Less Than Great Walking Weather

Frequently when we would leave for the field on a sunny summer day, one of the people who had an office-only job would say something along the lines of, "You're so lucky you get to work outdoors! Take me with you!" They didn't seem to notice that we actually WORK outside while the sun is beating down on us; not our favorite field weather. They never seemed to notice what we looked like at the end of the day with plant debris on our clothes & in our hair; our sweaty, dirty clothes; or any cuts or scrapes or insect bites/stings we might have collected along the way. And they never asked us to take them with us when it was raining or freezing outside; but we still had to go out because that's where we worked. Outside. Not in an office. But it is true, the worst field day is better than the best office day!

Not so good for field work.

During my morning walk it was one of those days, though it wasn't summer. The sun was out from the very beginning of the walk; it would have been too hot except there was a nice breeze blowing during my morning walk. I was on time today and I saw Kavita, Gwen & Kealani, and LaVie off in the distance.


I found a new mushroom in Jimmy's parking strip. It is an LBM but I picked it anyway. The 1st thing to look for to help with an identification is: what color is it? What does the cap look like? Is it flat, rounded or umbonate? Is it slimy? (The mushroom books use the term 'viscid' but slimy is more easily understood.) Does the cap bruise a different color? Root around under the grass or other substrate & dig up the point where the stalk attaches to the mycelium. It there a volva (sac) at the base? Does the stem get larger, smaller, or stay the same diameter? Does the stem bruise a different color? Are there scales on the stem? Look at the underside of the cap. Are there gills or a sponge with pores? Are the gills attached to the stem or separate or notched? What color are the gills or sponge? Do the gills 'bleed' or exude latex when cut? And many more questions!

Top of cap, note the umbo (slightly raised center portion).

The gills. These are not floating in the clouds, it was on the hood of my dark blue Subaru.

I have revised my after-walk routine. Previously, after I washed the sweat off my face, I would reapply the proper amount of sunscreen right then. Which created some problems; I would frequently still be sweating a little which made applying the proper amount of sunscreen difficult. It would turn into a slippery slurry. Then I wondered, they say to reapply every 2 hours; is that because they assume I am in the water or in the hot sun sweating it off? Or does that mean that it is only effective for 2 hours regardless of whether it got removed by sweat or swimming? I found an article that had a lot of information but wasn't clear on what makes the sunscreen "go away with time". I decided to take the conservative approach & apply the proper amount of sunscreen at about 15 minutes before I start my walk; now after my walk I only apply the amount that would be necessary as a moisturizer which is quite a bit less than for a sunscreen.

The fire suppression installation guys were testing the new system that was installed over the last couple of weeks. Which meant that the fire alarm was going to sound, which meant that the doors to all the rooms and in the hallways would automatically shut (to keep a real fire from spreading). So Orlando from the maintenance crew came around with door stops for each of the rooms.


I had to alter the route of my mid-morning walk; Maunalani Circle was blocked off by a big pile of fresh asphalt that they were using to close up the ditches in the road for the new fire hydrant lines. My walk was about 0.3 miles shorter than usual.


On my way back in, Jody stopped me and loaned me a book about Mo'okini Heiau; the woman who co-authored the book used to be a resident at Maunalani. The Kohala house is a couple of miles away from the heiau and I have always wanted to visit but wasn't sure if that was appropriate; it is a site with much mana & cultural significance. Kamehameha was born nearby. It was a fascinating book; I will have to get a copy of it. And I will have to make time to go there on my next trip to the Big Island.

Lunch today was Baked fish & dill sauce, Wild rice pilaf, green beans with bacon, Garden salad, Fruit salad with whip cream, and Tomato basil soup; my tray was missing the soup. Dad only drank his supplements.


Yesterday I sent an email to PGT Industries asking about a dealer in Hawai'i for their impact-resistant windows. I got a response today; there's a dealer in Hilo! Winner! I will contact the dealer and start the process to get impact-resistant windows for the Kohala house; I am hoping the ones on the south side can be both impact-resistant and reduce the amount of insolation in those rooms.

Since my mid-morning walk was short by about 0.3 miles, I increased the length of my afternoon walk to 1.21 miles; it's usually about 0.9 miles. I had a total of 4.32 miles today. I saw Tui on Maunalani Circle as they were wrapping up for the day; he asked how my trip to the Big Island was.


Over the course of the day Shiro didn't eat much of the expensive freeze-dried raw cat food that is "cat-approved"; he turned his nose up at it again when I offered it to him when I got home. But when I put a dish of tuna cat food in front of him he finished about 1/4 of it! I think I will get him mainly tuna-based cat foods; The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes also noticed that he really likes the tuna-based cat foods.

He now wants all his meals in bed!

Happy Birthday to Jackie & DanVo'nique! And Happy 7th Anniversary to Jessica & Kent!