Well, it’s been a while since my last posting. I thought I would share some of the Hawaiian word I have learned in the few months I have been here.

Of course, the obvious words are Aloha (Hello, welcome) and Mahalo (with thanks).

Wahine (pronounced va hee’nee) means female or woman.

Keiki (pronounced kay’ kee) means child or children.

Kapuna (pronounced ka poo’ na) means grandparent or elder.

Makua (pronounced ma koo’ a) means father.

Makuahine (pronounced ma koo’ a hee nay) means mother.

‘Olelo (pronounced O’ lelo) means to speak or speech.

Mahu (pronounced just like it looks) refers to homosexual.

Ono (pronounced just like it looks) mean good, usually referring to taste.

Tita (pronounced tedda) usually refers to a woman who doesn’t take crap from anyone. i.e. a spitfire.

‘Ilio (pronounced ee’ leo) means dog.

Haole (pronounced how’ lee) means Caucasian, however it usually refers to a Caucasian from the mainland.

Hale (pronounced Haa’ lay) means house or lodge.

Manu (pronounced Ma’ new) means bird.

Honu (pronounced hoe’ new) means turtle.

Bra’ (pronounced braa) is slang for brother.

Then you have a lot of the locals that speak pigeon. Basically that means Hawaiian slang. That’s the hardest to figure out. I’m still working on that one. I think that will take a while.

Haven’t been feeling real well this weekend. I decided to take Ginger for a walk on the beach early Saturday evening. We walked for quite a way then turned around and came back home.

On our way home, there is a park between my neighborhood and the beach. It is the Youth Activity Center. They have a grass field that is also fenced in. There are a lot of people that take their dogs there in the evening and let them run and play. I decided to take Ginger through the park on our way home.

First thing this “big” dog comes running toward us. He just about knocked me over trying to get to Ginger. They did the usual “dog thing”. All of the sudden the rest of the dogs, big ones I might add, noticed Ginger. Two or three others came running over.

Now, what makes this so funny is Ginger is a miniature cocker spaniel. She has always been afraid of “big” dogs. When it dawned on her she was surrounded by these big dogs, she freaked out. She started growling and screaming at these dogs, nipping and lunging at them like a cornered rat. I picked her up and tried to calm her down.

One of the “big dog” owners came over to see what was going on. She kept calling her dog’s name, but it was a futile effort. The dog didn’t even know she existed. I was holding Ginger; she was calling her dog, and the dog keep crawling up me trying to get to Ginger. Then the lady said, “Oh, she must be the queen bee.” Grrrr…… that ran right up my backside!!!

I moved away from the pack and put Ginger down. The pack just followed me and started surrounding Ginger again. She went NUTS. She was screaming, biting, chasing, and barking. She was absolutely hysterical. I reached down to pick her up and she thought I was one of the pack. I picked her up and her heart was beating a 100 mph. Poor little thing had tears running down her eyes.

While all of this was going on, the “snot-nosed dog owner” was still trying to get her “brat” to respond to her. Meanwhile, the dog ran off toward the parking lot chasing another dog.

I’m sure Ginger was scared to death, but it was funny. Needless to say, she does not play well with others.

Well living on an island definitely has its ups and downs. One of the downs is there are very few four-lane roads. The few that do exist are not four lanes very long; just four lanes long enough to stop up traffic while merging down to two lanes.

Lahaina is on the west side of the island. It is also one of the busiest places on the island. It is a very big tourist area. There is always lots of traffic going in and out of Lahaina. Of course, the road going in and out of Lahaina is two lanes. If there is a wreck bad enough to close down the road, you are stranded.

Well, it happened! Early last week there was a wreck with oil and gas all over the roadway. They closed the road down at 5:00 p.m. It was reopened at 6:45 p.m. I was stranded at work until around 7:45 p.m. When I left work, it still took an hour to get home due to backed up traffic.

While I am sitting in traffic, I keep telling myself, “at least I have an awesome view to look at”. I can sit and look at the ocean and waves as they gently crash in toward the shore. I can also watch the surfers attempting to surf.

It’s a small price to pay for living in paradise 

Last Saturday the winds were up around 20 mph or so. The surf was supposedly down, but the weather men are just as inaccurate here as they are on the mainland. Just enough wave action to get a good ride on the boogie board.

I took Ginger with me. She wasn’t thrilled. All she did was sit in the shade. I finally picked her up and put her on the board. She wasn’t thrilled with that either. In fact, she started sinking.

None the less, I had some good rides in.

I currently live in a cottage. It is a small 1bd/1ba. There is an air-conditioner (window-type unit)but I don't use it because I don't want to pay the electric bill.

Kihei is known for being "the desert" of the island. Average rainfall on this part of the island is about 17"/yr. It's somewhat breezy, but not as much as other parts of the island. Without the tradewinds, it is hot! Although the temperature in the summer is around 86-89, with 70% humidity, it feels hotter.

The inside temp is bearable most of the time. It's usually the worst in the late afternoon, of course.

There is a sprinkler system that comes on twice a day, about 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Like clockwork, the sprinkler came on at 6 p.m. I was outside talking to the landlord. I kept looking for Ginger. As I walked toward the front of my car, there is Ginger drinking water out of the spray head.

You may be asking yourself, "so, what's so funny about that?" Well, number one, Ginger is not a big fan of the water -- fresh or salt. Number two, she usually runs when the sprinkler system comes on.

To stand there and was the way she was drinking from the spray head was too funny. When she was done, her entire face and ears are drenched.

I hope to buy a camera soon. This was definitely a "kodak moment".