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| Late in the day yesterday, we spotted these whales. The much-anticipated fluke, the tail was the prize. Wonderful! |
Even an overly bubbly type has a bad night now and then. Last night was mine, worrying about my sister, unable to speak to her until this morning when she was able to take the call, somewhat awake and alert.
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| First, we saw the blowholes of these two whales. |
We’ve always been very close, my sisters and I. The distance hasn’t changed a thing. We haven’t lived near one another for many years but, we’ve never missed a beat in each other’s life. On any given day, we could easily imagine what the other was doing, our plans for the day, our hopes, our dreams, our sorrows, our shortcomings; always accepted, always loved.
This morning at 7:00 am Hawaii time, 9:00 am in LA, we spoke and I was relieved to hear her voice, so relieved and comforted to know she’ll now begin the healing process.
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| The dorsal fin appeared. |
I am sorry that I couldn’t be with her. I had been in the past. This time, with family here with us, her partner, and friends of which there are many, were at her side, keeping me informed.
So the days continue on, in the Big Island. The three remaining family members were gone overnight to Kona for swim-with-the-manta rays late-night outing and overnight in the “big city” of Kona.
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| Another whale’s dorsal fin. |
In three days, they’ll leave the Big Island to return to Minnesota, and once again, we’ll be together alone. Are we sad? Not at all. We loved seeing them all and now as we all roll into the New Year, back into our “real lives.”
For us, our “real life” at the end of the family holiday, begins a new year in our travels which we anticipate with excitement and joyfulness…the vacation that sees no end. How couldn’t one be happy to begin again?
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| This morning from the lanai. |
Over the next few months in Kauai (we leave for the island in 17 days), we plan to explore, learn the nuances of the garden island, lick our wounds from the pricey family get together, take care of insurance, taxes, investments and other such necessary “paperwork” and, most of all, take as many photos as we can to share with our readers each and every day.
Today, a trip to the village is in order for a few things at Island Naturals, the only open grocery store in Pahoa after the evacuation for the still moving lava toward the Pahoa Marketplace.
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| The sun desperately tried to peek through this opening in the clouds. |
I’m now writing on my new Acer, 15.6, touchscreen, 1 Terabyte, lighted keyboard, Intel Core, i5, 8 gigabytes, la la la…laptop I purchased at Costco on Sunday night for a reasonable $589 including tax at less than half the regular retail price.
Yesterday, I transferred all my data, installed all my apps and email folders, MS Office, and Outlook and I’m loving every moment. It’s been almost a year since my last Acer died due to my dropping it in South Africa and I’ve suffered using an international version of a not so good notebook with keyboard issues from the get-go that finally went kaput in the past two weeks.
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| Had I been there seconds earlier, I could have taken the rays from the sun reflecting on the ocean. This was the view by the time the camera loaded. |
Finally, I feel at ease as I write here each day no longer struggling with the keys and look forward to sharing the future with all of you as we continue on…
Have a terrific Tuesday!
Photo from one year ago today, December 30, 2013:
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| This kudu looked me in the eye, “You got any pellets this morning?” he asked. I dropped a handful onto the ground and backed up so his huge antlers didn’t stab me. For details of this date, please click here. |