A BUSY WEEK

                                                            A BUSY WEEK

Wednesday was the Sierra Club’s monthly Conservation Committee meeting.  I usually attend and try to learn as much as I can there however when it comes to discussing club positions I always find myself in the minority.  So Sunday we made a trip to the (nearly) top of Mona Kea where the world’s best astronomy site that is close to a major University hosts 11 observatories.  The summit is 13,796’ and the observatories are several hundred feet lower.  Part of the reason that  I wanted to see it at this particular time is that the U of H board of Regents, as the management body for the astronomy zone, was about to make their decision whether to take the next step towards allowing the construction of the planned thirty meter telescope (TMT).   The TMT would provide nine times the collecting area of any telescope presently in operation and it will be built in Chile if it is not approved for here.   The local Sierra Club (or at least their leadership) is on record in opposition and the co-chair of the Mauna Kea Issues Committee had his long article in both the Big Island paper and the Oahu paper and I’ve argued at meetings that most of their arguments are poor or none of the Club’s concern (native religion).  I will try to attach both sides in case you’re interested.

Myrna and I had a beautiful day above the clouds and walked around all the different telescopes and enjoyed the views.  I did not feel it to be a religious experience as some have suggested I might but then we did not walk to the very top from the pleatueo where the telescopes are.  In fact, the overwhelming memory will always be of how odd it seemed to NOT be able to get our legs to obey the command to walk faster.  We had spent one hour at the 9,000’ level to allow our bodies to get acclimatized yet even so the amount of effort that any movement requires at that altitude is hysterically unbelievable!  The next day I wrote my answer to Nelson’s argument and sent it to the Board of Regents but not the newspapers.  I also sent it to the club secretary and asked her to distribute it but as far as I know, she has not.  The Board of Regents received 30 in favor and 10 opposed and a week later approved proceeding.  I’m sure the Sierra Club will try to block them at the next stage as well but I doubt that a vote of the members would sustain that position.  At Wednesday’s Club meeting I gave a copy of what I wrote to Nelson and he said he’d read it and phone me later.  I’ve not heard from him.

Hawaii has two major Democratic candidates for governor this year.  One, Mufi Hanneman, is Honolulu mayor and sounds way too Republican for me.  The other, Neil Abercrombie, was a ten term congressman and former professor who resigned this spring to run for mayor.  I wanted to hear him in person so I attended one of his “school bus tour” rallies at a town four miles south of us.  I rode there with a long time local organizer who introduced me to Neil during the luncheon preceding the rally and had me sit across from him.  (I should add here that, here on the Big Island at least, politics is notably different from Washington for the lack asking for money.  It was never mentioned throughout that rally or the next.  Just pleas for volunteers.  I think this is because we are a very poor neighborhood and the fund raising probably takes place in Honolulu).  Neil answered all my questions as if he could do anything I wanted and with the assurance that he would see to that all was accomplished quickly.  He said he would sign or veto all bills sent him within 24 hours and I cautioned that that may not be possible.   My only fault with him was that he was too quick to over commit himself.  After the local talent show in his honor and the local speeches he finally took the floor and very soon had himself and the audience worked up to a fever pitch.   We drove home in time to tell Myrna, who had just returned from work, about the meeting and suggest we drive 10 miles up the coast to the next rally so we could see him together. 

At the next stop, Laupahoehoe, there was a fancier free meal, entertainment more to my liking (the group Java Jive who I have played with at THE 50’S RESTURANT on a past Friday) and oddly enough we got to sit with Neil there also so Myrna got to ask him about and inform him of healthcare issues.

The next night we were off to THE PALACE THEATRE in Hilo for a concert of Ukele Jazz.  I think I’ve mentioned being surprised by excellent jazz played on the Ukele at a first birthday party we attended so you can imagine I had my hopes up.  I was not disappointed.  The opening act was a local guitar, bass and ukele group with vocals.   The first number was slow and the rest were hard driving with very tight interplay between the instruments.  After probably five numbers the main act, Benny Chong on ukulele and a Japanese descended fellow, whose name I can’t recall, on electric upright bass came out and opened with a Duke Ellington number and then played the theme from Bewitched.  These guys were marvelous technicians who could achieve anything with their instruments either solo or duo and their program had a wide range of complicated material but it probably tended more to the classical side then my taste would have liked.  And I mean classical jazz.  The program went on till after 10 which is late enough for us that we were falling asleep.  I found the opening act more exciting even though some of the numbers were sung in Hawaiian which I can’t understand. 

On Saturday we had planed an early start to the Westside but we slept in an hour and moved slow.  We did manage to get to Honaunau by 11:00 for the annual Hawaiian celebration of culture that included arts and crafts demonstrations and taking to sea (harbor) of the ancient dugout outrigger canoes that are normally only on display in a shed.  Since there was no parking left by the museum for this day of free events, we had to drive by it to the picnic ground so naturally we proceeded to eat lunch before walking back to the “Place of Refuge”.  There I noticed that three canoes with sails were giving rides on the bay, one was ancient and two modern, one of these a catamaran, and since the line waiting for a turn was not very long we did that first.  As it happens when our turn came we got a modern canoe made with wood and fiberglass.  While not as unique this did offer the fastest ride of the three and our helmsman seemed to be enjoying the perfect wind on the bay so we had a longer ride than the others as well.  Every time we came about and I thought we were heading in he spun it around again and every time we went over a shallow reef I could see yellow tangs and once even less colorful fish.  This boat carried four in the hull and one on the trampoline between the outrigger struts.  We only retuned after about the fifth crossing of the bay.

After the canoe ride I wanted to look at the coconut frond weaving demonstration and this led to us both taking a class and producing a bowl each.  Myrna’s is the more perfect one in the pictures.  By this time the sky was darkening with both clouds and sinking sun so we hurried back to our car for our dive gear then walked back to “two step”, one of our favorite diving spots for a quick tour under water. 

We drove home through Kailua to stop at the Costco for a couple items and came out with cases of stuff because “hurricane season is here and shipping could be interrupted by any one of them for days”.  Myrna had already bought two pounds of Kona coffee, at an estate where she gets an especially good deal, that morning.        That’s life on an Island!