[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]
8/14/21
Aloha All –
Summer finally arrived here this week – sort of. We had several days when it was warm enough to crank up our new ac bedroom unit for a few hours, and we skipped covering the pool several nights. However, last night the air temp dropped to a frigid 68d and it was cool a couple of other nights as well. It doesn’t seem to want to make up its mind.
One thing that is very much in earnest is our Covid spike. The number of active cases is as high as anytime last year, and our local hospitals are now getting full. The last report was that of all the hospitalizations at our Kona Community Hospital all except one are unvaccinated. Next week a group of about 50 nurses from the mainland will arrive, some assigned to our island. They will assist the overburdened local staff and that should temporarily help administering to the regular patients, as well as to the Covid cases.
On Tuesday Karen and I stopped in at our local TSA Precheck enrollment center and signed up – surprisingly easy and fast. We used to get this as part of our United rewards program, but they stopped that a few years ago. Going though the PreCheck security line isn’t a great advantage here at our airport, but it sure is at big ones like Denver. The regular line last spring when we had our forced layover there reminded us of a pre-Covid Disney World ride line – except that the experience at the end wasn’t fun at all.
After we applied for the PreCheck program we went on up to Makalei and played golf. Yes me, Tin Cup Dick. Karen’s snow bird partner is traveling (taking a cruise, no less!) and so I agreed to give it a try. I actually hit the ball most of the time, and it usually went in the direction of the hole. I made it through 11 holes before pooping out – remember, for me that was a LOT of strokes. It was a gorgeous day and that course is really beautiful. I even got to see several Peacock babies and to pet a cat! Despite my Planet Fitness workouts I was also a wee bit stiff the next morning.
About midweek we had a real dumper overnight – .8 inches total. The next morning was we were on our daily walk we passed a driveway where the car parked there had an interesting roof decoration – a bedraggled turkey trying to dry out. My main thought was that if the bird pooped up there it would be a real mess. Turkey doo can be smelly, gooey, and often comes in astonishingly large quantities (see Cleaning Up Poop In Paradise). Anyway, this is the kind of interesting encounter that makes living here enjoyable.
Speaking of introduced critters, last night I officially became a two-fisted coqui killer. A light rain around dinner time brought out the males loudly serenading for sex (their calls are to attract females). I went out hunting and quickly got two – one in each hand! In both cases I was able to blind them with my headlight and make successful grabs. Once I got the first one in my fist I heard another very close by and soon had him in my sights, too. Normally it helps to have both hands free for capturing coqui, but in this case I figured I’d make a try with my free hand and see what happened. Bam! One in each fist and soon, with Karen’s help, both bagged and in the freezer. Sing to the ice cubes, you little buggers!
Ok, off to market and beach breakfast. Take care and stay safe.
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