Author Archives: jamaicawtr

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About jamaicawtr

I started this blog because while working as a concierge in Maui, tourists would always dreamily ask, "What is it REALLY like to live in Maui?"...while plotting how they could pull it off. I am a screenwriter and am published in nonfiction. I am also a licensed ASID Interior Designer. The fact that I was working as a concierge underscores that it's very difficult to bring your previous life with you when you move to the islands. Aloha!

Are Hawaiians Happier?

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Aloha!
Hawaiians earned the title of “The Happiest State in America” with the highest rate of well-being of any state for the 4th year in a row, according to the annual Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

The index looks at six categories: life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, healthy behaviors, and physical health. According to a Huffington Post blog post entitled “What Hawaii Can Teach the Rest of America About Living Better” by Carolyn Gregoire, Hawaii locals not only live longer, they’re less stressed and happier than any other state. Other states in the top ten were:
10) Massachusetts
09) Iowa
08) New Hampshire
07) Nebraska
06) Montana
05) Vermont
04) Utah
03) Minnesota
02) Colorado
01) HAWAII

Folks in the top 10 states tend to have lower rates of obesity, and fewer medical problems, such as Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, and chronic pain. They also report enjoying their jobs more. They have lower rates of smoking, and exercise more than those who live in the lower -ranked states.

These five states have been in the lowest rankings every year from 2008 through 2012: West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Almost 60% of those in Hawaii say they are “thriving,” versus about 45% in West Virginia. Hawaiians live longer, according to recent data from the Center for Disease Control.

So what are the secrets to the Aloha state’s longevity and happiness?

A Slowed down lifestyle.

A sense of family and strong community

Sunshine and exercise: more than 60% of Hawaiians exercise, according to Dr. Bradley Willcox, a longevity expert and professor at the John A. Burns school of medicine at the University of Hawaii.

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Courtesy freedigitalphotos.net arztsamui
“You get vitamin D from the sun when you’re out, it’s easier to be physically active here –you’re not dealing with 2 feet of snow for a good chunk of the year.”

Okay, let’s talk about these things. If you live in Hawaii, I’d love to hear from you. Please weigh in on:
What you think your state of happiness is, on a 1-10 scale, ten being the happiest.
Has your family had longevity?
Are you really healthy?
Do you exercise and get outside regularly?
Do you feel stressed?
Do you lead a slowed-down lifestyle?
Do you have strong family/community ties?

I will publish the results from the feedback I receive.

On another note, living in Hawaii is always interesting, and does pose its challenges. Last evening while we were in our Jacuzzi down in the yard, we had a visitor:

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I felt something brush my ear, and thought a mango tree leaf had dropped into the spa. I reached for it and it moved. I flung it, screeching, and Mike said it began swimming fast across the Jacuzzi. Well, you’ve never seen two adults in relaxation mode move so fast (or sound like 6 year-old girls).
It was about the size of the span of my hand when open, from pinky to thumb, say 6-7 inches. This is our second centipede in a week. I was headed down the hall the other evening at bedtime and just happened to glance down and saw one on the floor. I could easily have stepped on it and been stung, being that I’m always barefoot. Our chosen mode of removal is a giant pair of cooking tongs, at which point they get very angry… And then they are tossed in the toilet and flushed. A friend lays a flat box down and waits for them to crawl in. (What was that ad on TV? Cockroaches crawl in, but they don’t crawl out?)

Anyway, never a dull moment. And how was YOUR Saturday evening?

If you live in Hawaii, please take a moment to respond to the above questions, if you would. Many mahalos!

A hui ho!! If you would like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “follow” button on the homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Maui News Launches All-Digital Access

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Aloha!

For those of you who don’t live here, but just can’t get enough of Maui, The Maui News has now launched an all-digital version.
Readers can now enjoy every article of The Maui News, every day, everywhere. You can now stay informed about Maui, anyplace you can grab a Wi-Fi or cellular signal.

The new service gives readers an exact digital copy of the current edition of the newspaper. Readers of The Maui News who do not have a print subscription can call The Maui News office to subscribe for both print and digital access, or sign up for digital access only, through The Maui News website (mauinews.com)

And because it’s Labor Day, that’s all I’m going to labor here. We took a great hike at the top of Olinda road, and saw a group of birds I have never seen, anywhere before! (Where’s that field guide book when you really need it?) Hope you had a great barbecue today…

A hui ho! If you would like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “Follow” button on the homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Shark Attack Victim Dies

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Aloha,
I am sad to report that Jana Lutteropp, a 20 year-old German tourist, has died one week after a shark bit off her arm while she was snorkeling in Makena. It is not known what kind of shark was involved in the attack.

“Jana fought hard to stay alive,” her mother and sister said in a statement.”However, we are sad to say she lost her fight today.”

The last time someone died of a shark attack in Hawaii was in 2004. A Tiger shark bit Willis McGuinness in the leg while he was surfing at S-turns, (near Kahana) 100 yards off Maui. He suffered severe blood loss and died onshore. The last fatal attack before that was in 1992.

Tuesday, Hawaii officials announced they plan to spend the next two years studying Tiger shark movements around Maui, amid what they call an unprecedented spike in overall shark attacks since the beginning of 2012.

There have been eight attacks statewide this year, and 10 in 2012. Hawaii usually sees 3-4 per year.

What can be learned from this? Mike Turkington, uber-surfer and former fireman/water rescue guy, said that in both of these shark-related deaths, the water was murky. After a rain, there is often run-off into certain areas and dead fish or dead animals are floating in the water. Exactly what a hungry shark would be looking for.

So heads-up: don’t snorkel, or standup paddle, or surf in, or near murky water. Your life could depend on it.

Rest in sweet peace, Jana.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “follow” button on the homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Enough to go around

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Aloha!
I am of the opinion that there’s enough stress to go around in this world, no matter where you live. And that includes Maui.

We got up this morning to the telltale signs of termites munching happily on our beautiful cherry floors. See their little holes? There are suddenly about eight of those.

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Here’s what that looked like in the big picture. Look closely and you’ll see the small pile in the foreground:

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This is a headache, because termite treatment is a) expensive and b) a pain. I have refused to tent this house, because first of all, we’d have to move out, and second of all, there is an alternative method now to all those nasty chemicals: orange oil. This is what we used the last time the termites invaded, and we’ve at least fooled ourselves into believing it worked. Until now.

The termites are the least of what is on our minds on Maui right now. I presume you’ve heard about the latest shark attack, where the German tourist’s arm was bitten off in Makena? And in the last month, two people died while snorkeling off Black Rock in Kaanapali (separate incidents); one guy was a well-known newspaper reporter from my home town in California. Black Rock is very deceptive. People think that they’ll just swim out and take a gander at the turtles. The time I tried that I got caught in the riptide and couldn’t get back in, and almost drowned myself.

