Luncheon With Friends

We have long time friends we met at our tai chi class many years ago. We've traveled together to Europe and had a wonderful time. Our next trip together will be to China in April if all goes well.

We had a luncheon at our house last week which made it even more comfortable than a restaurant since we wouldn't have to worry about a time crunch and we could move around easily.

Cal and Myra picked up all the bento lunches for the group. Kay (yup, another Kay) and Calvin brought over a fruit plate and even shared dragon fruit ice cream that Kay made for all of us. Terry and Craig brought a huge box of fun Samanco fish shaped ice cream sandwiches. 

Myra and Cal also brought a huge watermelon for us and a pack of mochi for mom. 

And oh yes! Mom loved having those desserts for several days after dinner. She was in absolute dessert heaven.

And that watermelon?  (I know I mentioned this on Monday’s post.)

Art noticed that it didn't have a yellow patch at the bottom and wondered if it would be good.

But when Art cut the watermelon a couple of days later, he discovered it was VERY good indeed. It was fresh and very sweet! 

So I guess the guidelines I wrote about earlier is nice, but it doesn't mean you won't get a good watermelon if you don't follow those rules.

It was a wonderful get-together of good friends and needless to say mom will love our hosting another friends luncheon as well.

Picking a Good Watermelon

Art has always preferred getting a watermelon for his birthday instead of a cake. His parents owned a mom and pop restaurant when he was a kid and he feels he had enough sweets then to last a lifetime.

However, he has always loved watermelon. 

It was therefore rather ironic that his favorite daughter (OK, only daughter) Tiffany is allergic to it. 

This photo was from 2014 when Tif was visiting us with her family.

It's now watermelon season and Art has started seeing watermelon in huge bins at Sam's Club.

Art and his sister who also loves watermelon learned all the tricks to choosing the perfect watermelon.

This year, my brother's wife texted this chart for us to look at. And yes, we've always followed those guidelines except #2 and #4. We didn't consider the dullness coloring or the webbing. We'll have to try to remember that too next time.

Whatever the case, the watermelon we chose was perfectly sweet and wonderful.

I wonder if they make watermelon cake.

Just kidding... 😂

POSTSCRIPT:

Our friends brought over a watermelon that didn't have any of the requirements and it was fabulous!

A Gift of the Past

One of our dearest friends, Terry passed away last year in Illinois. It was an absolute shock! She and her husband, Jim were surrogate auntie and uncle to our two children, Tiffany and Keola since our own families were all in Hawaii.

Jim was Art's closest friend after meeting each other at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago where they worked. Whenever we needed help in anything, Jim was there. Terry took Tiffany for her first beauty shop expedition where she got her first professional haircut. The photo above is when Jim and Terry took us for a sail on Lake Michigan. You can see Chicago in the background.

We got a surprise package from Jim a couple of weeks ago. It was filled with lots of photos that Terry had taken of the kids. I imagine Jim is downsizing from their large home now.

They were photos Terry took of fun moments in our lives... in our children's lives. What really hit me was that the photos were not posed. 

Right: Yes, I have a few (very few) photos I took of natural moments of Tif and Keola when they were little... but very few. 

I wonder if Tif wanted a sister since she used to dress Keola in her clothes.

So these photos from Jim really hit me.

The ones on the left are what came. They were pretty yellowed with age. So I scanned them and then put them through PhotoShop.

It really captures how Tif and Keola have had this special bond since they were very, very little and it warmed my heart.

We're missing Terry now... and we'll see Jim when we return to Chicago to visit Tiffany and family in fall.

I texted Jim right away, thanking him for this gift of the past and all they did for us then.

POSTSCRIPT:

And those two kids? Here they are again several decades later.

This photo was taken during a family trip to Japan.

Remembering the Past?

When we took mom on the Skyline (Hawaii's sort of new rail system) for the first time, we were able to pass the town of Waipahu. 

We'd move to Waipahu when I was about 7 or 8. My brother, Dennis is 3 years younger. Because we were isolated in a more distant location away from many playmates prior to the move to Waipahu my brother and I were and are very close and did everything together.

Anyway, as Art, mom and I passed through Waipahu, we looked out the window and saw what used to be that sleepy plantation town.

