40-50 Nenes, A House Guest, A “Lolo” Market

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

 4/3/21
                                       
Aloha All –

This week we hosted our first house guest since the Pandemic began.  She was our good friend from Oregon, the wife of my old hiking buddy.  He didn’t come for health reasons, but she was here for about 10 days, three nights of which she stayed with us.  All of us have had our Covid 19 shots so we weren’t likely to infect each other.  Btw, two pieces of good news this week were that there is now data showing the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective against the new SA strain and preliminary data that show it is also highly effective in preventing asymptomatic cases (i.e., people who are spreading the virus but don’t know it, like some of those who have been vaccinated might be doing).  Since she had lived here at one time we didn’t have to do any tour guide duties, and just enjoyed hanging out.  Karen and she played golf at a course further north than Karen’s usual spot – another beautiful upslope venue with a great view of the northern coast.  It also had Nenes – even more than Makalei.  Karen estimated a total of 40-50!  Their abundance no doubt led some visitor golfers to think they were just ordinary geese, a nuisance in some places on the mainland, rather than the endangered and very unique Hawai’i state bird.

Our geckos continue to rebound after the tenting, and are slowly reappearing at the breakfast table down by the pool.  They’re also reappearing inside, including in the guest quarters where our friend was staying.  In fact, the day after she left we caught two that had taken up residence there and transported them to a new home way down the street.  Unlike the coqui frogs we catch, which we humanely freeze to death, we give our gecko captives another chance by releasing them outside.  We learned early on, however, that unless we took them far away they just returned, and being wise to us they were harder to catch the next time.

Our return to normalcy has continued to bring with it some negative aspects.  For one, the number of Covid 19 cases is rising again both statewide and on our island.  As I’ve reported before, the cases aren’t coming from tourists but from locals giving it to each other in social gatherings.  Right now the Hilo side is leading the number of new cases, but there are some are on our side as well.  So far the situation isn’t out of control. Most people (92%) are wearing masks in public settings, and we’re going pretty fast in terms of vaccinations (about 30% of the island have been immunized so far).  And as I mentioned last time, the influx of tourists and more people returning to their jobs has produced terrible traffic jams, maybe even worse than before the pandemic and definitely worse that last week.

And Sold in A Few Days

The pandemic has led to a housing market here (and as we understand it on the mainland in certain desirable areas) that is “lolo” – “crazy” and a bit disconcerting.  A number of houses have sold online to mainland buyers who haven’t even seen the property in person.  Prices have gone absurdly high in just a few months – many houses sell within a few days for more than the asking price and for cash.  The buyers seem to be young mainland professionals with deep pockets who can work remotely and are looking for a pleasant place to live.  We’ve seen these bubbles before, and sooner or later they burst, but for now the realtors are raking in the commissions and living large.

Ok, that’s all for now.  Off to market and our beach breakfast picnic.  Stay safe, enjoy your spring, and keep your eye on the light at the end of the tunnel.