Packing OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

My kids think it's hilarious that I start planning what I'm going to pack a month before an overseas trip. They feel that if we're not going to a third world country, I can always buy what I need there. Point taken.

Still... I do obsess over everything that I should bring. I can't help myself.

#1 is a notebook to carry with me whenever we're out and about because let's face it, my memory is NOT good these days.

#2 is my journal into which I write more detailed information at night about what occurred during the day. I use those notes to create photobooks later. Mom looks daily at the photobooks of trips she took with us. We had her write her memories in Japanese so she could read and remember the details for herself. It gives her so much pleasure and as my memories fade, I think it will be the same for me.

Then comes the medication. All the medication I had three years ago for our last trip are now expired which required us to get more. I then packed them separately to save space with the appropriate dosage on each small package. I forgot to do this when we traveled to Turkey a long time ago and it was a good thing we had a pharmacist on our tour group who could advise us as I dispensed meds to some people who didn't bring any.

I have a travel list I use for all my trips that get updated often. I also put my clothing in plastic bags because our suitcases have been checked several times. They leave a little note in your suitcase if they've inspected it. I don't want to seem paranoid, but let's face it. I am. I just don't like the idea of people touching all my things. 

This is an old picture actually. I don't bring my big camera anymore. It's cumbersome and the iPhone photos are good enough.

Oh gosh... and now the clothes. How many blouses, should I bring? How many pants? Raincoat, down coat, fleece jacket? What will the temperatures be like in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Germany? Arrrghhh.... Will everybody be crowding around the laundry area on the ship?

Don't mind me... I'm just compulsively obsessing over packing. Arrrghhh!

The Aggravation of Lost Luggage

We are going on a trip later and I've already started obsessing about our luggage. I'm a bit of an agoraphobic, but Art has always loved going outside of his comfort zone. After high school, he opted to attend Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and couldn't afford to return home to Hawaii for 4 years. After that, he was in the Air Force. 

I, on the other hand stayed on Oahu with only a couple of brief trips to Kauai when I was a child and teenager. I did go to Japan on a college trip with friends but stayed at my grandparents' Sendai temple for the three weeks that we were supposed to be on our own. My grandparents, aunt, uncles in Japan and mom did not want me wandering around Japan on my own or even with friends.

If I hadn't married Art, I probably would have stayed on Oahu. However, we did get married and I've tagged along on his adventures. Our children have definitely taken after him.

All this is leading to why I obsess over everything whenever Art decides to take us somewhere.

One thing I worry about is losing our luggage with all our important, comforting belongings. I worry with good reason. They've lost our luggage several times.

It started with our first trip overseas with our children.

We went to England and Wales in 1990. The plan was to collect our luggage at Heathrow and drive toward Oxford and then Woodstock to see Blenheim Palace.

Unfortunately, the airlines lost the kids' luggage for a few days. They couldn't deliver it to us because we would be moving throughout the country immediately after landing. 

Therefore they had to wear our clothes. They were not happy. Nope. Not happy at all.

It was a relief to them when we headed back to explore London and they could do so in their own clothes which had been delivered to our hotel.

In 2007 Art decided to sign up for a bike tour through the Netherlands.

We went several days before meeting up with the canal boat.

But yes, the airlines lost our luggage... again. We don't know if it was American Airlines or Continental that misplaced them at our Newark connection.

They asked us to describe our luggage. It was not easy. You do realize there are tons of black luggage traveling around the world. 

After that, I decided colored luggage would be better.

In 2013 we flew to Las Vegas for a trip to visit various canyon national parks with mom. Hawaiian Airlines asked us at the gate to check in our carryon which held all our chargers, wires, batteries, nightwear, and most of Art's clothing.

We figured they couldn't possibly lose that carryon since they were checking it in at the gate and there are NO STOPS between Hawaii and Las Vegas.

Nope, they lost that very IMPORTANT carryon, too. We got our checked-in suitcases, but we had to spend a day looking for appropriate chargers, wires and clothing for Art. We did not get that carryon back until the end of the trip. 

Hawaiian Airlines did reimburse us for all the things we had to replace for our trip.

