8th Week in Hilo

Our guests this week were my brother and sister-in-law, Alan and Sue, from Bellevue, Wash. They are super active sports people, and their request: water everyday. They also hoped for sun -- and they got it! It hardly rained this week -- what a lovely change with the blue sky and water. We'd almost forgotten how beautiful it was here!

They arranged for a scuba dive with the manta rays (in the Kona area), so did a refresher scuba dive in Hilo. But because they were doing a scuba dive on Wed., they weren't able to go to Mauna Kea with us on Thursday -- can't do that kind of depth and height elevation difference within a 24 hours period. We found the best snorkeling area in Hilo -- we didn't even know it was there. They also found other ways to get their "water fix."

The absolute thrill of the week -- and probably the highlight of our Hawaii experience -- was a personal tour by Dr. Saeko Hayashi through the Subaru Telescope, which is the biggest of the 13 telescopes on Mauna Kea. Dr. Saeko Hayashi is a member of our church; her husband was the director of this Japanese-sponsored Subaru until recently. She has been one of the lead scientists, and she treated us like VIPs. Getting to Mauna Kea means driving across part of Saddle Road where there is always construction, and being in a 4-wheel drive. Then because everyone needs to adjust gradually to the 14,000 foot elevation at the top, we stopped at the 9000 foot level to wait a while at the scientist's cafeteria area. Once at the top, she monitored us carefully, and outfitted John with an extra oxygen tank. She also carried extra jackets for us ifwe needed it -- it was in the 30's inside. We were in awe looking at the huge telescope. The walls and ceiling open at night and the telescope is rotated into the position needed, driven by magnetic linear motors that allow for smooth, accurate action with minimal friction. (No humans inside the building when the telescope is working because even the body temperature of a human in the building would affect the research.) When completed, the mirror was the world's smoothest single-piece mirror, weighing 22.8 tons--How would you like to figure out how to transport it from New York where it was cast to the top of a mountain with a tricky gravel road? Much of the telescope itself was built in Japan, and the total weighs more than 500 tons -- it is the world's largest telescope.

The Subaru is exploring the farthest reaches of the universe, observing the formation of the first generation of galaxies. They have photos posted of a galaxy they recorded that is 13 billion light years away! There's no way to begin to fathom that reality! Just no way! It was truly a mountain-top experience, for sure. And it was a beautiful day on top of it (literally!)

We could see the other observatories and smaller telescopes, as well as look out across the island. The clouds came in, so we couldn't actually see the Kona side of the island, but could have if it had been clear. What a day!

On Saturday we participated in another Service Day at the church. One of John's tasks was to cut some of the palms around our house to use in the Palm Sunday worship the next day.

We had a great Palm Sunday celebration -- with activities at each table that represented the 14 Stations of the Cross. We pounded nails on a wooden cross, signed petitions for Amnesty International, interacted with Mary and Jesus (puppets), made cards, created a peace flag banner, a "helping" collage, made palm leaf crosses, and various other activities. It was a fun worship day.

7th week in Hilo

I need to warn my readers -- when I click "publish", the blog entries somehow get spaced quite differently than I organized it. Sorry for the big spaces between photos & pics. Can't seem to make my formatting stick! But you get the idea anyway!

John and I had a few days between guests, so we treated ourselves to the Saturday night all-you-can-eat crab legs buffet at the Imiloa Science Museum & Planetarium, where we are now members. The crab legs were longer and skinnier than we get from the west coast, but a great meal anyway.

On Sunday evening, we began our several-day experience with old plumbing in the parsonage! The garbage disposal backed up. The church uses an 84-year-old plumber and a rather "interesting" helper who came out the next day. They "discussed" things in a form of pigeon that we couldn't understand, but could certainly hear them several rooms away! They fixed things enough for us to use the sink. Next day came back and replaced a long pipe under the house, with lots of banging. We left for the day. Next day I started a load of wash and left to do some work at the church; when I came back, the washing machine had backed up and water was all over the floor. So again, the plumbers were called. We're good for now!

In the middle of all of this, we welcomed as our guests, Larry Trent & George Splane, formerly of Santa Rosa, but presently living in Tucson Arizona.

Akaka Falls, Hawaiian Botanical Gardens -- we went on the one sunny day Larry and George were here. They were beautiful!

