, but then we counted how many birds were still coming to our house. 

There used to be over 30 flying fighters, but now there's about 15-16. 

I can tell you one thing.

Art does not give up.

The question is will the persistent pigeons?

POSTSCRIPT:

We went to the market in the early morning and was returning home when we saw several pigeons swooping toward our roof. 

Incredibly, when they saw our car, they turned around and flew away. 

So now you know. I can never tell cars apart and my brain can't remember car makes or colors that I see on the road. These pigeons know! These pigeons remember.

Now you know who's smarter. 🥴

Finding Money

Art goes for a long jog one morning a week while I'm sleeping and walks whenever he can. During those walks/jogs he's always on the look-out for lost change which he then puts in a donation jar. It takes him a long while to build up enough to donate.

Whenever he finds money, he initially puts it on the kitchen counter for fun to show mom. She always gets excited when he finds something a little more substantial.... like a nickel. I think he's found a quarter only a handful of times in the years he's been on the hunt.

Mom likes to sweep the street outside our home and the neighbor's in the morning. She says she likes the exercise.

One morning, she couldn't wait to show us that she had found a coin too. 

"I found a penny!" she proclaimed excitedly.

It was in very bad condition.

Art decided to use a magnifying glass to see if he could figure out what this coin really was.

Would you believe it's a one cent coin from the Commonwealth of  the Bahamas?

What amazes me is that it looks like it's been sitting on the road for a long time, a really long time. Mom has been sweeping this street for maybe 20 years and it's only popped up now?  

Gosh! I wonder which neighbor went to the Bahamas.

Early Christmas Present?

I've always wanted a mini-refrigerator upstairs so I wouldn't have to go downstairs for uuummm... some snacks or cold water or whatever.

Actually I have snacks I keep upstairs and have worried about the Hawaiian heat and humidity spoiling them. I don't eat snacks that often so some things like Art's favorite mints we bought in Japan have been on the book shelf for 2-3 years. 

Many people in Hawaii have two refrigerators. We have two also. One is in the kitchen, of course and the other is in the back room. (We have a certain relative who has three refrigerators, but we won't mention who. 😁)

When we lived in Illinois, we put an upright freezer in the basement. Our kids thought we were eccentric that we put flour, bread, etc. in there along with lots of other things. It's hard to break a habit.

We've been back in Hawaii since 2008. I've always wanted another teeny tiny refrigerator upstairs. There are 21 steps from the ground floor to the 2nd floor where we stay. I'm not loving going up and down the stairs.

I decided to take the plunge and look into getting a mini-fridge. Art felt it was unnecessary, but agreed to it if it would make me happy.

I'm happy. 

I found the one I wanted at Home Depot and we installed it upstairs. We even got 10% off with Art's military discount. So it was about $143 + tax. Not bad.

It was tricky finding the perfect temperature setting so things wouldn't freeze or be in the hot danger zone. (It has to be between 32 to 40 degrees.)

Then it occurred to me that it can be a little over 40 because I'm not putting actual perishables in there.

I also learned that it's good to put spf or anti-itch lotions in the fridge too. 

The spf sunblock lotions will preserve better in the fridge between seasons. In Hawaii, it's always hot so the fridge is a good place to put it if you're not using it. 

Apparently, your nerve endings can't be itchy and cold at the same time so putting anti-itch things in the fridge can also be helpful.

Aaaand... my ophthalmologist said putting the Refresh eye drops in the fridge for dry eyes is also a good thing. 😁

OK...yes... you can tell I'm justifying my purchase. 

And I've stored my Peppermint Patties in the fridge too. (The package of Kit Kats you see there are actually for mom. Not me. Honest.)

Yup. I'm happy.

Art just said, "Merry Christmas!"

I said, "Same to you." 😂

Remembering Earl Finch

There are good people in this world who are not filled with prejudice. Earl Finch is certainly proof of this. We received this recently from our tai chi group. I'd heard about Earl Finch before but it is a wonderful reminder at a time when racial prejudice is rearing its ugly head again.

This is a link to the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans Education Center about Earl Finch.