Then, a father and son had to be rescued by helicopter while hiking in Iao Valley last week. It rained very hard last week, and they got disoriented.

It’s a jungle out there.

And the jungle is now in our house… so excuse me while I go call the orange oil people.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “follow” button on the homepage.
And thanks for reading along…

Aloha, Jamaica

Skinny, White, and Blonde

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Aloha!

Because so many of you write to me with the dream of living on Maui, but you have children, and you’ve “heard things” about the schools here and are concerned…I give you the following:

I’m sure that bullying takes many forms at schools across this country. What I find interesting is that what might get a kid bullied at one school could actually gain them entrance to the cool kids club at another.

Take Jennifer (not her real name), an 18 year old that I recently had the pleasure to meet here on Maui. Jennifer is not only tall and blonde, and white….she is also quite thin. Pretty much sounds like the Hollywood standard for young starlets, doesn’t it?

Jennifer grew up on Maui, but I knew something was “off” when she started sharing how many schools she had attended here (drugs? stealing? poor grades?) Then she told me she had been sent to the east coast to finish high school (pregnancy?)

But no, it was none of these things. “I was bullied in school because I was so white. And thin. And blonde…” she says hesitantly. (As opposed to big and brown?) “I didn’t fit in and it was so bad that I wouldn’t go to school, and cut class. So I flunked out.” Then what happened, I ask. “So I got sent to live with my family on the east coast, but the schools there are so advanced compared to Hawaii, I couldn’t keep up. I mean, I didn’t know ANY of the stuff I was supposed to know. So I flunked out there, as well. I came back to Hawaii and got my GED.”

How far do we think Jennifer will get in life with only a GED? How would she fare in college either here, or on the mainland, if she doesn’t know any of the stuff she’s supposed to know? All because of the accident of fate that she was raised in Hawaii and bullied, versus raised on the east coast with the rest of her family…where she might very well have been the Queen Bee of popular kids because she looked the way she was “supposed” to look, to fit in.

But instead she was ostracized in Hawaii and flunked out of school.

And this begs the question: would those big, brown girls from Maui get bullied at school if they were sent to live on the mainland? Because of the way they look, because they speak pidgin?

I polled a group of my friends, one of whom is a grade school special-ed teacher here on Maui, to find out their views on bullying. I shared that I do not remember bullying going on when I was in school. One woman who is a young 70, commented that when she was in school all of the problem kids were weeded out by junior high and sent to “reform school.” That’s the way I remember it also. Another friend shared that teachers have lost all the power in the classroom (and I also remember teachers being able to use a paddle in my grade school in the midwest, and the THREAT kept most kids in line.) In fact, my father was a teacher, and his gift when graduating from teacher’s college was a paddle carved with his fraternity letters. Something tells me new teachers don’t get those anymore.

I’ve tried to figure out why Jennifer’s story got me so riled. I think it’s because I could finally put a sweet face to a bullying story. How long has bullying been going on in this country at this level? (And I’m talking even before social media, which is so sneaky that kids never have to own up to their behavior). As one friend put it, “Before a kid could only whisper ‘Jimmy’s a fag,’ but now it goes out in giant letters from a social media site around the world in a flash…and those kids don’t stand a chance.”

So, what gets kids bullied where you live? Have your children experienced it personally?

Hollywood has done an excellent job of making people believe that Hawaii is a perfect paradise. So I share this with all of the parents who think if they can just get their family moved here, that everything will be wonderful. One movie that does tell it like it is, is NORTH SHORE, available through Netflix. It’s not just the girls who are bullied; the boys are bullied for surfing in the “locals only” spot, driving the wrong vehicle, dating the wrong girl. And the boys use their fists.

The tagline for this blog states, “Sharing what it’s really like to live on Maui.” And that is what it’s really been like to live here, for Jennifer.

A hui hou! If you would like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “Follow” button on the homepage. Thanks for stopping by.

Aloha, Jamaica

How for speak Pidgin

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Aloha!

As I get settled back into the way of life on Maui after being gone for so long, I thought I would share with you one of the major differences between the mainland and here. It’s a funny and very true depiction of speaking pidgin.

If you’re trying to keep up while watching it, think, that’s how it would be if you lived in Hawaii!

Enjoy!

Aloha, Jamaica

Turn Around, Don’t Drown

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Aloha!
Life in Hawaii is never dull. When I’m visiting elsewhere, people ask me, “Don’t you get Island fever? Don’t you get bored?” How can I get bored when I’ve only been home on Maui for three days, yet we’ve already had a major storm warning, in which they closed the Port, which had us buying bottled water, filling every pot, pitcher and cake pan in the house… battening down the hatches, and praying it would pass over? There’s no time to be bored. We live on a rock on the middle of the Pacific ocean, and it’s wild and woolly here. Locals get a little panicked when they think the boats won’t come in and they’re going to run out of rice, water, or toilet paper. And and of all of those things, let me tell you, toilet paper is the biggie here! We went to Safeway and there was not a single bottle of water left on the shelves. And the lines to fill the cars with gas at Costco were ten-deep.

We have a weather/emergency radio that runs on batteries, and has a handy-dandy wind-up up cell phone charger built in. (Not that the cell phone towers were actually functioning during our last earthquake, but still, I sleep better having it.) Yesterday we turned on that radio, and there was a recorded, monotone, mildly ominous voice warning, “Turn around, don’t drown.” It was referring to the swollen creeks and streams on Maui, and the people who unthinkingly cross them. For anyone who has driven to Hana on that narrow, winding road, just picture the creeks rushing over it while trying to navigate those wild hair-pin turns.

I have lived here since 1999, and there’s not been a time that we’ve put the work in and prepared for a big storm, hurricane, or tsunami in this fashion, and actually had all the bad stuff come to fruition. But you have to prepare…better safe than sorry.

Bored? There’s no time to be bored. Fires that close the only road into Lahaina. Floods. Pestilence, hurricanes, tsunamis… we have it all.

They burned the sugarcane field right behind our house the week before I got home. This is the only time that this has occured, that I’ve been gone for the burning. I was overjoyed. Then it was time for the cleanup, to get all the greasy ash off of everything that floated in the air during and after the burn, and coated the driveway, garage floor, porch and porch furniture. Mike had just finished pressure-washing the back porch, when the storm warnings arrived.

Now, we have nice, clean air because the storm blew out all of the cane-smoke. And we are never bored.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “Follow” button on the homepage. Thanks for reading along.