So far, they get the prize for being here during the wettest week!

We all went to the Volcano Winery one afternoon on the way to Volcano National Park. Not quite up to Sonoma County wineries, but we did like their Volcano Red (blend.) It was pouring rain the day we went to Volcano, but we wanted to be sure to get in before the potential shut-down of National Parks. Luckily, the government is still open for business (for the time being!)

Larry and George went back another day, hoping to see more of it without rain. Nice try -- it rained again on them!

On Saturday we took a drive to the northern most part of the island -- the Kohala area. There are beautiful views at look-out points, but difficult to get to the beach itself without a 4-wheel drive, or a more strenuous hike than we wanted to do. We saw the original statue of King Kameamea and tried to find a marker for his birthplace, but ended up on the worst road on the island. Larry was driving, and luckily their rental car seemed to hold up bouncing over the potholes. Never did find what we were looking for (according to the guide book), except a marker where Puerto Ricans had died during a shipwreck.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Bamboo Restaurant in Kawi, a town that used to be filled with sugar cane plantation workers. No sugar cane plantations on this island anymore, however. Lots of art galleries and little shops in a couple little towns. We also passed through Waimea, home of Parker Ranch -- used to be the largest cattle ranch in the United States.

We ended the week with a super meal at the #1 rated best restaurant on the Island -- Hilo Bay Cafe. Larry and I each had the ono (white local fish) on mashed potatoes, artichoke hearts, dried tomatoes, capers, spinach. It was delicious!

But before they left, I asked Larry to sing "You Are Mine" during the middle of my sermon on Sunday. He and I used to enjoy making music together when we worked together at Christ Church, Santa Rosa, and that hymn has special meaning. He has a beautiful voice and I enjoy accompanying him. The congregation loved it! He also led them in "Santo, Santo, Santo--Holy, Holy, Holy" in Spanish and English. A great way to end our time with them.

6th week in Hilo

View from the Sheraton, Kona side of Island -- UCC Pastor's Retreat

UCC Hawaiian Pastor's Conference, Rev. Lyle Weible

We bid goodbye to our guests (Linda Carroll, Bob & Myra Gaiser) the first part of the week -- we had had such a great time we hated to see them leave.

The joy of the week was attending the 2-day Hawaiian UCC pastor's retreat at the Sheraton Hotel on the Kona side of the Island. We had stayed there before, and loved the atmosphere. We were again able to see the manta rays at night from the hotel's patio, and then had lunch on that same "Manta Ray Bar & Grill Patio," the next day, listening to the ocean waves crash against the rocks below. I can't imagine a more idealic place for a gathering. Gorgeous! Lots of good food! We were treated well. And it was a good conference -- Rev. Lyle Weible, a retired UCC conference minister from Pennsylvania, led discussions about the gist of ministry: grit-grist-gristle. He outlined what he felt were the three main functions of the church: 1) to offer a faith to live by: 2) people to live with; (3) mission to live for. That was only one of the many insights and stories he shared. It was also good to meet other ministers and learn more about the churches and culture here. John was able to enjoy snorkeling nearby and reading by the pool--without rain! What a tough life!

We took the southern route back to Hilo to see more of the coffee farms and the Black Sand Beach. It was raining most of the way so we didn't explore that much.

John and I were the featured speaker's at our church's Senior Ministry program this week. We used the theme "God's Call and Our Response," giving them a little background about our work of ministry, and trying to elicit their ideas about their ministry as well.

We finally got a day of sun today at the end of the week -- enough to sit out in our back yard for a couple hours of reading. We have a nice view from there -- watched a cruise ship down in the harbor take off late in the afternoon.

I recently read that Hilo, HI is number one on the top 10 of the wettest cities in US as well as the city with the most days of rain! I can attest that we do get rain! But I also read in the local paper that Hilo is called the drunkest city in the US. That was a surprise because we haven't been that aware of people being drunk.

Saturday night we went to the restaurant at the Imiloa Science Museum & Planetarium for a crab legs buffet dinner. The crab legs were longer and skinnier than what we get in Bodega Bay, but once again ate way too much! John is faithful about going to the YMCA just down the road for exercise; I can't say that I've done a very good job of exercising--just a bit of walking won't do it, I'm afraid. Oh well--we're only in Hawaii for a short time. How much weight can I gain in just 3 months???