03-31-2016, 04:01 AM
When I first moved into my home, the container had not yet arrived, and everything here on Big Island was so different, and the house so empty. I remember the first night, a group of bufo toads, which I had never heard of, much less heard before, let loose their unsynchronized slow motion baritone croaks to echo around barren walls and floors throughout the night. Spooky, chicken skin.
Then the wind picked up, imperceptibly, but strong enough that it swung an open door closed and open again with multiple bangs, as the thuds reverberated down the long hallway. Is the house... haunted? I knew the previous owner had been elderly, and died, but where?
Lots of things have gone wrong over the years, pumps, electrical, etc. In the yard I've seen infestations of mites on the sago palms, ohia wilt, my hundreds of square feet of bromiliads planted throughout the property by the previous owners transform from beautiful landscaping into dengue breeding grounds, and more. Iselle, earthquakes, multiple tsunami threats, 27 inches of rain in a one day period.
I never thought of it as bad luck. Because there are also days like today, sunny skies, blue ocean, and my blind and deaf dog (unlucky?) just turned 16 1/2 years old. I know she's happy to be alive. I determined a long time ago the bufos were just singing, and the sound of the wind only whistled through the Cook Island Pines outside my windows when I remembered to close the doors, and set the doorstops.
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard
Then the wind picked up, imperceptibly, but strong enough that it swung an open door closed and open again with multiple bangs, as the thuds reverberated down the long hallway. Is the house... haunted? I knew the previous owner had been elderly, and died, but where?
Lots of things have gone wrong over the years, pumps, electrical, etc. In the yard I've seen infestations of mites on the sago palms, ohia wilt, my hundreds of square feet of bromiliads planted throughout the property by the previous owners transform from beautiful landscaping into dengue breeding grounds, and more. Iselle, earthquakes, multiple tsunami threats, 27 inches of rain in a one day period.
I never thought of it as bad luck. Because there are also days like today, sunny skies, blue ocean, and my blind and deaf dog (unlucky?) just turned 16 1/2 years old. I know she's happy to be alive. I determined a long time ago the bufos were just singing, and the sound of the wind only whistled through the Cook Island Pines outside my windows when I remembered to close the doors, and set the doorstops.
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
