I Found the Coconut Tree!

I am pretty sure I found the coconut tree (niu, Cocos nucifera) that I can see from the 2nd floor balcony; it is on Lurline. I tried to get a photo showing its relationship to the Norfolk Island pines but that was a little difficult. For all these trees the only way I will be able to really know if that is the tree I can see is if it is either damaged by a storm or trimmed by humans in a portion that I can see from the balcony.

Close-up of trees.

Coconut tree on Lurline from downhill side.

From uphill side. The tops of 2 of the Norfolk Island pines can be seen just over the rooftop in the center.

This morning it was blustery with patchy clouds & no precip. I saw more people out walking both with & without dogs. On yesterday's morning walk I saw no one; not even people in raingear. Today I saw Dawn, Coco, & Chloe at the park; they are always fun to stop & talk story with. Today we talked about the ease of starting a blog using BlogSpot (aka Blogger.com), which is what I use. When I first looked in to starting a blog, Kai suggested I use BlogSpot, but also said WordPress was another good option for someone with no HTML background.

I found another dead invasive species; it was a cane toad (Rhinella marina syn. Bufo marinus). Even in its flattened condition it is easy to identify; Hawaii has no native amphibians & land reptiles and the cane toad is the largest of the toads & frogs introduced to the islands. It also has large, easily-seen parotid glands (aka poison glands) behind the eye. This is the species responsible for the poisoning of the dog we saw at VERC a couple days ago.

It's easier to tell what they are when you see them in person.

Dad was in his wheelchair having breakfast in the dining room when I arrived. He only drank his supplements, then we went out to look for the resident cat. Popokilani was out in the courtyard between the buildings. Later I took Dad to the overlook at the end of the courtyard; it was very blustery so we didn't stay out long. But it was long enough for me to spot the remains of Popokilani's night time prey; one was part of a very fresh rat, I was unable to identify the other which seemed to be a couple days old.

Dad looking out at the view of Leahi.

Rat remains.

Unknown remains.

Since I needed to take Shiro in for his chemo treatment this afternoon I knew I couldn't do my afternoon walk, so I lengthened my mid-morning walk. I did a slightly shorter walk than my early morning walk; I left from the upper parking lot, was going to go around Maunalani Circle but it was blocked by construction work & tree trimmers, so I went straight down to the park instead, then down Matsonia, up Lurline, and back to the upper parking lot; it was 1.44 miles, for a total of 3.05 miles today.

Tree trimmers across from the upper parking lot entrance.

I also saw a Monstera deliciosa flower. Then it develops into a fruit that can be eaten. I'm going to keep watching these to see what happens.


For lunch today it was Thai chicken with basil, Brown rice, Stir fry vegetable mix, Tossed salad, Coconut cake, and Cream of broccoli soup; my tray didn't come with soup but I rarely eat it anyway. The Thai chicken with basil was very tasty, one of their better entrees. Dad ate all of his peanut butter & jelly sandwich, about 1/4 of the cake, and all his supplements. I always offer him the dessert that they bring for me so we can get more calories in to him; he has always liked dessert, especially custard pie & things made with peanut butter.


I took Shiro in the Veterinary Emergency + Referral Center (VERC); I thought he was getting another Elspar treatment like he had on Saturday evening. But Dr. McMillan said Elspar was only a stop gap measure to get him feeling better; she said it shouldn't be given more than once a week. VERC's standard treatment for lymphoma is a combination of Vincristine, Prednisolone, Cyclophosphamide, & Adriamycin over a 25 week period. This is the same treatment that Xander was started on; he did very poorly on it, he got worse. There are a couple of differences between Xander & Shiro; not only was Xander on prednisolone for his asthma, he also had diabetes and was on insulin. The prednisolone made the lymphoma more resistant to the rest of the chemotherapy. I have an appointment on Monday to talk to Dr. Sylvester about Shiro and what to do next.

Shiro being examined by VERC vet tech Margaret.

Happy Birthday to Maria & Catherine!