Aloha, Jamaica

Coming Soon

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Aloha!
I want to thank you all for your patience, as I have not blogged much lately… But it will be about another two weeks and I will have my mother’s estate wrapped up. I am back in California, just had the estate sale, and can’t wait to get home and share more of Maui with you all.

I will also have some interesting news to share with you very soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me! It won’t be long now.

Warm Aloha,
Jamaica

Welcome Home to Maui

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Aloha!
Here are my two “Welcome Home’s” to Maui:

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The stunning rainbow off the front porch.
And, another pair of rubbah slippahs (rubber slippers) bites the dust to the Maui mold and humidity. Half the bottom simply crumbled away when I put them on. They had barely been worn.

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Ah, it’s good to be home.

A hui hou!
Aloha, Jamaica

Life is a Highway

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Aloha!

I compose blog posts (in my head) all the time–little Valentines to you all, so tickled am I that you’re reading along… though lately these posts stay mostly just there–in my head.

I’ve been thinking about how life is like driving a car. Sometimes we hit a speed bump, or run over a curb. At times we get in a little fender bender; it shakes us up and we have to exchange information with others. Then there is getting broadsided in the middle of a busy intersection. The ambulance is called and it can require a whole team of people to get you back on your feet.

Seeing that I’ve experienced all of those things physically in life, I can recognize when it happens metaphorically, also. And let me tell you,I got broadsided two years ago and nothing has been the same. (It may never be again).

It was when I got the phone call from my mom that my step dad had terminal cancer that I first packed a bag and left Maui, two years ago next month. There is so much to be done for a terminal cancer patient (lifting, feeding, just keeping the morphine schedule straight…)that Mom and I and my niece, whom they raised, were in survival mode and not discussing things like the Will/Trust, or business. Bad move.

I was gone seven months that time, then home to Maui for a brief stint, then back to California to care for my mother post-surgery, then home in a heartbeat to care for Mike, who had a nasty case of near-fatal blood poisoning, from a splinter in his foot off the dock in Lahaina. (The airlines LOVE me.) Then, because life just wasn’t exciting enough, I was in the hospital myself for four days with sepsis. I think my body knew that putting me in the hospital was the only way I was going to get any rest.

I was barely recuperated when mom needed surgery again-so back to California. Only this time, she didn’t make it. And it went from feeling like being broad-sided in that intersection, to a 10-car pileup, mostly because I never had a chance to breathe and catch up the whole time.

So here I am, eight months in, of being the Executor for an estate where the Will/Trust was spectacularly poorly written by an attorney who should have known better, and the fallout from that. And, the questions.

Everywhere I go, from my parent’s bank, to their credit union, to their grocery store, people helping me ask,”I am writing my Will, I am creating a Family Trust…what can I do differently, to avoid the problems you’ve had?” One friend went so far as to change her Will after observing all this. She chose to make her attorney the Executor, so that none of the kids have to bear the weight.

But what I tell people is this: make it iron-clad. Nothing wishy-washy, not a single paragraph anywhere. My parents could not agree on a special-needs child, and so the Trust was written so ambiguously that I had to hire another attorney to clean the mess up. Two weeks ago I was again back in that attorney’s office, and there was shoutin’ goin’ on. All because two people couldn’t agree on how to write their Trust. So who’s problem did it become? Mine, the Trustee.

The weight of all this has been staggering. I just had to get the blazes out of California, so I am back on Maui for about a week, for R&R, like from the military. People have been wondering where I’ve been, so there you have it.

So now go do a Trust and Will check up, either for your own,or for your parents or for your grandparents. People just hate talking about this stuff… so they don’t do it.

Now don’t tell me you were never warned.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “follow” button on the Homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Treasure Trove of Surfing Photos

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Aloha!

So Mike made the LA Times today, on the front page of the Local section… it can be searched under “A wistful wave to the past.” It is a famous vintage photo of him surfing, and it is also featured in Krista Comer’s book: “Surfer Girls in the New World Order.” Photo by Tom Keck. Here is the link:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-surfing-photo-archive-pictures,0,5720568.photogallery

Try also: latimes.com/news/local/la-me-surf-photos-20130616,0,1679754

So proud of his contribution to the sport, and to the world of surfing… Enjoy the article.

Aloha, Jamaica

Would you pay by weight to fly?

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Aloha!
The islands in the Pacific have the highest rates of obesity in the world. According to a 2011 report, 86% of Samoans are overweight, the fourth worst of all nations.

In comparison, the same study found that 69% of Americans are overweight, 61% off Australians and 22% of Japanese. (I found that hard to believe.)

Samoa Air has begun pricing it’s international flights based on the weight of passengers and their bags. Depending on the flight, each kilogram (2.2 lbs.) costs $.93 to a $1.06. An average man weighing 195 pounds with a 35 pound bag would pay $97.00, while competitors would charge $130. – $140. for a similar trip between Apia, Samoa, and Pago-Pago American Samoa.

The airline’s chief executive, Chris Langton, said, “Planes are run by weight and not by seats, and travelers should be educated on this important issue. The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight, and that weight needs to be paid. There is no other way.”

Only Samoa’s Pacific neighbors of Nauru, the Cook Islands, and Tonga rank worse for obesity.

I remember boarding a flight from Maui to the mainland when we were made to sit on the tarmac (with no air conditioning) for 90 minutes. The hold-up? A woman who refused to use a seat-belt extender, needed because of her ample girth. Since the normal seatbelt would not go around her, the flight attendant attached an extender, which basically looked exactly like the seatblet, only longer. Apparently the woman felt this was not as safe, and she and the flight crew were at a stand-off.

Eventually, she was removed from the flight, and we are all allowed to get on with our trip.

So tell me, would you pay to fly by weight? And do you feel this is a fair way to price a flight?

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please clck the Follow button on the Home Page.

Aloha, Jamaica

Real Estate is Hot Again

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Aloha!

Real estate is on fire in California… I share this with you because the common wisdom is that Hawaii follows California. So if you’re thinking of moving to Hawaii, the time is now.

Yes, I’ve said this before. However, that was before I became personally embroiled in California real estate, and now I see it in the big picture. Home prices in the Bay Area have hit a milestone: median prices for all types of housing topped $500,000 for the first time in five years.

I am the executor of my mother’s estate, which means I needed to sell her house in the Bay Area. It went on the market, had open houses for two weekends, and got 18 offers. 18 offers, people! Almost all of them were well over asking price. I was floored. Then of course, I had to weed through the 18 offers, and ended up countering five of them. It was a very difficult decision to make the final choice, especially knowing that there are many young families out there who are desperate to buy a home while interest rates are historically low.