It bothered me when I saw that lone sugar cane processing company smoke stack. 

We'd been living in Illinois for 35 years when the sugar plantation closed down. So much on the island of Oahu has changed. It is the most populated of all the islands in Hawaii.

But gosh! I could have sworn there were TWO smoke stacks.

And then I saw this newspaper photo from 1960 that I'd kept on my computer a long time ago. OHO!!! There's the two smoke stacks!!!

So I texted Dennis.

OK...

He's always been known to have a much better memory than me.

Then I recalled another memory of my mango tree climbing days. I thought I'd often climbed up that tall tree.

So I texted him...

And this is what he said.

I disagree. I can picture myself climbing out our living room window onto the garage roof and then onto the mango tree limb and up the trunk.

I really do.

I really really do.

I think.

Tomato Quandary

I guess we're still going to plant tomatoes.

We bought the Akoya tomatoes in April. We'd gone to Home Depot and they didn't have any tomato plants. Well, I think they had a few but they were dying. 

City Mill had only the Akoya variety so we bought it.

However, the small plant did start to produce rather larger sized cherry tomatoes pretty quickly. At last count (Yes, Art counted 😂), we'd gotten a little over 90 tomatoes from it.

But as you can see...it's dying. 

The leaves just slowly dried up no matter how much water I gave it.

However, now Art liked the idea of growing our own tomatoes. So we stopped at the Navy Exchange garden shop and checked to see if they had tomatoes. And surprise! There were a LOT of DIFFERENT kinds of tomatoes in different sized pots. 

So there we were checking online with our phones to see what kind of tomatoes there were. Art's sister is an avid gardener and had mentioned something about an indeterminate vs. determinate tomato variety. Sheesh! I'd never heard of that. I just knew bigger tomatoes vs. cherry tomatoes.

So we looked it up while standing there in the garden shop. And this is what we found on this Homes and Gardens website: 

Determinate Tomatoes:

Determinate tomatoes are generally smaller than indeterminate varieties. They are more compact tomato plants that grow to a fixed size and do not continue to grow throughout the season. This growing habit does impact their fruiting, which happens during one period rather than continuously throughout the summer, and earlier than indeterminate types.

Indeterminate Tomatoes:

Indeterminate tomatoes make up the majority of tomato varieties. They continue to grow taller throughout the season and continually produce fruits all the way through to when the frosts hit.

The plants can get very tall, between six and ten feet, and need sturdy supports as they grow. Whereas determinate varieties have shorter and wider growth habit, indeterminate types grow vertically and need to be trained as tall and narrow plants. 

Trouble is there was only ONE kind of Indeterminate tomatoes. Only one and it didn't look very healthy. It was called Husky Red VFA. 

I got the following from AI Overview.

The Husky Red (often Husky Red F1) is a dwarf indeterminate tomato that combines the compact habit of a determinate plant with the season-long production of an indeterminate. Reaching 3 to 4.5 feet tall, it is perfect for containers, patios, and small spaces. 

Key Growing & Care Info

• Container Size: Requires at least a 5 to 10-gallon container to allow for full root development and maximum yield.
• Support: Despite its short stature, it features sturdy central stems with thick foliage and still benefits greatly from a tomato cage or stake.
• Harvest Timeline: Produces 5 to 7-ounce, globe-shaped slicing tomatoes in about 68 to 78 days.
• Disease Resistance: Known for its high tolerance to Verticillium Wilt, Fusarium Wilt, Gray Leaf Spot, and Alternaria Stem Canker. (This is what the VFA signified.)

OK... so we'll nurse this Husky Red tomato in the pot until Art is able to count the last Akoya harvest and then we can transplant the Husky Red in the same place after I compost the soil.  Fingers crossed the Husky Red is able to grow a longer period that the Akoya.

We shall see. 

Marauding Herb Rabbits

Our daughter, Tiffany often calls us on her way home from work.

The other day she mentioned that our son-in-law who is a master of the kitchen had been growing Thai basil in a backyard planter. 

The basil had been growing very well and he'd been watching its progress happily each day. But then... one morning, to his horror... the basil was gone!

And yes, they knew who the culprits were.

Rabbits. 

