Playing With The Wind, Controlling Critters

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

7/30/22

 Aloha All!

How's that a.c. holding out?  Boy, the reports from the mainland these days are a litany of bad stuff -- record heat, fires, floods, high prices, shootings, shortages, etc.  My complaints about conditions here seem pretty mild by comparison, though some of our problems are the same as yours -- gas is high (but of course we don't drive very much), food prices have increased (but we don't have a family to feed), temperatures have gotten hotter (but we have our pool and most nights it cools off nicely).

On a more fun topic, Karen and I played golf this week at a different course than usual. Since I've never

Phew!

played at any course other than Makalei, I thought it would be an interesting contrast.  This one is further north, about halfway to Waikaloa. The name of it is Makani, which in Hawaiian means "wind." The name is appropriate, because it is situated near the gap between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, where trade winds pick up speed as they are funneled through from the east. The winds can really honk at times, particularly further north.  Fortunately it was pretty calm on Thursday, with just a pleasant cooling breeze.  The course is on a bluff at about 1200 ft. elevation, with views of the ocean, Mauna Kea, and a foliage-covered cinder cone on the side of Hualalai called Pu'u Wa'awa'a (say that fast three times).

There are many Jacaranda trees that line the fairways and in the spring when they bloom the course is very pretty.  Thursday, however, they weren't flowering, and the surrounding area of the island hasn't had much rain, so everything except the greens was very dry and brown.  It is also very flat compared to Makalei, and much more open.  Some people like this, I guess, but

It's there somewhere.

I much prefer the forested steep hills of Makalei. One of the major challenges of this course is staying out of the many water hazards, which isn't easy because on several holes the fairway slopes toward a lake or pond.  I did ok overall, getting two bogeys and a few good putts.  All in all, though, I'm imprinted on Makalei and I'm looking forward to returning there.

We're now getting close enough to our trip that we're starting to time our routine house maintenance chores so that we can do them again right before we leave.  One of my tasks is critter control, a necessary aspect of living in a climate like ours.  This week I sprayed the perimeter of the house with an insecticide that controls ants, cockroaches, and centipedes -- all of which were introduced by humans within the last 1200 years or so.  I do this about once a month, and I also spray weeds around the house and in the yard to keep them at bay. You might be wondering why I don't contract with a pesticide service for the bugs.  Many people do, but this way I can control the nature of the product that is used, and I can get just as good a result with much less expense.  Also, it really isn't hard, nor does it take much time, and being the control freak that I am, it makes me feel good.

Ok, that's about it for this week.  Off to market and beach breakfast picnic.  Take care and stay healthy, safe, and as cool as you can.

Big Swell, Digital Coquis, Covid Neighbors, Four $eason$

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

7/23/22

Aloha Everyone!

Hope you're surviving the heat.  This summer has certainly been "interesting," both on the mainland and here in Kona.  Our latest tweak from nature occurred last weekend, when a very large swell from storms far to our south (*not* the remnants of Darby, which only gave us a small amount of rain), combined with a

A Wet Wedding Crasher

higher than usual tide, produced some huge surf and great photo ops, which you may have seen on national news.  One was a wave that crashed over the top of a two story condo, and the other was of a wave crashing through a seaside wedding venue.  Spectacular! Dramatic! Awesome! Stunning! And very unrepresentative of what was in fact a rather limited event up and down our coast.  I drove along the shore the next day, expecting to see widespread devastation and destruction and saw...nada, bumpkiss, zilch.  Even at the house of our friends from Oregon which is 20 feet from the ocean there was no evidence that anything had happened.  So, boooorrrringggg.  Other than that, we've had pretty good weather, though it has definitely gotten warmer.  A few nights warranted our bedroom ac, but a few nights were actually quite chilly, getting down to our winter levels (high 60's).