I have a friend in California who has been actively trying to buy a condo. One of the units she placed an offer on got 28 offers. She was very discouraged, but after five months of looking and putting in offers, she prevailed. The secret in this market is to be extremely patient. Also, to be excited about a house, but not crushed if you don’t get it. Easier said than done.

The reason for the on-fire real estate market in the Bay Area is that housing prices have risen to where underwater homes can finally sell at a profit. And yet, people are still leery of the market, and many are holding back to see where the prices will land. This has created a seller’s market, and a huge demand for very few houses. “I’ve been in real estate for 32 years and this is the lowest inventory we have ever had,” said Caroline Miller, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors.”We’ve had multiple-offer markets before, but it’s just incredible. There are anywhere from three offers up to 20 or 30 offers, it’s just been crazy.”

As I said, Hawaii follows California. Are you planning to move to Hawaii? Do you hope to buy a house? Then hurry, please.

What is the housing market like in your area? Please share your stories.

A hui ho! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the “follow” button on the homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Scene and Heard

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Aloha!
Here are some tidbits from around the island:

Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, the cashier took some money out of the till to give change, and I heard her say “We’re going to let dat one dry out… dat’s money from da beach.” Like soaking wet money is a regular occurance for her.

And a bumper sticker: “God is Hawaiian.” I’m glad they cleared that up.

Sitting in the chair at the salon getting my hair cut, a 20-something in the next chair who had recently moved to Maui was complaining about the First Friday street celebration in Paia: “The First Friday celebration on Oahu goes till 2 am.”
His hair stylist said,” Nothing stays open till 2 AM on Maui.”
The new guy quipped, “Yeah, but I at least expected it to go later than 9 PM!”

These things were all heard right before I left Maui to come to California to sell my Mom’s house. Soon I will post about real estate, on Maui and otherwise.

A hui hou! Thanks for stopping by.
Aloha, Jamaica

Tip for the Day

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Aloha!
I have again been MIA….I had to have surgery on my eyelid (yes, every bit as painful as it sounds) and as soon as all the letters aren’t running together on the page, I will post.

I do have a tip for the day, though. You know how whenever you buy berries and bring them home from the store looking all perfect, they grow fuzz within 24 hours? Well, this has worked beautifully: put the berries, unwashed, in a cardboard box lined with a paper towel. (I put a cover on mine…it was like a small gift box or shirt box.) I put them in the fridge in this box on Monday, and today is Saturday and the berries are still perfect! Who knew?

Apparently, strawberries used to always come in cardboard boxes in the old days. They probably started using plastic because it was probably cheaper. But the old ways can be the best.

Next I plan to try this with raspberries. Imagine, no berries lost to fuzz…I feel emboldened, like I can conquer the world now.

Oh, wait…I’ll be off soaking my eye with hot compresses.

I hope you’re having a good day… Will be back soon.

Aloha, Jamaica

Brief Relief

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Aloha!
Regarding my last post about the VOG (volcanic organic gas), and that we’d had unrelenting VOG for 43 days, I wanted to give you an update. Shauna wrote to ask if I had asthma before moving to Hawaii. The answer is no. I’ve written about this in the past, but I really did move to Maui for the “clean” air. So I was shocked to find out that Hawaii has a high incidence of asthma, and particularly the children are at risk. You can check it out at http://www.CDC.gov/asthma/stateprofiles/asthma. An estimated 36,738 children have asthma in Hawaii. Child lifetime asthma prevalence in Hawaii is 18.6%, compared with the 38 participating states rates of 13.3%.

There have also been questions about whether Hawaii is a good place for those with allergies. See also: http://www.allergyclimates.com/2006/06/03/Denver-Hawaii.

I’ve sat in my chiropractor’s office, and listened to parents bringing their children in for adjustments, saying, “I pulled the children out of school today because of the VOG, and they’re doing so poorly, I brought them in for an adjustment.” Many Hawaii schools have open windows and no air conditioning. I spoke with the man who owns Air Filters Hawaii, and he was hired to go to the Big Island and fit the schools over there with air filteration systems for the VOG. I think Maui should be next.

The thing with the VOG is that it’s so in insidious. Most places on the island, you don’t even know it’s there. We can go to downtown Kahului (where the airport is),and not see the VOG at, all because we are IN it. We can go down to Kihei, or to Wailea, on the south part of the island, and it’s the same way. But we come up the mountain and have a view of the valley, and bingo! there it is, hanging over Maui like a gauzy blanket. The shorthand at our house now revolves around the VOG. The question, “Is it thick?” means, is it time to close up all the windows?

I am on the email notification list for the island’s HC&S sugarcane company. This year during our 45 day VOG seige, they would send an email that said they were going to burn in the morning between 4:00am and 6:30am, and then a few hours later another email notification would come, saying “burning suspended due to weather.” They’re not saying due to VOG, but that’s what it means. They canceled the burning so many times I lost track, and the upside to the VOG siege was they were not burning cane. So it’s a choice between VOG and cane-smoke, I guess.

We had a three day VOG reprieve, so we went to the beach. I was so happy to be out of the house I cannot even tell you! However, now I’m thinking I need to do a blog post about “what not to do at the beach.” There was the guy who stood directly in front of me and chain smoked the whole time. Then the guy next to me smoking a cigar. Honestly, people, you can’t do this in your own backyards?

So today the wind is directly out of the south, and the VOG is moving back in. All of our windows are closed, and I am so weary of it, and wonder how long it will last this time. At one point I worked in a law office here on the island, with a large group of women. On voggy days, you could just see the effects all across the office… People with itchy eyes, scratchy throats, and the inability to concentrate. People would think they were coming down with the flu (with the achiness), but it would just be the VOG.

So there’s your report from Paradise today.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the follow button on the homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

43 Days of Vog and Counting

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43 Days of Vog and Counting

Aloha!

I have written about Vog before–it’s an acronym for Volcanic Organic Gas, and it’s sulfur, so it’s a poison. It is also a particulate which lodges in the lungs. This gas escapes from the volcano on the Big Island, and when our trade winds are working the way they’re supposed to, they keep that nasty stuff over on the Big Island.

Lately, though, the winds have died more often than they’ve blown (climate change?) and we have major Vog here on Maui. 43 days with nary a let-up, but who’s counting? Just because I don’t go outside except to go to the grocery store, and I live in Paradise? I have asthma, and I can’t breathe from it, but it’s more than that. Being a poisonous gas, it causes a variety of problems such as burning, itchy eyes; sore throat, concentration problems, and achiness like the flu. 

