11-29-2013, 12:08 PM
Have scribbled before on what got us here, but new eyes and new stories leads me to post. I first came to O'ahu as a young Navy boy in 1959, on a troop ship (USS Gen'l Billy Mitchell)out of SF by way of San Diego where we picked up 2000 Marines on their way to Korea. One day layover in HNL, I remember it fondly. On to Yokosuka Japan where I bussed to Atsugi and caught a flight to Iwakuni to join my squadron, VP28. Little did I know they were already packing to return to Barber's Point at the end of TAD. So the rest of my Navy stint in quiet rural area. Our big deal was to go to Fort DeRussy and enjoy a beer or go to Int'l Mktplace and listen to an amazing guitarist (whose name escapes me as I write). There were seven hotels on Waikiki Beach, 35 mi speed limit over the whole island, I remember the statehood vote and much distress among the Hawaiians I knew who opposed it.
When I got out (by the skin of my teeth -- Berlin Crisis was stopping all discharges before I even left the facility, discharge in hand) I returned to old home area for school at San Jose State, where I finished BA and MS degrees, Stanford for a PhD, then 2 years as a dean at De Anza College, two years as Asst Prof at Ohio State Univ, then back to Calif where I settled in Menlo Park and spent the next 32 years. Two wives and various states of offspring experienced in the process. Honeymoons in Hawaii brought back the smooth feeling in my body of being in the right place, but the motivation to move hadn't hit yet.
By the third honeymoon in '98, things had changed. My once quiet and relatively isolated home in Stanford Weekend Acres was invaded by new construction, SUV-driving matrons yakking on their phones and almost running me down as I biked to all my chores and appointments.
By 2003/4 started looking around for a new place to land. Up in Sierra Foothills to be near son and family? Santa Cruz to get the marine environment? New Zealand? Mulege or Santa Rosalia in Baja Sur? Vancouver Island to be near former neighbor Bob? Looking at each of these presented various impediments, not the least for my wife the accountant to have systems she knew in place and a language that she could understand.
As I had often mentioned Hawaii as a good candidate to the immediate dimissal by my bride, who felt that 2500 miles in the middle of the Pacific was just too far from anywhere, it was a big surprise to find her searching Hawaii Information Service on breaks at work. Our one trip to BI in 2000 had awakened her to the possibility of this island being acceptable, and she came up with a list of 25 or so properties to look at, West and East side both. So in '05 we came over, list in hand, and diligently searched each candidate - nothing appealed. We were about to give up and put an offer in on a condo in Kailua when the realtor mentioned that there was one house, not quite in our price range, just came on the market, and based upon our preferences expressed in all our viewing, might be something we'd like. Well, it was something akin to magic. Walking down the drive, I marveled at the colorful landscaping. Entering the house was like seeing a vision incarnate. We put in our offer that day, made it work with two mortgages for awhile, and moved here 'permanently' in '06. It is home. -dwajs
When I got out (by the skin of my teeth -- Berlin Crisis was stopping all discharges before I even left the facility, discharge in hand) I returned to old home area for school at San Jose State, where I finished BA and MS degrees, Stanford for a PhD, then 2 years as a dean at De Anza College, two years as Asst Prof at Ohio State Univ, then back to Calif where I settled in Menlo Park and spent the next 32 years. Two wives and various states of offspring experienced in the process. Honeymoons in Hawaii brought back the smooth feeling in my body of being in the right place, but the motivation to move hadn't hit yet.
By the third honeymoon in '98, things had changed. My once quiet and relatively isolated home in Stanford Weekend Acres was invaded by new construction, SUV-driving matrons yakking on their phones and almost running me down as I biked to all my chores and appointments.
By 2003/4 started looking around for a new place to land. Up in Sierra Foothills to be near son and family? Santa Cruz to get the marine environment? New Zealand? Mulege or Santa Rosalia in Baja Sur? Vancouver Island to be near former neighbor Bob? Looking at each of these presented various impediments, not the least for my wife the accountant to have systems she knew in place and a language that she could understand.
As I had often mentioned Hawaii as a good candidate to the immediate dimissal by my bride, who felt that 2500 miles in the middle of the Pacific was just too far from anywhere, it was a big surprise to find her searching Hawaii Information Service on breaks at work. Our one trip to BI in 2000 had awakened her to the possibility of this island being acceptable, and she came up with a list of 25 or so properties to look at, West and East side both. So in '05 we came over, list in hand, and diligently searched each candidate - nothing appealed. We were about to give up and put an offer in on a condo in Kailua when the realtor mentioned that there was one house, not quite in our price range, just came on the market, and based upon our preferences expressed in all our viewing, might be something we'd like. Well, it was something akin to magic. Walking down the drive, I marveled at the colorful landscaping. Entering the house was like seeing a vision incarnate. We put in our offer that day, made it work with two mortgages for awhile, and moved here 'permanently' in '06. It is home. -dwajs
-dwajs