2024 Holiday Greetings!

Dear Family & Friends,

A lot has happened since last year. The biggest change is the start of the renovation of the last room needing work. By the end of the year, Chris should be done with all carpentry work in the sewing room. Iʻm having him change from the old single wall construction to double walls & having all windows upgraded to impact-resistant windows; it will be my hurricane-resistant room. By the end of February, I should be done rearranging the furniture & we'll be ready for guests! (Photo of new window delivery)

Throughout the year, Nardo has been helping me keep the weeds in the anthurium garden somewhat under control. Now, along with the renovation, Fred will be installing a fence along the east & west ends of the anthurium garden. This will be the outdoor area for the cats. Yes, they are spoiled! Not only will they have their own hurricane-resistant room with a cat door but they will have a large outdoor area to play in. Hopefully they will let me share it with them.

The 94 acre pasture behind me was being prepared for sale this year; Bill, who manages the property, had the line surveyed & a new pig-proof fence installed. This meant I no longer had access to the bananas & coconuts; but they saved me some banana keiki so I have a small patch replanted on my side of the fence now. A replacement coconut will take much more time to begin producing again but I've got a couple nuts sprouting. While the fence was down, Moʻo stayed tied out in the back yard 24/7 to keep the pigs out. She did a great job!

Another big change is that my volunteerism has risen to a new level. Earlier this year one of the community groups was looking for someone to represent North Kohala on the Leeward Planning Commission; they did not know much about my professional background. They were very happy to hear I had 30+ years working for either the planning or public works departments. I easily sailed through confirmation with the Mayor's office & the County Council & have been serving since June. We usually meet once a month, but with review of the final draft recommended General Plan, we will be meeting twice a month for about 4 months.

Both the Planning Department & the Medical Reserve Corps sent me to conferences this year. The 1^st was the 2024 HCPO conference on Balancing Change in a Dynamic Landscape. Later Na Lima Kakoʻo (HI MRC) sent me to the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health 2024 Climate Change & Health conference. It was interesting to see how different agencies are dealing with climate change. Here is the “Wheel of Doom” that is providing the incentive for the work being done.

With the additional volunteering, preparation for construction, yard work, & fence work, I did not have much time for picking fruit so the harvest was much less than previous years. In 2024, I got 144 # tangerines, 6# Meyer lemon (season still going), 90# mountain apple, 24# lychee, 7# dragonfruit, & 61# calamansi; as usual, I gave about 85% of it away. And some plants, like the jaboticaba, did not have much of a fruit set this year. Needless to say, I did not make any jam this year because of all the other activities happening.

My 1^st visitor this year was Jane in February; she is also a birder so we spent much of her visit looking for species she had never seen before. I think she added 10 new ones to her Life List including an Iʻo (Hawaiian Hawk) that flew over her while she was lying in the backyard! Amelia dropped in towards the end of May for a week or so. While we were having lunch in Honoka'a a very wet bicyclist stopped under the awning outside the restaurant we were at & I told her about how I hosted bikers through WarmShowers.org. That biker turned out to be Connor who was desperate for a dry place to stay for the night; we took him in. In the fall, Irene & Gary were at Hapuna celebrating her recent retirement; we got together for dinner at Seafood Bar & Grill. 

Kai arrived a little earlier in July than he usually does for Obon. But his timing worked well to allow him to provide the tech knowledge to get the Cricut working to speed up the production of the lantern banners that honor those who have passed. He returned in November to help me with moving furniture; but the sewing room was not ready yet due to some production delays. So we did some sightseeing instead. One of the places we visited was the Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary. One of the gardens is a scale model of the Milky Way Galaxy! Here's Kai on his way to the Black Hole in the center of the Galaxy.

The Jones ʻOhana also visited during Obon. Aunty Florence, Karen, her husband David, & younger daughter Rei arrived 1^st at the Lalamilo Beach Bungalow in South Kohala. A day later Tomiko & her husband David arrived; yes, both sisters married Davids. We joined them for dinner & a selfie one evening. Later, they moved to the Kohala Country Haven for the Obon weekend;  its right next door to the Kohala Jodo Mission.

Hope all is well with you & your family!

A hui hou! Mālama pono!