And finally there was 2014. We had stopped in Illinois to visit our daughter after leaving our Mediterranean tour and they somehow lost my luggage again.

I'd even painted a giant K on it. 

#1 Hopefully making it undesirable for thieves and...

#2 Making it easier to describe at the Luggage Lost and Found.

They shocked us all by waking us up at 11:45 PM to deliver the suitcase.

So now... here we are getting ready for another trip after nearly 3 pandemic years. 

One thing Art and I have learned to do is to split some of our clothing between the two suitcases. We also try to carry our chargers and other important electronics with us in our backpacks. 

My fingers are crossed for our next trip. Have the airlines ever lost your luggage?

We Got Boosted... Again!

OK. We did it. We got our 2nd booster shots a few weeks ago.

We took Mom to Kaiser and she got her 4th Pfizer shot. She was totally fine with no aftereffects. Mom said the nurse was really wonderful and it didn't hurt at all. The Kaiser staff were super friendly and efficient.

After taking mom home we went to Longs (CVS) and got Moderna boosters. Our first two COVID-19 vaccinations were Pfizer. We wanted to mix it up for the 1st booster and opted for Moderna. Art did not get any reaction, but I was quite tired for a day or two.

Since we're going to be on a trip later, we were very grateful that the CDC approved the 2nd booster for us.

It's interesting that the Moderna booster was readily available at several Longs stores. The Pfizer would require us to travel so we opted to stick with the Moderna half dose.

It all went off nicely. I chose my right arm for the shot this time instead of my usual left. I swear I felt it more. It wasn't very painful and it was quick. However, I think I'll choose my left arm if we do this again in fall.

I've got my fingers and toes crossed that we'll see the back end of COVID this year.

POSTSCRIPT: 

We were exhausted the following day and I had a low grade fever. Art took a nap in the afternoon and felt better. It took me another day to feel normal.

Norwegian Penpals

My three friends, Diane, Mavis and I once wrote to three penpals in Norway when we were young teenagers. My penpal was Kirsten. Diane had Mona and Mavis had Eva. It was fun learning about their country and discovering that many of their teenage feelings were so similar to ours even though the customs may have been different.

I can't remember when the letters stopped or why. I wish I still had some of them, BUT during one of our many moves those letters were lost. My friends tell me they've lost their letters too.

Kirsten also sent me a little Viking doll almost 60 years ago that I cherished. But doggone it! During our move back to Hawaii some 14 years ago, we drastically downsized all our belongings and when I looked back at my Move to Hawaii photos, I saw that the Viking doll was sold during our garage sale.

However, last year... I was emptying my 60 year old piggy bank looking for some $1 American coins to send the grandchildren and found these photos that Kirsten had sent me of the three Norwegian penpals that my friends and I here in Hawaii were writing to.

And now Art and I will be traveling to the Scandinavian countries and be in Norway for a couple of days. I will, at last, see Kirsten, Eva and Mona's country.

I wonder what happened to them. Their names have probably changed by now. 

It's fun to remember the joy of connecting to someone who lived almost on the other side of the world. And it's amazing to think that we can now connect to people around the world through the wonders of Internet. 

And when you think about it, aren't our blogs or commenting on blogs a form of being penpals? I guess we're all cyber pals. 

Did you have a penpal when you were growing up?  

Mask Debris Everywhere

One of the unfortunate things we're seeing around town are masks being discarded here and there by people too lazy to find a waste basket. Seriously? This is so irritating. 

Here are some masks we've seen discarded around town. 

Unfortunately, the bad thing about dropping these used masks on the street is that it gets swept into the ocean. 

It's really irritating to see how lazy people can be. I'm considering bringing a bag and gloves next time and picking these up.

The one place that really had me shaking my head was this.

Seriously? 

Decorating a flowering bougainvillea with a dirty mask?

Sigh...

Understanding that COVID Home Test Kit

We were able to get the negative results of the PCR/COVID test from Longs/CVS. We took that test about 26 hours after our exposure to the bank employee who had tested positive after attending a large wedding.