Above is a photo of the valley with Vog, and under it a  photo of the valley with no Vog. It’s difficult to photograph because, well, it’s a gas. The most telling feature of this photo is the direction the smoke is blowing from the smokestacks at the Puunene sugar mill. If the smoke were blowing to the left, the winds would be coming from the east. But they are blowing “backwards,” from the south. We call this Kona winds, and they didn’t use to be that big a deal, it blew that way for just a month or two in the wintertime. In fact, winter was known as Kona season.

However, it is no longer “winter” here, it is past Easter, and I am quite distressed. This has been going on for a few years now, ever since a new vent opened in the volcano. The shelf (rim) of the volcano has been a collapsing at the rate of the size of a Volkswagen bus per day. When the shelf hits bottom it goes “pooff” and out comes the gas. Oh, joy.

43 days of being cooped up in the house, and I live  in Paradise. But who’s counting?

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Home Page.

Aloha, Jamaica

 

Jumping the Shark

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**Spoiler Alert** If you haven’t yet watched the season premiere of Mad Men and intend to do so, wait to read this. The premiere had 3.4 million viewers. Mad Men swept the best drama category at the Primetime Emmy Awards four
four years running.

Aloha!

Last night’s season premiere of Mad Men opened in Hawaii, so of course it had my full attention. Thanks to Elvis movies (and Bing Crosby’s before him), Hawaii tourism was treated to a perfect storm in the late 1960’s of tourists arriving by droves in ships and planes to spend their hard-earned vacation dollars, and often, to get out of the cold of a mainland winter.

In this season’s opener, Don Draper and wife Megan do just that, as they are in Hawaii checking out a hotel property (Marriott) on Oahu as a possible new client for the ad agency.  Back in New York, Don presents his ad campaign to the guys from Marriott.

(So, I am wondering if you agree with Don’s take on Hawaii….?)

DON: I’ve just come back…and there’s a feeling that’s stayed with me…

MARRIOTT GUY: I’ve been there in the winter–its quite a shock coming back.

DON: Well put, but that could be any vacation. This was very, very different. I think we’re not selling a geographic location–we’re selling an experience. It’s not just a different place–YOU are different. You’d think there’d be an unsettling feeling about something so drastically different, but there’s something else…you don’t miss anything. You’re not homesick.

It puts you in this…state. The air and the water are all the same temperature as your body. It’s sensory. The music, the fragrance, the breeze and the blue…Hawaiian legend has it that the soul can go in and out of the body, but that it usually leaves from a leeward point. (Don shows a sketch of a suit coat, tie, and an abandoned pair of shoes, with bare footprints leading away.) The copy reads:

Hawaii…the jumping-off point.

MARRIOTT: What happened to him?

DON: He got off the plane, took a deep breath, shed his skin and–jumped off.

MARRIOTT (considers this): I think people might think that he died.

DON: Maybe he did, and he went to heaven. Maybe that’s what this feels like.

Okay…so what did you think? Many people seem to feel that being in Hawaii is like dying and going to heaven (albeit without the existential overtones that Don Draper brought to this scene.) When I worked as a concierge and saw hundreds of tourists a month, they would all get the same moony look on their faces in describing coming to Hawaii, or being back in Hawaii.

What do you think that “state” of being is, that Don descibes? Do you think, as he said, that you are different in Hawaii?

Oh, and as far as the title of this post, “Jumping the Shark”…that refers to a Hollywood term (created by Jon Heim) that describes the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins to decline in quality that is beyond recovery, which is usually a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of gimmick in a desperate attempt to keep viewers’ interest.

The phrase “jump the shark” comes from a scene in the fifth season premiere of the TV series Happy Days (Sept. 20, 1977) in which the central characters visit Los Angeles and a water-skiing Fonzie (Henry Winkler) answers a challenge by wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket, and jumps over a confined shark. It is commonly believed that the show began a creative decline as the writers ran out of ideas and Happy Days became a caricature of itself (Wikipedia, Jumping the Shark.)

To me, Mad Men just jumped the shark when Don ended up in bed, yet again, with a woman who was not his wife. Seems to me that Matthew Weiner had himself a boring episode (who IS Sandy, the girl with the violin? And why should we care?) so gave it a jolt at the end to wake us all up after two hours of saying “huh?”

Even paradise couldn’t resuscitate this snooze fest for me. So did you see it? What did you think?

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

The Patchwork of Life

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Aloha!

When people start writing to ask, “Are your okay?” I know it’s time to blog again.

Interesting question… are you okay? Having lost my mother, I have to say it’s hard to realize I will never again pick up the phone and have her be on the other end. She was 77 years old. That would’ve seemed old at one time in my life, but this was a woman who still went to water aerobics three times a week, who went to lunch and the movies with friends every single Friday of her life, no matter what. In fact, three of us went to the movies the evening of my stepfather’s funeral…nothing like a good comedy to ease a transition. Mom was all about enjoying life. (Which begs the question, where are all the good comedies? But that is another post.)

I want to write about the concept of chogak po. I am reading the book “Honolulu” by author Alan Brennert. (I don’t know how this one escaped me; it was published in 2009 and was the winner of “Elle’s” Lettres 2009 Grand Prix for Fiction.) It’s about a Korean woman who travels to Hawaii as a “picture bride” in 1914, but she does not find the life she has been promised, and instead must make her own way in a strange land. Chogak po is the Korean word for patchwork cloth, cobbled together from leftover scraps of material. They have an abstract beauty, but the protagonist asks her mother why she does not make more elegant creations, because she is capable. The mother replies, “When we are young we think life will be like a su po: one fabric, one weave, one grand design. But in truth, life turns out to be more like the patchwork cloth–bits and pieces, odds and ends–people, places, things we never expected, never wanted, perhaps. There is harmony in this, too, and beauty.”

I am trying to see harmony and beauty in my life, at a time when so many things I never saw coming and never wanted to deal with are expected of me. It has been four months since my mother passed away, and I am still wading through the paperwork and making daily phone calls in connection with her business affairs. Who knew?

One bright spot is my friend, Suzanne, who went through this a year before I did, and has been my mentor and guide. There was a time in my life when I was ahead of all of my friends in doing the important things such as buying a house, starting a business, etc. and they were constantly relying on me to guide them through the intricacies of those things. I used to think, “When is it my turn? When do I get someone to explain things to me?” I am just so glad that when it has come down to important decisions such as the timing on when to sell my mom’s house, I have had Suzanne to say, “Take your time…don’t let anyone push you or hurry you. As Executor, you are in control.”

Moving to Maui is much the same as that patchwork Korean cloth. Everyone thinks life here is going to be perfect (it’s Paradise, right?) and they have a grand design in mind when they come. But in truth, it turns out to be full of things no one can understand until they have fully lived here…not just part-timed it, or vacationed here. Vacationing in Maui means hanging out with other tourists and doing tourist things. Living here means reality: understanding pidgin and the local ways. Accepting that everything moves at a glacial speed.

