You may have noticed, or not noticed may be correct, that my smooth young face has been missing from this esteemed periodical for 14 days. Perhaps you were happy to not have to read my scribbling while looking for news, and wondered if my name had been read from the roll up there or not. Please allow me to explain what happened for the past two weeks.
If you are as blessed as I am to have such a wonderful mate for the past many years, I’m sure you and your loved ones have perhaps a special name or jibe for each other that doesn’t quite match what was placed upon the birth certificate when you came into this world. My sweet Lorraine might tell you what I call her, but even better is one I heard many years ago and immediately grabbed as my own.
When someone asks me how my love is taking this gestapo imposed arrest during the past many months, I ask the inquisitor, “Do you know what Lorraine’s favorite whine is?” Often they notice the misplaced “H” in my response, and knowing that one of her favorite things is a glass of the heavenly fruit of this valley, they are about to point out my error when I interrupt them with a smile and quickly say, “I WANT TO GO TO HAWAII!”
Though she doesn’t say it often, it is her constant wish that we return to the wonderful state of happy memories. We wanted to honeymoon there these many years ago when we wed, but money was tight, as it usually is with newlyweds. Not wanting to begin our life together in debt, we put it off for some time. But, we did eventually go. That trip led to a promise to ourselves that we would go again.
I mean really, this past year has been tough on everyone and we did have a very good friend to go see. Lorraine’s very good friend from high school has purchased a home on the Island of Kauai and had invited us to join her when travel had been relaxed a little.
Little is the key word here. Hawaii is a very difficult place to visit during the pandemic. There are about three pages of instructions you have to comply with before you leave, but hey! This is Hawaii. Besides, Lorraine is a whiz bang with the computer and complied with every single thing they asked. It was worth it.
We have been blessed to know the folks that we stayed with and they were happy to see us too. They had just finished installing a swimming pool just outside the room in which we were staying and it came in handy when the weather decided to be a bit muggy a couple of days while we were there.
We learned quite a bit about Hawaii this trip because of the tours we were shown. There are 132 islands in Hawaii, but 124 are so small that they only total about 3 square miles. There are six islands that are happy to see guests. In the last 30 years, Lorraine and I have visited four of the six most visited. If the good Lord continues to smile upon us, we will make those last two in the future.
It is just about the most beautiful place on earth and everyone is so kind. Everyone greets you with “Aloha,” a word that they use to express love and regards. It is a handy word, as it is used to say hello and goodbye. We did have to wear masks over there too, at least as we entered a restaurant.
After what seemed like a very long trip home, we arrived to find that we could go places in California without a mask. Good idea, don’t you think? I thought we had landed in the wrong place as I tripped up to Salinas yesterday. It was bumper to bumper there and back. That was good to see as we have been locked up for a long time.
We had a wonderful vacation and look forward to going back soon. To be honest, we were wondering if anyone missed us while we were gone. Our fears were unnecessary as we found an envelope on our pillows.
On the outside was a photo of our dogs Kodak and Dirt. Inside was written, “Where did you go? Where have you been? Do you know how long you have been gone? Two weeks, or 15 minutes, or six months! The point is, we have been waiting by the front door barking at anyone who came close. For 14 days, and each day seemed like forever.” So I guess someone noticed we were gone.
God Bless.