We took an antigen test at the Honolulu Airport 7 days after exposure. However on the 6th day after exposure, it suddenly occurred to Art that he had to deliver Meals on Wheels to 9 of his clients and he wouldn't have had that 2nd result from the antigen testing.

He decided to use the Home Test Kits that we got from the federal government. 

It's the first time that it was necessary for us to use it.

We'll have our daughter and family use them after they fly over from Illinois in June.

Art read over the directions carefully, used the swab to collect a sample from each nostril, put the sample in the solution and dropped the solution onto the test strip.

It showed one line on C. At first I thought it meant COVID.

But no... It actually meant he was Negative.

Why don't they use P for positive and N for negative?

I got the answer from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) website.

A positive result: Two lines on control (C) and test (T).

Negative: One line on control (C).

Invalid: No lines or only a test line mean the results are invalid and it needs to be taken again.

I still think P and N would have been better but the main thing is he is negative. And we took the antigen test the following day.

Mom's Deteriorating Altar Cloth

Art had gone down earlier to make our oatmeal in the morning. When I went downstairs he greeted me with, "Mom's upset about the butsudan cloth. It might have to be replaced."

The butsudan is a Buddhist family altar. It generally gets passed down through the family line. It's a place to honor your ancestors and express gratitude for what they contributed to the family. Mom's father was a zen priest in Sendai so it's especially important to her and she does a little prayer each morning in front of it.

Mom says she bought the altar cloth in Japan. I looked online to see if I could find it on Amazon. They sell everything, right? Nope. Ebay had used altar cloths for about $30 + $22 shipping. Seriously? Used?

"Don't worry," says Art to mom. "Kay can fix it." 😲

"Are you kidding?" I tell him. 

"Check it out," he says. "You just have to resew that edging.

Sigh...

Mom had washed the brocade cloth and I could see a LOT of sun and salt air damage on the edges of both sides. The material was just crumbling apart.

Soooo... I had to make a pattern. I found some scrap material that would do.

But then worried that I didn't have the right color thread.

Well, it turned out that my daughter, Tiffany had sent me 100% cotton thread to make masks over a year ago. It was this weird olive color that made me wonder why she selected it. It was perfect!

It worked!

Art called Mom over and she was amazed, thrilled and relieved.

I'm glad it's one crisis averted.

"You see?" said Art. "I knew you could do it."

Wait till she says her TV is broken again and I say, "Art can fix it."

Do You Drink Enough Water?

We recently got a notice from one of our tai chi friends about seniors not getting enough water to drink and the harm it can do if you don't.

I looked on WebMD just to verify why it's extra important for people over 60 to get the liquids their bodies need. 

Apparently, not getting enough water can cause these difficulties:

Memory Problems

Poor concentration

Slow reaction times

Feeling extra tired

Weakness

Pressure sores

Skin conditions

Urinary tract infections

Kidney Problems

Constipation

It's true that at times I avoid drinking water if I know there isn't going to be a bathroom close by. I also often just forget to rehydrate because I'm preoccupied. 

WebMD also recommends older people to drink between 6-8 glasses of fluids a day.

I looked online and they said 1 cup is about 8 ozs. Therefore it's between 48 to 64 ozs. 

My brother recommended using this juice container so I've added water to it, put it on her table and told mom (who is even more forgetful than me) to try to drink as much of this throughout the day as she can.

She says she'll try to remember.

POSTSCRIPT:  

Would you believe Mom has been religiously drinking most of that water? She’s drinking more water than we do. And she does seem to have more energy than I do. As for memory...Hmmm...

Squeaking Toilet

A few weeks ago mom's toilet (you know I'm reaching deep when I start writing about toilets) started emitting a high pitched squeeeeeeaaak. 

Art called it to my attention and it was really loud and annoying. It must have just started since I hadn't heard it before. We wondered if it had something to do with the fact that it was the same electrical line as the washer outside on the patio. 

Then we thought it could be something that was short circuiting in the Brondell bidet washlet we'd bought mom a long while ago from Costco. 

When the washing machine stopped, the toilet squeak was still there.

We unplugged the seat from the wall and it STILL squealed. It almost sounded louder now.