Some things just can’t be fully understood until we’ve lived them ourselves.

A hui hou! Thanks for stopping by…If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the homepage.
Aloha, Jamaica

Because Suze Orman Said So

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Aloha!

Many of you have written to me saying you’re planning to move to Maui this June… must be something in the air. And of course the price of Paradise always enters the conversation when people plan to move here.

I never had facts and figures to back up how much more expensive Paradise is, until now. In the recent Oprah Magazine a woman wrote to financial guru Suze Orman to talk about budgeting, and she is living in Hawaii. Suze wrote back to question the wisdom of living in a place that is 55% higher than the mainland for necessities like gas, groceries, and utilities.

So there you have it. Paradise is 55% higher because Suze Orman said so. Now we can all quit wondering.

I spent this winter in northern California, taking care of my mother’s estate after she passed away. There were three people living in the house. And California was having the coldest winter anyone could remember for ages, which meant I was running the furnace all the time.

The  utility bill in California (for three people) was $310 per month cheaper than my house in Maui (for four people), with no furnace running.

And then there are the groceries. In California, I fairly skip down the grocery aisles, tossing things into my cart with abandon. Everything is about one third, to half the price, as Maui. It’s all relative, whatever you are used to. I’m sure the people in California don’t think their groceries are cheap.

The price of paradise is steep. The difference is, I did not get to wake up to blinding sunshine every single day in California like I do in Maui.

It really is all relative…

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the homepage.


Aloha, Jamaica

Aloha, Again

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Aloha!

Yes, yes, I know, it’s been a while. Those of you who read this blog know that my mother passed away in December. And I’ve been a little busy. If anyone ever offers to make you the Executor of an estate and you’re thinking of it as an honor, word of advice: run screaming in the other direction. But I was given no choice, so there you have it.

Being the Executor of an estate (estate? puh-leeze) is a thankless, mind-numbing exercise in futility, and you spend months chasing your tail. To top it off, my parents were pack-rats (they had twelve of everything) and it’s up to the Executor (that would be me) to clear all of that flotsam (unimportant misc. material) and jetsam (material cast overboard in times of distress to lighten the load) out of the house, so it can be sold. The stuff and the house.

And let me tell you, there were times while I was there when I walked out to their over-stuffed garage and wanted to pick up one of the (twelve) hammers on the work bench and smack myself in the face with it. Because that would have been an excellent diversion from the two-foot pile of paperwork waiting for me inside the house:

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This was from just one drawer, in one of the four desks in my mom’s house.

Currently I am back on Maui because, well, because I actually have a life apart from being the Executor of an estate…however, being one leaves you no time for your own life. I had to get out of California while the getting was good, just to get my own taxes done this year. THEN I get to go back and file my mom’s taxes, and the estate’s taxes. And sell the house. Party-time!

I know that I am back on Maui, because that very first morning, a friendly little German cockroach decided to share my cup of tea with me:IMG_1819

Some things never change.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage.

Aloha, Jamaica

Aloha, Mom

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Aloha,
I just wanted to let you know that I have not been posting to this blog because my mother was in the Intensive Care Unit, post-surgery, in California, and I was at her bedside.

In that pressure cooker of “What if?’, ‘Maybe’, and end-of-life decisions, my mind was getting well ahead of itself and I was stressing out. When the doctor left the room after he asked for permission to turn off the machines if necessary, my mother’s dear friend, Fran, gave me a very good piece of advice. She said, “Hold your hands straight out in front of you. Now put them out to your sides. That space is all the more you can try to control, and all the more you should worry about. No more.”

This was a very good visual, and something I think I will probably carry with me for the rest of my life. We have all been taught that our reach should exceed our grasp, but in a case like this, that would have just made me crazy.

So I was waving my hands around a lot, and telling myself to take a deep breath and not to try to control the outcome.

Sadly, the outcome is that my mom passed away eight days ago.

After watching her struggle in the ICU, and knowing that she would probably never be the same again, I was able to let go of this vivacious woman who loved life. I told myself how much she would have hated a convalescent home if I could no longer care for her. I told myself that the additional surgeries the doctor was recommending would have just angered her.

So I let go. I said goodbye, and her heart stopped.

I have talked to other people who’ve lost both their parents, and they said that even as an adult, you feel like an orphan. I tried to understand that at the time, but you never understand it until you go through it yourself. Just like countless other things in life.

I am the Executor of the estate and there is much to do…so I’ll be back here after the new year.

During this busy season, please give your loved ones a hug, look them in the eye, and tell them how much they mean to you.

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Aloha, Jamaica

Hawaii Housing Ranked Most Expensive in Country

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Hawaii Housing Ranked Most Expensive in Country

Aloha!

If you love to visit Hawaii and hope to buy a home/condo here in the future, better make it soon.

Coldwell Banker http://www.coldwellbanker.com/ just released a report that puts Hawaii’s housing costs the highest in the nation. An average 4 bedroom/2 bath home is more expensive than any other state, with an average listing price of $742,000.

Kailua, on Oahu where Mike grew up (in a modest 3 bed/1bath home) and where President Obama and family plan to vacation this holiday season for the fifth straight year in a row, ranked 8th out ot the top 10 most expensive places to buy a home.

We are so glad we bought our house when we did (2002), even though we tore it down and built what we now have. Because building materials have just spiraled upward also.

Analysts say they expect prices to skyrocket even further in the future. I suppose the next thing they will rank is how Hawaii housing costs compare to the entire world.

If your dream is to live in Hawaii, better buy while you can. I wish you the best of luck.

 A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage. Mahalo for stopping by!

Aloha, Jamaica

Where Does Oprah Live on Maui?

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Where Does Oprah Live on Maui?

Aloha!

No matter what I post on any topic, it seems the thing people really most want to know is: where the heck does Oprah live on Maui? So, I will tell you.

I directed tourists on how to get there all the time when I worked as a concierge at the Maui Kaanapali Villas: (www.astonmauikaanapalivillas.com.) Hard to believe, but it’s a destination drive for tourists now. I wonder if someday they’ll stop there with the tourist buses like they do on the Beverly Hills “See the Stars’ Homes” tours.

Soooo (drumroll please…) Here is Oprah’s House, as seen on http://www.oprah.com:

And this is how we’ll get there: Let’s pretend you fly into Maui and board my Maui Magical Mystery Tours bus. We are now driving away from the airport, and the mountain range on your right is the West Maui mountains, and the mountain on your left is Haleakala. We’re going to go toward Haleakala. If you look at a map of Maui, and see Highway 37, we are going to follow that out toward Ulupalakua.

