My Week of Special Numbers

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

6/25/22

Aloha Everybody!

This week is best summarized by some numbers:

 21:  Last Sunday we celebrated the 21st Anniversary of the day we finally sold our house in Ohio, after an agonizing month or so of paying the mortgage on our new Hawai'i house yet still owning a place in Ohio. This was a huge relief, of course.

2, 2, 3, 3:  On Thursday we played golf for the first time since returning from our trip.  With all the recent rain the course (Makalei) was gorgeous, far greener than when we left.  I lucked out by seeing both of the white peacocks that live on the

course, as well as a mating pair of Io's (indigenous Hawaian hawks) soaring above one of the fairways, 3 flying Nenes circling and then landing in perfect formation near one of the lakes, and finally 3 baby Peacocks, cute as can be.

12, 1, 1:  We managed to complete 12 holes before pooping out.  Although my overall performance was not all that great, there were moments of  competence, including 1 par and 1 bogey on consecutive holes -- something I've never been able to do back-to-back before.

3+, 82:  On Sunday it rained 1.6 inches, followed by another 1.4 inches on Wednesday for a total of at least 3 inches this week. In other words, our wet pattern has continued, though our mornings have still been very sunny.  Unfortunately this morning is an exception, and we may have to curtail or modify our usual Saturday morning agenda because it's raining lightly at the moment.  It has stayed warm enough at night this week so that our pool temp averaged about 82d, warm enough for working out most days, rain permitting.  The locals are really moaning and groaning about the weather, though the tourists don't seem to mind as much.  Good thing for our economy!

Bonus Points 1, 2:   A friend from Australia has been house sitting for our neighbors, and we've enjoyed getting together with her.  Also, a real treat has been taking care of two cats while a friend is on the mainland.  I've known them since they were kittens, and it is very heart warming that they seem to immediately recognize me -- of course, I'm also the guy with the chow..... I visit a couple of times a day to renew their food, clean their litter boxes, and get some petting.  Loving it.

Ok, that's about it for this week.  There are lots more numbers I could share, and in fact this exercise has made me aware of how much our lives can be expressed his way.  Not sure that's good or bad, but we humans certainly count a lot.  Take care.  Stay safe and sane.

 

Travel Plans, Eyeballs, Gold Stars, and Clues

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

6/18/22

Aloha All!

My jet lag is almost gone, though it sure is easy to take a nap.  We've got most of the garden and house chores caught up, and things are returning to "normal."  We even managed a light workout at PF on Thursday, and the pool got warm enough for us to get back in for a few times during the week.  The weather continues to be weird, though, and after a few good days it's now returned to the rainy, cloudy, and cool pattern we've had all spring and now into summer.  Looking at the mainland weather reports, though, I know it could be way worse.

As I expected, my eyeball didn't need a shot last week, and I'll return in a month for another checkup.  With the retina problem more or less under control, I talked to my doc about cataract surgery.  Mine aren't that bad (he said they were "moderate") but friends who have had the surgery almost all say they were pleasantly surprised by how much difference it made.  My issues are the usual -- fuzzy lights at night, and difficulty adjusting to a darkened place after being in bright light.  Still, I'm not sure yet whether I'm bad enough to justify the operation.

Now that we've returned from the Caucasus trip we've begun to plan our fall trip -- our river cruise on the Danube followed by a couple of weeks traveling on our own through Germany and the Czech Republic.  It's been quite a while since we've planned this kind of journey and it involves a fair amount of active research and decision-making.  A group tour, of course, is easy once you make the initial choice.  But I find it rewarding and informative to fashion our own itinerary -- I learn a lot about the destination, what there is to see and do, where to stay and for how long, etc., and in the end I feel much more invested personally in the trip than when we've on a tour.  Once we're on our own after the river cruise, we''ll be splitting our time between Germany and the Czech Republic as we make our way north to end in Berlin.  We've been in both countries before, but we didn't spend as much time in the Czech Republic as we would have liked. That time we traveled by train and were limited in the places we could easily visit.  This trip we'll have a car and therefore be much more free to explore.