And then... they discovered that the rabbits weren't sticking to their usual diet. They were also now eating the hostas! 

What the heck! I've never heard of them eating hostas before.

OK so they're eating whatever is available in the backyard.

But as you can see... they're now in the front yard. I don't think it can see Tiffany's Thai basil because it's in a taller planter. I've read that rabbits do have a keen sense of smell, and basil does smell doesn't it?

They have a lot more summer left in Illinois. How long before they find her basil and how long before they decide the hostas in the front might be edible too? 

Uh oh... I just looked online and it says rabbits LOVE hostas. 😕

POSTSCRIPT:

I saw the cartoon in the morning comics several days ago.

RIMPAC Welcoming Our Allies

Art and I had gone to the commissary to get some groceries after my vertigo physical therapy session. We decided to have our lunch at the food court there.

While enjoying our shared plate lunch we looked over the balcony railing and saw the flags welcoming the nations who were here for RIMPAC.

The sign says ALOHA & WELCOME RIMPAC. Noticing the flags we made a contest between us to see who could recognize more flags. OK... Japan, Canada, Britain, Korea, Sweden, Australia, Mexico. And then... hmmmm... (You know I could never be on the Jeopardy game show.)

This is from the Hawaii New Now website: 

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The world’s largest maritime training event kicked off Wednesday at Pearl Harbor.

Forty maritime vessels and five submarines from 31 nations are gathered in waters off Hawaii for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026.

There also 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 service members participating in this biennial exercise.

Military leaders say RIMPAC fosters a spirit of cooperation and inter-operability between the participating countries.

And from the Navy website, I got the countries that were participating:

As much as it's nice to see the participation of the countries biennially, there is worry that the testing of the live bombs and missiles on our waters are harming the ocean creatures living here.

It's hard...

However, it was fun to see members from other countries walking about the commissary and hoping they were enjoying their stay in Hawaii.

How many can you recognize?

Dog Danger?

A good friend of mine recently sent me a text saying a close family relative was in the hospital. They'd thought it might have been a heart or lung problem. 

"But what started it all was a scratch he got while working in his yard. He didn't take care of it, didn't put a band aid on it and for a few weeks allowed his dog to lick it which resulted in a blood infection.

One morning he couldn't walk so his wife thought it was his heart. He's sedated now to give his heart, lungs and body a rest while fighting the infection. It's so scary."

This reminds me of the time when Art got a dog bite at our school. Once he retired, Art had been volunteering in my 1st grade classroom listening to my students read stories to him that they had written. 

One day, as he walked to his car, a dog ran up to him and bit his hand. The dog's owner had been walking the dog around our school. Art walked back into our school to have the wound cleaned before going home. He chuckled later saying our principal was actually thrilled. She and our custodians had been trying to get his woman to stop walking her dog on school property for a long time and she would not listen thinking the children would love her dog. Our principal implored Art to take the dog owners to court. 

Art then followed up with a trip to the hospital just to make sure his wound could be treated carefully.

And yes, he did go to court and was surprised when the owner's husband who happened to be a lawyer told Art that they were sending the dog away from the school area. The city agreed to settle this out of court. Our principal and teachers were elated.

Please know that Art loves dogs and his family had a dog their entire lives. Our children dog sat for friends all the time. But we've always been careful.

I looked online to see just how dangerous dog saliva can be and found this on Continental Hospitals website:

I also saw this on another website:

I asked my friend a few days later how her relative was doing.

She answered that they were shocked to learn he had passed away.

Wow....

Who Should be Arrested for Damaging the Lincoln Reflecting Pool?

I don't know if you've all heard of or seen the videos of Trump's entourage driving over the reflecting pool on May 7th after it had been painted.

So now they're arresting people who are picking up the peeling paint to see what it looks like. And the Park Service that Trump controls is saying someone with a box cutter has damaged the pool.

Really?

POSTSCRIPT: 

I saw in the news last night that former Olympian David Hearn could received 10 years in jail for "destruction of property relating to incident at Reflecting pool."

Seriously?

You have got to be kidding! Then again, I'm so glad a lot of people turned out to support him through this crazy ordeal.

Finding Money, I Think

Art goes jogging VERY early in the morning before the sun is up. Invariably, he finds coins that people have dropped. It's usually pennies. If it's silver, he's quite excited, but it's quite rare. 

