The Once-in-a-While

Daily News

1  Oh, Lord, stuck in Kaua'i again.

2  At least I think I am. 

3  It is Sunday night late as I once more write while time travelling. Chiefly British, for the uninitiated. I travelled the northern areas of Kaua'i with Helene and with our generous hosts, George and Sally Olah. 

4   We drove from beaches, to caves, to all sorts of places that looked sacred. We finally pulled up to a place called Lumahai, which was the background for the musical South Pacific! I loved it! We had just come from a modern place called Bali Hai, and then we landed at Lumahai. I looked up at the trees, the beach and all, and it truly was South Pacific. The soundtrack from the movie played in my head; how could it not? Waves crashed and wind drew on us. 

5  It is STILL Sunday evening as I report here. Time will move as this series moves, just as I have done the past two DN's. I wanted as much of this to sound live and current as possible. 

6  After we had hit the South Pacific, we hiked straight up a mountain called Mt. Ke'e and headed straight up the sky to this overlook of the turquoise/azure waves pounding below us, beneath this dense forest. Magical.

7  So we also ate at this quaint hole-in-the-wall that reminded us of Capitola. The Dodgers were beating the Astros at lunchtime. That was the night they lost. Duly noted.

8  After we ate at the restaurant, we shopped around for trinkets, clothing, chachka, ukuleles, and other fancy stuff. 

9  I picked up a couple of ukuleles and noodled around. This huge tanned dude named Maui approached me with a large fish hook. I was scared at first. Then he sneezed. The sneeze was powerful; he blew salt and sand into the sky. It turned into a giant fish hook. I stared, a bit astonished. 

10  I then said, "God bless you!"

11  He paused, then said, "Thank you."

12  And I said...

13

"You're welcome!"

14  You're welcome. I said that to him. I swear to you. 

15  Moving On, Part One: Okay, so all of that was a set-up. 
A fun set-up, but a set-up.

16  Ya gots to go with what is fashionable.

17  Still writing in imperfect time. I'm fast-forwarding now to Halloween night, which is tonight as I write.

18  We spent this morning walking through the ancient ruins of Club Med. Here is some info on the place. This comes to you from the following link. There is no point going to the link because it has been invaded by pop-up ads. This link is here only for the purposes of giving credit where credit is due:

Kauai Surf Clothing Hanalei Plantation 

CAUTION: Don't go to the link. It has too many pop-ups. This is simply a reference

and due credit for the following:

"The ridge is the site of former Hanalei Plantation as seen in the movie South Pacific. In the 1960's, a hotel was built on the site that was later converted to a Club Med Resort in the 1970's. After that went under, the resort was torn down and a new development was planned, but was abandoned after the foundations were poured. Though some locals refer to these foundations as the "Club Med Ruins" the "ruins" are actually fro the 1980's development.Currently, a new development is being proposed for the land but is being met with opposition from the local community. The area is currently accessible..."

20  So there you go. 

21  I took my own pics, but they haven't made it to my laptop quite yet. Here are a few professional photos from the same website:

22  We also hiked to Queen's Bath and to Wailua Falls, some gorgeous hikes that go straight upward.

23  Tonight we got phone calls to stand-by for evacuation. Phone calls and public alerts. Flash flood warnings. Earlier We also had to clean the place we're staying in because the photographers were staging pictures so that George and Sally could rent their place out to vacationers. Their place is high up, so we decided to ignore the warnings. And I had a deadline...

24  AND still earlier we traveled through some rainstorms to hit the South Shore of Kaua'i to get some classic Hawaiian shirts. 

25  ALL of which took place today, as I write. And as you time travel all over the place with me. Isn't it spoktacular?

26  Not too much opportunity to send pics, and when I DID get my puter all hooked up, it wouldn't preview any of this. I eventually saturated it with Avast security, and plowed through these damp fields. 

27  Wasn't easy, but the news must move forth. 

38  We got home, showered, and heard some rumbling. Outside, there was a huge double-rainbow happening right near sunset. I sent those pics over to my laptop, but as of this writing, they haven't arrived yet!

39  At least I don't think that they have. 

40  We never evacuated, and are now technically safe. That's a good feeling. I usually panic during evac warnings, and try to convince others that we should take any sort of warning seriously, especially a telephone call. 

41  Didn't happen. We wound up listening to old eighties tunes and talking about the bands. 

42  I got in, got all cleaned up, and I sat down to write this drivel. 

43  Deadlines. I swear to you.

44  Anyway, having a ball with some dear friends. I missed Halloween, but I would like to thank Matt, Coley, and Jack for three fun pics of their Halloween (They were the Incredibles) and I would like to thank Caitlin for sending up pictures of the girls as ballplayers from A League of Their Own. SO cute. I'm sure they've posted on Facebook, so I may be able to get those posted before this evening is over. 

45  Because IF you've been following, I've been busy, busy, busy. I may get pics of them out to you before midnight. We'll see!

46  Okay! Here they are!!!

47  So by the looks of things, most of y'all had a fun and maybe even spooky night!

48  I hope you did. We had what I jokingly told George, a Wet Rain, because in my life I've never seen a wetter, soakier rain. We looked out earlier and saw TWO fantastic rainbows in an arc across the sky. 

49  Good news for Dodger fans: they appeared the second the Dodgers won!

50   I'll reserve comment.

51  Whoah! I JUST looked at my health thingy and it says I walked 5.40 miles today (Halloween), 13,375 steps, AND 4 floors! Same day!

52   Gottago.

53  See you again. Pumped up!

54  Have a GREAT day.

55  Live life.

56  Love life. Annnnnnnd...Whoops! This DN ain't over. 

57  Annnnnnnd...HUGE thunderstorms Wednesday Morning 7:34 a.m. That's right now! Flash flood warnings. We're okay, at least for now. Will try to keep all informed, but right now, we appear safe. 

58  Peace.

~H~

fin.