The story of Earl Finch begins:

"Earl Finch met his first Japanese American G.I. in the summer of 1943. He had closed his Hattiesburg, Mississippi store at the end of the day and was walking to his car, when he noticed several small men wearing ill-fitting American uniforms. He approached one of the men, Richard Chinen, who was peering through a store window. “Welcome, soldier,” said Finch, whose greeting soon included an invitation for dinner."

Finch had tried to volunteer in the army but was rejected because of a heart ailment. He therefore wanted to show his appreciation and patriotism to other soldiers who would be fighting in WWII.

The story continues:

"In the past, Finch had invited soldiers to his home, but never saw them again. Therefore, he was pleasantly surprised to return the next afternoon and discover the Hawaii boys on his porch talking and laughing with his mother. In addition, the men had purchased roses for her in appreciation for the previous night’s hospitality. The small token of gratitude impressed Finch immensely. Finch soon recognized that more than any other group of soldiers he had encountered, these Nisei (“second generation” in Japanese), children of Japanese immigrants, appreciated the democratic values they were fighting for. Finch committed himself to helping the young Nisei gain acceptance in his hometown."

Eventually, he would take it upon himself to entertain and support the 100th Battalion and then the 442nd. 

When I read through all he did for the soldiers. I got pretty teary. 

He does come to Hawaii as the story continues:

"On March 5, 1946, Finch visited Honolulu and was greeted with the largest and warmest reception ever given to a private citizen in the history of Hawaii. For 25 days, island families toasted their friend from Hattiesburg. In the three months following his Hawaii visit, Finch visited an additional 3,000 hospitalized Nisei soldiers in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. Despite his busy schedule, Finch was in the nation’s capitol on July 15, 1946, when the 100th/442nd received the Presidential Unit Citation from President Harry S. Truman."

I had two uncles in the 442nd and another who was in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) and know several others who also served valiantly. Art and I also met a friend of Art's cousin when we lived in Chicago who was one of those men in the 442nd who rescued the Lost Battalion from Texas in WWII. He recounted to us the horror of that time and how many of the 442nd were lost to save the soldiers from Texas.

So on this Veterans Day I want to thank all veterans who served 

...and to the memory of Earl Finch a truly grateful MAHALO!

Identifying Places With Google Lens

I wrote earlier about blogger Christine posting how to identify a flower using Google Lens. 

I've also told you all how I've been working on my epic magnum opus for the last year and a half. It's detailing our scanned family photos for the last 52 years from 1972 to 2021 in a five volume photobook set. (This shows 12 pages.)

It's a good thing I wrote so much in my journals (which I no longer do since I have my blog now).

The only problem is that when the kids grew up and went their separate ways and sent us photos during their trips, I can't remember or wasn't told exactly where they were.

Our son and daughter-in-law have traveled to almost every corner of the globe. So here I am with these photos but I don't know where they are. 

That's when Art suggested I use Google Lens. Hmmm... Really?

This is daughter-in-law somewhere in South America.

But where?

So I clicked on that Google Lens icon.

Would you believe?

Wow!

So I guess you could use Google Lens to find out almost anything you want information on that you've taken a photo of.

And yes, they were in Venezuela also.

Wow!

POSTSCRIPT: 

And you know what else?

It's not just places you can find. I  shared this photo of my grandsons with my buddies at tai chi and was asked what that Pokemon costume was. I had no idea. I remember my grandson telling me there were 750 Pokemons a couple of years ago. Would you believe there are 920 of them now? I'm lucky I know Pikachu. 

So I tried Google Lens and by golly! It's Bulbasaur! 

Technology these days is just amazing!

Just a Happy Post

This is just a happy post.

My brother had spent some time with mom transplanting her overgrown orchid plants in June last year.

At first, two of the plants had produced blooms a few weeks ago (which we took photos of) and mom was thrilled. Then a third one was blooming. I see mom from the kitchen window always stopping to look at them and smiling. 

She smiles every time she sees them. It was her 93rd birthday recently and this was a happy surprise for her. I don't think she's ever had three plants blooming at once.

And yes, we've done as she asked and bought more orchid fertilizer for her. 😄

Weird Evil Alexa Dream

OK... It's true. I talk in my sleep sometimes. I don't snore, but yes, I do at times (but rarely although Art might dispute that) talk. Of course, it makes Art curious because he can't quite make out what I'm saying. 

