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.