Here Come the Holidays!

It's the holiday season again! We had our usual 2 trick-or-treaters this year. For the entire 10 years before Isla and Broderick moved in across the street, I'd had exactly zero!

Mochi dressed as Queen of the Mardi Gras.

Debbie and Colleen visited for a few days after a short visit to Maui. It was great to see them again. I don't know if Mochi remembered them from last year, but she fell in love with them all over again.

We're looking forward to another Christmas/New Year visit from the Lee/Seidel family.

After 18 months of retirement, I've settled into a happy routine...

Three days a week, Mochi and I take an early morning beach walk. She investigates all the smells from one end of Kohanaiki Beach to the other while I follow along picking up trash. 

I've been doing all the home improvement projects that I never had time for - lots of painting, replacing old carpet with new hardwood floors, and gardening gardening gardening...

My stack of unread books is getting shorter and shorter. My new favorite author is Kristin Hannah - a Bay Area writer whose books are often historical fiction with female central characters. I highly recommend The Nightingale.

Aloha y'all!

Fires in Hawaii

I'm sure you've all seen the news about the fires here that were driven by Hurricane Dora. In case it doesn't make sense to you that a hurricane -- that didn't even hit the islands -- would cause fires, here's what I think I understand about that...

Hurricanes affect the atmosphere for hundreds of miles around the center. First, they suck all the moisture out of the air and then they kick up winds in every direction. So Dora sucked all of the moisture out of the local area (drying out all the vegetation), and then something caused a tiny spark, and then there were 60+mph winds (gusts to 80mph) all across Maui, and that’s what created this perfect storm.
Every day, they find more bodies of people still in their homes, trapped in cars as they tried to flee, and even floating in the water (where some ran as a last resort)... it's truly truly horrible.

If you want to help, I encourage you to donate to the Maui Humane Society (https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/donate-olx/). FEMA and the Red Cross and many many charities will take care of the humans, but I fear that the homeless and injured pets might be overlooked.

On Friday, Mochi and I sent bags of dog chow to those pets who were able to escape with their families and aren't at the Humane Society shelter. One of the awesome things about refugee shelters here (usually hurricane related) is that they know people need to bring their pets, so they make accommodations for them. It warms my heart.

There are collection boxes all over Kona, and helicopters and boats make daily trips to Maui with donated supplies. Mochi and I are headed to Costco again today to get more supplies to send.

If you can donate, please do. If you can only pray for the poor people of Maui, that's good enough. They need all the aloha they can get.

Dana and Mochi

March Update

 Aloha, all!

This has been SOME winter! Hawaii and Bay Area mountains are covered in snow (video to follow). After about a month of dryness, Kona has now had rain 23 of the past 25 days... and not just a warm drizzle... sometimes it's a cold and windy downpour. I actually had to wear socks one day!

Mochi and I still have fun walking on the beach in the mornings (the rain usually starts at noon).  We pick up lots of trash and a few bonus dog toys. Still hoping for a wad of cash or a rapper's heavy gold chain.

My tomatoes and pineapples love the rain. I've even managed to grow jicama this year. The tomatoes are just starting to ripen, but the pineapples won't be ready until later in the summer. I've learn that both the pineapple plants and the fruit are slooooow to mature. 

Jen and Donna just left after a fun week. Mochi loved them and was on her best behavior. She loved Jen the most because Jen's leftovers were awesome. Mochi even ate steak one night!

This is what Mochi and I saw on our beach walk a couple of days ago...

Aloha, y'all!

Aloha 2023 !!

Aloha, y'all!

It's been a year since I've posted to this blog.

Here's what happened in 2022:

* Mochi grew into a lovely young girl. At 40 pounds, she's the most perfect cuddle buddy ever.

* On May 6th, I retired after 14 years at Thermo. I'm listed on LinkedIn as "Retired and living happily ever after in Hawaii"

* Lots of friends visited: Barbara/Steve/Megan/Eddie, Barbara/Steve/Megan, Emma, Colleen/Debbie, Megan/Eddie, (yeah, Megan visited a lot last year 😍 )

* I finally got a new upstairs bathroom after the Great Flood of 2020 followed by the Great Covid Delay of 2020..21..22.. (is it really even over yet?)

Looking forward to seeing some of you in 2023! 

Mochi and I aren't going anywhere. We'll be here working in the garden, cleaning closets, taking walks on the beach, and sleeping past dawn.

Aloha!