Well, well, well.  You’re all still here.  I’m always a little surprised people seem to stay, and I’m certainly glad you did. 

Welcome to Series 9:  Hawaii.  That’s right, after taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to South Africa our rebound is a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Hawaii!  As I said in Series 8, the timing of this is really due to Covid.  This amount of long distance travel is much for even us.  Africa was booked and paid for well over a year ago, so we starting saving for this Hawaii trip, and when Covid delayed things it all got smushed together.  Yes, our lives are ridiculous.

I depart JFK on June 2, next Wednesday, flying through Salt Lake City, on my way to Kahului, located on the island of Maui.  I’m joining long time friends who rented a house.  They live in Arizona now, having escaped from New Haven, and I don’t see as much of them as I’d like.  After a few days I travel to Hawai’i,  or The Big Island, and will stay there for the remainder of the trip.  I meet up with my cousin and her family, and together we will spend half the week on the east side (near Hilo) and half the week on the west side (near Kona).  Her offspring is joining us, which will be fun even if I can’t curse as much as I usually do, which is to say, “… with reckless abandon and a total disregard for polite society.”  Oh who am I kidding.  I rarely censor my behavior for adults and unlike children, they’re actual humans.

We have a variety of activities planned, from touring volcanos to wine tasting to waterfalls.  Want to come along?  Do nothing, you’re signed up and good to go. 

Some housekeeping items.  One, following our Africa trip, RBD and I have donated to The Africa Foundation for water rollers in Mpumalanga.  If you have a few extra bucks, please consider doing so.  On the donation page is a text box where you can stipulate that your donation should go to Mpumalanga water rollers.  This benefits people in the region where we stayed.

Two, should you want a picture from this (or any) trip, let me know and I’ll send you a full-size JPG, suitable for printing.  How large depends on the specific picture and its pixel count.  I’m happy to help with that as needed.

Three, the unsubscribe link is in the footer.  Just know people who leave tend to be sub-par parents with emotionally crippled children and a questionable understand of how voting works.  You’ve been warned.  

Four, if you know someone who would like to be added, then send me their email.  Just make sure you have permission first.  

I say this every series, and I really do mean it.  Self expression needs an audience and I appreciate you being that audience.  It means a lot to me.  We will speak again next Wednesday.

Aloha.