Page 2 - MidWeek - June 30, 2021

2 MIDWEEK JUNE 30, 2021
Flying With Robbie
“Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly.” — Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull
ALet’s Walk The Talk
Robbie Peacock, my first cousin, was smart, handsome, delightful, and good to the core. Everyone loved him, and he loved them back. He also loved flying, with all his heart. Perhaps he came by it naturally. Both his grand- father and father had been fighter pilots, and that was Robbie’s goal as well.
lot of talk over a lot of years has focused on find- ing alternate, vibrant economic options to tourism. Things really ramped up last summer when we
to touch the bird who flut- tered just out of reach. We all looked at the seagull in awe and stunned silence until it finally took off with graceful arcs and flew toward South Point.
realized that not only was no one coming for a while, but we didn’t have a lot to fall back on to ease that pain. It came as no surprise as the talk for decades has been just that — talk.
Now that the tourists are coming back in increasing num- bers, can we take that talk to the next level with plans, ideas, partnerships and/or public/private entrepreneurial ventures? Could we become home to an East/West medical hub, or maybe boast of a space exploration site on a spacious neigh- bor island plot? Can we entertain cybersecurity entities in conjunction with our large military presence, or possibly harness alternative energy options to become leaders in that valuable sector?
When the Vietnam War broke out, he volunteered to fight. Being an only child, he could have been exempted, but he was determined to serve his country. He enlist- ed in the Marines as a pilot. Before leaving for Vietnam, he gave his mother, Patricia Peacock, the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Rich- ard Bach, a book that ex- pressed his great passion for the world, and for flying.
A chance seagull sighting on the Big Island reminded the author and her family that her first cousin, whose plane went missing during the Vietnam War, is always in their hearts.
The most wonderful part of the story is that there are no seagulls in Hawai‘i. To this day, I’m sure Rob came back to let us know he was doing just fine — and is still flying.
Or, will we continue to just talk about economic options, affordable housing, retraining employees now bumped out of jobs, and how education matters because the “keiki are our future” (which they are, whether we say it or not)? Let’s strive for bold initiatives with specifics, substance, research and capital. As overcrowding becomes a bigger issue, will nerves get frayed further here and thus will our population continue its recent emigration surge eastward?
tainty was crippling for all of us. Six months later with no news, his mother opted for closure. In Robbie’s memory, she gifted a beautiful bronze statue of a seagull to his high school, Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.
In the morning, our family gathered at Patricia’s home in Kailua-Kona to remember Robbie.
Marcia Cooke Duff is a pho- tographer and loves the spiri- tual connection she gets from taking photographs. She grew up in Hawai‘i and currently lives with her husband, Rick, in Orange County, California, near their grandchildren.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Lynne Johnson and Robin Stephens Rohr.
So let’s get crazy (as Prince would say) and embrace successful tactics deployed elsewhere to help change things for our future. Maybe start by retrofitting underutilized gov- ernment or office buildings into temporary housing shelters. Or maybe take problematic, under-visited shopping centers and reshape them into fulfillment centers or kūpuna apart- ments, perhaps even create “affordable” (a squishy term at best) housing by going up 10 stories high and give tax breaks as incentives. After all, as a builder/business entity, why build $400,000 living units today when the $950,000 ones sell out immediately?
KELLEY
The day before the Viet- nam ceasefire, Robbie’s plane went missing. It was gut-wrenching news. Could he be still alive? The uncer-
Our families flew to the Big Island to commemorate the statue and celebrate Rob- bie. The public service and ceremony at HPA was to be held that Saturday afternoon.
“Look at the seagull,” I shouted. As if in response, the bird flew and landed 5 feet away from Knut Pea- cock, Rob’s cousin, who was standing near the swimming pool. Three times Knut tried
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
As I walked out to look at the ocean, I noticed a bird on the neighbor’s roof.
Let’s acknowledge that every bold move won’t be met with resounding applause and encouragement, but let’s start mapping out and then acting upon strategies to get us through the next pandemic, hurricane, airline strike or economic slump without facing the huge indigestion that’s occurs every time our hotels (and restaurants) aren’t full. Let’s look outside at other isolated tourist communities around the world to see how they’ve managed to lessen the weight that tourism plays on far too many aspects of local life, while we still welcome respectful visitors who frequent our shores.
Think about it ...
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com
CHASING THE LIGHT
with Marcia Cooke Duff