[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.
6/13/26
Aloha Fellow Time Travelers!
On Thursday we celebrated King Kamehameha Day, a state holiday honoring the first king of 
Hawai'i who unified the islands and established the Kingdom of Hawai'i. One of the hallmarks of the yearly festivities are floral parades, the biggest of which is on Oahu, but there are also smaller versions, including one in Hilo and one in Kailua on our island. Kamehameha was born around 1750 at a spot on the northwest coast of our island -- the exact year is uncertain. He was about 20 years old when Captain Cook arrived and Kamehameha was much impressed by the firepower Cook brought with him, which he adopted in his conquest of rival territories. The floral parade here in Kona was last Saturday. Of the annual parades I like this one the best for three reasons: (1) it is along our picturesque shoreline in town, passing by the historic winter royal palace, (2) it is intensely Hawaiian, with groups of colorful horseback 
riders representing each of the major islands, and (3) it is short, lasting only about one hour. My favorite feature by far is the horses wearing floral leis, a unique sight. Of course, in Kamehameha's days Hawaiians had never seen a horse. They aren't native to the islands and weren't introduced until 1803, 7 years before the final unification of the islands. Their centrality in the Kamehameha celebration might therefore be a bit of a stretch, but most parades aren't really hallmarks of historical accuracy. On the other hand, it is quite true that horses have figured prominently in modern Hawaiian culture since their introduction, particularly in their role as mounts for our Hawaiian cowboys called Paniolo. The parade was great fun, well-attended by locals and tourists alike.
Just a couple of quick updates in Geezer Gazette news. First, I'm still waiting to hear something from Mayo Clinic. It's been about 1 1/2 weeks since I faxed the consultation request form. I'll wait until Monday and then try to contact them. Second, on Tuesday I had my heart monitor pasted on for a two-week recording session. I'll have to wait until July to find out the results. Finally, I have three more Valeda treatments next week and then I'm finished for several months. No noticeable changes yet. All this is the health equivalent of watching paint dry.
On a more cheery note, we've made more travel plans. Just to remind you, we are all set for our Alaskan cruise and visit to Colorado in August. But we've now looking ahead to next year -- advanced planning is necessary these days because of the uptick in the numbers of people traveling. We have chosen to return to Portugal next spring. We were there 35 years ago for several weeks, traveling on our own by car. This time we're going to do it a bit differently by booking a river cruise on the Douro River. Yes, that makes the fifth cruise in the last few years, noteworthy for someone who disavowed that type of travel in the past. I admit to the inconsistency. Chalk it up to geezerdom. Anyway, we have booked a week-long trip next June with the same company (AmaWaterways) that did our recent Colombia cruise. The plan is to supplement that with another 2-3 weeks of private travel in Portugal which we will arrange with a local company -- in other words, another "tour for the two of us." Nothing definite on that yet, but reading through the guidebooks and online suggested itineraries is getting me excited about the trip. I'll keep you posted on our progress,
That's about it for this week. I'll leave you with this thought exercise: Do you think someone with a trillion dollars can resist becoming a powerful oligarch whose values are misaligned with our own? Tale care. Summer's here. Carpe Vitam.
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