Greetings from Michigan!

Curtis came to pick up his car. While I was outside talking with him about arrangements for Dad's service, Margret called from Michigan. I called her back when I got back in; we spent about an hour on the phone catching up! We had gone to visit Margaret & Vivian back in 2018 and had a great time there.

At Paulding General Store eating Jilbert's ice cream; L to R: Kai, Vivian, Margaret. June 2018.

I woke up with a headache, so I skipped the Active Rest day sunrise walk. I had a slight headache when I went to sleep last night, so I drank more water. I think I did not drink enough at dinner since I was trying to minimize the amount of time I was maskless. The headache has not been continuous, just intermittent, but I still decided if I am out of my area of the house I will wear a mask until this is resolved. I have talked to one case whose only symptom was a headache; he had his for 4 days! And my friend Charlene said when she had COVID-19 earlier this year she also had a headache, though hers was only for 3 days. 

I made a proothie with the last of the radish greens. We get our CSA box tomorrow; the tentative list that came a couple days ago said there would most likely be beets, hakurei, & fennel among other things. I am looking forward to having fennel greens for my proothies!

Today is Buy Nothing Day (which is also known as Black Friday to others); so I buy nothing. I had been doing that since about 1999. I am not as hard core as some people who also refuse to drive on Buy Nothing Day citing it as delayed consumerism. This year I broke my from my usual practice; this is, after all, an unusual year. I saw a post about a special face mask that looked perfect for a friend! I would show it to you now, but she reads the blog so I will have to wait until after she receives it.

In the mail today, I got a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs Pension Intake Center; it was addressed to Mom. Auē! It was addressing her as if she were still alive! I had talked to Scotty on the 17th, the day after Dad passed, and found that Mom was still listed as a living dependent! This was even after I let them know Mom had passed in March 2017 and been given confirmation in May 2017. I called Scotty again. He was able to confirm (again) that Mom was listed as deceased and said there should be no more letters addressed to her, just a check for burial benefits. I sure hope he is right; I will be checking the bank statement to see if any benefits are still being directly deposited. He said he asked about whether we need to repay the payment amount included for Mom; he was told they do not go back and collect after the veteran has died. That's a relief to know we don't have to pay back around 3&1/2 years of payments. There should also be a burial benefits check coming; unfortunately it will be in her name. If the bank won't let me deposit it to the account that still has her name on it, Scotty said to send it back and request a new check in my name. Auē!

I had the same lunch I had yesterday, sort of. I am out of sour cream so I used plain unsweetened non-dairy yogurt. And I accidentally put a little more bacon bits than I usually do.

For dinner I used the turkey I had brought back from Thanksgiving dinner to make mole. Usually I make mole poblano, but I had found a sauce packet for red mole instead of my usual brand so that's what I made tonight. Everyone enjoyed it but I still prefer mole poblano.

It drizzled on and off today; the Aix weather app had forecast it to be cloudy but no drizzle until the evening. For Kapaʻau, however, it did forecast precipitation throughout the day and that looked to be pretty accurate. Especially in the middle of the day.

Keala was sleeping in one of her favorite spots today when I went to check up on them.

A couple of  friends and extended 'ohana sent photos of their activities yesterday for inclusion in the blog. CJ sent Before & After photos of Ern Dog and their intimate Thanksgiving at home. The Ikaikai ʻOhana bubble gathered with nā tūtū; nā mo'opuna are getting so big! And Czar sent a Shaka Turkey!

Ern Dog with his Thanksgiving feast. (Photo by CJ)

Looks like he enjoyed it! (Photo by CJ)

Jackie, Dwaynie, & Tūtū Kāne Manu. (This & photos below by Tūtū Wahine Suzanne)

Nā moʻopuna (front to back): Kaleo, Kawaiola, & Nalani.

Kawaiola, Nalani, & Kaleo at the ʻohana Halloween party in the basement.

A few weeks ago at Kawaiola's 10th birthday.

Nalani doing baby yoga.

From Czar.

Like many other things this year, the Honolulu City Lights displays will be different this year. The big City Lights Parade will not be held, viewing of the lighted outdoor displays will be drive-by only, many events have moved online, and Shaka Santa & Tūtū Mele will be wearing cloth face coverings. There will be no vendor booths either. Unlike many other events held over several weeks, the vendors at Honolulu City Lights would only be there for 1 week so that more vendors had a chance to earn revenue during the run of this very popular holiday event.

Did you know there is an annual naming of the Insect of the Year? I did not, but I do now. Since 1999 the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute has been choosing a unique insect to "bring an exemplary species closer to the people."

There were 92 new cases of COVID-19 reported today for a total of 17,708 known cases. There were also 3 new deaths reported, raising our death toll to 240; there are 1332 active known cases. The 7-day average of new cases on Oʻahu is 86 with a 2.7% positivity rate.

 

I know 1 of the clusters associated with correctional facilities is the Waiawa Correctional Facility. I think the other one might be the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona; where there has been an outbreak among prisoners from Hawai'i that have been sent there to relieve the overcrowding here. It seems that cases are included in the case count of the official state of residence for the case.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Patrick & Stacy!