Beautiful Wedding!

The wedding was last night and it was beautiful ... long, but beautiful. I guess I have never been to an Episcopal wedding before because I do not remember being at such a long wedding. And they tricked me! Actually, they tricked Soliel and me! They asked us to be witnesses; what they actually meant was maids of honor. And since the minister was Native American, there was also a blessing of the robe and smudging - we had to hold the blanket behind them at the start of this part of the ceremony. Yes, the 2 shortest people in the wedding party had to hold up the blanket! But we did it, we fulfilled our responsibilities to the happy couple! Here they are at their first dance.


And here they are with their daughter Mary, singing a special song for their first dance.


The whole experience was very special. Since U. S. law did not allow them to be married until recently, they were in a committed relationship for 17 years and raised a bunch of kids together. So the kids were a part of the ceremony and did some very special things. Mary sang at both the wedding and reception and Kat made the blanket and Mary Kay's jacket. Kat and her husband Matt hosted the rehearsal dinner and Kat did all the cooking for a Korean dinner. Here's Kat in action.


CONGRATULATIONS to Anne and Mary Kay!

Tidying Up Loose Ends

The main reason for my trip is to attend the wedding of my friends Anne and Mary Kay. A secondary reason is to tie up loose ends from my move. Like updating the Subaru registration to include Kai - who was 5 years old when I originally bought the car; updating the car insurance to delete the Volvo we donated for KSER; moving funds from my Washington credit union to my Hawai'i credit union; etc. We did some of that today, more to come tomorrow, and in following days.

I am staying with Bick and Ron; we called Mom tonight just for them to say Hello. It's great that she remembers them and Bick's mom very clearly. However, she does not remember that I have moved back to Hawai'i permanently; she thinks I am up here still trying to sell the house. It was unclear to me when she thinks I am coming back from this trip.

Speaking of the house, Kai and I drove by today and saw a 'For Sale' sign out front but no flyer showing off the improvements. The birch tree that provided great shade for the front of the house has been cut down. (I had even explained to them how having it kept the house much cooler in the summer. The folks who bought the house must not like trees. I wonder if they are the same ones that bought the house at the end of the alleyway on Wall and cut down that really nice Douglas-fir tree just before it was put up for sale?) I don't think they did any of the interior work they said they were going to do and I don't think they could have done all that in less than 6 weeks. To replace only Mom's shower took 6 weeks; and they were talking about remodeling the entire bathroom, not just the shower. They also talked about removing all the carpet and old linoleum and either replacing it or refinishing the floor if they found nice wood underneath; replacing the paneling in all the downstairs rooms; replacing all the old countertops in the kitchen; removing the sheetrock in the upper level and the insulation that had been put in incorrectly and replacing it and refinishing the ceilings; and there was a crack in the foundation that needed to be repaired.

I flew on Delta this time since my original flight was to be with the rest of the crew returning to Washington and they initially flew on Delta. Here's the display you get with Delta in multiple languages. Another 'selling' point for some people is that all the entertainment is free - Kai watched Zootopia twice on the aborted flight to Kona, once on the way out and then again on the way back!


I like the bathroom signs at the Honolulu International Airport - they're very colorful.


















Happy Birthday to Rachel! And Happy 3rd Anniversary to Eleta & Trish!

Multi-Birthday Lunch

Took Mom in for another blood test; we did not hear anything today so it must mean she has not reached the threshold for getting another transfusion. I was expecting that she would since she was complaining of being more tired and she also was short of breathe a couple of times in the last few days.

After the lab we went to lunch with cousins Erica and DeeAnn (both from the Hilo side of the family) at Gyotaku Restaurant. The walls are covered with beautiful prints made using real fish as the printing surface = gyotaku. The food was great and so was the company! Here's Mitchell playing with Dory.


There were 3 birthdays being celebrated: DeeAnn, Fumi-san, and me. Are birthdays are less than a week apart.

L to R: Mitchell, Erica, Mom, Fumi, DeeAnn, me; last 3 are the July birthdays!

We had a conference call with Mom's estate attorney this afternoon. I think she feels much more at ease that things will be taken care of after she passes. Everything in the Trust they set up will go to Dad. We just have to make sure everything is in the Trust! After I return I will be working with her to meet with the people administering her investments to close out the accounts and put the proceeds in to one of her savings accounts. She seems pleased that it can be done relatively easily and rapidly.

