[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.
9/19/26
Aloha Everybody!
We returned home last week. Our trip to Alaska and Colorado was a very good one. I managed to survive the cold temps in Alaska better than I had expected. Of course, this was partly due to layering up until I looked like a cross between the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Michelin Man. The scenery in Alaska was stunning, and its remote wildness was palpable. It is truly a wonderful, unique place. Among other revelations, we learned that Alaska and Hawai'i share of number of things in common. First, in both places "2nd-Day-Air' is a joke, as is fast shipping by Amazon Prime. Patience is a necessity if you want to live in either state. Second, everything is super-expensive because it must be shipped in from the mainland. Third, in both Alaska and Hawai'i American missionaries sought to improve the lot of indigenous people by establishing schools for them --definitely a good thing. However, in both cases the cost of this education was the near obliteration of the native culture, because traditional dress, customs, ceremonies, and even language were forbidden. Fortunately in both places there are current attempts to recover what was almost lost.
Colorado was likewise enjoyable, particularly our 6-hour train ride from Denver to Glenwood Springs through the ruggedly beautiful canyons of the Rockies. Also, we got to see my nephew and his wife, as well as old friends in the Denver/Boulder area. This was definitely a "return-to-your-roots" visit. We spent one day driving around our old neighborhoods where we grew up, reminiscing to the point of nearly drowning in nostalgia. We also spent a few days in Aspen, a ski-resort town we last visited about 50 years ago, It is now a Disney-esque haven for the uber rich, with average home prices in the tens of millions, As the saying goes, in some respects you can't go home again, and Aspen is now way above our pay-grade. Two cultural highlights of our time in Colorado were a visit to Denver's superb botanical gardens, and attending a traveling production of the Tony Award winning musical, "The Outcasts." All in all, we rate the whole trip very highly.
Our active volcano may be changing its behavior. Fountaining episode 55 is way overdue, even though
the magma system is pressurized and seemingly ready to spout. Early this week several new vents opened up near the existing ones, but they only oozed and gurgled. The volcanologists are both puzzled and excited by this change. So far they are being very cautious about predicting what it may indicate. In the meantime, the main vent has been bubbling and spurting for so long that it has built up a small pimple-like cinder cone around the hole. Again, a very interesting and unusual feature. This new behavior shows that when humans think they have something figured out, nature shows us that things are more complicated. Another well-deserved lesson in humility!!
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| Volcano Acne |
the magma system is pressurized and seemingly ready to spout. Early this week several new vents opened up near the existing ones, but they only oozed and gurgled. The volcanologists are both puzzled and excited by this change. So far they are being very cautious about predicting what it may indicate. In the meantime, the main vent has been bubbling and spurting for so long that it has built up a small pimple-like cinder cone around the hole. Again, a very interesting and unusual feature. This new behavior shows that when humans think they have something figured out, nature shows us that things are more complicated. Another well-deserved lesson in humility!!
On Tuesday I had my laser procedure to help lower my eye pressure in the right eye (in a couple of weeks I'll have the other one done, too). To be clear, this will NOT improve my eyesight. It is now a standard treatment for people with glaucoma to head off future problems by reducing fluid build-up that increases internal pressure and harms the optic nerve. The name of the procedure is very fancy, worthy of extra points in any session of Geezer Competitive Complaining: Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty. It took about 10 minutes and was only slightly painful. I will probably keep taking drops, but hopefully the same dosage will produce even lower pressures. I'll let you know, though it may take several weeks for the full effect.
Other than that, we've been working to get the landscaping back to a semblance of pre-trip condition. In other words, lots of trimming and whacking. However, our weather has been so hot and humid since we returned that we can't stand to do this for very long each day. Thankfully our pool and our three rooms with a.c. have given us relief from the heat. In our 25 years of living here, this is the hottest it has been. I've also had a few house repairs to take care of, like replacing a toilet lever and dealing with a battery-operated door lock whose electronics crapped out. We've managed jet lag pretty well this time, since Colorado is only 4 hours different. We even managed light workouts at the gym on Monday and yesterday, for which we rewarded ourselves with an ocean-front lunch and a long nap.
That's all for this week. Stay cool and well. Carpe Vitam!