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When we get to the main intersection in Kahului (Dairy Road and Hana Highway, just past K-Mart) we make a left onto Hana Hwy. and stay on it about one mile till we see a big green sign on our right that says “Haleakala Crater” “Kula” and “Pukalani”. We will make a right.

This is Hwy. 37. We will stay on this ALL the way until the turn-off for Oprah’s house. Since you’re not the one driving, you will get to enjoy the breathtaking scenery as we slowly climb the mountain. We will pass the turn-off for Makawao. While it’s a perfectly nice little cowboy town with a few art galleries thrown in, we won’t turn off. We will then pass the signs that say “Crater.” But we are on a mission, so we don’t turn off, as much as we might like to see Haleakala Crater.

We will eventually pass mile marker 12, then mile marker 13. We will pass Rice Park on our left. We will keep going until we see mile marker 16.5 and Keokea Park will be on our left.

Now, we SLOW DOWN. We will see a sign for “Thompson Ranch Road” because Oprah bought Thompson Ranch. Grandma’s Coffee House will be on our right, and we make the left onto Thompson Ranch Road, which immediately veers to the right. We are careful to make this right or we will be going uphill to Kula Hospital!

Thompson Ranch road is a bit like a small roller-coaster ride, up and down and all around. It’s pretty much one lane, so we are careful of all the people going in the other direction who have already been to view Miss Oprah’s house, and are now probably on their way for coffee at Grandma’s. (Oprah would probably make money if she put a coffee stand at the bottom of her driveway, there are so many people who go there now.)

We won’t know we are at Oprah’s house unless we are watching the hillside on the left. About a quarter mile down there it is, white and gleaming, perched on the hill. Lucky for us there happens to be a little turnaround were we can pull off on the right and view it. Would you like to get off the bus and stretch your legs? We’ve been on here for about 35 to 40 minutes now. Be sure to bring your camera…though you won’t get pictures anywhere is good as the one at the top. It’s uphill and the angle is not right for photos.

Okay now, everybody happy? That’ll be $19.95 for the bus tour. Oh wait, this is Maui. Make that $89.95.

Thank you for traveling today with Mauidailyescape.com. Remember, you read it here. Please tell your friends about this blog, and be sure to direct them to this post so they’ll know how to get to Miss Oprah’s house. Share it on Facebook…tweet it….then I can cover other interesting topics on this blog in the future. Thank you for riding along.

A hui hou! (till next time.) If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage. Mahalo for stopping by!

Aloha, Jamaica

With Gratitude at Thanksgiving

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With Gratitude at Thanksgiving

Aloha!

For those of you who might be getting on the road to go see family for the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to say safe travels and thank you for reading. I have been touched by, and feel gratitude for, all of you who have written to say how much you enjoy this blog. It is my pleasure to bring you a little bit of Maui, no matter how far away you are.

I love Thanksgiving. It’s one of those holidays that everyone can join in enjoying, without trying to be politically correct, or the divisiveness of religion. You don’t have to worry about spilling the beans about Santa Claus or wonder what you’re going to buy someone for a gift. Thanksgiving just is. A day for feasting, reflection, merriment, family and relaxation (if you’re not the one basting Mr. Bird.)

I’m really hoping it’s going to cool down on Maui in time for Thanksgiving. A couple of years ago I put a turkey in the oven for a Christmas party we were having, and by the time we were ready to eat, the house was SO HOT that no one was hungry. We have a window air conditioner and when the day was over I discovered that it has been set on “fan” instead of “cool.” And here I thought it was all that body heat. You can bet I’ll never let that happen again!

At Thanksgiving time we pause to consider all we are grateful for, and my heart goes out to all those on the East Coast who are still struggling in the aftermath of Sandy.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and thank you for being a part of the ohana here at Maui Daily Escape.

A hui hou! Mahalo for stopping by.

Aloha, Jamaica

Baby Dolphin Birth (Video)

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Baby Dolphin Birth (Video)

Aloha!

Dophin Quest on the Big Island http://www.dolphinquest.com/index.php/dgh-2012contest recorded the live birth of their newest baby dophin in a man-made lagoon at the Hilton Waikoloa Village resort, where visitors are encouraged to touch and swim with the dolphins. The female baby was born to Keo, a 12-year-old first-time mother. The video shows the tail emerging first and then the baby popping out. She goes to the surface for air before swimming with her mother. You can view it here on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYcBJnbpqo8. Dolphin Quest officials said that in the wild the survival rate of babies born to first-time mothers is about 50 percent. The new baby appears to be thriving.

Dolphin Quest is holding a contest to name the little one, along with two others born recently, one to a 27-year- old named Pele and the other to a 28-year-old named Kona. Submissions for names should be Hawaiian words. The contest runs through Dec. 14th. Submissions can be made in person or online , and winners will get a swim for two with the dolphins and a photo CD.

Sounds like a good excuse for a trip to the Big Island!

Did you ever swim  with the dolphins? What was is it like?

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage. Mahalo for stopping by!

Aloha, Jamaica

Oprah’s Organics?

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Oprah’s Organics?

Aloha!

Would you buy organic produce from Oprah Winfrey if you got the chance? It might soon be a reality here in the Islands. It appears she is turning her 160 acre property in Hana, Maui into a new business. The US patent office late last month received seven trademark filings under “Oprah’s Organics,” “Oprah’s Farm,” and “Oprah’s Harvest.” Earlier this year, several websites quoted a National Enquirer story in which Winfrey joked that she might move to Maui to run an organic farm if her Oprah Winfrey Network cable television channel didn’t work out.

According to her rep, Oprah says she wants to use her Maui farm to grow and distribute produce throughout the state. But these filings also clear the way for all kinds of products from frozen foods to beauty supplies. According to an article in Pacific Business News,http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/blog/2012/11/oprah-puts-her-famous-brand-on-organic.html the Oct. 29 application for Oprah’s Organics said “the trademark is for everything from soaps and shower gels, cleansers, lotions and moisturizers to shampoos, conditioners and sunscreens. The Oprah’s Harvest application filed on Sept. 7 just says it is for food, beverages, agricultural and catering services, but the New York Post’s Page Six reports that the applications also cover organic salad dressings, frozen vegetables, soups, beverages and snack dips. A Winfrey representative told the Post that the trademarks filed for Oprah’s farm were for produce to be grown and distributed on Maui and the rest of Hawaii.”

I feel it’s my civic duty here on Maui to report this to you, because “Where does Oprah live on Maui?” And “Oprah’s Farm” are two of the biggest search terms this blog receives. It would appear that even though Oprah has retired from network television, people still can’t get enough news of her.