We have a good friend who goes walking in his town (he knows who he is, if he reads this) and he keeps find quarters and MORE... and  quite a bit of it. I told him he lives in a much wealthier neighborhood. 😏

Anyway, on this morning I was surprised to see a bunch of coins Art had proudly displayed on the kitchen counter before coming upstairs to take a nap before I woke up.

He said he found them on the roadway where a LOT of cars must have trampled over them. You can see that one side of the penny is hardly distinguishable as money. However, when you turn it over, it's definitely a Lincoln penny.

I uploaded the first photo to ChatGPT but it said I needed to upload a better photo so I did.

OK, so ChatGPT still doesn't think these are actually quarters and a nickel. I did show two photos for ChatGPT to try to identify them.

Hmmm... I'm going to have to disagree.

Then again... would a bank accept this? 😏

Amazing First Ladies

One of my very dear teacher buddies, Judy posted this photo on our chat group. I love that even though I've been away from my Illinois teacher buddies now since 2006, we still keep in touch almost every day.

This is the photo she posted. 

The photo was taken at the opening of the new Obama Presidential Center. I was then interested to see what degrees each woman had.

Jill Biden: (Whitehouse Historical Association) Jill Biden holds four academic degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Delaware (1975), a Master of Education from West Chester University (1981), a Master of Arts from Villanova University (1987), and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership from the University of Delaware (2007).

Michelle Obama: (White House Historical Association) After graduating from public school, Michelle earned her B.A. in sociology from Princeton University in 1985 and then attended Harvard Law School, receiving her Juris Doctor three years later.

Laura Bush: (Wikipedia) Born in Midland, Texas, Bush graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in education, and took a job as a second grade teacher. After attaining her master's degree in library science at the University of Texas at Austin, she was employed as a librarian.

Hillary Clinton: (Prezi) Hillary liked school and was a straight A student. She maintained a 4.0 gpa through Junior High and High School. Hillary graduated with honors as a National Merit Scholarship finalist from Maine South High School, Park Ridge, Illinois. She attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She graduated Wellesley college in 1969. Hillary was accepted to Yale University Law School and graduated with honors in 1973.

Some people forget what amazing, brilliant women these men (who happened to be our past presidents) were married to. And yes, the guys were smart too. 😄

Unbelievably Weird Toenails

When I used to hear of friends taking care of their parents in their old age with worsening dementia, I didn't fully comprehend what it all meant. Not really.

One day, as I tried to cut her really, really weird toenails after a bath, I goofed and cut some skin. 😮 When I saw the blood, it totally blew me away. I was aghast and felt horrible! Mom on the other hand, flinched and then forgot about it. 😳

When I mentioned it to my brother, he said he could do it because his toenails curved too. Granted, when he saw just how weird her nails were, he was also taken aback.

(Luckily, my daughter had bought some nail cutting tools for us when we were on a trip to Japan several years ago.)

Dennis comes over on Sunday mornings to take mom for a walk in the neighborhood. After her walk, he trimmed her nails (very) carefully. I heard a lot of laughing and he was able to do a wonderful job. A job that is now his, definitely his...permanently his. 😁

Japanese View of American Politics?

My daughter recently sent me this diagram that she found somewhere. She knows I can always use ideas for my blog posts.

I added a translation so you can see what the Japanese words are.

I'm not exactly sure what the Democratic guy is signaling to the girl. Hmmm.... I should write my cousin in Japan and ask.

Ahhh.... so Democrats prefer sushi to fried chicken? Soul music to Country music? I like folk music myself. Hmm..... small gas economy car to gas guzzling truck. (OK, we do have a Prius hybrid.) New York Times to Wall Street Journal. CNN to FOX. Sure.

Wait a minute. Basketball vs. Baseball? Seriously? Art and the whole family and lots of my Illinois friends are die hard (Wait 'til next year) Cubs fans. Well, I'm sure they're Bulls fans too.

It's very hard to generalize a Democrat vs. Republican. I think.

POSTSCRIPT: I asked my Japanese cousin-in-law about that Democratic boy and girl relationship. She says it infers Democratic couples tend to be more relaxed and informal. I guess they haven't seen those clips of MAGA women wearing those t-shirts saying, "Trump can grab my pussy."

