Flamenco Dancing, Air Plants, Beach Birthday Party

Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]

3/22/25

 

Aloha Everyone!

 

By my current standards this was a busy week -- concerts, medical appointments, birthday parties, golf, gym & pool workouts, making travel arrangements, etc.  "Busy" doesn't mean interesting, however. I'll try to condense this so you don't doze  off.

 

On Sunday we attended a concert at the Kahilu Theater in Waimea. It has been a long time since we did this because lately the programs haven't piqued our interest enough to warrant the 40-mile drive there

Flamenco Vivo

and back. Also, most of the events are held at night, making the drive somewhat daunting. This performance was an afternoon matinee, however, and it was by a renowned dance company from the mainland called Flamenco Vivo based in New York and Durham, N.C.  They were terrific.  It was Flamenco, of course, but choreographed and performed in novel ways -- sort of like Modern Ballet compared to Classical. Afterward we had an early dinner with our friends visiting from Wisconsin whose daughter teaches at a private school in Waimea. All in all it was a great afternoon and well worth the trip.

 

On Tuesday I saw my retina doctor.  Same story as always, so I won't repeat it.

 

Happy Birthday!

Wednesday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for a friend of Karen's who is a member of the same women's organization that Karen belongs to.  It was held at a beach pavilion and had the typical Hawaiian elements:  lots of tasty pot luck food, a lei for the guest of honor, and Hawaiian music with Hula dancing.  It was a beautiful sunset that day, a perfect Hawaiian birthday present. Needless to say, we enjoyed it very much, partly because it reminded us of why we like living in this unique place.

 

It was also a physically active week (interspersed with naps, of course).  In addition to our daily morning walks we also managed to work out in our pool most days.  With more sun and steeper sun angle the water temperature has gotten up to a downright comfy level.  We went to PF on Monday, and played golf on Thursday.  Our golf buddy joined us on this round, the first time since last June. All of us did pretty well, though my performance didn't come close to last week's -- I only got two bogeys and no pars.  Still, all three of us had some very good shots, the weather was nice, and we saw about 20 Nenes and even one white turkey mixed in with the peacocks.  There was more pig damage to the course than last week, and we encountered one of the culprits as it crossed one of the fairways, a huge guy that would make a luau feast for many, many people.

 

I'll close with two more uniquely Hawaiian tidbits.  First, the volcano went through its 14th (!) spit-up since Christmas. This one lasted 28 hours and occurred in the same spot as all the others.

Hawaiian Daffodil

 It included a 7- hour period of fountaining that reached heights of 600 feet.  The second tidbit is about gardening. There are many unique plants that people here use in their outdoor landscaping. One is called an Air Plant.  These come in many varieties, and as the name implies, they don't need soil or water to live.  They grow very slowly and require absolutely no care at all, qualities I regard very highly, given the 24/7/12 growing season here. Some are very colorful at this time of year, and we have a few growing on the lava rock wall near our front door.  I've included a photo of one for your enjoyment. 

 

Ok that's it.  There's more but I don't want to overwhelm you -- that's probably being handled quite nicely these days by news stories about the country's political mayhem.  Here's something you might try that works for me. Close your eyes, click your heels, and repeat over and over: "There's no place like home,  there's no place like home, there's no place like home."