Boy Scout Campout at Airport Beach

There's no particular order here and not much of a story to tell, but Ben Goodwin and I took the scouts camping at the end of the runway in October to work on the fishing merit badge. We also dragged our boogie boards out to do some surfing in the tiny waves of the day. I brought my new underwater camera from work to "test" it out. Works like a champ. This first pic shows where the boys camped.
Here we are just before heading out on the mile-long hike along the runway.

hot dogs on my spear, watties canned spaghetti and corned beef. mmmm mmmm good. Any other place or time and this would have me puking, but it tasted good right out of the cans with some bread. Must be that camping/outdoors magic.
Here's Ben on one of the better waves of the day. Funny how taking a snap shot of real life can make it look better than it actually was. Still small, and mushy, but believe me, it was worse than this!
Breakfast of chili and more corned beef and Watties. In case you're wondering, Watties is a New Zealand brand, and Kiwi's apparently adore Watties for breakfast. Strange that none of these boys are Kiwi!
This is looking back on Pala Lagoon from the end of the runway. Behind that pointy peak on the left is the valley we live in.
Same vantage point looking east at Mount Matafao.
Ben and Brock's tent on the left and mine on the right. That's the fence around the runway in the background.
The boys practiced all Saturday with a Hawaiian sling and my triggerless spear gun that Pa gave me.




They were all hooting and hollering when the first fish was speared. I got my hopes up and then crackup up when they brought up a Chaetodon lunulatus (oval butterflyfish) smaller than our hands and basically un-eatable.
That's my best wave of the day. Looks like it's about to barrel but didn't.
Ben showed the boys how to prepare and eat their fish raw. Almost all of them caught fish and got to sample one of them.
The current was strong here and they devised this chain-link system to hang on to the boy at the end of the chain with the spear. Hilarious.
The edible fish were these pone (Ctenochaetus striatus; lined bristletooth surgeonfish)

Thanksgiving 2010

I've never hosted Thanksgiving before. In my old age I've become less interested in the work that goes into entertaining, plus I'm not excited about exposing other people that I like to my unpredictable cooking skills. I usually like to wait for an invitation, volunteer Ephraim to make rolls, and just show up for the feast. But this year was different, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Our good friend Mike Jackson moved down here from Hawaii this week. Guest #1. I figured if I was cooking I might as well invite our great neighbors (we totally owe them). Guests #2-7. And then Ephraim and Mike went surfing in the morning and brought home a Canadian guy named George. Guest #8.

I decided not to be nervous about my usual issues (cooking, cleaning the house, seating everyone), but to just do what I could and not worry about whatever didn't get done. That worked great. Thank you to Martha for her Maple-Glazed Cornish Game Hen recipe. Thank you to Ephraim to and his famous "Two-Bite Dinner Rolls"

Ella and her baby Keesha helped in the kitchen by setting the table and making the food.

Isaac helped by staying out of the kitchen and entertaining himself in the yard.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Burning

Our neighbors in the village behind our house have been burning piles of bush everyday for over a month. Everyday. Not constantly, but at least once a day. My bed smells like a campfire. Our family has been sick. And I'm getting irate.

We talked to them, and they said, No, it's not poisonous, it's only plants. So yeah, thanks for not burning tires, but any smoke is still carbon and doesn't make breathing pleasant. Our other neighbor drove back into the village to talk to them, but to no avail. We've tried calling EPA, and have yet to hear back. Sometimes we flee the house because the smoke is unbearable.

Why must we burn shrubbery? Why can't we just toss it in the jungle 100 yards away and wait for it to decay? What more can we do? My next step is to post signs along our road saying "Fa'amolemole, Aua le susunu afi. Ua ma'i fanau." Please stop burning fires. Kids are getting sick. What should we do?

Costumes

You would think this was for Halloween. It's not. Our Halloween costumes are homemade and much less impressive.
This is just a typical play date at our friend Valerie's house. She has an awesome closet full of costumes. More costumes than I have clothes. No wonder my kids BEG to go there everyday.

Cannons

The hike to the cannons in Utulei is short enough for the kids, close enough to do in an hour, and scenic enough to refresh us. Here's photos from a recent papa+kids excursion.

More Kay Angel

Please enjoy some Sunday afternoon fun. Though I think Melinda already posted about Kay Angel and friends, we thought it would be nice to record more details before they change too much in Isaac's imagination flurry.

Paradise Lost

Believe it or not, sometimes I'd like to move. I just say "Ephraim, how much longer are we gonna live here?!" or "Ephraim, when can we go someplace civilized?" Today was one of those days. We were watching a movie and the guy bought strawberries on the side of the road (Ironman2). Isaac asked, "Mom, when are we going to have strawberries again?" I almost cried. I did cry later, actually. I answered "There ARE no strawberries in this country." Ugh.
It's not just about the strawberries, folks. It's the stores that sell expired food, the mold on my cupboards, the jungle trail we call our road (which has no real name), the offices that close early, the power that shuts off randomly, the water that turns off during a shower, the dogs that prevent my family from bike rides, frustrating mess of ordering things online to an unrecognized territory, the overall lack of qualified workers in important positions... I'll stop there. You get the picture.

Sometimes the grass seems greener NOT in the jungle.

Someone please comment and tell me living in the states is not all it's cracked up to be and I'm so lucky to live here. And who needs a real shopping center anyway, and the less choices the simpler the life, etc. Please.