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Back from Oahu
Jun. 27th, 2020 08:36 pmWe've been back from Oahu for 9 days now. We probably don't have COVID, since the average incubation period is 5-6 days. I guess Kimberly will know for sure in a few days as she has another required COVID test for another procedure.
Oahu was just exhausting. Part of that was, obviously, balancing work with supporting Kimberly and then having to go back to a small hotel room at night. (It was an OK hotel, but I've stayed in nicer, and I usually prefer AirBnBs, but they're currently illegal in Hawaii.) But it was really the attitude in Oahu that was the most exhausting: having all these detsroyers-of-the-commons pretty much ignoring the mask rules, and so I had to worry about how much exposure there really was. When I got home I was pretty much ready to collapse, and then having to put in a day of work on that Friday pretty much ensured that I was out of commission through that weekend.
I finally perked up on Monday, and since I'd edited histories throughout Saturday, I took that opportunity to do a shorter walk from Shipwreck to Mahaulepu. That sort of thing always relaxes me.
And then the whole week went by in a blur. That was partly semi-quarantine after Oahu, mainly not hanging out with my dad and Mary, but I think I was still tuckered out. I was a bit surprised that a week had gone by when I realized that was the case, on this Friday.
Chicks. Ares, one of the six remaining brood, was gone when we returned. This was not a surprise. When I saw the chicks just before we left, I actually wondered if I'd see Ares again, because he was so often wandering quite far afield from mom Danielle. So I was expecting him to go traveling. Which I trust is what he did. But there's been this black hen out in an adjacent yard, and one of the days since we got back, I noticed she had a half-pint companion, and so I wondered if Ares had found his Mrs. Robinson.
Lizards. The teeny lizards of Hawaii are SOOO dumb. More than once I've held back a cat so they can escape and they just sit there, frozen. And more than once they've disappeared under a couch (while I held down a cat) just to come back out a few minutes later. As I write, I hear Callisto chasing a lizard that I saved a few minutes ago.
Designers. The Designers & Dragons patreon has been every bit as successful in getting me to focus on my projects as I had hoped it would. Oh, this is work I love, and so there's a frequent desire to do it, but having monthly deadlines where I've promised certain types of content is keeping me pushing along quickly, and also letting me make grandiose plans about what I can produce each month. (It also is having a nice side effect of making me feel OK about buying source material for all of my projects, because I've got a bit of money coming in each month from the Patreon.)
Mynahs. Oh, there was one other animal-related change while we were in Oahu: THE MYNAHS RETURNED TO OUR LANAI. @)#$@#. I put Ozzie the plastic owl out when I saw this on our return, and a few days later I found a mynah on the railing staring at him! *)(#$@*#)(. But, I've determinedly kept moving Ozzie around and that seems to have done the trick again. They've left the valley once more. But those Mynahs are determined!
I was going to swim today after a hike all the way from Poipu to Mahaulepu, but that 10 miles or so is pretty exhausting in the 80+ degree heat. So I ended up having a shave ice instead, alas. Haven't swum since I returned from Oahu, but I think things are returning to normal after a week of stunned rest, so I'm sure I'll get out there sometime early this next week.
Oahu was just exhausting. Part of that was, obviously, balancing work with supporting Kimberly and then having to go back to a small hotel room at night. (It was an OK hotel, but I've stayed in nicer, and I usually prefer AirBnBs, but they're currently illegal in Hawaii.) But it was really the attitude in Oahu that was the most exhausting: having all these detsroyers-of-the-commons pretty much ignoring the mask rules, and so I had to worry about how much exposure there really was. When I got home I was pretty much ready to collapse, and then having to put in a day of work on that Friday pretty much ensured that I was out of commission through that weekend.
I finally perked up on Monday, and since I'd edited histories throughout Saturday, I took that opportunity to do a shorter walk from Shipwreck to Mahaulepu. That sort of thing always relaxes me.
And then the whole week went by in a blur. That was partly semi-quarantine after Oahu, mainly not hanging out with my dad and Mary, but I think I was still tuckered out. I was a bit surprised that a week had gone by when I realized that was the case, on this Friday.
Chicks. Ares, one of the six remaining brood, was gone when we returned. This was not a surprise. When I saw the chicks just before we left, I actually wondered if I'd see Ares again, because he was so often wandering quite far afield from mom Danielle. So I was expecting him to go traveling. Which I trust is what he did. But there's been this black hen out in an adjacent yard, and one of the days since we got back, I noticed she had a half-pint companion, and so I wondered if Ares had found his Mrs. Robinson.
Lizards. The teeny lizards of Hawaii are SOOO dumb. More than once I've held back a cat so they can escape and they just sit there, frozen. And more than once they've disappeared under a couch (while I held down a cat) just to come back out a few minutes later. As I write, I hear Callisto chasing a lizard that I saved a few minutes ago.
Designers. The Designers & Dragons patreon has been every bit as successful in getting me to focus on my projects as I had hoped it would. Oh, this is work I love, and so there's a frequent desire to do it, but having monthly deadlines where I've promised certain types of content is keeping me pushing along quickly, and also letting me make grandiose plans about what I can produce each month. (It also is having a nice side effect of making me feel OK about buying source material for all of my projects, because I've got a bit of money coming in each month from the Patreon.)
Mynahs. Oh, there was one other animal-related change while we were in Oahu: THE MYNAHS RETURNED TO OUR LANAI. @)#$@#. I put Ozzie the plastic owl out when I saw this on our return, and a few days later I found a mynah on the railing staring at him! *)(#$@*#)(. But, I've determinedly kept moving Ozzie around and that seems to have done the trick again. They've left the valley once more. But those Mynahs are determined!
I was going to swim today after a hike all the way from Poipu to Mahaulepu, but that 10 miles or so is pretty exhausting in the 80+ degree heat. So I ended up having a shave ice instead, alas. Haven't swum since I returned from Oahu, but I think things are returning to normal after a week of stunned rest, so I'm sure I'll get out there sometime early this next week.