I guess we're rich

Most of my life (well, the last 46 years), I thought people who went to Hawaii were really, really rich, like Elvis and the Brady Bunch. Has the world changed, or is it me?
Holy cow! We went to Hawaii!

It looks like you think it looks. It's absolutely beautiful. I kept... smiling.

There are basically two types of visitors to Honolulu - military and tourists. So, if you don't look militant, they know you are there to have a good time and their job is to help you do just that!
They talk about "the aloha spirit." Aloha means something like love. Treat people with aloha and get aloha in return and live the aloha way.
Nothing wrong with that.
My sister went, too. I knew she wanted to go to Hawaii since we were little and she saw Beach Blanket Bingo or somesuch. She'd never flown before; but she bravely did, and got Hawaii.

She never came back. Well, she kinda did but keeps doing stuff like buying a pineapple just to look at and using mango-scented air freshener. If she ever goes missing, that's a good place to look - even if she isn't there.


Luau at the Hale Koa.

Why yes, you may adorn my wrist with fresh orchids. Thank you for asking.

Hawaiian men are just so pretty.

though unattainable.




There were lots more flowers, everywhere. The hotel lobby had no walls. The temps are in the 80's with a breeze most days.


The submarine ride was really neat.

Your brain ignores the blue in a few minutes, so you see more of the colors of the fish. Well, YOUR brain probably won't, but it works in the sub.
Viewing window for whom?

We went all island-y. Right ear means you're available.
We were only there for 4 days and one was flying. We have to go back.

Good thing we're rich.

jingle... bells?

We went home to the US for Xmas. "A month R&R" turned into 3 hectic weeks of VA - PA -VA and 4 days in Hawaii. Here are some photos. Uncharacteristically, that's about all I have to say.

We caught up with (imposed upon, leached off of) some friends and some family, but not nearly enough.



We hunted a Christmas tree and caught two. The owners of the farm felt so sorry for the poor, little Australian boy who had never cut his own tree before (sniff), they gave him the one he captured. He inherited my taste in trees -kill the one you feel sorry for.


Thence to "Gramargaret's Farm" in VA.



Off to Honolulu. Being cute gets one lots of perks.


PS Now, I figure Hawaii needs its own post. We took lotsa photos. Who knew?

We're dry...ish. Thanks for asking.

Queensland is getting hammered. For the last month -floods. Now tonight, the cyclone of the century. Thanks to all the friends and family wondering if this is us. It's not. We are in 120 degree heat - Now, with bonus humidity! but we are in no other danger.
If Australia were the US, Queensland would be kinda New England and Alice Springs would be in Missouri. We may get some rain from super-cyclone Yasi by Friday or Saturday which may cause some local roads to close, but not the half-meter Cairns is expecting tonight.
Cairns (pronounced "Caans"), where Yasi is expected to make landfall, is where people go to see the Great Barrier Reef. Let's pray for the people of Cairns and the creatures of the reef.
This category 5 cyclone is about the size of Europe with winds about 280 kph (c.170 mph).

About the Boy...

Thomas turned 7, somehow.
Thomas is brilliant in reading (6th grade, at least), maths (fractions, percents) and can show amazing insights.

He can tie his shoes
and microwave a decent bag of popcorn. He is extremely careful and can't stand the word, "blood." He is gentle and compassionate with babies and animals, except flies which he wants to incinerate with a bug-zapping tennis racket.

Thomas has Selective Mutism, which means he can't talk to you if he's anxious. He may be anxious for minutes or months. SM is like stage fright, but someone simply asking, "How old are you?" or "What's your name?" can render him unable to speak. We never made any announcement of it, he was diagnosed at about 4.
It runs in families. Nothing causes it except happy genes linking up with other happy genes. It's mostly in kids and mostly in girls, about 1 in 100. Usually, by 8 or so, they learn how to compensate and get around it and Thomas is doing great. He actually gets in trouble at school for talking too much.

He has lovely friends and I secretly enjoy having to clean up the mess they make when they come over and color the patio and make elaborate train set-ups and build airport towers and eat every chicken nugget, corn chip, icy pole and and lolly in the house. Huh, the juice is gone, too.

Seven was his Pool Party.
About 4 years ago, I was at Toys R Us at the end of summer and they had beach balls for 99 cents and 90 percent off. I knew he'd have a pool party some day.

It was a total blast. We invited every kid in his class and their families to the town pool and almost everyone accepted. We went through 16 pizzas, 3 bags of rainbow popcorn, all the leftover Halloween (and ahem , Easter) candy we brought and 2 cases of soda.
The palm trees had streamers blowing from them and the vanilla cake had a chocolate cake beach ball floating in blue jell-o.

