Imbolc                                                                                               Settling Moon II

From this day a while ago:

Why I Still Don’t Own Any Nihau Jewelry

WRITTEN BY: CHARLES – FEB• 17•08
Clouds with sun.  Kauai weather has more fluctuation than Maui’s.  I like it.  Rain, sun and volcanic soil are a potent combination for plant growth.  The evidence is everywhere.

Kate and I noticed an egret in a profuse plant.  He stood on a branch, launched his sinuous neck down, into the foliage, as if he were hunting in a pond.  He came up with a white wriggly something caught in between two orange halves of his beak.

I had ahi sashimi last night, the third or fourth time I’ve had this treat.  The Garden Salad had jicama and grapefruit with peanuts. Tasty.  And plenty.  Yet, we went ahead and ordered pad thai, which we did not need.  It came wrapped in a flattened, cooked egg.  Most of it came home to our in-room refrigerator.

The Big Save market in Port Allen was interesting.  Grocery stores always reveal the culture as clearly as any other institution.  Here you could find Korean and Japanese foodstuffs, plenty of fresh produce, lots of beach paraphernalia and an interesting collection of fresh fruits:  papaya, ron baton lychee nuts and apple bananas.

I had forgotten how curvy the road up to Waimea Canyon is.  Fun to drive.  The view coming back down lays out the Pacific for miles and the small communities that about it.

We passed the Waimea Plantation Cottages on our way yesterday.  We stayed there in 1998.  The cottages are old plantation homes made by sugar cane workers and have a unique single board construction.  Kate said she’d go back there if they added air conditioning.

At the Waimea General Store I admired the Nihau jewelry.  Lei’s, necklaces and earrings made from tiny, tiny shells and matched for color.  I remembered wanting some of this, but I forgot why I hadn’t bought any the last time we were here.  A nice lei, the lady told me, was 19.95.  I thought, great. I’ll buy that one, then.  She turned it over and the price was $1,995.00!  Oh, yeah, now I remember.

We’re headed for a day exploring in a different direction from yesterday.
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