Last Day in Kohala

On Monday morning I started closing everything up. But first I unwrapped the recliner rocker; it belonged to Martha, Kai's paternal grandmother who was a good friend. (If she was still alive I would probably still be married to her son.) When Kai was a baby I would sit in it & feed him, then rock him (& me) to sleep; I woke up in that recliner on many mornings. Later Kai used it as his chair at his desk while doing his homework, then later his computer training & artwork. It has a lot of sentimental value; right now its in need of a lot of tender loving care. It has been wrapped up for a little over a year and since at least one of my other boxes had water damage, I have wondered if the recliner had any mold or mildew. It does. I have talked to someone in Kohala about reupholstering it.

The seat definitely needs work.

First thing Monday morning Brandon and James from Aikane Nursery arrived with a truckload of 'ilima papa and a bunch of weed barrier cloth. I am having them cover the grass on the slope along the road frontage and planting the 'ilima papa as a groundcover. Now Masa won't have to trim this area by hand & I will have some nice flowers, though not enough to make a lei. (It takes about 500 blossoms to make an 'ilima lei, I don't think I'll have that many.)

Foreground James, background Brandon, beginning the installation of the 'ilima papa (Sida fallax).

James nearing the end of the planting.

I did the run to the transfer station to drop off all the rubbish I generated, then exchanged the 25 foot garden hose for a 75 foot one so that the Aikane maintenance crew could water the 'ilima papa as well as the anthuriums & hapu'u. I also took a photo of the bathroom sink; I need to find a replacement due to the leaky hot water faucet. The metal in the sink is also corroding.

Hoping to get a new sink that looks like the old one & also is about the same size. But I have to look in Honolulu.

On my way to the airport I stopped to say good bye to Jessie, Lem, & Uncle Kazu. On the way to see Uncle Kazu, I had to pass by L & L Barbecue so I made a quick stop to take a photo.

Yup, it's colorful!

The drive to the airport was uneventful, until I got within 2 miles of the road to the airport. Then it was creeping along in a traffic jam. This is apparently what it is like during the afternoon rush hour; when I got closer there were only 2 of us that left the line and went to the airport. Which means this was primarily people coming home from work.

Last time at the Kona airport I noticed that they had not trimmed the fruits off the coconut trees. I paid more attention and noticed that where the nuts would fall are all places that are away from people. This time I noticed that the walls separating the tarmac from the passenger waiting area had been made higher. In some cases, significantly higher. I'm guessing this is something to do with Homeland Security.

This wall was made twice as high as it originally was.