Starting the countdown to Hawaii, as I will be there less than a month to relieve my partner and commence winter maintenance. Sailing season finished for me last August. It was a good season and it felt short in duration. Of course I would not have said that back in February when I started the long portion of my cruise when I met the Hi’ialakai in Pago Pago, American Samoa. I started the season last January with my alma mater, Ka’imimoana, taking her to Apia and then spending three weeks with “L”s family. I returned to Seattle at the end of April and returned to sea in June. In retrospect it was a good year but the end of the year is always shrouded in mystery.
As usual, we do not know where we are to be for dry dock. I was planning on bringing “L” to Hawaii but the uncertainty of the dry dock location as well as her classes not complete put a damper on those plans. Even if she were not attending school, she would be “stuck” in Hawaii as the ship steamed its way to the west coast, if that were to occur. If the ship stays in Hawaii, then there is the lost opportunity for us to stay with relatives while “L” skips out on fall quarter of college as well as taking advantage of lower cost of airline ticket.
When I am ashore I pick up “L” from school daily after work. She goes to school by bus and I wait for her at school so we can go home together. If the weather is nice we go to the park or docks by Edmonds Waterfront overlooking Puget Sound near the ferry terminal. We sit at a park bench and look at the sound, watch the ferries make their round trip to Kingston while chatting about our respective day, plans for the future as well as that evening’s dinner. When done unwinding at the park, drive to 99 Ranch for vegetables, pork feet for “L” Then stops at an “American” grocer (Safeway, Tops or QFC) for milk and especially bread. I introduced “L” to various types of bread including French bread. Eating the long loaves of French bread remind me of the ones we used to get whenever the Ka’imimoana pulled into Marquises Islands in the years past.
Meanwhile we keep our fingers crossed in hoping we find ourselves transferring to the Hawaii rather than Oregon. As I wrote in the past, the lifestyle we are living now and accustomed to in Seattle is more fitting in Hawaii than in Coastal Oregon. The lifestyle that Newport has to offer is one marriage prior and twenty years late! Tonight is a no-sleeper as I made a mistake of taking a three-hour “power nap.” So I am writing this while listening to eastern meditation music from You Tube. While I am ashore my sleep schedule is always in disarray.
I have been watching the new Hawaii Five-O series on On-Demand. I like the concept of no commercials and if there are any, it is short or consists of promoting other programs within the network. I am not into macho larger-than-life cop shows like before but what interests me about Hawaii Five-O is seeing the locations where it is filmed. The bridge that connects Ford Island to Kamehameha Highway at Aloha Stadium is depicted as an Interstate bay bridge and fight scenes filmed at Pacific Marine Shipyards near Sand Island.
Less than a month until the mid-term elections and then it will be liberation time for me. It would be liberation from all the paid political commercials consisting of vicious mudslinging and advising to pick the lesser of two evils. Instead of marketing qualifications and vision for the future from the candidates, all I know is alleged wrongdoings and how incumbents messed up a situation already dysfunctional. Having a relative suffering from diseases such as dementia, if all the money wasted on political campaigns were put into education, scientific, medical and technological research, what a positive change it would be. Instead it is poured down a sewer in which the winner who overthrows the incumbent is no different or worse than the person they replaced. If the incumbent wins, you already know what you have and a record prove it.
The weather seems not to be able to make up its mind. However this past week I liked the part where it decided not to be atypical Pacific Northwest fall into winter. But the weekend looks like lower temperatures and rain! Welcome back to the Pacific Northwest or better yet, enjoy Hawaii when you can. It isn’t permanent yet! Just keep your fingers crossed Roz, just keep your fingers crossed.
No comments:
Post a Comment