Art went to the fuse box and turned it off and on.

Nope.

No luck. I could now hear the squeal from the kitchen which was a distance away.

Art figured he might have to ask his electrician friend what to do.

While Art was hanging the wash, I went into the bathroom and stared at the toilet. I listened and listened, trying to figure out where exactly that awful sound was coming from.

I lifted the tank cover. The sound seemed louder. I pressed that up and down thing just to see what it would do.

The sound STOPPED!!! Can you believe it?

Art came in and was totally flabbergasted. 

"I fixed it." I said.

"How?" he asked disbelievingly.

I showed him. 

He was totally gobsmacked. (British translation for astonished)

I love it!

Oh Nuts! We've Been Exposed!

We had such a busy day yesterday. We made our stop at the Farmers Market, the grocery store, the bank where we met with a bank associate to sign some papers about our little Roth IRAs, Chun Wah Kam to pick up char siu bau for ourselves and a friend, and Sam's Club. 

Then we had to deal with Viking Cruise because United had changed our flight times for a planned trip so that we would miss our connecting flights. It was a mess. Viking was shocked! They had no idea United had done this and now there were no good seats available on the flight from which we had somehow been moved. 

And in all this aggravation... as we sat there quite tired of the stress, we got a call from the bank. She told us that we had been exposed to COVID but couldn't tell us who. The bank person we met with had been to a large wedding over the weekend. We suspect it had to be him.

We'd been sitting in front of him with the papers for us to sign and he asked if he could remove the plexiglass barrier. Since we were all masked, we said OK. We were there in front of him for about 30 minutes. 

The bank person told us that we needed to inform our doctor. Hmmmm.... why? 

We made an appointment to have a PCR test done at CVS this afternoon. And we'll test again in a week. 

I had only 2 KN95s left in the box our son sent us. We have N95s, but these KN95s are more comfortable so I looked on Amazon and saw that it was 63% off! It used to be $42.95 and was now $15.95!

I added a box into our checkout. 

"Add another box." said Art.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

Are we paranoid now? Oh yes. Definitely. I figure we're not done with this virus yet. I hate to be a pessimist, but I suspect we'll be needing these masks longer than you think, no matter what any Trump appointed Florida judge says.

POSTSCRIPT: 

We had a dentist appointment today. I called the office and told them about the exposure. They said we have to cancel our appointment until we get another negative reading 7 days from now. Sigh… 

Going Bananas

We have a banana with our oatmeal or cereal every morning. Apparently the common banana you get at the market these days is the Cavendish.

Those big long bananas you see at the market everywhere ripen too quickly for us. We prefer the apple bananas which are more of a serving size and ripen at a slower pace.

We've had some pretty interesting bananas pop up that we get from the farmer's market.

These two conjoined bananas were fun to see. We wondered what it would look like on the inside. They were perfectly fine. It's just the skin that was joined together. 

And here's another banana with a mind of its own. 😄

Have you seen any interesting produce lately?

Sprouting Potatoes are Toxic? Really?

I read somewhere that eating sprouting potatoes was not safe. Apparently there are toxins produced at the sprouts. I've never thrown away sprouting potatoes. I just snapped off the sprouts.

Sheesh!

I looked up this problem online and there's a lot about how they can be poisonous. Who knew? Not me.

I got this from the Eating Well website:

Why Is It Not Safe to Eat Sprouted Potatoes?

Sprouting means that the toxin levels are too high and the potato is no longer safe for consumption. According to Diana M. Pei, Pharm. D., a certified specialist in poison information, on Poison.org, solanine and chaconine can cause symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal pain, irregular bowel movements, diarrhea, headache, brain fog, redness or a flushed complexion, confusion or fever.

There have been a few cases of death after eating toxic potatoes, but generally you can treat symptoms at home. The onset of symptoms is typically within a few hours, but it can take up to a day, in some cases.

Death? Seriously? But then it also said:

"Unfortunately, cooking does not destroy these compounds, so it's not advisable to prepare or eat potatoes with the sprouts or green parts," says Harris-Pincus. "However, it is probably OK to eat potatoes that have sprouted if you can cut away the entire sprout and any green-tinged parts of the potato, and if they are not wrinkly and shriveled," she adds.

