January 31, 2003From Hawaii to Texas, where I drove my mother to Houston, after which we two & my sister popped over to Florida for a long weekend of wildlife viewing. We began in Tampa with the Florida Aquarium, whose star attractions, Leafy & Weedy, are Sea Dragons from Australia. Sea dragons are relatives of pipefish and sea horses; among the peculiarities that these life forms share is that the males collect eggs from the females, and after fertilizing them nurture the brood themselves. Sea dragons take camouflage to its extreme: Weedy could easily pass as a clump of floating weeds, and Leafy outdid his cousin by offering an amazing resemblance to a springtime tree branch. There he swam, a bundle of leaves and twigs that unaccountably also sported eyes and a snout. More fantastic beasts from Down Under.

The mood in Gulf Coast Florida was admirably amiable, from the breakfast lady at the Hampton Inn who brought in excellently sweet grapefruit in from her own tree for the guests' breakfasts, to Charlie the Egret at the Edison-Ford House, who followed us along as if listening to the tour guide comments (he apparently was waiting for us tourists to rouse some bugs from the grass, and in fact just before he moseyed on to the next group he boldly ate a small lizard as we watched). The highlight for us though was the seventy-odd manatees that winter near the Fort Myers power station, to take advantage of the warm water that pours from its cooling towers. These dugongs act very much like mild, stately cows of the sea; they are such gentle beasts that it is painful to see each of their backs scarred from the propellers of the boats of the unthinking who speed through manatee habitat regardless of the damage they inflict.

We drove on to Hallandale via the Everglades, with its rivers of grass, its birds and alligators; and after another game of Risk with Max, Molly & Alex (which Alex again won), it was back for us to Texas, to prepare for the next excursion …

January 18, 2003On the very day after New Year's my sister & mother & I emplaned for Colorado Springs, and the bittersweet wedding of Luke, the son of my recently deceased cousin John. Dominoes again, with the Texan members of the family, lightened the mood substantially. Residual snow made for a "white wedding"; Justine, the bride looked radiant (if initially a bit stunned as she walked down the aisle); and groom Luke looked, well, well groomed. A fine time was had by all.

From Colorado to Texas, then Hawaii - mostly Maui, where after a lecture at Gary Krafstow's lovely place near Makawao a bunch of us hiked down into the Haleakala crater. I passed up, initially with regret, the chance to spend the night in a cabin inside the crater and descend through the Kaupo Gap, proceeding down 6000 feet at a 45-degree angle the next day, but when I saw the condition of those who did (a couple of whom did lose toenails, as had been predicted), I was pleased that I had elected to return at the end of the day to enjoy Kahlua & hot chocolate with our hosts, artist George Allen & gardener Janet Adamek. Janet's garden, a pleasure to behold, is filled with all manner of endangered native Hawaiian species; and while I enjoyed George's art of the islands, which sells like hotcakes, I most appreciated his two unique "kaleidocycles," which one "rides" by permuting the giant kaleidoscope with the pedals of a bicycle.

After a couple of nights in Hana, and a visit to its red sand beach, Rose Baudin & I hopped over to the Big Island of Hawaii, which I dearly love, for its people (like Christal & Sevyn, who hosted us), its beaches (like Mahia'ula and its sands, Kahalu'u and its turtles, and the downtown pier with its shark), and its grandeur. The highlights of any trip of mine to the Big Island are, however, visits to the City of Refuge (Pu'uhonua o Honaunau), and the Kilauea volcano. Rose, who regularly teaches yoga in Tahiti, and has hosted me there, was struck at how similar the images of the god Lono in the City of Refuge resemble images she has seen in the wilds of Tahiti; unsurprising, perhaps, since the deities of Hawai'i are said to have come from Kahiki (Tahiti, in Hawaiian).

Curiously, the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele was a water goddess in Tahiti. Now, however, she is all fire, her twenty years of erupting continuing unabated. As always, I stopped first at Pele's home, the giant crater Halema'uma'u, and after announcing our arrival, and praying for a safe visit, 2 pairs of endangered nene geese flew directly over our heads - an omen that seemed to offer nothing but good. And indeed, on reaching the end of Chain of Craters road we had but an hour's easy walk to reach multiple outcroppings of brilliant red lava, into the radiant ooze of which molten rock we made our offerings. The moon being high and bright, and the lava flowing inexorably into the ocean, the five elements seemed yet again to welcome us in full array. E Pele a!

January 2, 2003Back to Floresville for Christmas, to find a new dog next door: Snickers, an enthusiastic young terrier. His efforts at watchdoggery, coupled with those of Toby, the more elderly dog who guards the territory on the other side of my mother's house, mean that any stranger who strays into their space now finds himself boxed in by a stout span of stereophonic barking.

If Thanksgiving found us flinging frozen foods into the back orchard, December was wine tasting month for the garden's trees, courtesy of my sister, and the half-dozen bottles of white that she had allowed to overage in her home. Beginning with a 1983 Deidesheimer Hofstück from Germany's Rhinepfalz region, and continuing into more youthful vintages, I poured libations on persimmon and pomegranate, pecan and asparagus, rose, fig, plum and jujube, fancying as I did that their holidays were thus made happier.

The holiday season brings out the domino player in Texans, whose favorite games are the intriguing "Texas 42" and the simpler "Moon." As an avid player of 42 I sought out relatives for foursomes, and spent pleasant hours bidding, making my bid, and being set. 42 play having but 7 tricks, it proceeds quickly; what adds to its amusement is that, in addition to the 6 numbered suits that can become trump, doubles can also be trumps, and no trump (called in 42 lingo "Follow Me") is also permissible. If the dominoes in your hand happen to be unusually low in spots, you can also bid "42 Low" (otherwise known as "Nullo"), in which you seek to lose every trick.

New Year's Eve my mother & I elected to remain awake just long enough for 2003 to arrive, and as I walked down to the park for my first promenade of the New Year, I found myself ringed with distant fireworks, whose lights and sparkles temporarily lifted the gloom from the ominous portents that have been collecting around us. In those few moments of earliest January I could see far-away possibilities for peace and hope in 2003 - possibilities that I pray can somehow be brought to pass. Happy Change of Twelvemonth to you all!

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