Solitude, that is.  DH’s stepdad died rather suddenly, and he went off to help his mom deal with all the “stuff” that follows a death. We are short-handed at work, and I was scheduled for several night shifts in the coming week. No one volunteers to cover extra night shifts!  And, the beasts still needed to be fed and looked after. Upshot was that I stayed home to (wo)man the Hranch. I confess that I Continue reading

DH is off to the mainland to help his mom. Her husband died rather suddenly on Sunday, and he went to help her through the process of dealing with all the things that must be done in such situations.  He, of course, is usually home all day, and therefore can throw toys, shag golf balls, play rope tug-o-war and run around with Akamai to keep him from getting bored. The Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix has Continue reading

You may recall that I walked out of church on Pentecost Sunday nearly a year ago, no longer willing to listen to the rantings of a misogynist, gay-bashing, lying, venom-spewing, hate-mongering “man of God.”  I spent Sunday mornings reading the lessons, listening to podcasts of sermons and reading lectionary commentary. DH continued to attend in order to lend support to the choir and the organist. When the minister finally succeeded in effecting the resignation of Continue reading

Breathe. It’s over for another year!

The sign said “Your Tax Dollars At Work. Upgrade of Carvalho Park in Progress.” The park abutted a stand of jungle filled with palm, hau, banyan, and ohia trees. Ginger, cup of gold, morning glory and hibiscus grew beneath them.  Vines twined their way up the trees. Bulldozers knocked down the trees, then ripped the ground clean. All vegetation was cleared, and then the heavy equipment came in and started moving gravel: piling it, pounding Continue reading

I STILL get angry. I was in fourth grade.  My teacher was very proud of my spelling ability, and was anxious for me to compete in the spelling bee. My first word was presented: “ah…..BAIT,” said the moderator. “ABATE,” I spelled. “Wrong,” she said.  I was devastated.  My teacher, bless her soul forever, cried foul and pointed out that the word had been mispronounced, and demanded that I be given another chance, which I was. Continue reading

Father Moki used part the Old Testament lectionary text last week as his sermon topic: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. He expounded on how we need to have “Jesus time” or “Chiros” instead of “Chronos.” Chronos is that time we measure: human created and counted.  Chiros is that time as measured (or not) by God. Somehow that melded into the recesses of my brain and I recalled that this past week was Continue reading

…….doesn’t mean you should. Dharun Ravi was just convicted on all 15 counts of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and witness tampering. He is the young Rutgers student accused of all the above when his roommate, gay Tyler Clementi discovered he had been spied upon while having sexual relations with another man. The encounter was caught on webcam set up by Ravi, and Clementi subsequently jumped to his death off a bridge. Ravi grew up Continue reading

Christy and Brion visited us this week, and we did a lot of sightseeing….which meant lots of time in the car getting there. Yesterday we were heading to Pana’ewa Zoo so that Christy could see Namaste the Bengal Tiger.  We slowed for a light as it turned yellow, and then all watched in amazement as a tire rolled…or rather zoomed…..past us. The tire was not attached to any vehicle….but it was going about 40 miles Continue reading

I was to attend a dinner meeting earlier this week, and had a couple hours after work until it started.  I decided to go to Ross and kill time.  I shopped, took my purchases to the cashier, and happily presented my driver’s license to prove I am old enough for the senior 10% discount. “Oh,” said the cute little cashier (looking at me pityingly….), “the discount is only good on Tuesdays….today is Wednesday!” I guess Continue reading

….that you don’t see everyday. It was beach day today.  I was on backup call, but by 8am hadn’t been called. That means I’m free for the rest of the day……and so it was off to the beach. We headed over to the Kona side and as we drove up near Honoka’a, we noted a pair of hitchhikers. She had her thumb out, and he stood behind her, playing music on his instrument.  Now, that Continue reading

We’ve now lived here four years. The island is about 250 miles in circumference.  Big as Hawaiian islands go, but still not so big that we should “miss” something special.  Especially since there is really only one main road around the island:  Highway 19 starts in the middle of Hilo and goes north, ending on the west side in Kona.  Where it ends, Highway 11 starts and runs south around the island, ending back in Continue reading