Asian medicine

I've been suffering terrible pain with one of my knees because of all the hula, getting ready for Na Hula. It's actually not the one I had surgery on, it's the other one. I just want to be able to get through until August 9th, then I'll have to do something.

Anyway, my neighbor who plays a lot of tennis had given me a couple of the patches. I was in such pain the other day, I figured "why not"...it really did seem to help. They're just a stickey patch with menthol and camphor in it. So I asked her what they were called and figured that I'd try and get some tomorrow when I'm in town.

She said that they were on sale at Longs and she'd pick me up some. I figured may $10 for 10. She said, "$2.99/40". I just laughed. What a bargin. Imported from Japan too and the box is even in english!

Gotta love it!

Lychee season

It's lychee season here in Hawaii. Here on the North Shore you don't see too many lychee trees because there's not enough rain down low. Most of the lychee trees out here are up the hill at Pupukea. It's much cooler and wetter up at the top of the hill, so there are a lot of trees up there. There are lots of lychee trees in Hilo (another story) because it's so damp. The other day I was coming back from the market and beside the road, there was was a couple selling bags of lychee out of their car.

I was so excited, these were really fresh and the smell....pure heaven! We got to talking and he told me that they live up in Pupukea and their trees are so full of fruit this year, they decided to try and sell some. They've sold out every day that they've been there. Sweet cold lychee. Once you get the outer covering off this is what you see. Pure bliss. Some other neighbors had also bought some from a roadside vendor, so the other day we spent a good hour just eating lychee.

If you haven't ever tried fresh lychee it's worth the work to taste it!

Turtle Bay 4th

On the 4th of July we decided to head over to the Turtle Bay Resort for their fireworks program. We'd been hearing reports about how crowded every place in town was, so decided to get some friends and stay on the north shore side. We're so glad we did! At one end of the big grass area, they had put up bouncy houses (4) for the kids and
the stage was at the other end. When it got dark, all we had to do was look to the right (towards the ocean) and watch.

the trade winds blew out the smoke, so it was really a great view.

Thank You Turtle Bay Resort for the great food vendors, music (Ka'ala Crater Boys & De Lima Ohana), great grass to sit on, easy exits ("Kahuku bound", "Sunset bound") and actually turning off all the lights so people could watch the fireworks!

Hope you all had a great 4th. God Bless America.

Just tired of it...

This is what it feels/looks like to us. Over 3 years, District Court, Circuit Court, ICA, Supreme Court, what seems like the above paperwork, despair,anger, hope, obscene amount of money we will never, ever see again, sadness, faith, unknown territory and having to learn legal terms we never cared about before.

Being so tired of it we actually feel that physically we can't go on, asking Lauren if she wanted a piece of bread (she can't have it), forgetting that Geoff and family will be gone next week, leaving keys on the top of the car, sending the wrong check in the mail, finding out that there are probably more microphones facing our house, not sleeping, not sure what day it is, trying to continue working because he can't retire, unable to explain just how horrible it is.

After all of this...we had hoped that they would be gone when we returned...5 days...they should be...no one can tell us for sure.

Just want it over.

June Gloom

We've been in CA for a week. Most of the days have been like the one above. We forgot how gloomy June can be along the Southern California Coast. 68 is a little chilly needless to say.

More pics of the birthdays later.

King Kamehameha Day

Today is a state holiday, King Kamehameha Day. King Kamehameha I was born in the 1700's on the Big Island. He was credited for uniting the islands under one ruler, prior to him each island was ruled by a different king. There's a song about a huge battle here on Oahu. His army marched up the pali (todays Pali Lookout) and kept moving forward until the Oahu king's army was pushed over the side. That's how he won the battle of Oahu. Think about this: all this travel between the islands was done by canoe and marching done on foot!

So today, King Kamehameha Day, the statue that is in downtown Honolulu (across from Iolani Palace) is draped with flower and maile lei. All state offices are closed, there's actually a summer swell (surf) in town, so it's a REALLY big deal!

Interesting fact: a replica of this same statue stands in the Great Statue Hall in Washington, DC, representing the state of Hawai'i.

Chinaman's Hat

A couple of weeks ago when we were coming home from the windward side, I snapped this picture of "Chinaman's Hat". It wasn't the best of weather days, but I just had a clear shot as we drove past.

This is really an island sitting a little way offshore. You can paddle out to it, but can't really go onto it. For more years than I can remember every time I look at this place, if it's driving out to the north shore or going the other way, I always get a weird feeling in my stomach.

Ever since I saw this poster...
I can't think of it any other way...creepy!