One of my life's poignant moments happened this week when I cleared out about 125 of my 225 frozen coquis. It speaks to my pack-rat nature that I have kept every one of my hand catches over the past 4 years

Bye Bye!

in our freezer -- labeled with the date, location, and description of conquest.  The motivation was a mix of trophy-touting ego and compulsiveness about keeping data -- no doubt left over from my research years. Coquis are quite small, but hundreds of them start to take up a bit too much space.  Before letting them go I tried to see if anybody at the University of Hawai'i might be interested in the collection but I had no luck.  However, I have created a spreadsheet that contains information about each frog so I at least have a digital memory of each one.  In the long run this might be even better, because once I get all the data entered I can easily track things like the number of females and males over time, where the density has been highest, and how the number of catches has changed over the years, etc.  Fascinating, right?

On Thursday Karen and I had dinner at the Four Seasons Resort up north. We used a gift card that our friend gave me for taking care of the cats and for my birthday.  The restaurant was one I hadn't eaten at before called The Beach Tree.  Open air but covered, view of the ocean at sunset, beautiful decor.  Everything you'd expect in a $1700 minimum per night resort.  The food was excellent but absurdly expensive.  We've had meals at least as good for 1/3 the cost during our travels, with service and ambiance to match.  Honestly, without the gift card I wouldn't go there anymore.  Lots of people obviously have the money, though, including a number of families with 2-3 kids, because it was fully booked and the hotel has near 100% occupancy year round. Sigh......

The wife of my coqui-catching partner 2 doors down the street got Covid about a week ago.  She was fully vaxed and boosted, and so far has had a fairly intense but short-lived case.  He has self-tested every few days but so far remains clear.  This ba.5 strain is very contagious, no doubt, but note that although she is somewhat ill, he is not, which is likely due to their vaccination status that has given them protection.  We're still taking precautions, but it's hard to keep it up when few other people are doing so.  Given the odds that we would have mild cases, living semi-normally seems justified to us, thus leading us to go to restaurants, retail stores and even a movie theater last week when we saw "Elvis." We also worked out yesterday at Planet Fitness -- masked, of course.  The facility has very good ventilation and there weren't very many people, so we didn't come at all close to anyone else.  We'll see what happens in a few days. I've stockpiled a fair number of tests and will use them whenever it seems appropriate.  For instance, we had talked with our Covid neighbor last week so I waited a few days then did a test that was fortunately negative.

Our friend who broke her leg was transferred Thursday afternoon to a rehab facility in Hawi, way on the north end of the island.  She'll be doing physical and occupational therapy for at least a couple of weeks before facing the next challenge --- living in her house alone.  She'll definitely need help.  Her plight has been a real wake-up call, not only for her but also for us.

Ok, that's most of what's going on here.  Keep cool and stay away from crazies.

 

Good Eyeball, Birthday, Lack of Good Sense, Roof Gardens

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

7/16/22

Aloha All!

It was an interesting week here.  First off, my eye exam last Saturday went very well -- absolutely no sign of leakage and therefore no shot.  I'm now scheduled for another exam right before we leave on our trip in August. My doc and I agreed we will keep a low threshold and most likely I'll have an injection at that time no matter what.  That will be a new record between treatments, by far! Yippee!

Yesterday was my birthday, much less cause for celebration than my good eye exam.  I think I'm

Liquid Gold

Neighbor's "Garden".

somewhere around 35 or so.  I lost track after 21.  Anyway, I wanted to keep it quiet and low-key and so I celebrated with a couple of naps and a burger + good beer for lunch at a seaside restaurant. Oh, and for fun I did a minor repair to our irrigation system and *weeded our gutters.*  In our warm and wet climate if you don't watch it, stuff will begin to grow on your roof and suddenly you'll find tree roots dangling from the ceiling.  In this case it was a small sapling of some kind in one of our gutters, which required a quick and careful trip up to the roof to yank out.