Now It's the Hearing?!?

I'm sorry, but this is another post about caregiving and what we also need to watch for in ourselves. 

For some time now we've been noticing mom's lack of focus. If we're talking to her and she's not looking at us, it looks as though her dementia is causing her to not hear us.

When she's turned away from us and we say something to her, she might just walk away. 

Watching TV was no longer fun for her. But then, when I turned the TV on to a Japanese program she could be interested in, she asked that I turn the volume on really high.

That's when I wondered.... could it actually be her hearing that is deteriorating? Is this possible? I thought her primary care and geriatric care doctors had looked into her ears so I figured it must be OK.

However, I decided to make an appointment with an audiologist at Moanalua's Kaiser Hospital. The audiologist looked into her left ear and then her right ear. He said the left ear was completely blocked with old hardened ear wax. The right was not quite as bad but was also not good. He would not be able to check her hearing with all that blockage.

He kindly found a date next month where we could have her ears cleaned and then go back to him and have her hearing checked.

The audiologist also instructed us to be sure to get the earwax removal kit that listed Carbamide Peroxide on it and to start cleaning her ears twice a day for 4 days prior to the appointment.

I'm wondering what will happen when her ears are cleared. 

I'm glad I won't have to raise my voice anymore. The neighbors must be wondering why I'm shouting so much these days.

I've read that hearing is very important for the elderly. I just saw this on the Johns Hopkins website:

Hearing loss and the brain

If you have hearing loss, you have a greater chance of developing dementia, according to a 2020 Lancet commission report that lists hearing loss as one of the top risk factors for dementia.

Brain strain and social isolation

Hearing loss can make the brain work harder, forcing it to strain to hear and fill in the gaps. That comes at the expense of other thinking and memory systems. Another possibility: Hearing loss causes the aging brain to shrink more quickly. A third possibility is that hearing loss leads people to be less socially engaged, which is hugely important to remaining intellectually stimulated. If you can't hear very well, you may not go out as much, so the brain is less engaged and active.

Ohhh gosh....

 Well, we'll see what we find out next month after all the ear cleaning and audiology check-up.

Sigh...

POSTSCRIPT 1: We made an appointment to have Art's ears cleaned and I decided I'd have them check my ears too. This was a wake up call.

POSTSCRIPT 2: Since mom's ears are extra bad, I wrote to the Kaiser audiologist if I should just start using the Debrox a little now. He called me the next day and said I should just do the drops 4 days before and not overdo it. I really appreciated his kind phone call and will abide by his advice. I guess we'll see what they discover about her hearing in about 2 weeks.

A Care Home for Mom?

Art has often joked that we are running a care home. And to an extent, I guess we are. Our lives now revolve around mom's care. We had to modify the bathrooms in her living area to make it safer for her. Our lives are governed by those free times afforded us when she is at her day care from 7:30 when the Handi-Van picks her up until 3:00 on weekdays. 

Last Friday was Juneteenth so it was a holiday and mom was home from her day care which she absolutely loves going to. Art suggested doing something special with her (even though she will forget it all once it's over).

I was washing some garlic chives (nira) which I'd promised our Buddhist priest that I would bring for him. He is from Japan and loves this herb, like mom. 

Meanwhile, Art decided to pluck mom's eyebrows. She draws her eyebrows rather far above her actual brow so there's a lot of hair under it which can be seen. She's asked me to give her a razor to shave it. No way! 

Then she asked ME to shave it. No! That is way too spooky! I said I would pluck it, but she refused saying it would hurt. Well... while I was in the kitchen Art just told her to sit and he plucked it all. 

I walked in and caught this sight. She never flinched or showed that it hurt and was very happy to have it done by him. 😏

Once that was done, we stopped at our Buddhist temple where I dropped off the garlic chives for our priest. He happily spent time talking in Japanese to mom which she really enjoyed. There are so few people who she can speak to in Japanese now.

Once we left the temple, Art drove us to Don Don Donki in Kapolei where he planned to have us pick up some bentos for lunch.

Mom saw the unagi (freshwater eel) that she's always loved but said we shouldn't buy it for her because it was too expensive. It was about $15.00.

