We arrived into Kahului, Maui.  That's Haleakala, 10,023 feet high, A ten-minute walk away is Maui Mall.  Might go there for some exercise later today.  If so, I'll surely have some Tasaka guri-guri, a concoction that is an ice cream sherbert.  Cash only shop. The Silver Whisper's itinerary did not have Kauai as a stop.   If on our schedule, the ship would not have been able to stop there because of damage caused by Hurricane Lowell .  However, as Kauai has been in the news lately I thought I'd use this day to provide some background for those reading this posting considering a vacation there.   Hurricane Lowell cause considerable damage to Kauai, including knocking out power to 90% of residents. That is bad enough, but Kauai was a few days ago identified as having a  COVID positivity rate of 13% .  Authorities began to take measures when this number reaches 10%.  And, by the way, we heard from a 15 Craigide resident tha...

If you've been following my blog, you know that Tuesdays are for nostalgia, and that I've been looking back at those postings featuring Pearl's Ashes.   Last week it was Africa .  Today, the island of Kauai, for a whole chapter of a possible upcoming book,  Pearl's Ashes , will occur on Kauai.  To quote: While she is from the Big Island, Kauai was where we mostly lived the first year of our marriage, and therefore might have been our most memorable stop.  At the Kilauea Sugar Company where I was a trainee, we were provided a cottage with the slippery slide location of the movie   South Pacific   (right, where Bloody Mary sang   Happy Talk   to Liat, played by France Nuyen--and, amazingly enough, Pearl looks just like her, and they were even born in the same year--and Lt. Cable) as our backyard. Below in 1963 with Pepper, a mostly german shepherd she raised from 6 weeks old.  He was so large that the only way I could wash him was to ...

Time   magazine had three articles on Donald Trump's blow-out win in Iowa last night: Trump Dominates in Iowa . How Trump Took Control of the GOP Primary. In Iowa, Ron DeSantis Takes His Loss as a Win . Also,  Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchison dropped out , leaving three Republican candidates. You might wonder why DeSantis and Haley are continuing to run. They mostly harbor hopes that Trump will be prevented from running for president this year.  The Supreme Court could still make their dreams come true.  Clearly, court cases won't be any factor.  And Trump is in a New York court today. Odds are fair that Haley could beat Trump in New Hampshire, with DiSantis a distant third. However, the Donald will embarrass Nikki in her home state of South Carolina, and the end result will be similar to Iowa, with DeSantis this time in third place.  That will occur on February 27. So if Trump remains eligible to run, he will be officially nominated in mid-July. One reaso...