You definitely want to be more careful if you plan on eating potatoes with the skin on in general, as that's where toxins reside. Harris-Pincus says, "I use a paring knife to dig out the eyes once I have snapped off the sprout and if there is more than a small area that looks green, I throw away the potato."

OK... Yay! I do remove the skins of potatoes! However, I guess I'll also dig out a bit more of the sprouted areas... just to be safe. 

Reducing Anxiety on a Trip

I saw something somewhere about a way to reduce one thing that might cause you a moment (or a lot) of anxiety as you start on a trip.

Take a photo of your stove or anything else you think you'll possibly forget to turn off before leaving your home.

You might think that’s funny, BUT there was one (I think it was just one time) where we drove off on a trip and I wondered if we’d turned off the stove. We were living in Illinois at the time. I kept worrying about it, so we actually drove all the way home just to be absolutely sure.

Soooo…. I’m thinking, yes. Next time we go on a trip, I’m going to take a photo of the stove and the ceiling fans. I’m notorious for forgetting to turn off the ceiling fan when I leave the room for a length of time. Hmmm… What about windows? I would want to make sure I closed them all. If you lived on the mainland, you’d want to make sure you lowered the temperature on your thermostat in winter.

What photos would you take before leaving the house on a trip?

Art just said, "Wouldn't it be just as helpful to have a checklist instead?"

NOTE:

Something screwy is going on with Blogger. I haven't touched the setting, but comments are defaulting to Anonymous for many people. I tested it on my iPad and iPhone and it defaulted to Anonymous too. When I changed it to my Google account, it wouldn't allow my comment to post at all. On the other hand, it worked OK on my desktop computer and laptop. I don't know what's going on. Therefore, unfortunately.... until this is cleared up...when you comment under Anonymous would you just write your name in the comment box? 

Library Fun!

We've been going to the library every week since I started FaceTime sessions with my six and four year old grandsons in Maryland. I'm getting lots of book suggestions from other teacher friends here in Hawaii and Illinois. 

I would look up the library website, put in my library card # and then proceed to put books on Hold, Renew or whatever. 

I had forgotten that a long while ago I'd downloaded the Hawaii Library app on my iPhone. 

When I clicked on the app the other day, I saw I was already signed in and could go to the HOLDS and see what books were already waiting for me at the library and what books were in transit. 

Gosh! It made my life so much easier.

When I went to pick up books the last time I was there and happened to have 17 childrens books in my arms, I asked what the limit was. The librarian smiled and said there is no limit on books. He also suggested other sources. Since I read 8 books to the boys in one FaceTime session the last time I met with them, the books are returned to the library quite quickly.

I love it! If you know any books you think I should read to them, please let me know. Just know that I must have read all the Mercer Mayer and Leo Lionni books that I knew they would like. JD has also read all the Dragon Masters and Hilo books. But then there's Julia Donaldson, Stuart Murphy, Chris Gall, Ryan T. Higgins, etc. 😄

Fighting Mynahs

One morning, we were settling down to breakfast when very LOUD squabbling bird squawks and shrieks came from our yard. I looked outside our door to see two pairs of mynahs rolling around and fighting. 

I tried to take a photo but I knew that if I went outside they would fly away. Art rushed upstairs to take a photo from the 2nd floor, but when he opened the window, they flew away. 

I looked online to research what the mynahs were up to and found this YouTube video of exactly what we saw.

We have seen other occasions where a pair might be fighting and other surrounding mynahs would be squawking boisterously egging them on and hurling insults or encouragement. I've read that they could be fighting over a mango, a female bird, food or territory.

I guess I didn't realize how much like humans mynahs were. And that's not a great thing.

Popolo Berries/Bittersweet Nightshade

We were at our friend, Myra's house here in Hawaii recently to borrow a book and I noticed a large familiar looking bush on the side of the house. It brought back memories. 

