My Body Is Sore!

I skipped my morning birding walk. It was raining when I got up, but that wasn't the reason. I needed to finish the platform under the electric meter and I didn't want to work under the hot sun like yesterday. So I decided I would do it in the cool of the early morning. It was cool alright, cool and wet! It alternated between a light drizzle and rain for much of the morning. Then near the end of the project, of course, it stopped precipitating. A couple hours later it actually got sunny.

Seven minutes after sunrise.

Two hours later & still raining.

Still raining; it's a good thing the house has wide eaves so I could be a little dryer.

Nice and sunny at 5 pm.

It took me about 4 hours to finish the platform and weed the adjacent area and put down the weed cloth. I started by removing the blocks I had placed the previous day. Then I dug down the high spots and used it to fill the low spots; its called a balanced cut & fill, one of the useful phrases I learned while working! I thought I had calculated the correct number of concrete hollow tile blocks to get out to the edge of the grass but I was incorrect. However, it looked like I planned it that way because the first step is now red brick before you get to the concrete block! I'm glad I did my own measurements for the meter; the center of the meter is 5'5" from the platform. If I had listened to Zachary, and only put one layer of concrete block, it would be 6'1"! It needs to be no more than 5'6".

Yesterday's not so level start.

Leveled and ready to start the walkway.

Had to level that out, too. And remove heliconia tubers.

Hmmm, one block short.

No problem, we'll use what's available, old red bricks.

Looks better in the sunshine!

I weeded the adjacent area and also removed heliconia tubers; I lined the edges with rocks and bricks to keep the weed cloth down. It would have taken longer but my back was giving out so for the last 5 feet or so I just mashed down the weeds & put the weed cloth down over them without digging them up; we'll see what it looks like on my next visit. On the next visit I will also figure out how much cinders I need to cover the weed cloth to protect it from the UV and being walked on.

Yesterday.

Got the rocks down, now need to do the brick side.

That last part with not much along the edges is where I just mashed the weeds.

Everything looks better in the sunshine.

I replanted all the mondo grass that I dug up to place the blocks. What I didn't use around the blocks I planted on the other side of the ramp to fill it in and keep weeds from moving in to that area. I had bought potting soil and a bunch of pots because I thought I would have lots of starts needing new homes but that wasn't so. I did find, however, that the mondo grass sends off suckers rather easily so I could make a bunch of starts for other projects.

Before.

After. I will be making more mondo grass starts to fill this area in.

Because I herniated a disc in my back about 20 years ago I'm a lot slower than other people when it comes to doing projects like this that involve heavy lifting and bending over. I stop every 15 minutes or so and stretch for a few minutes to give my back a rest. It still got stiff & sore but not like right after I herniated it. My hands are also sore from digging around and pulling out the heliconia tubers. I'm sure it will be worse tomorrow.

I got very muddy, wet, & dirty. I need to bring an old pair of Hokas next time and leave them here specifically for dirty work like this. I will be traveling in slippers tomorrow because my new Hokas are too wet to wear. I got so wet my shorts were leaving a little puddle after I took them off to take a shower.

The shirt looked cleaner later, after a couple hours of being rained on.

Shane Sato has great timing! I had been out of the shower about 15 minutes and was resting when he called. He had some questions about Dad for his new book on the 442nd vets. He said Dad will be included in the book along with some of his artwork. Shane will be having a show in Los Angeles in November featuring photos from the upcoming book.

When it got sunnier in the afternoon I went to visit Uncle Kazu. I ran up to King's View Café and got ice cream for us; he had Mint Chocolate Chip, I had Kona Coffee Mud Pie. They serve Roselani Ice Cream which is made in Maui.

The real food menu board.

The ice cream menu board.

The ice cream.

The ice cream eater.

After we were done with our ice cream Uncle Kazu started exercising, rolling himself around the circular parking lot. I turned on my walking and birding apps. Uncle Kazu did 0.51 mile of wheeling himself around! When I told CNA Robin she was pleasantly surprised that he did that much. I guess they have never figured out how much he does. I saw 7 species and 43 individuals in the 30 minutes that we walked around the parking lot; there were a lot of Saffron Finches and Yellow-billed Cardinals there.



Uncle Kazu also showed me the "new" emergency entrance. It has actually been there for a couple years, we just never walked over to that side of the hospital to see it. Previously the ambulances used to come in through the parking lot that he wheels himself around in so he had to always be listening for their siren.


I walked around the yard in the waning sunlight to check things out. The mountain apple has been dropping its anthers which are bright pink. The ground under the tree looks like it is covered in bright pink silk tassels! When we come at Obon the fruit is usually all fallen off the tree; I think I will try to get back for Uncle Kazu's birthday on June 2nd; maybe some fruit will still be on the tree.

Look at all that future fruit!

As for the other real reason I was here, to unpack all the kitchen boxes and get things back in to the cabinets, I did not make much progress there. When I started I realized I needed to wash almost every dish or mug or utensil before it got put back. For some its been years since it was last used, for others they were used a few months ago but because of all the dust and dirt flying around they needed at least a rinsing before going in to a cabinet where it would stay cleaner.

Friday evening, 04/19.

Tonight. Some things have changed but not enough.

Friday evening, 04/19.

Tonight. See my shoes & socks drying out in front of the fan?

I am considering coming back every other month even if there is no special project. I think that is the only way I will really be able to get boxes unpacked. With the special projects my focus is on something else so I neglect the tedium of unpacking boxes! It's April, every other month means June, I think I'll come back for Uncle Kazu's birthday!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to the cousins Karen, Daniel, and Kenley! They all have the same birthday!