For the birds

I visited the aviary! It's a little cheating to shoot photos of birds at an aviary, because they can't fly away (at least not far). But it does introduce shooting past cages. 

Nope. Never that.

Dear phone,

I know I switch between English and Spanish keyboards and that can get confusing. But, phone. Mobday* is not a word in either language (or a mix of the two). You are supposed to be smart, I would have thought you could have figured out that I meant Monday, or at least offered it as an option for a correction. 

Just a bit of friendly feedback.

Owner

*Turns out Mobday is the name of a band, but if my phone thinks that is what I'm talking about, it only makes the situation worse. I do think there is some potential for a holiday called Mobday--flash mobs, mobs of people, etc. Or something with The Mob, although I don't think you want to celebrate them, so much as the Eliot Nesses of the world, maybe? I don't know. But there are definitely weirder holidays out there. 

Bad sequels

2026 is the WORST sequel ever. It's got all the elements of a poorly done sequel while adding even more bad plot twists.

• Last year, all of our tech programs broke at some point, with the exception of the tools we used to do cataloging. 
• This year, all of our tech programs are breaking, AND they got rid of our cataloging tools and gave us new ones. That don't work. 
• Last year, the weather was rotten. 
• This year, the weather is rotten and I'm in a state that is in a drought. It's probably going to burn down at some point, because that's what happens in drought conditions.
• Last year, everything politics was just lousy.
• This year, everything political is lousy and we started a war. And there's the whole dumb mid-terms thing. Blurg.

As with all sequels, people want a compelling story. Recycle, reduce, and reuse shouldn't apply to sequels. (By all means, apply them elsewhere). So, whoever the scriptwriters and producers of 2026 are, just some notes before you before you start working on 2027. 

The Hawaiian melting pot

I mentioned that one of the great things about going to Hawaii was I didn't have to go through customs. But I had to keep reminding myself of that because, while politically and nationally, Hawaii is American, culturally, it's only partially American.

This shows up in the language--on grocery store items, menus, and street signs. It's the food options on every restaurant menu. It's the chickens roaming the streets, the birds and plants that you won't see on most of the mainland, even the time zone. It's just the whole vibe: Hawaii is not your white picket fence and apple pie America. It's not foreign, but it's definitely not mainland.

Everywhere you go there are signs that culturally and historically, it is tied to the Pacific and to Asia. And it's beautiful. It reminds me of Puerto Rico in that sense. American but not. And so, you can see why I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't have to go through customs, that I wasn't in a different country. 

And it definitely didn't help that they did an extra scan at the airport to make sure we weren't taking any plants or animals with us!

Hawaii

Honolulu--mountain construction reminds me of Latin America

Cool trees

Feral chickens

North Shore

Our well fortified sandcastle (it survived multiple waves)

Sunset on the North Shore

Banyon trees

Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse

Brazilian crested cardinal

View from Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse--well, the top of the mountain above the lighthouse

The Makapuʻu tide pools

Mountains behind the Byodo-in Temple

Turtles at the Byodo-in Temple. My friend on the right, I get it

Beach near Laie

Diamondhead hike

Diamondhead hike

View from Diamondhead

Diamondhead hike

Diamondhead hike

Kualoa Ranch

Kualoa Ranch

Kualoa Ranch

Kualoa Ranch

Damage to tree after floods, Kualoa Ranch

Vacation travel

I just got back from a trip that was *shocker* for fun!! 😮 

Not that travel for work isn't fun, but it is different. I mostly see hotels, church buildings, and airports. I meet a lot of people, but don't see a lot of the country. And while it is a work vacation (no meetings, just me, my team, and the work!), it is work.

Anyway. This was personal travel AND not to visit family. I did go with family, but we went somewhere where we had no relatives. So, like, a for realsie vacation. And it was a different travel experience: 

• I didn't have to pack half a suitcase full of work equipment.
• I didn't go through immigration or customs. Not even once! (That was originally on the table, because we had planned an international trip, but things happened, and there's a baby coming, and plans changed).
• It was way easier to change the schedule. Not completely doable, because some things we had to book in advance, but there were lots of things we could shift around.
• We actually used the hotel swimming pool.
• And I took a swimsuit (2 actually, but ended up only using one).
• I did share a hotel room, and that doesn't happen on work trips...
• I didn't have to carry around paperwork everywhere I went.
• I slept better than I do at home, which is weird. But it was amazing.
• One hotel for the whole trip! (That has happened on a few work trips, but not often).
• And I only visited the airport to arrive and depart. Twice! Admittedly, I was in 6 different airports, because I left from one, had a layover in another, and arrived in a third, times 2 (for there and back). But on my last work trip, let's see: 12. In 8 days. And I was in some airport on 5 of those 8 days. This trip was 7 days and I was in an airport on 3 of them (and only 3 because I had a redeye flight home, so that trip extended over 2 days. Technically). 

Honestly, it was kind of amazing. I had forgotten/didn't know travel like this existed, and might become addicted. Or I might just decide staying home is where it's at. Depends on the day. I still like the work travel and feel really lucky, but this was definitely a nice change!

Possibility

There's something about a good staircase that really draws the attention. I don't know what it is, but a grand staircase feels like an invitation to explore. It's hard to not want to climb this baby, right?

I do love a good staircase anywhere. My sister had a house that had two staircases, which was amazing. It was like a TV house. And they were nice staircases, very well built, wide, inviting. 

The staircase in my house growing up was tucked away in the back of the house. There were 3 steps, then a landing, and then to make the curve, triangle steps but they seemed cramped and begging for caution. And then there was a low overhang at one point. I was rushing down the stairs once as a teenager and smacked my head on it, which drew blood. So that was fun.

I don't think I'd want a big ole staircase like the one in the picture there (hotel Barceló in Guatemala City) in my house, of course. It's a bit much for the day to day. But you gotta admit, if you walked into a hotel and saw that, you'd be impressed and think "This is a ritzy hotel." (Same for a house, I'm sure, and then I'd be wondering what I was doing there!) But a good staircase is definitely a bonus in any building.