Shiro caught a cricket that was in the house. It was a female which is why we did not hear it chirping earlier.

Follow Shiro's ears to see where he is focused to find the cricket by the wall.

Happy Birthday to Jesus, Margie, and Darin!

Mahalo, Mauna Kea!

Tropical Storm Darby made landfall yesterday on the Big Island near Pahoa; near the same place Hurricane Iselle made landfall in 2014. After plowing through Pahoa (but doing less damage than Iselle) Darby ran in to Mauna Kea; at nearly 14,000 feet tall it took a lot of power out of Darby and deflected its course. (It did the same thing to Iselle.) Earlier forecasts showed Darby hopping from the Big Island to Maui County to Moloka'i to O'ahu to Kaua'i. But after leaving the Big Island, Darby kept heading mainly westerly, and well south of Maui County, Moloka'i, and O'ahu. It has been raining on and off all day, then at around 6:30 pm it began to pour! Nearly 2 hours later it is still raining buckets along with lots of thunder and lightning; won't have to bother with watering the plants tomorrow! Here's the rain coming off the neighbor's roof at about 6 pm, before it really started raining. Note the poor little bird perched on the lights at the far corner taking refuge under the eaves.


I took Fumi-san shopping for groceries so she can cook all kinds of yummy Okinawan dishes for Mom while I am gone. We went to the Marukai Market Place which she prefers over Don Quijote. When we got back from grocery shopping we saw a bird sitting in the garage under the other car. It ignored us as we drove in and looked dazed. I later caught it; it is a spotted dove and is missing the primaries on its right wing. Perhaps it was being chased by something that managed to grab its right wing before it plowed in to the living room window. I dropped it off at the Humane Society. I found out they are an open admission facility and will take any animal, domestic or wild, native or non-native, injured or healthy. And they're open 24-hours a day for admissions; even with an approaching tropical storm! (The Adoptions side was closed due to the approaching storm.)

Injured Spilopelia chinensis

I finally got around to taking a photo of my July calendar. My good intentions to do it earlier in the month got side tracked by the emergency room visit, the trip to the Big Island, and a house full of family. I should be able to do better in August since I will be back from traveling on the 4th and family won't arrive until the 17th.


Happy Birthday to Shirley! And a big congratulations to Darla and Jim on their wedding today! (Sorry I could not make it there.)

My Turn Today

Well I am finally at the ER for me! Last night my left ear canal was hurting a little when I went to sleep (1 on a 10-point scale). This morning I had a sore throat (3) and my ear was hurting even more (3); my lymph nodes on the left side were also swollen. So rather than wait 9 days like Kai did, I went in this morning.


The diagnosis is "inflammation of throat - primary, middle ear infection with fluid accumulation". And although the ER doctor said most sore throats are caused by viruses, like Kai's ER doc he prescribed an antibiotic for me due to Mom's compromised immune system. (He did not speculate on the cause of the ear infection, which I think should have been listed as 'primary'.) While waiting for the prescription to be filled I had company. This was at one of the tables at the coffee shop which is closed on the weekend. I think these birds are regulars. This zebra dove especially, it's differently-abled; take a close look at its toes, or rather, lack of toes.

Differentl-abled Geopelia striata

In order to minimize chances of Mom becoming infected by whatever is causing my ear infection I am staying in my room as much as possible, when I venture out to other parts of the house I wear the anti-virus mask and sanitize my hands. I also sanitize my phone; its a good thing I have the LifeProof case! So far it has shown no ill effects of being slathered with hand sanitizer. It cost around $80 but I destroyed four $30 Body Glove cases for my last phone so in the end the LifeProof case is more cost effective. (I was also sanitizing it  when Mom was in the emergency room and hospital before we knew what she had.) Now if we can only get Mom to understand that she should not come to my room, or if she does she needs to be wearing her mask!

It is a good thing Mom's friend Fumi-chan is here visiting from Okinawa and that she is staying for several weeks. While I was at the ER this morning she made breakfast for Mom and Dad and kept an eye on them while I was gone. (Unlike last week when Kai was in and out in a short time, I spent over 3 hours there. I was fortunate to be seen almost immediately, but then had to wait for the discharge papers and prescription as they were swamped with patients, I saw at least 7 in the half hour after I was admitted.)

