Page 2 - MidWeek - August 3, 2022

2 MIDWEEK AUGUST 3, 2022
Last week, I needed to get something in quickly to a government office and they actually asked me to fax it. Re- ally? I thought we were living in a post-fax world, which aligns with the sad reality that we’re also far too often living in a post-facts world ...
Larry and I moved to Ho- nolulu eight years ago from Severna Park, Maryland. Viewing the birds on the la- nai railings of our 15th-floor condo is far different from our former raucous backyard feeder.
The author’s birdfeeder allows her to watch the beautiful creatures and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.
of watching the ships as they approach or leave Honolulu harbor — and visits from my marvelous birds. Yes, my birds. I’m possessive of whichever ones choose to appear, because each day
SPEED BUMP by Dave Coverly
While I understand and concur with reminding people that COVID is still a hovering presence and a concern inside crowded buildings, I found it ironic to see a sign posted recently on the fence at a Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority facility that read: “This property is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC” and right below that it added “NO TRESPASSING.” Boy, if that doesn’t sum up our laissez faire attitude toward the housing situation and public needs in general ...
I do love it here. Seated at my desk, I should be work- ing on our next novel. But I have the delicious distraction
What amazes me is how my haphazard birding lifts my spirits. Recently, as we rested on a bench along the path to Ala Moana Beach Park, I discovered a black- crowned night heron stand- ing all alone next to us on the grass — inviting me to take
It seems a bit pedestrian, obvious and generic to see mundane political ads that focus on how said candidate will “fight for the little guy.” As opposed to whom — multi-millionaires? You see some politico ads highlighting the concepts of “trust” and “future.” Shouldn’t trust and our future be a voting expectation and a basic given? As opposed to skepticism and looking backward? Hmm ...
The Real Voyage Of Discovery
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”—Marcel Proust
AFutures
Icaught myself day- dreaming as I drove around the corner from Kāheka Street onto Makaloa and — whoa! — I braked. A rooster was starting to cross the street from the right-hand curb. Suddenly, it stopped, looked at my car, then turned around and saun- tered back to the curb. I’ m an avid birdwatcher, and a rooster doesn’t exactly fit my daily sightings. Still, I was delighted to encounter such an intelligent bird. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my husband.
they provide me with a hap- py adventure. Perhaps a pair of red-vented bulbuls or yel- low-patched house finches. And recently, a flock of 24 Java sparrows. The males’ colors are so defined they look like they’ ve been paint- ed on. I had assumed they congregated only at Magic Island, alongside the spotted doves with their polka-dot- ted “necklaces.”
s the quagmire inevitably gets resolved about the new tourism marketing situation locally, I’m putting in a plug to add director-actor-comedian
its picture. And yesterday, right in front of Safeway, I came upon a mommy mal- lard duck and her six fuzzy chicks, foraging under a hedge. We live in painfully unpredictable times. I con- stantly remind myself how lucky I am for these simple pleasures, the joyous mo- ments these precious crea- tures bring to my life.
Rosemary Mild’s person- al essays appear in her new book In My Next Life I’ll Get It Right. She and Larry, cheer- ful partners in crime, coauthor mystery and suspense novels and stories. Visit them at ma- gicile.com.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
Jordan Peele to the consultants’ list. After all, he’s had big hits with movies Get Out, Us and now Nope, so, just by his titles alone, it seems like he might be a perfect ally to align with on future campaigns as they most assuredly will morph.
And speaking of tourism issues, we know that some early rhetoric has mentioned plans for bolder moves to redirect or change the visitor experience and perception. Good timing, because they’ve already resorted to “boul- der” moves streetside in Lanikai ...
Decades ago, visiting our daughter in Pālolo Val- ley, Larry and I awoke one morning to an odd squawk- ing: a neighbor’s gorgeous peacock meandering along the rooftops of the one-story houses.
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
with Rosemary Mild
We need real solutions to real problems in real time, like finalizing flood mitigation plans along the Ala Wai Canal. The Ala Wai Flood Management Project (that name alone might indicate a potentially serious issue) has been around for 23 years, but wasn’t officially authorized or funded until 2018. More talks will soon be held with necessary public interaction, and a supposed “final report” will come out next spring, at which point there will be more feed- back, more discussion and invariably more studies.
Let’s hope nature remains ambivalent and gives us time to get this one done right ... some decade.
Think about it.
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com