We knew that once she was done eating it, she would forget she had enjoyed it. She lives in the moment. But what the heck, we got it for her. 

Art and I just shared a chicken and salmon bento which... ummm... wasn't great. Ah well. 

And yes she loved every bite. We kept half for the following day so she could enjoy it again.

Once she had her nap, I gave her a hair cut which she was happy about and then helped her with her bath. 

I'm thinking back to my younger days when I was still dating. Once mom met Art he was the son-in-law she wanted. She said she didn't want to jinx things by stating her preference. But when I called to tell her that I'd accepted Art's proposal, she was over the moon. 

At our wedding, one of my aunts asked where I'd found Art because she wanted one like him for her daughter. 

And yes, mom is grateful for Art everyday and she still thanks him for the delicious food he prepares for her, all the places he takes her and all the little/big things he does for her. Even with her dementia, she doesn't forget. 

A Treasure for My Brother

I have been slowly cleaning out some things from mom's closet and dresser that she no longer has any use for. There were Japanese wooden trays that I donated to the Buddhist temple for their rummage sale. There were clothes she no longer uses or fits in which I also donated. 

When I checked her drawer I found a lot of things like decades old plastic shower caps and very old brooches (I thought this jewelry was spelled broaches but I guess I was wrong) she worse.

When my brother was over to take mom for a walk, I asked him if there was anything he might like to keep since I was trying to clear out her drawers.

He said there was just one thing that he would dearly like to have. "Her sewing marker."

Seriously? Wow! I would never have guessed that! I remember that marker. Mom once worked as a seamstress before she began work at the Hawaii Times Ltd. Japanese language newspaper.

Her antique sewing machine has not been used in decades.

I do remember her sitting in front of it and pressing up and down on that treadle pedal. I remember people coming over to be fitted with the clothes she sewed.

I remember playing on it when my 3 year old brother, Dennis stuck his hand under the needle. That was the only time my mom swatted my bottom. (It wasn't my fault. 😢)

"It's a whalebone marker," said Dennis. “It's perfect for folding creases on paper when making paper airplanes or any art project.” Dennis inherited all the art talent in the family which he passed down to his sons.

Soooo... we went to mom's singer machine which she no longer touches anymore. I knew just what he was talking about because I also used it when I learned how to sew in grade school (probably 6th grade or so). 

And there it was! Dennis held it like it was some precious golden sword. He was thrilled! Wow! I would have told him to take it years ago if I knew how special it was to him.

I looked it up online and found this.

There's not a lot of things mom kept because she was one for throwing things away or giving them away when not needed. She did not like clutter. And now, because of her dementia, I have to simplify her surroundings as much as I can.

I know how happy she would feel if she could remember the joy of her son having her sewing marker.

POSTSCRIPT:

I showed mom a photo on my phone of my brother holding the marker. I told her how happy Dennis was to get her sewing marker.

She asked, "What is that?" 

F'ELON and FELON?

My daughter was driving through Chicago with our granddaughter and came across this sight. Tiffany told KC to take a photo and send it to grandma (that's me).

It's a Tesla with a rather unusual sticker near its bumper.

I've seen newer Teslas that have that big T removed.

The TESLA "T" logo is now pretty hard to see on the newer Teslas.

This is from AI Overview:

Yes, Tesla’s sales have been declining. The company reported a second consecutive year of falling annual vehicle deliveries, dropping from 1.79 million in 2024 to 1.63 million in 2025, which also resulted in the company losing its title as the world's top-selling EV maker to China's BYD. 

The downward trajectory and sales slump have continued through 2026, driven by a few primary factors: 

• End of Tax Credits: The removal of the $7,500 U.S. federal EV tax credit caused a significant hit to domestic demand. 
• Increased Competition: Tesla is facing intense competition and market share erosion from heavily established and emerging EV manufacturers across the U.S., Europe, and China
  .
   
Brand Sentiment: Customer polling and analysts suggest that consumer polarization regarding CEO Elon Musk has negatively impacted brand perception and purchase consideration.

So there you have it, I guess. 

I looked on line and saw a LOT of stickers along the same theme. 

Thank you, Tif and KC for a fun blog post.