Saturday our Miata suddenly developed engine problems, as in refusing to start (it would turn over, but not fire up).  It did start on the next try, and Karen drove it to the hospital to visit our friend who broke her leg last week while I went for my eye exam. Although it ran fine on the way there, the "check engine" light came on and it again refused to start when she tried to leave.  Fortunately it did start after another couple of tries when I got there, and we were able to get it home ok. On Monday morning I called our usual mechanic and although the shop had a full schedule, he said he'd try to work it in if I could get in to to garage.  It started one more time (whew!) and we dropped it off.  It turned out to be either a faulty cam shaft sensor or a crankshaft sensor, and they replaced both.  These sensors are what determines the timing of ignition (back in the dark ages this was done by something called a distributor).  Voila!  A mere $500+ and she's running great.  Despite this and a few other repairs, this has been a terrifically reliable car and we've had to spend very little to keep it maintained.

Finally, I guess I'll include as part of my birthday celebration the round of golf at Makalei that Karen and I

From Par to Bogey

played on Thursday.  Despite getting a bit wet (it was misting most of the round) I did pretty well -- two pars and a bogey.  It might have been 3 pars, but my par-putt was just a couple of inches short, one of those frustrations that might lead to broken clubs and lots of swearing if I took the game more seriously.  Saw lots of peacocks, including both of the white peahens.  The Nenes, though, have all left.  During the summer they fly to a different part of the island -- a minnie-migration compared to their distant relatives, Canadian Geese.

Weather-wise we've been getting less rain and more sun.  However, the remnants of Hurricane Darby are passing by to our south today and we are likely to get some moisture from it. Three times this week we used our new a.c. in our bedroom -- something we rarely do but have come to appreciate when the need arises.  We're definitely cooler than many parts of the mainland, though, which I see has been really cooking this summer.

Ok, off to market and the beach.  Take care.  Stay cool.

July 4th, Moving Anniversary, ER

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

7/9/22

Aloha Everybody!

Summer finally arrived here. We've had several sunny days this week that kicked up the thermometer and the solar production.  We even managed to have dinner by the pool a few times because the rain has held off or has been very light.  I wonder how long it will take before we'll start complaining about how hot and dry it is????  I note that much of the country is still a bit warm, too.

Hope you had a good 4th of July.  We didn't do much, other than get some very good corn on the cob that was shipped from the mainland to our local Safeway.  I'm not sure how they do it, but these days we can

get some that tastes almost as good as back in corn country.  However, since supplies are limited here you have to get it quick before the store runs out.  Also, Safeway ran a special for the holiday and this meant people descended on the corn like ants on spilled sugar.  We managed to get enough even to freeze a few ears, though.  Our community fireworks display was held this year at its pre-Covid location, down on the waterfront in town.  Given the recent uptick in virus cases we were hesitant to join a big crowd, but finally decided to mask up and go anyway.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, maybe) we were a little late and the show started as we were driving down to the shore.  We found a good spot on the road and still enjoyed the show -- all 10 minutes of it.  It was really good, with some impressive displays and coordination of high and low stuff, despite being rather short.

On Tuesday the 5th we celebrated our 21st anniversary of moving to Hawai'i.  Hard to believe it has been that long!!  This was the day we actually flew from Cincinnati to Kona on a one-way ticket and arrived at our new house about 8 or 9 pm.  Our furniture and other stuff was still on the way (and took several weeks to arrive) but our new place was fully furnished and we didn't need much.  We were exhausted after all the moving preparations but very, very excited to be starting this new phase in our lives.  The next morning was magical, looking out over the coast and the ocean, quite a contrast to the cornfields of Ohio!  The view wasn't the only difference, and moving here has involved a number of adaptations in lifestyle and attitude, and has involved learning a lot of new things about cultures, geology, gardening, house maintenance, critter control.  We celebrated our anniversary with a workout at Planet Fitness, champagne on the lanai at sunset, and homemade tacos for dinner.

