Me Talk Pretty One Day
I've been reading a book of essays by David Sedaris to pass the time and he is one funny mutha. He wrote "Naked" and a couple of other books, this is the first one I've read. Most of the essays make me laugh out loud. I think all of you guys would appreciate him. Example: One of the essays is about the various pets that passed through his family. When he's a kid, his mom has a beloved cat who gets feline leukemia and she has it put to sleep. She asks her kids for some understanding. Instead, they send her postcards advertising "New Miracle Cure for Feline Leukemia" and prank phone calls from Cat Fancy magazine asking if she can bring her cat in for a cover shoot. Years later David has to have his own cat put to sleep. His mom sympathizes and mails him a consoling letter and check to cover the vet bill, but in the "Memo" part of the check writes, "Pet Burning."
I just got back from the island of Hawai'i (the big island). As amazing as Oahu is, the big island is even more outstanding in terms of gorgeous scenery. You land on an airstrip that is amongst sharp, tumbled lava rocks. Much of the coast is new land, formed from lava from recent eruptions. We camped at the Kilaeua Volcano Park and that was incredible--the camping was only OK, but we hiked through a crater about a mile wide, gray desolate lava with strange folded shapes and jagged rock, a few vents still steaming, surrounded on all sides by amazing green rainforest.
Down by the coast you can see current lava flows. Unfortunately the lava is easiest to see at night and our schedule didn't allow us to go at night. But we saw a part of the highway where, 3 months ago, the lava flowed down and ate it up. We hiked over smooth, eerily iridescent rock with "Speed Limit 15" signs still sticking up here and there. At the end of the hike there was a 15-foot section of road which the lava had missed; flowers and grass were growing on the side of it.
The scenery on the big island is varied and spectacular. Mammoth cliffs, desert, long lava landscapes, towns and gas stations that still have 50s-era Coke and Pepsi signs. It's drier on the big island (on Oahu it's quite hot and humid all the time), and one of the mountains is high enough that it even gets snow (this I didn't see, maybe I'll come again in winter sometime).
Oahu is gorgeous too. After a while you start running out of words to describe everything and just start going "wow." It's more settled, but there are still lots of wild spaces.
Anyway, I'm here for a few more days then I'm coming home... hey Aeryk, check your email, there's a plot afoot to do some D&D next Sunday.