It has been several weeks since we got home… We got busy… back to work… back to life… fixing cars (we arrived home to two possibly disabled cars… one a tire, one a failed battery… Neither serious… both quickly fixed… then back to the rush of life…)
But several weeks ago, sitting in an airport on Hawaii I wrote…
We are at the airport in Kona Hawaii... Homeward bound...
We have spent the last 3 days on Hawaii, the "Big Island". Mostly in Volcano Village... A small community at the edge of Volcano National Park... On the side of the volcano, but a bit above the current active crater.
The village is high... 3,500 ' or so... It is rainy... Very rainy... A rain forest… a temorate rainforest in on a tropical island… I spotted redwood trees, California Redwood trees growjng… there are at least 7 by my count… not what is expected in the tropics… but travel is about the unexpected…
The visit to the Big Island was different... we were not just visiting a place, but visiting a friend and his wife... The visit was good... Boone is a friend... a close friend who happens to be distant. He is closely tied to the place he lives... Volcano Village... Having a friend in a place changes how you see the place, and what you do... in wonderful ways...
While we toured, more important were the interactions... the conversations... Railroads, Black powder and the French and Indian war... Frank Loyd Wright windows... Two dogs... How do you encourage Hawaiian dialect when teaching in a modern school... We eat at a couple of local restaurants... one in a building Boone restored...
We visit Volcano National park... together... later with Boone and Tamera, mostly visiting the Art Center... later alone... to the crater at night... the next day down to the ocean and the Petrogglyphs... back that evening without Tina to watch the crater glow... back to walk through the lava tube caves...
Now, the visit with Boone and Tamera is done... We say goodbye.. We drive down to Hilo... around the island... across the island to the airport.
Now at the airport....
They are starting to board, or not... The PA system is terrible... No one knows who at is being said, so most are crowding the gate, worried that their boarding group might have been called... People have lots of carry- ons... Fins, boogie boards, and cases of Mac nuts... Along with lots of wheelie bags... Bins space may be scarce...
They call boarding... Lower number rows via the fronts stairs... Higher via the rear stairs... Yes stairs... No jetway... I like it... It makes it real to walk up to the plane then climb the stairs to board… bin space is a non issue... we find our seats...
The flight is a anti climax… board… takeoff… nap, listen to music, nap… have a sprite… nap… land in San Francisco, recover luggage, find daughter (with dog) and home…
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