Mucky Monday

The week is not starting off on a very pleasant note. We seem to have a tropical front over us and it began raining yesterday and hasn't stopped since. We had some really strong storms last night and the flooding of the streets began. It looks like the front should move out after tonight. It's not pretty out there. Tornadoes in the area.

The big news yesterday was the earthquake activity in Hawaii. When we vacationed there about 3 years ago, we were on the Big Island and our resort was in Kona. I saw the name of our resort, Royal Kona Resort, listed as receiving extensive damage from the moving earth.

All three of us really enjoyed that vacation. We were in a room with an oceanfront view. The resort had a private laguna area where our son could snorkel to his heart's content. He loves it. As a little boy he said he wanted to be a marine biologist. That ambition has since shifted a bit as he has gotten older but he is still a science guy. He enjoys writing and is quite good, if I may say so, which explains the shifting thoughts.

One of my favorite memories of our time in Kona was sitting on the patio off our room, book in my lap, camera in hand, and watching my guys jet ski past me in the ocean. That was so much fun to watch them zipping along the water, knowing they were really getting into it. Together.

We chose the Big Island instead of the wildly popular destination of Maui so that we could witness the beauty of the rainforest area, in Kona, while also experiencing the volcano area on the other side of the Big Island. We did the all day bus tour of the island, all 8 hours of it, and it was magnificent. We went through a lava tube, did a short hike over lava fields, saw incredible waterfalls and birds. Our tour guide was a long time resident and was able to give us lots of local history of the different parts of the island and she loved to laugh. She was fun.

We flew in and out of Honolulu. Honolulu was not impressive to me. It was just another large city. We walked a bit on Waikiki Beach and it was mostly just so we could say we did out of curiosity. It was any big deal, so crowded from all the mega hotels on it. We just took Hawaii Airlines over to the Big Island. I am so glad we opted for the Big Island and Kona.

My husband received an e-mail from one of the engineers he worked with in Iraq in 2003, just before the war. Hubby continues to advise them on work matters. A few have been here in the past year or two for classes from my husband and his colleagues. This engineer was a younger guy and he told hubby in this e-mail that he was married last month.

Hope springs eternal.

"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson