Monday, July 30, 2007

A traveler returns; a cat filibusters

Aloha! I’m back from vacation. I walked into my apartment at 1 am on Saturday morning (felt like Friday night to me) and was greeted by two ecstatic kitties who had definitely missed me. In fact, the chatty one hasn’t stopped talking to me since I got back. She even talks while I’m sleeping. Evidently as long as I’m in the room she’ll talk to me whether or not I’m awake to listen.

Here are some things I saw or learned while away on holiday:

1 – Any vacation that starts with a root canal can only improve. My tooth is fine. Now. It was not fine to begin with. I now know WAY more about root canals than I ever did before and I can only be profoundly grateful that my first (and let’s hope, only) experience with that particular crisis happened when dental technology was so far advanced. It was a surprisingly easy experience. Really.

2 – Dropping one’s camera in the Pacific, even if it’s only for 2 seconds, is a surefire way to end up without a camera for the rest of your vacation.

3 – Teach my mom to hula and she’ll go to town. If you’re ever at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu you’ll discover they have great song and dance demonstrations, and it’s impossible to resist joining in when invited.

4 – Fish tacos taste better in the Pacific than they do in New England. A-yummmmmm. Black beans, fresh lime, and avocado are essential ingredients, but it’s the fresh white fish that really seals the deal.

5 – My aunt has a new crush on Eddie Izzard. Our visit was deep in the heart of the Season of Eddie. It was hilariously very like the years of my own childhood when I would talk about Laura all the time, my pal, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Many Eddie references.

6 – I saw a monk seal – without knowing there are only 1500 left in the world. He was napping on a beach, looking quite a lot like a big round heap of sand. He flipped over now and then to toast different parts of his bulk, but I never saw his eyes open. I was quite taken with his little mossy green face. He was not an athletic-looking seal (the moss on his face was a giveaway there), but he could snooze like a champion.

Other updates – and possibly photos – to follow in the days to come.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back from your vacation and glad your kitties were happy to have you home. Aside from your root canal, sounds like you had a good time.

Pumpkin said...

Glad to have you back!
Sounds like you had a fabulous time (even with root canal and wet camera experience).

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great trip (root canal and wet camera aside)! I look forward to more details. I was so there with you in Laura Ingalls Wilder-land as a kid. Now Jamie, who will be 6 in September, is reading the books and LOVING them -- so this past weekend, when we drove to the Twin Cities to visit friends, we fulfilled a long-time dream of mine and stopped in Pepin, WI on the way home. We visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder birthplace museum and a replica of the cabin in which she was born in "The Big Woods" of Wisconsin. It was very cool. And the boys filled their pockets with pebbles on the shores of Lake Pepin, just like Laura and Mary did in the 1st book (though our pockets, made with 21st century machines, didn't rip!). Anyway, it was a great side trip and I thought you'd appreciate it! xoxo Jen

LaLa said...

Ooo, pockets full of Lake Pepin pebbles - that's so cool! Also one of my lifelong dreams.