Vacation from our vacation

Ko Olina beach view

We are now on Oahu for three weeks.  This is a totally different Hawaii.  I forgot how removed we are from city life as I knew it.  The first week we stayed at the Hawaii Prince Hotel and I played bridge in the ACBL Regional bridge tournament.  I was fortunate to have Sue Brown as my partner for most of the week.  Then I got to play with Jack Donoghue, my favorite partner who is sometimes in Anchorage in the summer, and lives here in the winter.  He is lots of fun and taught me how bridge is a poker game.  Sue and I played team games with Bob and Linda from Canada, Nancy and Jean from Kona, and Mary and Gay from Oahu and San Francisco.  Jack and I played Knock outs with Peter Galbraith and Cathy and came in second, which was fun.  The deciding hand for the championship was a 6NT bid by both teams, but Peter didn't make it and our opponents did.  The trick Peter later figured out was a clever endplay of East (Jack). 

While I played bridge David was engaged in politics.  He was asked by the Kona Coffee Farmer's Association to personally contact legislators to help get a hearing for Senator Josh Green's bill to require blenders to disclose the content of the 90% of the Kona coffee 10% blend.  Ironically, it was first sent to the Commerce and Consumer Protection committee.  You would think that this would be a no brainer for them.  Protect the name and reputation of Kona coffee to the world, right?  Wrong. 

The morning before David talked to the committee chair, Roz Baker, there was a front page article about the bill in the Star Advertiser.  But upon entering her office, Roz immediately told David there would be no hearing.  That means the bill is dead.  By then, David had his face known around the legislative offices and had some interesting encounters, but that is for him to tell.  He did reveal to an enquiring legislator that the newspaper article was no accident.  He and KCFA President C. Bondera and legislative liason, Bruce Corker, had been in contact with the reporter the day before.

There is some interesting legislation pending pertaining to Hawaiian coffee that hasn't gotten much press yet, but may do the trick in that this bill would take these types of decisions about coffee regulation out of the hands of the legislature and thus out of politics.  Maybe good, maybe not.  It is too soon to tell.

Last week I went to the orthopedic surgeon to see about my sore knee.  Dr. Linda Rasmusson twisted this way and that and listened to my symptoms, and declared that I had a torn miniscus and I needed surgery.  I cried.  We scheduled it for the following Tuesday (Jan 24th).  She and I both failed to concentrate on the fact that the symptoms I described were in the past.  The last thing I did for my pre-op was to get the handicap sticker for the car.  The clerk asked if I wanted to sit down while she completed the paperwork.  At that point I realized that my knee didn't hurt at all!  I said "It feels better when I stand" because I felt guilty.  We even drove all the way to Paradise Bay Resort to retrieve the walker we left there last year when David had his knee replaced by the same doctor.

Well, now I was embarrassed, feeling guilty, and relieved that my knee was better.  Instead of cancelling surgery, I decided to test my knee over the weekend to see if I was just protecting it and if I did anything more than walk to and from the car, it would get sore again.  The first day I walked to Ala Moana Mall and back.  No problem.  The second day I walked two miles through Alamoana park.  I have been walking, swimming, doing yoga, waterobics, etc. since and the knee is just fine!
Last year at this time I was taking care of David after his knee replacement.  My time was taken up with replacing ice in the knee cooler, pushing his wheelchair, cooking meals, etc.  I envisioned our stay for the next two weeks as the same, only the roles reversed.

Beach Club Sunset

Now we are staying in our timeshare at the Marriott Ko'Olina Beach Resort. Every day has been beautiful here.  This is particularly good for David who rented a convertible.  We actually had one rented last year as well but sadly we had to turn it in for a van when he had the surgery. 

We went to Fia Fia, the luau held here at the resort featuring Chief Sielu.  He is a remarkable talent.  He can sing.  He is a comedian.  He can climb a coconut tree.  He can cut open a coconut, break the inner shell in exactly two halves without spilling the milk, in no time at all.  He is the featured fire dancer who can use two fiery batons and steps on them to put them out.  He can make fire by rubbing two sticks and make it look like child's play.  He can play the guitar.  He can work an audience and make fun of them and himself and everyone is happy.

Chief Sielu with guitar

Today we saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  I wish I had read the book, but the movie told the story well.  Tonight, Thursday, it is now raining.  Good for the dry ground, bad for a luau.

Biggest waves we've seen at Ko Olina

Sunday we have tickets to see Aida at the Hawaii Opera Theater.  Then we are going to Chef Mavro's for dinner afterwards.  The ProBowl is Jan 29th Sunday as well.  I know this because the Marriot Ihilani Hotel is full of football players and closed to the public.  Last night they put on a fireworks show for them and we got the benefit of it as well.  We seem to be here at ProBowl time a lot, but so far have never attended.

Hawaii Opera Theater

The first year I remember coming to Oahu, we were attending a conference at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  The sponsors booked and paid for the days of the conference, but the flight wasn't available for just those days so we had to come a couple days earlier.  I searched and searched for a hotel room for the days before, but came up empty.  Not one hotel or bed and breakfast was available on the island.  I was told that it was because of the Pro Bowl.  I assumed it was a professional bowling tournament.  Luckily, Nancy Shannon agreed to let us stay with them until we could move into the Hilton.  To my amazement, I found out the ProBowl was a football game, and that this was the most booked weekend of the entire year for the island.   Maybe some day we will attend the game.