Just Not The Same.....

I turned on the TV this morning in hopes of catching some of the death/destruction/devastation wrought by Hurricane Rita. Imagine my disappointment when there was no death/destruction/devastation. Downed trees and power lines just can't compare to the human suffering plastered all over the cable news channels after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It was more interesting to watch the 100-mile traffic jam prior to Hurricane Rita.

Yesterday morning when I was watching the coverage while getting ready for work it occurred to me that my aunt and uncle live in a town called Trinity in Texas. I haven't seen them since I visited them in Sydney, Australia in the early 70's and we really only exchange cards at Christmas. So I pulled out the atlas to see exactly where they live. Holy Cow! They live about 150-200 miles north of Houston. Hmmmmm.....wonder how they're doing.

Then yesterday when I picked up my mail at the post office I had an envelope from my cousin (daughter of above aunt & uncle). She and her husband and kids live in Humble, Texas. So today I checked out their address at Map Quest and turns out they live immediately north of Houston. I also haven't seen her, or her brother, since I visited them in Australia.

So now I'm wondering how they all have fared in the hurricane.

I've actually been through a hurricane myself. No, it wasn't Iwa or Iniki. It was back in 1959 and it was on this Island, Kauai. It was Hurricane Dot. My mom, sister, grandma, grandpa and I were spending two weeks in a cabin at Koke'e while by dad went to boot camp in El Paso, Texas. I was so little that all I remember was the wind howling and there being lots of rain. The next day we couldn't get down from Koke'e because of downed trees blocking the road. When we finally were able to get down the beach at Kekaha was completely littered with driftwood. And that's all I remember.

Earlier this week there was a hurricane not too far from the Hawaiian island chain - Hurricane Jova. It mostly petered out and headed north so we were spared. As one newscaster said - Hurricane Jova is ova. But I did hear two people on this island say that if a hurricane doesn't have a hawaiian name then it won't hit Hawaii.

Hey, people, wake up. Does Dot sound like a hawaiian name?

High Surf, Rain, Thunder, Lightning.....

This picture is the result of a huge storm we had that started Wednesday night. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning, all night long and into the next morning. The debris shown in the photo washed down from the Wailua river and ended up on the beach at Lydgate. About 50 people were evacuated from low lying property along the river Wednesday night. A friend of mine that lives on the north shore couldn't get home because the Hanalei bridge was closed. He spent the night in his truck in the parking lot at Foodland in Princeville. Because it was the day before payday he didn't have any money to get gas to drive someplace he could stay. There was more rain on Thursday and Friday was mostly overcast with a little rain.



The same time the storm hit there was a huge south swell. Beaches from Lydgate to Kekaha were closed because of the dangerous surf. That's a hugh chunk of coastline to be closed. Salt Pond is closed because of debris and poor water quality. I heard the waves at Pakala's were 6 feet. That doesn't sound too big but waves that size pounding the beach do some real damage. It should be interesting to see what condition the beach is in next time we're there.

But today the overcast skies began to clear and we headed for the beach. We did get sprinkled on once and there were some clouds but it was mostly sunny. Several kitesurfers were taking advantage of the brisk breeze. After the beach we drove to Nukolii and walked along the beach in front of the Radisson. Lots of driftwood along the beach and the water looked kinda yucky. We might check out Salt Pond tomorrow.

The ex-boyfriend has finally stopped calling me collect from jail. After about three weeks of not picking up the phone I think he finally got the hint.

Just after we pulled out of our driveway to head for the beach today I saw a guy driving a truck in the opposite direction that looked a lot like the heartbreaker. I was tempted to make a u-turn and follow him but that would have been kind of obvious don't you think?

New Haircolor

New Haricolor.....

So.....i finally caved and bought a digital camera. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W5. Why did I wait so long? I love instant gratification and now I have it. Well, at least with pictures. So I had to charge the batteries before I could use it so couldn't take any pictures on Saturday. Too bad. We went to Salt Pond and it was the most beautiful day. Blue sky. Clear water. Deserted beach. Just the way I like it. Seriously, where was everyone on Saturday? There weren't more than 8 people at a time at our end of the beach. It was perfect.

So Sunday I woke up to rain, overcast skies, and more rain. So I decided to color my hair. I swore I would never do the whole head then highlight thing again. I lied. I did it again. So whaddya think?



It's really hard to take a picture of the back of your head. And I didn't blow dry my hair so it's kinda wavy. The weather did clear around the middle of the day but we just hung out at home all day. I watched one of my son's dvd's - The Ring 2. Not as good as The Ring but not bad.

So today on the way to the beach we stopped at the swinging bridge in Hanapepe. Pictures are in flickr. If you click on the above picture it should take you there. Then after the beach (which got really crowded today) we drove to Menehune Ditch in Waimea. There's another swinging bridge there over the Waimea river. The trades were strong today and let me tell you they aren't called "swinging bridges" for nothing. Whew, don't look down or you'll get sick, or vertigo, or both.