Our daughter, Tiffany was about 5 years old (back in Illinois many moons ago) and was playing with her little friend, Kevin outside. I was in the garage. They found me there and said our neighbor, "Uncle" Leonard had told them to try some berries that were in the garden which he said were currants. I knew we didn't have any berries in the garden so I asked them to show me the plant. I suspected this was not good, but Tif said she'd only had one berry.

I called the poison control center and described the plant. They told me to quickly give the kids Syrup of Ipecac. I took the kids over to Kevin's house and his mom and I took them outside into the backyard and gave them Syrup of Ipecac which caused Kevin to vomit, but took Tif over an hour to get rid of the contents of her tummy onto our carpet instead.

I told Myra about this incident and expressed my concern about her large plant. She said her friend had told her it was actually medicinal and a Hawaiian variety called Popolo which means black. Myra said she'd been eating the berries for quite a while with no ill effects.

I looked up the Popolo berries and found this article from the Bishop Museum. 

The Popolo berries are black but I think the Bittersweet Nightshade in our garden which grew like weeds were red. 

Myra sent me an article from Ke Ola Magazine and it's true. It is supposed to have medicinal qualities for a number of ailments. 

There is a caution however:

According to Dr. Roger Baldwin, author of the book, Hawai‘i’s Poisonous Plants, “This plant is highly toxic on the mainland, but Polynesians have used a variety that is both nontoxic and delicious. Until about 40 years ago it was safe to eat wild pōpolos. Then the toxic mainland variety was introduced to Hawai‘i, so now it is not safe to eat wild pōpolos. If you grow the nontoxic Polynesian variety it should be safe to eat. The rule now is: don’t eat pōpolos unless you know they are nontoxic, and don’t ever eat pōpolos from the mainland.”

When I'd told "Uncle" Leonard about the berries he apologized profusely and said he'd seen birds eat them and thought they were perfectly safe.

I found this explanation on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website:

Though toxic to people, bittersweet nightshade berries provide an important fall and winter food source for birds, who happily eat the fruit and spread the seeds. With this dissemination help, along with creeping, rooting stems, the plant has become a stubbornly noxious weed in much of the United States.

The caution in all this I guess is to make sure you're getting the correct variety from the nursery center or a friend who knows what they're doing.

 

Which Booster? Pfizer or Moderna???

Mom, Art and I all got Pfizer for our first two shots. Mom got the 1st Pfizer booster shot from Kaiser and her 2nd booster will probably be Pfizer as well.  Art and I decided to be more adventurous and got Moderna for the 1st booster.

Art and I are scheduled to go on a Viking cruise of Scandinavian countries that has been postponed twice since 2020. We are nervous. First, there's the LOOOONG plane rides. Then the actual cruise. 

Up to now we'd been hoping and hoping for a 2nd booster of any type before our cruise. Incredibly, it's now available and just in time for our trip in a couple of months.

We would have been thrilled to get ANY booster before, BUT now that we have a choice of Moderna or Pfizer, we're thinking and thinking which we should get. 

Should we stick to the Moderna half dose or go back to the Pfizer full dose? 😖 I looked and looked online and there doesn't seem to be any really clear, definitive answer.

I found this information on the cnet website:

During a mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccine trial funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (before omicron was the dominant variant), boosters from all three vaccine companies induced good immune responses in roughly 450 people who got different vaccines. In the study, Moderna's booster gave the most robust response. However, that study examined a full dose of Moderna, rather than the authorized half-dose of the company's booster, which could minimize Moderna's edge over Pfizer, as The Atlantic reported. 

If you're looking to switch from Pfizer to Moderna, or vice versa, the answer on a benefit may be a little less clear than the data or recommendations for Johnson & Johnson. But Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines are "not interchangeable," Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular research at Scripps Research said on Twitter while suggesting the differences between the vaccines may give enough of a benefit for someone to consider a switch.

Are you getting the 2nd booster? Which one do you plan to get? 

Washing Your Lettuce

A long while ago I washed my lettuce and then soaked it in a water-vinegar solution ahead of time before a party and put it in our fridge. When I took it out a couple of hours later, the lettuce had all wilted so I didn't do that again.

