Dena's Last Day in Hawaii

It stopped raining and blowing in the morning, although there were still wind gusts, so Dena and Jon packed for all possibilities and set out to go hiking or snorkeling. I stayed home and made chicken soup and finished reading my novel. They say that the parking lot was not very full at Hanauma Bay, early-ish on a blustery Sunday morning, so they watched the mandatory introductory movie about protecting coral etc. and walked down the hill to the beach. Snorkeling was good, as always. I can imagine it well -- lots of colorful fish zipping and meandering in and out of the coral, paying no attention to the many people floating around on the surface staring down at them. The water was rough enough that swimmers weren't allowed to go about beyond the first reef, but there are plenty of fish in the closer reef anyway. Dena said that most of the people at the beach were Japanese tourists, which seems to be true all over the island.

The mandatory picture of Hanauma Bay, with the mandatory Japanese tourists.

Then they did the hike up to the ridge overlooking the bay, the same one Jon did two weeks ago with Auntie Annette (she says it is her favorite) and it was very windy up there on the exposed outside edge of the crater. 

Very windy on the ridge above Hanauma Bay.

When they got home, they found me and Annette and Fred sitting down for a civilized lunch of chicken soup (I had taken out all the funky stuff but Auntie Annette put it right back in because it is good food not to be wasted) and leftover shakshouka.  

The sun was shining enough that I wanted to go to the beach myself, so we packed up our suits and made a plan to stop and visit Auntie Evelyne on the way to town. Dena took a nap in the car while Jon and I went to say hello. We have not seen her in 20 years or more, I am guessing, and at 80 she is just as feisty and opinionated as ever. She is one of the most appreciative recipients of the annual holiday letter, and she always writes back, so it seemed like it was really time to stop by. We had an animated conversation about Trump (we are all in agreement), how children treat their aging parents (we have diverse opinions), Jewish customs (she can't imagine having a female rabbi and when Jon told her I had been president of our temple she responded with a shocked "but you can't!" She has not been keeping up with the times, in terms of progressive Judaism). It was a good visit, much better than I anticipated.

I was the only one of us who went into the water at Ala Moana. It was a little brisk out (windy enough that people's pop-up tents were blowing away) but once I got into the water it felt great. It was hard to swim in a straight line since the current kept blowing me sideways but it is impossible to get into trouble at that beach. Uncle Babe would have got seasick floating in that water for sure.

One more dinner with the five of us -- pineapple and pomelo and choi sum and leftovers and too many chocolate desserts (these people can't help buying from the bargain basket at Foodland). They have become quite comfortable with having live-in guests who cook dinner and since they are so appreciative of whatever we cook, it is a fine arrangement. If I bring a cup of hot water to Auntie Annette, she seems so surprised and happy it makes me want to do that all the time.

The older Hius are captivated by Facebook.