Clouds!

The clouds here are amaz- ing. I love their style and their cloud- ness. I am drawn to their depth and diversity. Rain clouds and trade clouds and sulfur dioxide clouds mix and match and parade their stuff every day. It is rarely clear here. You would think that a remote land mass in the middle of the Pacific Ocean would have little remark- ableness. But that is not so!

Tropical Light

The daytime light in Hawaii is noticeably different than that in Kansas City. This picture shows the light from about 2:00 pm today in the sky over Hilo and the Pacific Ocean.
It seems far brighter here, and the air is generally cleaner, and free of smog. While we have a unique form of air pollution here known as "vog", or volcanic smog, it is present only occasionally, and not today.
The sun is more directly overhead here than in Kansas City, due to Hilo's latitude of 20 degrees, compared to Kansas City's latitude of nearly 40 degrees. The sunlight is more intense, and can cause more immediate burns from being in direct sunlight too long.

DeLaSalle in Hawaii

I just opened my third remote office for DeLaSalle Education Center here in Mountain View, Hawaii.
My first remote office was in the room in which I live when in Kansas City.
The second was at 114 West 11th Street in downtown Kansas City in the old financial district.
In all of my offices I have remote access to email and our donor database.
I carry my laptop and cell phone between offices.
It was a little discombobulating at first, but now it feels downright normal.
In Hawaii, I am operating in the Hawaiian Time Zone, which is five hours behind Central Time. Other than the time zone difference, I should be no further away from my new duties as DeLaSalle Director of Sustainability than my laptop and cell phone provide.
I hope to be talking to you soon!

What Am I Doing in LAX?

Los Angeles International Airport was not on my itinerary for my recent, return trip to Hawaii.
That is, until my scheduled flight yesterday from Dallas to Honolulu was canceled due to mechanical difficulties.
I sat in the Dallas Fort Worth another 13 hours until I could get a flight into Los Angeles, where one of the few flights with any openings into Hawaii was available.
On my rescheduled flight from LAX this morning to Kona, Hawaii, I sat next to Bryan Hayes, a personable and forthright, young businessman from Fort Worth via Salt Lake City. Across from Bryan was Alan Felsenthal, a poet from NYC who discussed philosophy with us. I learned the foundations of phenomenology and several titles I will be investigating further. They are Gilead by Marilyn Hutchisons and The Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt. It was a nice flight and it is great to be back home for a bit!

The Man Who Wrecked My Mustang!

It was a classic, rust-red, 1966, Mustang...a convertible, no less!
Not that I remember all of the details....or that I haven't completely forgiven my old friend, now a priest, Fr. Glenn Meaux.
When I saw him walking towards me this morning, coffe cup in-hand, I thought it fitting that he was without wheels.
Not that I hold any hard feelings towards Father. It was only 36 years ago.
Or that I have fond memories of that car.
Of course, it was the car in which I courted Karol.
The front passenger seat reclined as soon as someone sat in it, which led Karol to suspect ulterior motives on my behalf the first time she sat in that seat.
I sssured her that it was a pre-exisitng condition that I had simply inherited. Truth be told, it should have given her a heads-up that the man she was to eventually marry lacked the most basic of mechanical skills.
I had an unerring instinct about picking out the right person to marry, as well as friends, who may wreck your car but whose friendships last!

Day and Night in Corpus Christi

There's palm trees, oil refineries and plenty of heat in the part of Corpus Chrisit where I have been at since Sunday.
And flying in, I noticed a plethora of windmills in the flat plains surrounding the city's outskirts...seems like they are everywhere now-a-days!
I do not go outside much due to the heat and the ever-present mosquitoes, a large and vicious variety of bug that can descend in droves almost unexpectedly at any time.
Mercy.
But it is fun catching up with church friends I have known, some for as long as 38 years.

We got Bananas!

First there is the flower...and then follows the little bitty banana bunch, that grows until you pick and hang the bunch to let it ripen.
I hope they are ready for my Thursday morning breakfast!