It will certainly be interesting to see what this organic produce from Oprah will cost here on Maui. Gerry Ross and Janet  Simpson own Kupa’a Farms, an organic farm in Kula. http://kupaafarms.blogspot.com/. From their website it says that Kupa’a means firm or steadfast in Hawaiian and “describes the hard soil on our farm and our determination to amend and enrich it. The land was first cleared for corn and asparagus in 1979 and went organic in 2003.” I admire Gerry and Janet. Organic farming is not an easy life, unless you are someone who thinks that rising at 4 am is your idea of a good time.

But then if we really believe that Oprah will be gettin’ up at 4 am to pick her own vegetables, then we probably also believe that the Easter Bunny fills in for Santa when he’s sick.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage. Mahalo for stopping by!

Aloha, Jamaica

Maui Real Estate Stats

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Maui Real Estate Stats

Aloha!
For those of you considering moving to Maui, (and I hear from a lot of you!) here are the latest stats on real estate in the Upcountry Makawao/Pukalani area.
There were 36 properties sold in Makawao from April 1 to October 17, 2012
The highest selling price was $1,780,000. The lowest selling price was $210,000. That was for a three bedroom/1 bath, 820 square-foot house on a lot size of 6595.
This makes the median price $380,000.

In Pukalani the highest selling price was $1,085,000. The lowest price was $220,000. That was for a three bedroom/1 bath 1486 square-foot house on a lot size of 11,221 feet.

Be aware that these sales figures say nothing about the condition of the houses. There are some real stinkers out there. A house in Maui is in a perpetual state of returning to the jungle (rotting) from the humidity, red dirt, wind and rain. It takes a lot of time, love, and money to keep a house in tiptop shape. I couldn’t figure out why so many people let their houses go to pot, in need of paint, weeding and repair, until I owned a house in Maui and saw the kind of time and money it takes to keep one up. It’s like a continual battle between you and the jungle. Paint alone is much more expensive here than on the mainland. Don’t forget, they have to ship it.

National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun said 2012 is expected to be a year of recovery for housing. “First-quarter sales closings were the highest first-quarter sales in five years.”

A hui hou!
Aloha, Jamaica

3rd Shark Attack in 3 Weeks

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Third Shark Attack in Three Weeks

Aloha!
We are three for three here on Maui. Three shark attacks in three weeks. It’s beginning to feel like we’re living in a small town on the eastern seaboard and Jaws is on the loose. There was also a fourth attack off Kauai.

For the first time in 12 years, I have asked Mike to stay out of the water. Usually I’m glad to see him go surfing. It’s kind of like sending him off to church; he comes back with a big smile and attitude adjustment. But this is worrisome, we’ve never seen this kind of shark activity, and Mike, who has lived here his whole life, says he’s never heard of this many shark attacks this close together. The news reports say it may have something to do with an increase in the turtle population, the shark’s favorite food.

30-year old Marc Riglos was participating in the 2012 Maui Roi Roundup, an invasive species spearfishing tournament. He said the shark took a bite of his ankle then tugged it from side to side. “I thought I was going to die out there. (It) was crazy,” he said. With the help of his dive partner he was able to get back into shore, but they were 300 yards out and it took 25 minutes.

Riglos says he hopes that doctors can save his foot. On KHON 2 news last night, they showed him in his hospital bed at Maui Memorial Medical Center. His right ankle is stitched the entire way around. Riglos said his foot was literally hanging by a tendon.

A marine biologist interviewed on KHON said that the best way to fight off a shark is to get your fingers into the shark’s eyesockets or gills and tug hard, and they’ll back off. Um, easier said than done while their jaws are wide open and headed straight for you. When Mike worked as a professional diver, he said that the divers would stay in a circle and if a shark approached they would take the respirators out of their mouths and scream at the shark, and that worked, too.

Seems to me you don’t need a degree from Harvard to figure out you should maybe just stay out of the water right now.

If you have ever seen the “Shermans Lagoon” comic strip, it is a microcosm of marine life and they all have human characteristics. The big, dumb shark Sherman, his wife and son, the crab and the turtle all talk and comment on what’s going on up top. They stake out Unsuspecting Vacationers floating on the surface and decide which ones will taste best for dinner. It sounds morbid, but it’s quite funny.

Given that, I began to wonder if the sharks have just been watching too much television down there… Too many paid political advertisements. They got so frustrated, they just had to take a big BITE out of someone.

At least today that will all be over! And if the shark activity calms down… Well, what can I say. I was right.

A hui hou! If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, please click the Follow button on the Homepage. Mahalo for stopping by!

Aloha, Jamaica

Whales, Sharks and Firemen

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Whales, Sharks and Firemen

Aloha!
It always came as a surprise to me when I would be talking with tourists as a concierge in say, June, and they had no idea that had they come in winter, they could have seen whales.

Two Maui vessels last week reported seeing the mammals, the first two credible sightings this season. Humpback whale season generally runs from November through May. As many as 12,000 whales winter each year in the waters off Hawaii. Endangered humpback whales are protected in Hawaii.

On another note there was another shark attack on a visitor at Makena on Saturday afternoon. A 51-year-old woman from California was approximately 20 yards offshore when she was attacked by a shark estimated to be between 10 and 12 feet long. The Maui News reported that the woman suffered “non-life-threatening injuries, including puncture wounds to her right inner thigh and lacerations to the front and back of her right hand from pushing the shark away,” according to Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga. The woman was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center in stable condition. Ocean safety crews closed the beach.

I was plenty naïve when I moved to Hawaii. Seeeing a fire truck go by with surfboards strapped to the side, I remember thinking to myself, wow, when the waves get big, they just pull over and go surfing? (That’s what everybody else does!) Noooo. Those surfboards are for rescuing people. I’ve come a long way.

To wit: The body of a 35-year-old male diver was pulled from waters near Maalaea Saturday and pronounced dead at the scene. He was reported missing at 4 AM having last been seen around 3 AM, according to Lee Mainaga. (What was someone doing diving is that time of the morning?)He was spotted by a commercial ocean craft floating facedown a half-mile from the Beach park, then taken to the Maalaea boat ramp where he was pronounced dead by medics.

All of this plus a tsunami watch. It’s been a tense few days on Maui, but nothing like they are experiencing on the East Coast.

For those in safe, dry areas…Happy Halloween! Lahaina will be celebrating like crazy downtown in what they call the Mardi Gras of the Pacific. It gets absolutely nuts with the scanty costumes and copious alcohol. In true Hawaiian fashion, nothing is without its drama. A Hawaiian activist went to court to try to get the celebration stopped… He said it would interfere with Hawaiian historical areas. It was thrown out of court.

A hui hou! Mahalo for stopping by.
Aloha, Jamaica