First week in Hilo

I have been welcomed and introduced to the people and groups of the church in various ways this week. My part-time Visiting Associate resposibilities include participating in the 3 Bible study groups, attend meetings, special functions, and visit the parishioners. This first week there were 3 special events with big meals. (I really am going to gain weight at this rate because they also send plates of food home with us.) We also went to one of the Rotary meetings as a guest of the senior minister, Tom Olcott.

The Church of the Holy Cross (UCC) is largely a Japanese congregation, along with Hawaiians, and people from the Micronesian islands, primarily from Pohnpei and Chuuk -- two places I had never heard of before. Two of the events this week were celebrations -- one a wedding reception of a Chuuk couple, so it was beautifully decorated. Another was a celebration of the first year's anniversary of the Ponpei worshiping congregation who are an extension of our church. One of the meals had a whole roasted pig and lots of other meats; two of the three meals had raw fish and fish heads, poi and various other foods that we weren't familiar with. Lots of desserts. Lots of music and entertainment, including hula dancing. Tom & Lois Olcott and John and I were presented with shell or woven yarn leis. At another meeting of the Senior Ministry I was presented with a gorgeous intricate floral lei -- I didn't get a close up, but I am wearing it in the picture with the Pearsons (below.)

I've also attended a Trustees meeting -- they are very careful in all the details they manage. And John and I both went to the Sunday School class where they are reading William Sloan Coffin's book, Credo. Short, but great discussion.

We enjoyed having Ginnie and Larry Pearson and their friends visit us one day. Ginnie is another retired United Methodist pastor, who has just finished a 2-year assignment serving a church in England. They were staying in Kona for a week of vacation, and drove over the island to join us for lunch. We picked the Pesto Cafe, and found out after the fact it is one of the really good local, more historic restaurants. I unfortunately picked up a cold during the week, and that was one of the days that I really wasn't feeling that great, but it was still fun to see them.

We have had a wonderful first week in Hilo, both exploring the area, and getting acquainted with the people of The Church of the Holy Cross. The photos below are of a short hike to Rainbow Falls and Akaka Falls, both near Hilo. The vegetation is beautiful, with ginger plants, bamboo, banana, and any number of other flora and fauna.

Greetings from Hilo, Hawaii

John and Gayle were greeted by Rev. Tom & Lois Olcott and Sue Smith (minister and lay women) from the Church of the Holy Cross when they landed in Hilo, HI (the Big Island) on Monday, February 14. Gayle will be starting a 3-month part-time associate pastor position at this church on Tuesday, February 22.

A 4-bedroom, 2 bath parsonage (house) next to the church has been lovingly furnished by the congregation and provided for us. We feel blessed to have this opportunity. We have driven around Hilo a bit in the last couple of days and are starting to get the lay of the land. Not so many sandy beaches on this side of the island (Kona, on the other side, has more), but lots to do. We're looking forward to having time to explore.



Before officially starting the work, we took a several day trip to Kauai for a vacation. We love the snorkeling and beaches, the flora and fauna on that Garden Isle. My favorite beach, Ke'e, is at the end of the road on the north side of the island. Very crowded and overcast the day we were there, so not quite as idealic as I remembered. Not very good snorkeling, either, unfortunately. The snorkeling was best near where we were staying at Poipu area.

I didn't remember so many wild chickens. They are scavengers on the beaches and parks, like sea gulls might be in our area. We learned a new term for the hazy atmosphere -- "voggy." It has to do with the ash from the volcanic activity on the Big Island, we were told. The weather was mostly good, but cooler and cloudier than other times we've visited. The trip to the Waimea Canyon alternated between foggy, filtered sun and downpouring rain, so the visibility was not as good as we would have liked.

All in all, though, a wonderful way to begin our time in Hawaii.

Front Yard Landscaping Project

It all started with John cutting and installing slate tile on our front porch



Goodbye Blue Spruce -- No more lights on the tree at Christmas!

Goodbye green lawn



Goodbye bushes by our front windows --

jack hammer and pick-up were needed to complete the job.


After letting the lawn die out over the summer, John rented a machine to strip the dead sod out, then had to take the strips to the dump


Lots of rototilling, making mounds, and digging for the new sidewalk


The first of many deliveries


After the bottom soil was delivered for the walkway, John rented another machine to tamp it down.



Gayle had fun trying to figure out how to fit all those slate sandstone pieces in the walkway. After she put in the grout, she had to fix the mistakes with a drill and grinder



The good soil was delivered -- lots of shoveling work



Boulder rocks delivered to add aesthetic appeal.

Did we mention this was back-breaking manual labor?


John bought a roll of cardboard to put on top of the soil to serve as a weed barrier.
It needed lots of wetting down to get it to mold to the landscape.



Finally -- planting the drought-resistant plants!



John installing the drip irrigation lines -- not an easy thing to figure out!


We had to finish up in the rain, but finish we did!!!!

We can't wait to see what our baby plants will look like when they grow up!

Oregon & Washington, Summer 2009

What a great time we had on a road trip--without our trailer! We spent a couple nights in Ashland, OR on the way north. Dorothy and Jerry Brooks offered us their home to stay in, even though they weren't there -- our big disappointment. But they are located just a block from the downtown area. We were thrilled to see 3 plays, and enjoy their comfortable home at the same time.

We spent another couple nights in Portland, OR, at a lovely downtown hotel. We did lots of walking and utilizing their great transportation system to see many of the Portland sights. We had a wonderful meal on our last night -- right on the Columbia River.

Our main destination was to the Bellevue, WA area where my brother, Alan, lives. His wife, Sue, planned a 60th birthday party for him. It was great to meet so many of their friends, and to show a slideshow for the gathering of our growing-up years. The other goal was to get to Silver Skis Lodge on Crystal Mountain to officiate at Alan's stepdaughter's wedding. The weather had been sizzling hot the weekend before, but the wedding weekend turned cold. Our Hawaiian outdoor laua by the pool (for the rehearsal dinner) meant we had to wear jackets and gloves to keep warm! The sun peeked out (barely) for the outdoor wedding, but all in all, it was a wonderful weekend.

Mt. Shasta Work Project Sept 2009

John and I participated in a Care-a-Vaners work project at Mt. Shasta UMC Camp last September. We joined with 12 other retired United Methodists with our RVs for a week in the beautiful area of Mt. Shasta City. This was our first experience with Care-a-Vaners, but it won't be our last. Our main project was to close the camp up for winter. Most of us women took on the job of splitting wood for the caretaker's cabin during the winter, as well as guests who use the lodge. John and the other men loaded the logs from the mountainsides and dumped them by our log splitter. John also tackled other projects -- adding on to their tool shed, and organizing the tools, as well as running lines for the water pumps. We had a great time. We spent several days afterwards at Lake Siskiyou campground -- one of our favorite campsites. Beautiful weather; beautiful scenery.