I think the benefits of the transfusion are wearing off. When she came to my room to tell me dinner was ready Mom was breathing hard. Not gasping for breathe like the first day when I took her to the emergency room, but too out of breathe for the short walk down the hall. I guess we will see if my assessment is correct when she has her blood work done on Monday.

By the way, at this time in the evening the ear canal pain is 0 and the throat pain is 1. When I told the ER doc this morning that Kai started feeling better a couple hours after he took the azithromycin he said that antibiotics don't work that fast, they take 2 days to begin working unless the individual has a fast metabolic rate. I think Kai and I must have fast metabolic rates because I think it is the antibiotics that are responsible for my improvement; the only other things I have done are wear an anti-viral mask and sanitize my hands!

Happy Birthday to Bev!

Tropical Storm Darby

The hurricane season in Hawai'i is from June 1st through November 30th so it is the season. So far there have been 8 storms that started in the eastern Pacific and none in the central Pacific (where Hawai'i is located). Sometimes storms that start in the eastern Pacific make it to the central Pacific, like Tropical Storm Darby, which is about 180 miles east of Hilo (or about 390 miles east of Honolulu). Darby is the first storm of the 2016 season to get close to the islands and as of 5 this evening, the forecast track takes it right over the top of the islands of Hawai'i and Maui, and slightly east of O'ahu. The cone shown below is not the area of potential damage, it is the predicted possible area it could travel in. Obviously, there is still time for the track to change. Sometimes going over Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Haleakala greatly affect hurricanes and tropical storms, causing them to lose wind speed. At a minimum Honolulu will have a lots of rain and hot, muggy temperatures.

Mom's reaction to news about Darby has been interesting. The Big Island will be hit first sometime on Saturday afternoon so there are all kinds of preparations being made, including opening emergency shelters. One of the shelters is the Kohala High School. When she saw that she asked me if we had enough water and food for the storm (because that is what the newscast was recommending for people on the Big Island). She thought we were in Kohala. The storm will hit Honolulu late on Sunday, if anything. And, yes, we have enough food and water; that is the standard condition of Mom's pantry. I have emergency lights (from years of living in rural Washington). The only thing we don't have is my emergency radio, which is packed in a box in transit to Kohala.

I have noticed Mom is a little more confused as to who people are and I am wondering why they took her off the donepizil. I shall have to ask about this. Yesterday she was trying to figure out who was still at the house and said, "Dad, me [meaning herself], and Pologee." ("Pologee" is my father's nickname that was given to him at boot camp because the white drill sergeants had trouble pronouncing our last name so shortened it to "Nobriga" which is a Portuguese name. It is pronounced 'poh-roh-gee'.) The "Dad" she was referring to is her father. I was nowhere in the picture of who was still at the house. After a couple of minutes she corrected herself and figured out who was really here (including me). I will have to ask if she can remain on the donepezil so that she can enjoy visiting with people who come to see her.

Mom's friend Fumi-chan arrived today. She used to live in the back house next door but in early 2014 her Aunty Nancy, whom she was caring for, passed away and she had to return to Okinawa. They have been keeping in touch by phone. The last time Fumi-san called, Mom and Dad were in Las Vegas; I told her to call back on Saturday. While I was sitting in the emergency room with Mom I realized that Fumi-san was to be calling that day, but there was no way I could get a message to her! Fortunately she was persistent and one of the times she called she talked to Curtis, so she knows what's happening with Mom. When she lived next door, she would always bring food over when she cooked for her aunty. Mom has asked her to make a couple of things while she is here and I have asked her to teach me how to make them!

I finally finished doing the last batch of sheets and towels that Aunty Florence and crew were using. Since the weather was nice I hung everything outside. When I was hanging laundry yesterday I felt something on my foot and thought it was a stalk of grass. It turned out to be a brown anole. (Sorry, no photo, phone acting up again.) They showed up again today. It appears that when I walk across the lawn hanging the laundry, I stir up bugs so they have learned to come around when they see the activity. Sort of like cows and cattle egrets. Here is one using the leg of the laundry cart as its hunting perch.

Anolis sangrei

Happy Pi Approximation Day!

All Quiet Again

Aunty Florence, Justine, Ursula, and Kai left at about noon today. There were no malfunctioning planes this time so they made it back to Seattle with no incidents. And now the house is quiet, Mom keeps forgetting who actually came to visit. The cats have calmed down and come out of hiding, except for Shiro who let the girls hug him and play with him.

I spent the rest of the day doing laundry and making beds, getting ready for the next visitors.