Two big events this week took place yesterday.  The first was that we both got our driver's licenses renewed (!).  I know, this doesn't sound like much, but because of the backlog here caused by Covid, we've had appointments to do this since before we left for the Caucasus.  Also, for me this will be the time when I get my "Gold Star" version (the so-called REAL ID required by TSA).  Whoopee.  A downside of the renewal this time is that I now fall into the Geezer category and from now on will have to renew every two years. Pain in the **s but overall a good idea to protect the public at large I suppose...

The other event yesterday was that we went to a community theater production of CLUE.  Really cute, and the locals did a very good job.  The venue was just south of us in a town called Kainaliu,  at the Aloha Theater, a vintage movie theater now converted for live performances.  It holds about 200 and has very good acoustics.  This was the first time we've attended a performance there since before Covid, and we really enjoyed it.  The only precaution we were required to take was to wear a mask.  This, like the lowered precautions at the gym, is making me a bit nervous because our new cases increased last week, and hospitalizations almost doubled.  At this point all you can do is be defensive and hope for the best.

Today we will return to our usual Saturday morning routine of market, beach breakfast picnic, and errands.  After so much discombobulation lately I'm ready.

Take care, avoid crazies, germs, and enjoy your summer.

Back Home Safe (?) and Sound

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

6/11/22

Aloha Everybody!

We got back home last Monday night after our three weeks in the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia, and

Baku-- The Old and The New

Armenia) and a week in Chicago.  Except for a dandy case of jet lag (14 hour time difference), we are sound -- we both passed our Covid test for our return to the US (as did everyone else on the tour).  To be sure I didn't pick up something on the long flight, I did a self-test on Thursday which was also negative. I'd say we are also safely back, but I'd have to ignore the danger in our country from crazies with assault rifles and concealed handguns.  Anyway, we really enjoyed the trip and learned a lot about a region that has had a very important and complex history, and that currently is caught in the push and pull of geopolitics.  In general, all three countries are very beautiful (of course, we're biased toward mountains and high plains), and the three capital cities are surprisingly modern, sophisticated, and livable.  Travel, as usual, corrected our inaccurate conceptions of the destination and the people who live there.

While were were gone it was unusually cool and cloudy.  This was good and bad.  It was good because the lack of sun kept the jungle from going berserk, which it usually does at this time of year.  There's lots to cut back and get back under control, of course, but not as bad as we feared.  It was bad because our solar production is sucking air, and our pool temp is way below our minimum comfort level.  We left it uncovered while we were gone but now we have started covering it at night again. Hopefully we can get it warm enough for our daily workouts sometime early next week.  It will depend on how cool it gets at night (66d last night!) and how much sun we get during the day (remember, we have solar panels that heat the water for the pool -- no sun = no heat).

Speaking of workouts, I managed to do a light one at PF on Thursday -- boy did I feel the lack of working out while we were traveling!  Ouch!  Karen didn't go -- she was having lunch with a friend who is leaving for a visit to the mainland (this is our friend whose cats I take care of when she travels, and I'm looking forward to that starting next week).  Very few people were masked at the gym, which made me a little nervous even though I was wearing mine.  Cases here are on the uptick, as are hospitalizations, but so far it hasn't overwhelmed our health care facilities. 

Today I see my retina doctor again.  It is about 6 weeks since my last Eylea injection, and I think things are ok.  If the tests justify it, I'll probably go another 4-6 weeks.

Unfortunately my eye exam will prevent me from enjoying one of the unique events here -- the annual King Kamehameha Days parade.  This will be the first since Covid, and it's really special because this is the parade that features horses with leis, and a group of riders representing each of the islands.  The parade route is along the shorefront through town and it is a lot of fun.  If my exam doesn't take too long I might be able to catch the tail end (so to speak).

Ok, that's it for this week.  Hope you are all ok and enjoying your early summer.