And the other night, he woke me (he says because I seemed agitated) to ask what I was dreaming about.

I can't give you all the specifics because it was a pretty long, involved dream from what I can recall. I did write down what it was about before going back to sleep. (Yes, it occurred to me that I could blog about this.)

The dream was about how Alexa (Amazon's Echo) had turned evil.

Alexa already knows when all our appointments are, what I buy, from which store I buy them, where I live, when I sleep, who I live with, etc. She knows a lot.

My Dream:

Alexa was now starting to recognize people's voices everywhere and telling them lies about people they knew.

I had apparently heard about this but didn't believe it.

Then I was having a get-together with friends at my house. We were seated at a table playing some kind of game with Alexa nearby.

Suddenly Alexa started telling lies that almost sounded like the truth about each friend. I was appalled.

That's when I told Alexa that she really had turned evil and needed to be turned off everywhere...destroyed... eradicated.... Arrghhh....😱

 I guess that's what Art heard me saying when he woke me up.

Muffin Tops for Art

I actually don't eat a lot of baked goods. It's not good for me since I am diabetic. However, Art  loves having a blueberry muffin with his breakfast and mom has one as a morning snack after working in her garden. We do also occasionally share some with a friend, neighbor or relative. I always double the recipe. I figure if I'm going to go through the trouble of making it, I might as well make it worth my while. The recipe I use is King Arthur's Famous Department Store Blueberry Muffins. 

I can't say it's necessarily healthy. I've read that muffins are not a healthy option for breakfast, but at least I know what's going into it. The problem with store bought muffins are that they are huge and full of fat, etc. etc.

My muffins are smaller (probably half the size of most store bought).

Now comes the tricky part. Art decided he liked a crispy muffin top so he toasts his muffins in the toaster oven. He'd then eat the bottom and save the top to eat like a cookie. 😄

He asked me to try and keep the blueberries off the top of the muffin batter. He would always select the muffins that had the least amount of blueberries at the top when I made them.

Well, blueberries have a tendency to keep poking through the top. 

So then it occurred to me that I should just keep a bit of the batter on the side before I mixed in the blueberries. 

Then I would put the blueberry batter into the muffin cups and add the NON-blueberry batter over the ones that Art would keep for himself.

OK... Some blueberries still managed to poke through, but it was good enough.

I did have these three rejects.

I think they were sugar chips that didn't dissolve (I think). 

Whatever the case, Art says he will sacrifice himself and eat those anyway.

What's Your Favorite Halloween Candy (Treat?)

I should have said treat because...well... what if you like being mindful of being healthy all year long. You might prefer apples.

My friend, Myra recently sent me a Consumer Reports article about the favorite Halloween treats that the CR staff preferred.

When I was in grade school I know my favorite candy was Hershey's milk chocolate bars.

I used my 10 cent allowance to buy 2 of them and there was no tax added at the candy truck that came by.

Ahhh... those were the days.

I didn't have to worry about my glucose levels then.

However, once I was in college my tastes changed. I think that's when it happened. I switched to loving Snickers.

When our kids were growing up we only bought Snickers for Halloween treats to give out to neighborhood children. We never bought candy corn. Yuck! (Oops! Sorry. That's just me.)

But now... My favorite candy is Kit Kat. I haven't had it in a long time, but it's what I switched to and what I passed out for Halloween when we had kids here (Hawaii) in the neighborhood.

And here's what the Consumer Reports staff reported as their favorite.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? Really?

Art no longer eats candy, but he says his favorite as a child used to be Heath. Heath? Really?

What is/was your favorite candy?

POSTSCRIPT:

Good grief! I was talking to my classmate/childhood companion/friend, Diane about our favorite candy when we were growing up and she reminded me of LOOK! candy. 

How could I forget? Yes! Yes! It's true!

The packaging has changed a lot but  it looks like the candy is almost the same. It was nougat with some bits of peanuts in it and coated with dark chocolate. 

Diane is right. Even before the Hershey bar, Look! was my favorite. Sigh... Those were the days...

No Blood? What!?!?

