The Ear Piercing

Ever since Dear Daughter was 5 she's been begging to "have her ears to pierce".  I figured I would wait until she knew how to ask before I would agree.  My mother didn't let us pierce our ears until we were 12.  I've also heard my daughter howl in pain at the top of her lungs when you brush through her hair or she gets a splinter.

Because she just turned 9, I thought it wold be a good time, especially because she was still so excited to do it.  We went to Claire's about a week before her birthday, just in time to watch another 9 year old get her ears pierced.  Watching that little girl go from near tears to a smile sold both of us on the idea.

So the next week she was sitting in the same seat:

She was a big girl.

Since the ear piercing I've noticed a new sense of maturity.  She's becoming a young lady.  I'll miss my baby, but I think I could like this new lady in our house.

cindy

Just Us Chickens

During our recent trip to Kauai we noticed an unusual addition to the tropical wildlife.  Yep, we saw the famous roosters of Kauai.  Heck, you couldn't miss them or their constant crowing.  Instead of trying to explain the hows and whys, I let them do the honors:

Cock-a-doodle-doo!  I'm a beautiful specimen of a rooster and a direct descendant of chickens that were brought to Kauai by Portuguese sugar cane workers.

 

My ancestors were domesticated chickens, but some of the other guys have cock fighters in their family tree.

Our big break came in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki struck.

  

Most of us flew the coop and went out on our own.  

Soon, the chicks were all over and we were crowing our way around the island.

That's right.  We crow all day, everywhere.  We've become a tourist attraction.  See?  We even pose for pictures:

Next time you're in Kauai, look us up.  We aren't hard to find.

cindy

Flowers of Kauai

You know I love flowers.  I take pictures of them wherever I go.  The flowers in Kauai are gorgeous.  Hibiscus are plentiful and in every color you can imagine.  But enough with the words, enjoy the eye candy:

Yellow hibiscus is the state flower of Hawaii.

Cool presentation, right?

This is ginger.

Watch for this at a Starbucks near you.  It's coffee.

Oops - wrong eye candy.  Actually, this is how we feel when we look at flowers :)  Hope you enjoyed them.

cindy

Spring Break in Kauai

I love my husband.  Really.  He is one of the few persons who enjoys vacations more than I do.  On our honeymoon we came to Hawaii for the first time and visited 3 islands.  We also made a promise to each other that we would continue to come to Hawaii at least every five years during our marriage.  We will be married 21 years in August and this is our 6th trip.  We are indeed blest.

This time we are in Kauai, the Garden Island.  While it probably hasn't made much news in the mainland, Kauai has been hammered for the last week with rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  In fact, in the last four days this side of the island (in the Poipu area) has had 14 inches of rain (more than twice the amount Phoenix gets in two good years).  The Princeville side of the island has had about 36 inches of rain - in FOUR DAYS.  That's some serious rain, even for a tropical island - a small tropical island.  The bride to Hanalei is out, there have been some landslides and on Monday night when we arrived there was a fierce thunderstorm that bent palm trees and put us to bed abruptly at 9:00 p.m. when the electricity went out.

But this is Hawaii.  Even bad weather is exotic and "ain't no big thing brotha"  Here's the view this morning in paradise:

Kauai and I are reconciling.  The only other time we were here was 9 years ago.  This is the greenest place I have ever seen and very quiet compared to the other islands, but at that time I was 2 months pregnant with my daughter and SOO SICK.  Needless to say, my memories were lying on a couch in the condo and heaving over the side of the tour boat.

Somehow I think this time will be better.  We celebrate my daughter's 9th birthday tomorrow.

Aloha from Kauai.

cindy