May 21 – E komo mai

Sad endings and new beginnings. We left my old kawila behind in the parking lot at the Chrysler dealer. The only thing left on her was the old spinner, which was hanging on by only two very frayed ribbons. The rule is that it got to stay on till it fell off; I was actually amazed that it stayed on as long as it did. It was all kapakahi while it was spinning, but it wouldn’t let go. We first put it on at a rest stop just outside Twin Falls, Idaho, in 2009. I really don’t know how it stayed on all this time, but it did.

Musubi took his last ride in the car; here we are going over the Glen Jackson Bridge into Washington State. Musubi’s first car ride was down to California after my mom died; my special friend Clare made him for me to comfort me, and he has been in my van ever since. He too has been to all the northwest states.

We took one last photo of my faithful companion as she sat there in the lot where I’d parked her. Stripped of her license plate, she looked a little forlorn, and as we began to leave, I admit it, I cried. I had to stop driving till the tears stopped. Just a few minutes before, the finance guy had told me that he sees it happen all the time. I couldn’t help but feel that I had betrayed my faithful companion.

Finally, I dried my tears and didn’t look back. Nolemana, Musubi, and I began our drive home in our new van. I felt weird. We’d been at the dealer’s for several hours and hadn’t had lunch, so we decided to stop and have our favorite comfort food dinner at Yami Sushi in Gresham. While we were sitting there, I took a photo of the new kid on the block, waiting outside for us to return, Musubi watching us through the windshield.

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May 20 – Anodda aloha ʻoe

My kawila, my faithful kawila, used to have all kine stickers on it. Like “100% Tita”, and “Live Aloha”, and “Aloha Happens”. But today it is bare. Nomo da IZ sticka on da side window. Hakum? Cuz dis kawila get 173,000 miles on it and it’s tired. It’s taken us to California twice when my mom wen mahke. In it, we wen take da Montana Road Trips, twice, chru Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and back again.

I wen take her up to Bellingham to see my hānai sis four times ova da years. We wen go holoholo kaʻa to Eastern and Central Oregon. Da kawila has been packed full to da roof wit stuffs from my mom’s hale and it’s da most comfortable car I eva wen ride in.

It’s carried dogs and cats in it, and even two lambs. It wen take me to several Alohaworld mini-gatherings in Washington, and it’s da car dat two of my hānai braddahs wen help me get one new battery into.

Aside from normal maintenance and an alternator and water pump, dis kawila hasn’t given me a minute’s pilikia. Faithful to da max dis kawila.

We wen buy her used eleven years ago. But now she’s tired. Da electrical system stay going wacko at times. And so now is da time foa say “aloha ʻoe” to dis friend, dis car I love, dis car dat wen carry us on all kine advencha.

So Nolemana wen take off alla stickers. He wen vacuum it foa me and wen wash it foa me in preparation foa trading it in. He doesn’t undastand hakum I’m so emotional about a car. But I am. No can help.

Da car is bare now. But I neva going forget her. Neva going forget da miles we wen travel togedda all ova da Northwest back again. I love dis kawila. And I get plenny wai maka about letting her go.

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May 19 – Sunshine and iris

Lovely day out on the deck in the sunshine, and the irises are blooming!

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May 18 – Went to the shelter and…

Well, I guess it was inevitable. Nolemana was so lonely without Hinahina, and today we drove up to Vancouver to donate Hina’s cat food there. And Nolemana said he’d like to look at kitties. First we checked out one sweet girl named Bristol… a lovely calico girl. Hers was a sad story: her former owners had to give her up because their new home required, gasp!, a $1300. pet deposit! The volunteer told us that the lady just cried and cried when she left her there….

Bristol was very shy, very stressed, and though Nolemana liked her, he wanted to see more kitties. We walked outside the get acquainted room (I LOVE how they clean the rooms after each kitty goes in) and another staff person pointed us to “Roxie”, who happened to be on Nolemana’s list.

We spent quite a bit of time in another room with her. The staff person said that Roxie had been abandoned at the vet’s where she’d been boarded. She was microchipped, but after weeks and weeks of trying to contact the owners (their phone was disconnected), they gave up and gave her to the shelter, who also tried to contact the owners, also with no luck.

The good thing about it all was that Roxie had been thoroughly vetted and pronounced to be in excellent health. She gained weight at the shelter so has to lose some, but other than that she’s doing great. She’s eight years old (I love giving a middle-aged kitty a new home) and is extremely plush. She’s very friendly and didn’t try to hide, and when she jumped down onto the floor and we tapped the bench, she hopped right up again, demanding to be petted. That just did it for Nolemana, and he said he wanted her.

I’d told Nolemana that he would just know if a kitty was right for him, that he kitty would choose him, but he didn’t understand how that worked and I couldn’t really explain it. Gotta experience it , ya know? Now he got it.

So just like that, he has a new downstairs kitty . We’re definitely going to change her name (suggestions welcome)… we’ve thought of “Honey”, or “Moonshine” so far. Since it’s his kitty , it won’t be Hawaiian…. haole boy dat guy!

I think she’s going to be the perfect kitty for him. She’s already crawled up next to him as he’s working, and is very affectionate. She looks very happy to be here. Her official coloring is called Patched Mackerel Tabby. Interesting, yeah?

Last night I was given her dream name, and Nolemana likes it!

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May 14-17

Man, this bug really wiped me out! I took photos, but I was so tired and had to drag myself to places I absolutely had to go. So here’s the recap:

May 14th: Lambs growing fast… down the road from us.

May 15:

Frankie, the welcoming committee at my vet’s office.

May 16:

I did some spinning for awhile.

May 17:

And I took photos of some of my fiber stash so I could organize it:

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May 13 – Koi

I felt good enough to venture out for awhile; I stopped by our local pond/landscape store and stopped by the koi pond out front as I’ve done before. These guys are so amazingly beautiful, and I just watched them for awhile.

The bambucha orange one is the biggest of all. His name is Spartacus!

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May 12 – Kalakoa kokua

I’ve been sick for the past several days, but decided to see if I couldn’t get my spinning fiber stash photographed and organized. It’s a lot of work hardly any work at all since I really have any fiber stashed.** Kalakoa decided that she would supervise me as I worked outside where the light is better. She looked so cute that she became my photo of the day.

**Oh, by the way… I have a bridge in the Mojave Desert that I’d like to sell. Wanna buy it?

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May 11 – Wisteria

 

Wisteria along SE 182nd Drive in Boring.

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May 10 – The Grosbeaks have returned!

 

I know that Spring is really here when the Black-Headed Grosbeaks show up at my feeders. This isn’t the best photo, but you get the idea. They’re here to raise their babies, so I’m sure I’ll be getting some better pictures of them.

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May 9 – 1952 Chevy Deluxe

This awesome Chevy was following us down Sunshine Valley Road; I pulled over so Nolemana could snap a photo of it. I’m pretty sure it’s a Chevy Deluxe 1952. It was really loud, and wish I’d felt good enough to follow him for awhile and get more photos. My brother Kaniela and I love love love old cars like this. Mahalo, Papa-san, for giving us that gift!

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