The town pool has three pools: ababy one, a big one with lap lanes and this 2-3 feet deep one perfect for kids. It was on Sunday from 4:30 and we almost had the place to ourselves. Along with the beach balls, the kids dove for glo-sticks and we made up silly races.
Not into public competition, Thomas snorkled and gave orders.
It was a beautiful day. It's been a wonderful 7 years.
Give or take.

What I'm Thankful for:

This year, we went to Glen Helen Resort - about an hour and 15 from home.
Aussies don't do Thanksgiving, but they like that we do.
Glen Helen had offered an American Thanksgiving special of 140.00 a room and 40.00 per person for a gorgeous dinner on Thursday.

Tuesday, their chef quit.

Thanksgiving isn't ALL about the food, so we packed what we had on hand and went anyway.
Now, last Christmas we went to Ross River Resort and learned the outback definition of Resort: dirt floors, burlap stapled to the walls, bugs, a bed and ensuite toilet. We were not disappointed; except this one added mice.

I'm thankful for the stunning view from our room.



I'm thankful I saw the mouse run right into Thomas's pillowcase when we turned on the light. Made it so much easier to toss it out the door.

I'm thankful that, as I went to exchange the pillow, I looked into the shadow to my left and there stood a dingo. Silently watching.

I'm thankful the black beetles that flew into my hair as I lay on the bed did not sting nor bite nor stink like the green ones.

I'm thankful for the lovely outdoor kitchen in which to cook our feast.







I'm thankful my family is just as happy with hot dogs and canned beans as with turkey and stuffing.






I'm thankful they had a lovely pool as it was what I call "stupid hot" - when it's so hot, it just doesn't make sense anymore.

I'm thankful that when we got home and I had such a craving for a real Thanksgiving dinner, I could call a friend and she would say, "Sure, come on over! We're not eating till 5."

I'm thankful that when Thomas woke up from his uncharacteristic nap at 4:30 his temperature was only 100.

I'm thankful Tom brought me a nice plate home from the dinner.

I'm thankful it's OVER!!

Lessons Learned

What I learned today:

1. If you are going on a field trip with the Naturalists' Club, despite it saying there won't be much walking, wear hiking boots.

2. If you are wearing sandals and see some inch-long red and black ants, no matter how fascinating they look, do NOT stand there asking the other members if they know what kind of ants they are, just RUN.

3. Answers like, "Bull Ants. Wasp Ants. Maybe Meat Ants," do nothing to take away the searing pain radiating from the bites.

4. If you feel hot cold and queasy about 15 minutes later, it's probably just the heat, the millions of flies and the knowledge you are an hour from town and a half-hour walk from your car with giant ant venom coursing through your body.

5. Seeing you are just about 20 feet from the road and maybe 50 feet from the car will make you feel much better. So will accepting the offer of ice and sting cream from the nice lady in the group who thought to pack them and to wear boots.

6. Flies are attracted to ice and sting cream.

7. Ants are not very venomous, they only pinch a chunk out of you then squirt formic acid in the wound. Once the burning stops; hey.
Thomas said, "This is the worst field trip ever." He's just too young to remember some of the others.

8. There's lots more to see after a nice ride in the ant-free, air-conditioned car.

Like these pretties from the sand country:
Parakeelya. Looks like a pile of juicy green beans with hot pink flowers.

The greyish thing is actually purple (bright sunshine again). The yellow job is Salt Spoons.

Upside-down plant. Seriously, that's its name. See the red flowers at the bottom and prickly rooty-looking top?
Butterfly bush - a senna, not related to "our" butterfly bush.

and near Harry Creek:
Ruby Saltbush - pretty and delicious. Tom said the berries taste like sweet rosehips. My Tom!

Queensland Blue grass. Not photogenic but a stunner in person - black and grey and well, blue.

At this point it was after noon and we were about 15k from Aileron - a roadhouse with cold drinks in not-quite-clean glasses, juicy burgers with the lot (egg, beetroot, pineapple, salad), and giant Aboriginals:

Aileron is about an hour and 20 minutes out of Alice on the North Stewart Highway -the first food and gas place once you leave town. Like they need anything else to get you to stop?

It started raining when we got to Alice in August, 2009. It has rained every month since then. It hasn't rained this much here in over a decade, so the plants and animals are producing like crazy. We didn't get to see the landscape when it hasn't rained a drop in years.
So let's just enjoy this one.