Monthly Archives: April 2014

Rich

Posted on by
Reply

Aloha!

Bette Midler is from Hawaii, and recently said: “I grew up in Hawaii, and even though people were poor, when you walked out of your crappy house you were rich, because the sky was crystal-clear and the waters were full of jumping fish and everyone had gardens. People worked hard to make the land extraordinarily beautiful.”

So in that, I feel rich every day!

It’s banana harvest season at our house. These are apple bananas–they’re small, sweet, and taste slightly like pears to me:

Apple Bananas growing on Maui

Apple Bananas growing on Maui

We make smoothies galore, bananas foster, banana cake…and give them to everyone we know.

Whale season is winding down here a bit, and Mike will be glad to have a chance to catch his breath from working three and four charters on The Scotch Mist in Lahaina every day.

Hope you had a great weekend. Mahalo for reading along! If you’d like to stay in the loop, please click the “Follow” button to the right.

Aloha, Jamaica

Time to Build the Ark

Posted on by
1

Aloha!
Here is a rainbow for you. We have had these low-lying rainbows the last three days.(Yes, it’s still raining Upcountry! Torrentially. Every single day.) Usually these rainbows come and go in the blink of an eye, but this morning I captured this one off our back porch:

image

The Bible story of Noah said that God promised he would never flood the earth again, but lately I’ve been wondering.

For a number of years we carried flood insurance. Mike thought I was crazy for getting it, but we live at the bottom of a hill, with clay soil, and I pictured everything above us on the hill tumbling down. Then FEMA tripled the rates, and it had basically quit raining every year, so we dropped the insurance. (We already pay for hurricane insurance…after a while it gets ridiculous.) And guess what? Last week our neighbors five doors down had a muddy river running right THROUGH their house.

Mike often pokes holes in my theories. (Do you have one like that?) He was pretty speechless when I told him about the neighbors, though.

Sometimes I just hate being right.

Time to build that ark. How big is a cubit?

A hui hou! Mahalo for reading along. If you’d like to stay in the loop, please click the “Follow” button to the right.

Aloha, Jamaica

Best Commute on the Planet

Posted on by
4

Aloha!

Here on KGMB channel 9, weatherman Guy Hagi often signs off the evening weathercast with, “Best weather on the planet!”

This morning a couple came to visit us with their new baby. They live in Lahaina on the westside, and the wife really wants to move Upcountry… But they are concerned about the commute. I told her for the entire 12 years that I had to commute to Kaanapali, every morning I thought, “How can I possibly complain? This is the best commute on the planet!”

Morning commute on the Pali

Morning commute on the Pali

(I have to say though, when we did our friend Olivier’s commute with him from Cannes, France to Monaco, along the water, it was definitely number two!)

So how would you fill in the blank for Maui?
Best _________ on the planet.

How would you fill in the blank for Hawaii as a whole?
Best _________ on the planet.

Send in your answers! I’m still collecting your “Top 10 things I love about Maui.”

A hui hou! Mahalo for reading along. If you’d like to stay in the loop, please click the “Follow” button to the right.

Aloha, Jamaica

Maui Ag Festival

Posted on by
3

Aloha!
You know how there certain things that go on all the time where you live, but somehow you never get there? That was us with the Maui Ag Festival, now in its seventh year. We went yesterday because Mike was working a booth there. He is enrolled in the UH Master Gardener program, and was signing people up for the program and selling seeds. (It was also a nice way to run into old friends.)

Mike at UH Booth

Mike at UH Booth

The event is all about farm to table produce, slow food, flowers, fruits and vegetables. But the main gig is really the “Grand Taste”, a chef’s tasting where twelve of Maui’s top farmers are paired with twelve of Maui’s hottest chefs…then tickets are sold to sample the goods. $35 was a little rich for our blood, plus it was so hot I had sweat running down my neck, and food was about the last thing on my mind. (The heat beat pouring rain, though, which would have been the most likely alternative lately).

There was a centerstage with entertainment, and lots of food trucks for those looking for more reasonable fare.

This is all held at Maui Tropical Plantation http://www.mauitropicalplantation.com/#welcome and they are doing their part with an old-fashioned windmill for energy

image

Next time you’re on Maui, if you’re looking for a fun day out with your family, check to see if it’s Ag Fest weekend.

A hui hou! Mahalo for reading along. If you’d like to stay in the loop, please click the “Follow” button on the Homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Barefoot Taxes

Posted on by
2

Aloha!

Got our taxes done the other day. Nothing special there… Except that everyone in that office runs around barefoot. My kind of place. Ever had your taxes done barefoot?

Maui Time (www.mauitime.com) had this in the “Overheard” box:
Man: “I forgot my shoes this morning.”
Woman: “Why did you do that?”
Man: “I don’t know… I like to walk around without shoes.”

I want you to know, I live in fear of this. I run around barefoot every hour of the day, and then it’s time to go somewhere. I will go out and get in the car, start it up and be backing out of the garage… and will realize I have no shoes.

What if I get all the way downtown to Safeway and they won’t let me in? What if I get to a doctor’s appointment and the doctor won’t see me? These are important questions.

I try to keep a pair of flip-flops (slippahs) in the trunk, but they don’t always stay there. Some days I actually need them!

Then there is the flip-flop blow out, but that is another post…

A hui hou! Mahalo for reading along! If you’d like to stay in the loop, please click the “Follow” button on the Homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica