da Kine Rising Tide

I look tired, and I am, but also elated. At noon Monday, my uncle, Harry Kim, was installed for his third, nonconsecutive term as Hawai'i island Mayor! He served for two 4-year terms, then was not able to seek re-election due to term limits. Four years ago, the then-incumbent Mayor Billy Kenoi squeaked out a victory. They matched up again, in the Aug. 13, 2016, primary election, via Kenoi surrogate Wally Lau, my Uncle Harry and 11 other candidates (yeep, a field of 13), and my uncle swept to victory with 51% of the votes, winning the mayoral seat outright, without having to run in the Nov. 8 general election. Harry Kim is honest, hard-working, highly qualified, and passionate in his love for the people he serves.

For the longest time, "June Gloom" has been hanging over Newport Beach. UPDATE: It's way past June, and I live on the Big Island of Hawai'i, my home island, no longer Newport Beach in Southern California.

Unbelievable, it's been some 5 months since I blogged. That will change. I plan to post much more frequently! Until next time, here is a recent selfie. A hui hou! (Hawaiian for Laters).

(Photo by Carolyn Lee. The creature in the lower righthand corner is a gecko.) My mother was reminiscing about Fourth of July festivities in her childhood, in 1930s Hawai'i. Her family lived in a rural area of the Big Island, Ola'a, now called Kea'au. Families would drive to Hilo's Mooheau Park for a day of food, music and fun. At the park, watermelon, many kinds of ono kaukau (Hawaiian for delicious food), and dancers of various ethnic groups were on hand. Children got new shoes to wear for the holiday. Mom remembers large numbers of children sitting at curbside, resting their feet, aching from the new footwear. Happy Fourth of July!

On my flight back to Hawai'i over the Memorial Day weekend, I caught the flu. Nothing serious, I can handle it. It's just that now that I am sharing a household with my elderly parents, it's possible for them to catch whatever illness I have. As it turns out, my mother has caught a cold. Her symptoms are different from mine: A flu typically begins with a sore throat, headache, runny nose, fever chills, then aches, coughing, possibly the headaches might persist. Mom has been coughing and had a runny nose last night. From my own history with sickness, plus the clue that she can hear herself wheezing, I think Mom has bronchitis, possibly pneumonia. She is resting, drinking fluids, is amply supplied with tissue, and I will be getting some lemons, limes and honey to make soothing warm drinks for her. So far, Dad seems fine, is exhibiting his usual hearty appetite. I made boiled peanuts last night, and he loves them. They are very tender. My own flu should be passing into...

Mom at Alae Cemetery last weekend, in advance of Memorial Day, to pay respects to her older sister, Song-Ye, who died at age 6. Mom, nearly 2 years younger, recalls that she was a mischievous, rascal girl, unlike her big sister, who was a very good girl. Song-Ye, who had been in bed for several days with a sore throat, bade her sister to get their mother. No, I won't, Mom told the ailing sibling. But later Mom sought out her parent, who was busy. She told her second-oldest child that she would see Song-Ye after she was done feeding the pigs. Mom next remembers Grandma taking Song-Ye by bus to the doctor's office, carrying her daughter on her back. Then, Grandma spent many days, crying. Mom remembers that one day, she realized that Song-Ye wasn't with them. She asked her father. She went someplace very far, far away, he told her. Then Mom became the oldest child, because of Song-Ye's passing, and consequently assumed duties of caring and responsib...

My first pets in childhood didn't last long. A turtle escaped. A canary was eaten by a neighbor's cat, which slunk into the basement through a door left ajar inadvertently. There also were outdoor pets, such as chicks from the annual County Fair that grew up and were given away or eaten by others. Two or three rabbits lived in a hutch in the backyard. Then, one day, they and their hutch were gone. My father is allergic, which is why we owned no dogs, no cats. I am very allergic to cats. So it wasn't until last summer, when my brother's family acquired a baby Netherland Dwarf rabbit, that I began to understand how closely one can bond with a furry friend, like a bunny, a dog or a cat. Thumper, aka Thumpie or Thumps, is technically my nieces' pet, but since they are away at school except for a few weeks a year, my brother handles her care. His wife is allergic to Thumpie. When they are away, Thumpie stays at my place. The first time, I was nervous about ...

As I lie abed right now, I can hear the charming tweets and trills of birds outside my basement bedroom window. It is such a nice homecoming -- being back in my hometown, after decades away, basking in the tranquillity of living in a residential neighborhood that is genuinely peaceful through the night. Just prior to moving here in March 2015, I had lived for five years on O'ahu island. For my first three years of my Honolulu stint, I lived in the Kaimuki neighborhood, which is heavily residential in character. Then, for a year, I lived in Kane'ohe, on the top and second floor of a building whose ground, or first story, tenants were all commercial enterprises. One plus is that downstairs was an okazuya, a Japanese takeout shop, which opened from 6 am till 12 noon, Monday through Saturday. What a convenience -- getting breakfast took less than 10 minutes. But the downside of living upstairs from an eatery is that the owner/cook began food preparations at around 3 am! Yes, I ...

Just a play on "Ides of March," which wasn't a good time of the month for Caesar. According to the Urban Dictionary, mid-May, for high school seniors, is when they feel they can coast. The grades should've been turned in by now. For me, I still have a lot to do, although as a substitute teacher, no further job assignments are likely. Teachers need to be in their classrooms, winding down things with their students. The phone bank operated by the state Dept of Education, my employer, has been silent for the past several weeks. Even the private schools are similarly in no need of substitute teachers. I am using this time of unemployment to strategize ways to rev up my freelancing for national news outlets. In this connection, I want to attend the AAJA National Convention in August at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Once upon a time, I attended AAJA annual conventions regularly, but my last one was in August 2012, a UNITY Convention, at Mandalay Bay. I was granted a...

For any readers out there, apologies for the blog's dormancy. I will be posting more often. I have moved back to my home state, Hawai'i. I still remain hopeful that actions by an individual, though small, may accumulate and leverage into a stronger force, through the amplification enabled by the internet. I am convicted that we need to do what we can, every day, to conserve our planet's finite resources, aiming to build a better world for our families and our descendants. Ua mau ke ea o ka'aina ika pono, the Hawai'i state motto: The life of the land is preserved in righteousness.