I’m in Hawaii. It’s wonderful how an exotic place can be both strange and not. I was met at the airport by Caroline, Mara and the girls, who ran to hug me, their faces as bright as the sun coming up in the morning. The air was warm and humid and the breeze was lovely. It certainly wasn’t Canada, but driving to Ron’s (Caroline’s brother-in-law) in the van with them, I felt quite at home. We’re all living in Ron’s house with him and his son Jonathan. From the outside, the place looks small at first glance, but it has rooms that lead into rooms and allow seven of us to move around quite easily. Hawaiian homes are like Canadian summer cottages. They have no basement and are ranch style. They have no insulation, the windows are ‘jalousies’ which look like Venetian blinds made from angled, parallel, glass slats and the roof is a material like plywood, but it’s compressed sugar cane fiber that’s covered with a rubberized substance. When it rains, which it has done quite a bit since I arrived, I am reminded of summers at camp in Thunder Bay, especially at night. The rain is loud and it feels so snug to be covered up in bed listening to it pounding on the roof. The difference is that you would never cover up with anything more than one thin sheet because its very warm. One night it was raining and the wind was so strong that a fine spray came through the ‘jealousies’. In spite of the rain, we’ve been at the beach every day but one, walking on the sand, collecting hermit crabs in the pools of sea water that pock the volcanic rocks and swimming.
Days have gone by since I began this entry. Time passes quickly, filled with meals, games, drives, arguments, laughs, tears, t.v, tooth brushing and bed, when you travel with young girls. It’s been fun and certainly made the anniversary of Jim’s death on March 11, 2010 easier for me to face. I’ve been helped through this whole year by family and friends, for which I’m very thankful. Jay and I exchanged letters on the eleventh, and reading his to me was the most moving part of the day. His thoughts and feelings were consoling and very well expressed. Jim accepted his death bravely. He didn’t burden us with his fears. We talked of death but tried to live what time was left as well as we could. Of course there are things I wish I had said and done, but I’m beginning to believe that that would always have been the case no matter what and that the things I think about now would never have been said or done given who we were. Jay and I loved him, and he loved us. We all did our best and now I hope he rests in peace. We will always remember him as we continue our own lives strengthened by having shared so much of them with him.
Caroline, Mara, the girls and I spent a couple of nights in Mela’s sister’s condo in Honolulu, going to the zoo and aquatic centre and swimming on Waikiki Beach. We had a late dinner in a restaurant on Thursday, March 10, and our first inkling of the horrible earthquake in Japan was as we drove home to Ron’s around 9:30 p.m. There were long lines at the gas stations, and we almost joined one of them because the van was almost out of gas and we thought there must have been some catastrophe in the Middle East and gas prices were going to skyrocket by morning. Thank goodness we didn’t. When we arrived at home, Ron was lost in his Kindle and knew nothing either. We turned on tv to hear about the quake. Hawaii was taking it very seriously, of course, because of the fear of a tsunami. We did not have to evacuate because Ron’s house is just outside the designated area, so we just stayed up watching the tv. We slept on and off, but finally went to bed around 3:30 when the wave hit the first island and was reported to be much less devastating than expected. The next day we got in the van and drove around much of the coast of O’ahu. The damage was minimal; the Big Island was the hardest hit and even that was not really bad. You could see where the water had been high, and the waves were still big in some areas. People were not supposed to be swimming, but some big guys were fooling in the breakers and dislocating their shoulders anyway. We just observed from the beach.
Albert and Thomas arrived yesterday and after meeting them we drove to Sally’s condo to drop me off. I am happily catching up on stuff and enjoying the peace and quiet of the condo, especially as I know that the gang will soon be here and I will be back in the maelstrom. We are going to go to Waikiki to see the parade for the Asian Festival.
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