[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]
12/30/23
Hou'oli Maka Hiki Hou! (Happy New Year!) ---
Our Christmas was quiet. I turned on my Pandora Christmas Carol station and managed to last about 6 hours until the Silver Bells, Sleigh Bells, and Hosannas got to me. As I mentioned, Karen and I weren't going to give each other presents -- but two days before Christmas I had a stroke of inspiration as we were doing our usual Saturday morning rounds. Mescal!! Karen and I were introduced to this high-brow version of Tequila during our last visit to southern Mexico year before last, and we became quite fond of it -- especially Karen. We brought back some with us but "we" (mostly Karen) drank it all months ago. It's hard to find here in Hawai'i but one of our local grocery stores does carry it, and I was able to score a bottle on Saturday morning and surprise Karen with it for Christmas. Good going, Dick!
Christmas day we went to a dinner hosted by a neighbor and good friend that we've attended for the last few years. Very pleasant, with some interesting discussions with people we don't ordinarily interact with -- including a couple of professional musicians and also a couple of fellow travel-addicts. The menu included both Turkey and Ham, the second of which love -- maybe too much. Ham is something I've had a weakness for bordering on derangement for as long as I can remember. As a kid my mother would serve 
ham on the bone, like the kind in cartoons. These hams predated the ones you can now buy pre-cooked and pre-sliced . These had to be baked and then served with some of the meat sliced onto a platter. My weakness was so strong that if there was left-over ham in the refrigerator, I would get up at night and eat a fair percentage of my body weight in the stuff. Today, because of the salt and fat concerns of geezerhood, I have had to limit my intake so that my death certificate doesn't read "death by ham ingestion." However, I might have exceeded the reasonable limit this year -- by just a smidge, I assure you.
On Thursday we played golf at Makalei. It was a sunny, clear day for the most part, a definite contrast to last week's rain-out. In fact, we played all 18 holes, a noteworthy feat for us. I did a solid "meh," but 
Karen did great -- a par on one hole with a one-putt, and SIX consecutive Bogeys!!! Obviously my "meh-ness" wasn't contagious. At first we were puzzled because we didn't see hardly any Nenes or Peacocks, but as the day wore on they came out from the tree-lined margins and we wound up seeing about 20 Nenes and 20 Peacocks, including the white male Peacock who was displaying for some interested females. We were pleased to get in this round and have it be a good one because it may have been our last until after we return from our trip.
My big techno-woe this week was fighting bubbles. Bubbles in our pool, that is. Somehow air is getting into the solar heating system and this means there is a problem to be solved somewhere. I consulted with my pool service guy and I'm going to replace something called the vacuum breaker valve that is attached to the solar panels and is supposed to open only when the system is off, allowing air to enter the pipes so that water will drain back into the pool. It may be that mine, which is now 18 or so years old, is allowing air all the time, thus creating the bubbles. On the mainland finding a replacement would be fast and easy, I'm sure, but here the main supplier of parts for these systems doesn't stock the size I need. Soooooo, the problem will persist until one that is ordered arrives. While investigating the cause of the bubbles, I also found a couple of leaks in the roof panels themselves which I tried to fix yesterday myself. Ah, home ownership!!
On a philosophical note, I'd say 2023 was somewhat of a mixed bag. It certainly had some up sides for me personally in terms of travel experiences, personal development, learning opportunities, and generally being in pretty good health. However, the depth and breadth of problems around the world in terms of climate change, wars, ideological extremism, social antipathy, and a loss of anything resembling a moral center, leave me with a nagging feeling that humanity is heading in the wrong direction. It also leads me to realize that I've lived in some very good times that may not recur in the near future. So, as this year comes to a close I'm grateful for my past life and somewhat leery about what the next years might bring. Nevertheless, I sincerely wish you a Happy, Healthy, and Fulfilling New Year....
Off we go one last time this year to the beach for our breakfast picnic. Take care, stay warm!
4 comments:
Congratulations on the mezcal! Our son Jesse has had a yen for that, and visited a family agave-mezcal farm to see the process. I like its smokiness.
Good luck with the pool bubbles!
Dick, don’t forget to read Heading into the Abyss by Brian Watson. I really want to hear your reaction.
I just read the summary of Watson's book, as well as some of the reviews. Geesh, his analysis is even more dire than my own! Not sure I need convincing of the main argument, but if I need sobering up this coming year I may read it. Carpe diem!!!
I would agree with you. It took me a long time to read because each chapter left me feeling down and sort of hoping I die of cardiac arrest within the next ten years. But I still think I needed to read it.
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