Lots of Rain This Morning

When I left the house this morning I had to set the windshield wipers to the lower continuous setting; that tells me I would get soaked while walking. In fact, if I am on one of the two lowest intermittent settings that is what I consider walkable weather, any more precipitation than that and I would get soaked by the time I finish my 37 or so minutes of walking. I made a special stop at the ditch to see what it looked like in an active rain event; it was great! The water was all the way across the channel! Later, on my walk, it was back down.

At 7 while it was raining.

Half an hour later after the rain had stopped.

While I was driving up Lurline from the ditch the rain started to slow down. By the time I reached the parking lot it had stopped. I saw Kelly & Abby on the way up to the parking lot; they must have started in the heavier part of the rain, Kelly appeared to have a waterproof jacket on. For most of my morning walk it was dry; right around the time my phone said I had completed 1 mile a light drizzle started to come down. I ended up walking the final half mile in the drizzle; Kelly drove by as I was on the way up Lurline. He & Abby were the only regulars I saw today. For the entire walk it was very windy and I did not see many birds. There were no birds drinking the nectar in the African Tulip Tree flowers.

One minute before sunrise on Maunalani.

Fifteen minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

Dad ate about half his papaya this morning but only a couple bites of his scrambled egg. He drank all of his Plus and about half of the Breeze. RN Sierra and I discussed the fried egg sandwich; she will request it starting tomorrow and try it for a week and see whether he eats more of it than he has been.

The staff here is very nice. Apparently someone left a water bottle in the 1st floor bathroom that I use for changing. Two people stopped me to ask if it was my water bottle! By the  way, it's not; my water bottle has a label that has my phone number on it. The water bottle was a gift from Suzanne.

As I was about to start my mid-morning walk, CNA Janae said it was windy; but it wasn't as windy as it was in the morning. There were also scattered clouds so it was partly sunny. There were a lot more birds during the mid-morning walk than the morning walk (46 vs 180 individuals, 10 vs 18 species); I think it was probably the difference in the amount of wind. I got a great photo of a pair of Zebra Doves; they are smaller than the Spotted Dove, are more bluish than the pinkish tint of the Spotted Dove, and have "stripes" along their back rather than a solid grayish color.

Zebra Doves (Geopelia striata).

Lunch today was Shepherd's pie. Seasoned broccoli florets, Tossed salad, Ambrosia, and Chicken & wild rice soup. Dad did not eat any lunch or drink any supplements; he just wanted to sleep.


It was raining before my afternoon walk but by the time I started walking it was dry and sunny! At least until I got down to the park. I had just past the parking lot when it began to pour! I took shelter under a large Formosa koa for about 10 minutes; it didn't look like it was going to stop so I decided to retrace my steps and go back to Maunalani since I was not at the farthest point in my walk. So I started back up in the rain; it didn't seem like it would stop but I should have waited another 10 minutes.I got kinda wet in those 10 minutes but got some great photos of water rushing down the swales.

Looking out from under the Formosa koa (Acacia confusa) at the rain.

Runoff in the swale adjacent to the park.

The ambient temperature this morning was colder than my A/C setting in the car. The ambient temperature was also colder in the afternoon, too. Basically, I was using the A/C to warm me up! But I really needed more; I wish we had the tub again. But the walk in shower that we replaced Mom's tub/shower combo with was much better for her.



When I started up the car at Maunalani several warning lights lit up on the dash panel. One was the Check Engine light, another was the cruise control light, and the final one was the X-mode light; which I had to look up in the Owner's Manual to find out what it was and how to turn it off. The manual says, the "X-mode is the integrated control system of the engine, AWD, and Vehicle Dynamics Control system, etc. for driving with bad road conditions. Using X-mode, you can drive more comfortably even in slippery road conditions including uphill and downhill." The manual also said I needed to go to the dealer. So I headed down Maunalani and pulled in to the Subaru dealer; I have an appointment tomorrow morning. They said they would give me a ride up to Maunalani so I can accompany Dad to his swallow test.

The X-mode warning light is the one that looks like an SUV on a bumpy road.

After dinner I texted friends and relatives in cold places after watching the weather report on the news. A minute after I texted her, cousin Tomiko was calling; she was stuck at home in since classes in Wisconsin were cancelled due to the cold. I had sent her a New Year's package (i.e., a late Christmas gift ...) that included Kona coffee and kulolo mix; she said she would make them so she could make believe she is in a warmer place! Robert, also in Wisconsin, texted back that he was doing fine getting around the complex he is in because all the buildings are connected so the elders don't need to go out and brave the weather. Only problem was that the Tribe was shut down for 2 days so there were no meals being prepared so he had to do his own cooking. Nikki said it was still cold & snowy in Michigan but they were doing fine. Bick said her mom in Michigan was staying home so she was avoiding the traffic mess as seen on the news. And Suzanne in Virginia said it was a "balmy 8 degrees. Still dropping!" She sent these photos. It looks beautiful but that's too cold for me!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Jennie & Kevin!