Christmas Fever and then Kaput!

It is crazy how the days before Christmas are so filled with things to do that our proverbial fangs emerge and there is a subliminal growl in our voices. Gotta do this!! Gotta do that!!! Where did I put this? Where did I put that? Did I forget something? Darn, where's my list!!

Christmas Eve service is the benchmark about how everything is in a downward spiral.

Christmas morning is always the mini-feast of hot, delicious coffee and some kind of baked treat like pumpkin bread. Then the unwrapping of gifts and the quiet chatter of its description and the thanks uttered to the sky.

Then AHHHHHHHHHH!! peace and quiet. We are back to the recently forgotten nights of kicking back and watching the TV with nothing in hand to finish doing. What a marvelous thing. Going Kaput is a nice reminder. The antithesis of Christmas Frenzy.

Holiday Ornament Hunt

Why can't we have a Holiday Ornament Hunt much like an Easter Egg Hunt but substitute Christmas ornaments for the children and adult treasure hunters. Unlike the aftermath of an Easter Egg hunt where the family will be eating deviled egg sandwiches for days, the Holiday Ornament Hunt would be a great way to get some exercise and have fun!! It would be a fun way to travel hill and dale looking for Christmas ornaments...some made by people and others made by nature.

Each hunter would bring their treasurers back home and decorate the Christmas tree for the event. The manmade ornament cards could have numbers indicating the grab bag gift to be claimed. The ornament cards could then be tied to the party's Christmas tree. Natural ornaments could be attached to the tree with some ingenuity, some colorful yard or ribbon. The tree could be lit and all could gather to sing "O Tannenbaum" (or Punahou's alma mater...depending on the crowd)!! Hot coffee and cocoa could be served with delicious fragrance of yummy goodness in a hot beverage. Favorite cookies could also be served as people sing their favorite Christmas carols. I vote for Mexican wedding cookies or Pua O'Mahoney's raspberry shortcake cookies!! Shigeko Ikeda's buttery macadamia nut cookies are also an all-time favorite!!

Now doesn't that sound like a swell way to spend a Christmas day?

Kingsolver's Quote Worthy of Remembering

"The past is all we know of the future." The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, p240.

If this is indeed true, how can we build new pathways of life? The possibility could be hinged to the Japanese proverb. "I tell you one thing and you will know 10 things." Adaptation based on a given

I am always amazed by the extents to which people will resort to to avoid change."I never travel beyong the bridge before the Panaewa stretch." heard by a woman who is now living in Volcano.

"What's that?" said an UH Manoa English professor who had lived in Hawai'i for 20 years when faced with onigiri sushi.

"The best thing about being a competitive swimmer is to feel like you are about to die and find out that you can survive the heart-pounding, oxygen-deprived body shock and live," said an all-around high school golden boy.

Live!

Ain't it the truth?

Just finished reading the novel, The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Thought I'd do some light reading to just let loose and it was a good fun read. In fact, I got up at 3:40 this morning and read until the alarm rang.

Samantha Sweeting, a high-powered lawyer, is working hard to become a partner. Her life was work, work, work!!! Not even time to look outside her window. Then disaster happens. She made a mistake and is fired!! In desperation, she madly escapes the city and finds herself in a small farming community in who knows where.

Her life takes a drastic change. Through a misunderstanding, she changes her occupation and poses to be something she is NOT. (Not competent, not knowledgeable, not capable!)

A handsome gardener (of course) helps her transition and she learns that money, status, and power are not all they are cracked up to be.

This is a really sweet beach read for those women who are working too hard, carrying too much responsibility, trying to do too much, being someone they really don't want to be!! When the book ends, the corners of your mouth will reach upward. Guaranteed.

Power and Politics

Today is Election Day and the polls are full of people. The Mountain View Senior Citizens location was populated by a mixed bag of people. The Volcano polling site was filled with gray haired people, the proverbial Gray Panthers. Where are the young voters? Probably in Hilo watching their kids' sunrise to sunset series of soccer games.

I wonder why people want to get into politics. I don't think it is for the money. I don't think it is for the prestige as some politicians are plagued by naysayers, backstabbers, and stinging critics. It may be for the power if some of the politicians live long enough to survive the onslaught of crises.

I don't think I want to be a politician. I don't want people looking at my life through a microscope. I don't always want to be dressed up and on my best behavior for every minute of my life outside my home. I don't want to deal with crackpots. I don't want to live my life for others...I've already wasted my children's youth taking care of other people's children in school.

I do like to get things done. I do like to see positive change. Rather than entering politics, I can support people who have an honest and positive work ethic. Then I can read the paper, expound on the working of government to my heart's delight, write an email or two to get my candidate on the straight and narrow and have the best of both worlds.

With age comes wisdom.

Who's the Monster in Frankenstein

Our book club read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley this time around. Remember reading Frankenstein as a kid so revisiting the book after decades has been an interesting journey. Here are things that I learned in the revisitation.

1. Mary Shelley wrote the book when she was about 19 years old as part of a writing exercise with other writers. Another person in the group wrote a book, The Vampire. Judging by the current trend of vampires, werewolves and such on the movie screens these days, I'd say what they wrote has lasting appeal.

2. There are words in the book that I didn't know and will have to look up. Identifying the new words is okay but looking the words up...that will be a drudgery but I assigned it to kids for decades so I should just do it without whining!!

3. The question remains after all the decades: Who is the monster in the novel, Frankenstein? Is it the creator Victor Frankenstein or is it the nameless creature? My opinion is that Victor was pretty much of a jerk to have created the creature and then spurn him so completely. What was he thinking? Why didn't he start with a smaller creature to try his experiment on? He wanted to play God and yet he could not face up to his responsibility of bringing new life to the world. Sounds like some other irresponsible and immature jerks I have known in my life. What's up with that?

Really enjoyed and appreciated the book. There were revelations and understanding. Allusions abound in the novel...for a lit major, it is like finding gold in a dusty mine...Ah...Rime of the Ancient Mariner...Paradise Lost...Prometheus...and so on. It is great to read the old school novels to see character development, dialogue, and description painstakingly built.

Wonder what we will read for our next selection.

Forbidden Luxuries

Have you ever had the feeling that your free moments were a luxury that was not to be? You are feeling carefree and invigorated by just being able to take a breath, perhaps sit in the sunshine and feel the breezes whisper past you? This is too good to be true, you think to yourself. Oh well, enjoy the moment!!

Then CRASH!!! BOOM!!! GAZOOM!!!! Hours later, you find out that the time you had luxuriating should have been spent at a meeting or doing something that was due? Bummer to the maximum!!

In my old age, I am finding that time is more valuable than money. Time spent with loved ones. Time spent just talking and perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee. Time to sleep in the sunshine. Time to sleep late. Time to enjoy a morning sunrise or an evening moonrise. Indeed, my mother's admonition, "Time waits for no man," may be true but what I am also finding out is that I don't need to fill my time with THINGS TO ACCOMPLISH, PLACES TO BE, OR PEOPLE TO SEE. There is a time for everything and I give myself permission to spend the time relaxing and enjoying the moment. Learn from me and I give YOU permission to sit around and do what others may perceive as just doing nothing but enjoying the moment!!

Enjoy!!