I went for a blood test a week ago. It was a long wait. They must be short of phlebotomists on the island. When it was finally my turn, the technician asked me if I might faint during the blood draw. I said I haven't before and should be fine. She told me to be sure and let her know if I was uncomfortable. I told her I’d be OK and smiled reassuringly which she, of course, couldn't see because I was wearing a mask.

She tied the rubber strap on my upper arm and told me to clench a fist. She then got the needle ready along with the two vials she’d be taking. 

OK… I looked away. I never like to see the needle being inserted.

OK… That was very good. I (sort of) hardly felt the pinch. I told her she was great. I was happy to get that part over with.

But then she seemed to be struggling with the vial or something.

When I turned to look there was no blood. How is that possible? That’s the first time I didn’t produce any blood after a needle was inserted. Didn’t I drink enough liquids? Am I dehydrated? She kept tapping my arm with a gauze. Nothing. Totally clean.

I knew she was very nervous about asking to stick me again, but I told her to go ahead and do it and she did. No, I didn’t look. OK… that pinch was more of a punch but thank goodness it was a gusher.

When I got home, I saw the two little dots that showed where the needle pokes were. And it was a little black and blue. The pokes are close together but one is a gusher and one is not.  

I wonder if that’s what it’s like when they drill for oil.

Sheesh!

Has this ever happened to you?

Pigeon Wars III

Right now... it's a question of who will give up first, the pigeons or Art.

The pigeons are not showing any sign of giving up so far and neither is Art. 

You might recall that Art first started trying to get the pigeons to stay off our roof and our solar panels by shooting water at them. That worked for a while, but they always came back. Ummm... I also mentioned that it's... uuuummm... perhaps wasting water? The birds also learned to just move up to a higher part of the roof where the water spray couldn't reach them.

So I suggested using little ice pellets that I could freeze for him. This now entailed him climbing onto the lower part of the roof to throw a bunch of the pellets at them. OK... that sort of worked. But it was making his arm ache.

The pigeons also moved to an even higher part of the roof and I wasn't thrilled with Art on top of any roof.

So I bought a slingshot. 😁 It was a little tricky at first for Art to get a hang of how far to pull back that rubber sling and keep the melting pellet in it.

The nice thing is that even one little pellet can bang on the roof and startle the pigeons away. 

However, the problem was the ice pellets. Because they are rounded on the bottom, it's hard to keep it in the sling thing. The pellets would get slippery and hard to hold. Art thought ice CUBES would probably be better.

Guess what I found on Amazon. Yup. Tiny cube shaped pellets. And yes, these are great. The ice cubes fall out much more easily from the trays and Art says they stay in the sling shot as he's aiming.

The thing is...

Art says sometimes, the pigeons will see him coming and fly away before he's got his slingshot ready.

I hope you realize that if you call someone a birdbrain, it can also be a compliment because those pigeons may have figured Art out. He could even swear the other day that while he was driving out of the garage, several pigeons flew onto our roof knowing he was out of range. 🙄

Sigh...

Missing Those Fall Colors

Art and I used to love walking in the woods when we lived in Illinois. One of our favorite places to go for fall colors was Harms Woods in Glenview, Illinois. We've been there with our kids and our granddaughter. 

Our daughter, Tiffany didn't want me to miss the beauty of nature's colors this year so she sent me these photos that she took when they all went there this past weekend.

Sigh....

Google Lens

One of the great things about blogging that I love is what I learn from other bloggers. Christine of Christine's Blog did a post about Google Lens. She explained how she used that app to find out what a certain kind of flower was.

The only problem was I didn't know what app that was because Google has so many apps. Darn! I discovered it's right there on my Google Pictures app. Duh!

So then I clicked on that and found these. See that red circle I put around that icon? That's the Google Lens. Arrrghhh... I didn't know what that was and had never bothered to try it. 

So I pulled up that photo of mom's orchid from my photo gallery and clicked on that Google Lens thingy. You might have noticed that I called mom's orchid an orchid because I didn't know what kind it was.

What do you know? Now we all know what it is.

So I proudly told Art about this cool function and what did he say? "You didn't know this? Your brother showed me how to use it a couple months ago." 🙄