Aloha Home

We missed our red-eye flight home Tuesday night because I didn't anticipate island time at the car rental return.  United let us fly standby the following afternoon.  It meant staying another night in paradise.  Perhaps the universe was telling me that I had to learn a lesson about island time before I was ready to go home?

Flights appeared easy to get when we booked, but the supply of seats between Hawaii and the mainland evaporated when Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines both declared bankruptcy and ceased operations.  We were lucky to get home the next day.  So many people have been struggling to fly standby to the mainland, waiting for days.    

Several people stranded by Aloha told me that United sold them seats on short notice for only ~$50 more than Aloha charged for advanced notice fares.  That was great for them, but it made my standby situation more dicey.  Winners and losers, we all got home eventually.

BTW, I heard that United flight attendants had low morale, but our flight crew behaved like troopers.  When the plane (actually 2 planes, long story) was delayed for two hours due to mechanical problems, they waived their union rules and worked a very, very long day to get us home.

Book Meme

Mardel from sewdistracted tagged me with the book meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and acknowledge who tagged you.

Unfortunately, there are only 4 sentences on page 123 of Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel.

Towards the end of his life, his South American adventures long behind him, Humboldt complained, with a mixture of self-pity and pride, 'People often say that I'm curious about too many things at once: botany, astronomy, comparative anatomy. But can you really forbid a man from harbouring a desire to know and embrace everything that surrounds him?'

We cannot, of course, forbid such a thing; a pat on the back feels more appropriate. But our admiration for Humboldt's journey may not preclude our feeling a degree of sympathy for those who, even in the most fascinating cities, have occasionally been visited by a strong wish to remain in bed and take the next flight home.

If I were to tag someone, I would select the Smart Bohemian because she lent me the book in the first place.

Did I mention traveling with children is both delightful and aggravating? More on that later; my power cord died unexpectedly and I doubt I will be able to find a circa 2004 iBook power cable on this island. It will have to wait until I get home.

Sunset

Sunset over Lanai, as viewed from our lanai.

Yesterday, Iris and I practiced snorkeling in the hotel pool. This morning, I took her to the beach to try snorkeling near a reef.

While I was preoccupied with my own snorkeling equipment, Iris accidentally took off her snorkel valve. She found the soft silicone valve so compelling, she had to play with it, and squish it all around. Then it fell off and she asked what it was.

I saw it in the sand, just as a wave took it away forever, into the Pacific. I hope a marine animal does not swallow it and die.

She says it was an accident. But, the animal will be no less dead whether it was accidental or deliberate.

Now we can discuss how the snorkel valve works.

We went in anyways, Iris without her snorkel. We saw many colorful fish. And she repeatedly told me she loved me. After all, mommy showed her the underwater world.

Daddy is working hard every night at the observatory at the top of the volcano.

I forgot to mention, we are in Hawaii this week.

*Correction: Iris says I got the incident all wrong. She says that she thought he squishy valve piece was a piece of get that did not belong there. So she removed it.