I checked the Food and Drug Administration website and found this:

1. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce.
2. If damage or bruising occurs before eating or handling, cut away the damaged or bruised areas before preparing or eating.
3. Rinse produce BEFORE you peel it, so dirt and bacteria aren’t transferred from the knife onto the fruit or vegetable.
4. Gently rub produce while holding under plain running water. There’s no need to use soap or a produce wash.
5. Use a clean vegetable brush to scrub firm produce, such as melons and cucumbers.
6. Dry produce with a clean cloth or paper towel to further reduce bacteria that may be present.
7. Remove the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage.

So how to clean your lettuce.

Hmmmmm...

Here's what I do. 

We like the green or red leaf lettuce though the green leaf lettuce seems to hardier. 

I snap the lettuce leaves apart toward the stem and quickly rinse off any dirt before placing them in a bowl of water.

I soak the leaves in water for about half an hour to allow additional debris to fall off. It's amazing how even wilted looking leaves will perk up beautifully.

I then lightly spray the leaves with water before placing them in the salad spinner to get as much of the water off the lettuce.

Once dry, I put the lettuce in a plastic container after placing a dry paper towel at the bottom to soak up any left over moisture.

It has worked out quite well for us. I've had lettuce last 3 days with this method. 

I don't know if it's correct, but it's the best I can do.

I was talking to my grandson about vegetables and he told me he HATES lettuce. 🙄  Ahhh well...

(I did try to come up with an April Fool's post but came out empty. Sorry about that.)

Follow-Up Info From a Commenter About Blind Mullets

I wrote a blog post a bit ago about Hawaiian pidgin and the use of "blind mullet" to refer to a person who can't see what's right in front of them. 

Commenter BB wrote to Bob Sigall who is a columnist for the Star Advertiser newspaper here in Hawaii and got this information on his website Rearview Mirror Insider.

"Nanako *** wrote, "A local blogger I subscribe to, Kay, mentioned Blind Mullet. As one cannot see something in plain sight. She couldn't find any reference on the internet. I've heard it too.

“Mullets are tasty, but nowhere does it mention a sight issue. Maybe in how they fished??? Can you use your journalistic super powers to find out where we got blind mullet from?"

I first heard the term “Blind Mullet” from a newspaper story about the underground steams of Moiliili.

Mike Markrich wrote, in his “From the sea” column, “The corner of University Avenue and King Street may not seem like the kind of place where someone could catch a lot of fish. But when the floor of the Moiliili Department Store dropped into a huge underground cavern in 1952, people came from all over the island to see and catch the blind mullet and black carp that lived below the ground.” 

Tom *** was quoted as saying the fish in the cave were ''fine sea mullet, although the water was icy cold and fresh. And as they took no notice of our lights, we surmised that they were blind."

Sonny *** remembers seeing such mullet when his company was laying pipes below King Street. He said he knew the mullet were blind because "the eyes were completely white."

“Bishop Museum cave biologist Frank Howarth said such caverns sometimes provide safe habitats for fish. The fish do not need eyesight underground to escape predators and as a result are able to live and reproduce. Howarth said blind fish have other senses that became developed.

This photo came from the 2006 Star Bulletin archives. 

“Fish collector Glenn *** observed that all of the blind or nearly blind mosquito fish that he caught from the King Street site were able to instinctively avoid any obstacles that he put in his tank. There are said to be other kinds of marine life living below ground as well, such as blind shrimp, catfish and black carp.”

So gee... There really ARE blind mullets!!!

And as Paul Harvey used to say, (this is for the older timers) "And that's the rest of the story."

Thank you, BB!  Now, I'll have to think of some other weird pidgin stuff we say but don't know why or where it came from.

Greeted By a Rose

Art and I like to do our morning walks before the sun comes up when it's cooler. 

On this particular morning I was surprised to see this rose that had escaped the border fence and was poking its head out to greet me.

On the way home, we decided to follow the same route so I could take this photo.

With so many worrying news that keep darkening too many of our mornings isn’t it funny how a little thing like a single rose can perk up your day?

Did something special brighten your Monday morning?