It’s finally jacket weather. I don’t know how long it will last, but I’m doing my best to savor every second of it before the requisite late-October-backlash, during which them temps will creep back up into the 90s. Or at least the high 80s, with plenty of humidity. I’m drinking Woodchuck Draft Cider (Granny Smith). I’m trying to work my way up to beer, which I have always really hated. I’m not sure why I’m…
[for Monday, Oct. 8] Amber’s flight left around noon on Monday, which left me alone with the car and the island and some vague idea of stuff I needed to do and see before my own flight took off that night at 9. So I headed to Pearl City to see the famed memorial to the USS Arizona and the other ships that were destroyed when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The place was packed,…
[for Sunday, Oct. 7] Sunday morning we rolled out of bed at a perky 3:30 in anticipation of Courtney and Mel’s departure to China for their nine-month backpacking adventure. The ride to the airport was dark and somber, especially for Amber, who’s obviously worried about Courtney’s safety and sanity during that time in a land of varied cultures and customs and laws. Mel’s dad dropped the four of us off at the airport, and Amber…
[for Saturday, Oct. 6] Roughly every thirty seconds during our stay in Oahu, we’d notice a hill and turn to Mel, asking with great seriousness, “Is that Diamond Head?” “Um, no, I don’t think so,” she’d reply as we gazed ever skyward. There are a lot of big, jagged hills on the island, many of them with houses nestled precariously in the ridges. When the sun goes down and the street lights come on, it’s…
[for Friday, Oct. 5] Snorkeling is harder than it looks. You look at people in their silly masks and think, How hard could it be? Breathe out of a tube, kick your legs, and enjoy the underwater life as it swirls and churns around you. Well, you’re an idiot. That tube you’re breathing out of is about as airy as an asthmatic’s clenching windpipe. That mask on your face is going to leak saltwater into…
[for Thursday, Oct. 4] Our first full day in Hawaii was spent mostly gawking at how beautiful the island is. Our gracious host Mel drove us up the east coast to take a gander at all the smaller beaches, as well as the famous blowhole and some other landmarks. The sky was impossibly blue, the weather impossibly perfect, the ocean impossibly beautiful. The narrow highway wound in and around hills and valleys, but kept the…
[for Wednesday, Oct. 3] I’m home now. Have been for twenty-four hours and some change. And still quite exhausted. I’ve got so much to recap, but the energy, it’s just not there yet. As if to prove to the universe that I’m still totally out of sorts, I went to work today. And found out I had the day off. Then I slipped out, hopefully barely noticed. I’ve been slogging through pictures since last night…
HONOLULU, 7:45 P.M. — I’m sitting at an internet kiosk in the Honolulu Airport. Access is 20 cents a minute and yet they still block MySpace. Maybe they should tell people that before they are prompted to swipe their cards. So, this means the vacation is very nearly over. Which, for reasons I can’t even begin to explain, really, really sucks. Amber’s gone, her sister’s in China with our Hawaii host Mel, and there is…
We’re at some swanky three-story outdoor mall in Honolulu. My camera bag feels like it weighs two tons, I’m sunburned and getting hungry, but I am having the best time ever. We hiked up Diamond Head today. Surveyed the coast. I approve. There is so much stuff to do. Not enough time. Or daylight. Okay, enough internet for now.
In a few hours I’ll be trudging through security at the Memphis airport, hoping that all the crap in my purse is considered non-terroristic and whatnot. And several jetlagged hours after that, I’ll be in lovely Hawaii, where I will proceed to seek out a pineapple-dipped hot dog and a bed for a massive nap. I don’t know if I’ll have any internet access (or, if I do, if I’ll even feel like using it),…
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