EVEN IN PARADISE

Wondering About "Hawaii Winter" and Other Misconceptions.

All things require fresh water, and I should have guessed it was coming when Karen started complaining about her knees. Ah, the joys of age, or who needs a weather-gal when you have that old reliable arthritic knee.  She predicted it yesterday, and today it came. So, this is what passes for 'winter' in Hawaii.  It rains for 30 minutes, then the sun comes out, and all the time it is in the 70's. As Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog would say--" oh, catastrophe, there's a cloud." (Check out Triumph the insult comic dog does the Hawaiian Weather on YouTube.)

 

 

 

 

And as long as we are on the topic of things Hawaiian, how about the Loco Moco? Now, you're thinking "pineapple" or maybe even "passion fruit" or "coconut". The image of a finally made desert with those exquisite tropical fruits--that's what Hawaiians eat. For-get-a-bout-it! It's the Loco Moco they crave. A finally tuned glop (forget the dollop--this is a glop) of rice, topped with that great oriental specialty--a fried hamburger, then you must add a marvelously succulent fried sunny side up egg. But, to make sure you've gotten all that nutrition any self-respecting sumo wrestler would expect, it is all topped off with oceans of brown gravy.  And these folks suggest we eat badly in Wisconsin? These are the people trying to ban GMO crops because they would be unhealthy? No wonder every college football program on the mainland recruits here.   (By the way, it does taste great!)

I could not leave Kauai (and we leave in the morning for Honolulu then on to Hong Kong) without a bow to that most exotic of birds. The one that epitomizes all of what we think about when we think of Hawaii. I am, of course, referring to the chicken. They're everywhere. The roosters wake you up in the morning (at about the time we milk the cows in Wisconsin, or roughly 4 hours before anyone in their right mind wants to get up). Yep, even the local radio station's moniker is "The Rooster".  You think I jest? Nope, here's the proof on our porch railing.

Of course no trip to Hawaii would be complete without the a bow to yet another famously Hawaiian delicacy--the "miracle meat"-- SPAM--here on display as the most important end-cap by the cash registers in the local grocery. (And I admit, it really is one of my favorites even if it smells like dog food on a good day.)