I'm back on cat care duty because on Wednesday our friend fell at her house and broke her leg.  She called us late afternoon and we rushed over, thinking we might drive her to the ER.  But it was clear that moving her ourselves might do more damage, so she called for an ambulance.  I timed their arrival at just 8 minutes, a comforting implication for those of us who might need the service ourselves. We followed her to the hospital and waited to see what her condition was.  She wound up staying overnight and will stay at least one or two more because she had to have surgery to fix a problem with her knee.  Sheese!  It goes to show you that sh*t happens unexpectedly, no matter how careful you are. 

Today I have my followup eye exam. I'm not sure if I will need an injection, but it will be 11 weeks since the last one, almost 3 months!  

Ok, off to our usual Saturday morning routine.  Hang in there.  Enjoy your summer.

Hand of Doom, Fig Pickin' Fingers

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

7/2/22

Aloha Everyone -- 

Hope you're enjoying your summer.  Well, weather-wise anyway.  The world at large and our country in particular seem to be going berserk these days.  I try to keep up with what's going on, but the news is almost always a depressing flood of gloom and doom.

100 Decibel Coqui Chorus

Speaking of doom, since we returned on June 7,  I've caught 34 coqui frogs.  They've met what I call "The Hand of Doom."  Actually, I'm an ambidextrous coqui catcher, so I guess it should be "HandS of Doom."  Anyway, it is a lot quieter now around our place, though the little devils are still noisy in neighbors' yards who don't control them.  As I've mentioned before, besides just being obnoxiously loud, coquis are bad because they eat beneficial insects that normally control other pests.  They were introduced accidentally from Puerto Rico and here they have no natural predators to keep them in check -- except THE HAND, of course.  I'm up to almost 200 kills over the past couple of years, and my neighbor who also hunts them is probably twice that number.  The goal here is not to totally eradicate them, which would be as impossible as getting rid of all ants, say. But controlling with spraying and hand catching is definitely possible.  And being the weirdo that I am, I kind of enjoy the challenge of the hunt and the macho thrill of the actual catch!

The coquis are super-abundant this year because of the unusual amount of rain we've had this spring and summer.  The rain has also made our fig tree produce more fruit than ever.  This is a variety called "Brown

Tasty "Turkeys"

Turkey" and they are very tasty figs -- to us and to a number of other critters, including birds, mice, and rats.  Every day I have to pick the ones that are ripe before they're eaten by somebody else. We usually get a fair number of figs around this time of year, but this season there are dozens, and like other homegrown crops (zucchini comes to mind), we have way more than we can handle all at once.  Karen has made some fig jam, we've given away a bunch to friends, and we're now trying to freeze them. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.  I've found they keep pretty well in the refrigerator if you put them in a sealed container with some paper towel to absorb the moisture, but this week we had four containers taking up precious space -- way too many.  Two ways we like to eat them are in a salad with goat cheese, and as a sauce with pork.  There are only so many times you can do this, though.  What a dilemma, eh?

We've had a few sunny days this week and the pool is up to 84d, very nice.  Karen and I played golf again on Thursday and managed to finish 16 holes before we got rained out.  Overall I did lousy this time, but I did some good moments, including one par and the best tee-shot I've ever had, at least 600 yards (that's WTD, or "Wishful Thinking Distance).  We didn't see as many Nenes this time, nor any white Peacocks (actually Peahens), but quite a few baby Peacocks, including one mom with four!  It's hard to stay negative about your game when this is what you see.

I spent a fair amount of time this week working on our fall itinerary in Europe.  I've made hotel reservations in all the places we'll be visiting, and Karen made a car reservation. Most of our stops will be the Czech Republic rather than Germany, but we will wind up in Berlin at the end and fly home from there. The more I researched our route, the more I became convinced that this will be an interesting and fun trip.  Making the arrangements also reminded me of how much I enjoy the process of planning itself.  It's challenging and time-consuming, but very rewarding in terms of the feeling of accomplishment and in the satisfaction of learning so much.  I was a little rusty after the hiatus of the Covid years, but the strategy details came back pretty quickly.

That's about it for this week.  Take care. Stay safe. Stay positive.