Perils of Paradise

[Cindy Blankenship]

I'm feeling kinda guilty about bringing my worries about centipedes and bacteria in
Hawaii's waters to the threads. And I got to thinking that there are many dangers on the mainland too - and that if those of us moving to Hawaii were instead locals there moving to
the mainland, that we might getting pretty spooked if we started asking around about what in the mainland's waters could make us sick, injure us, etc., not to mention land animals and pollution that can hurt us. For example, my cats go outside when they want, and even though we live in a residential area, cougar have been here off and on, and there are raccoons, rattlesnakes, etc. My Texas friend doesn't have eels in the lake they swim at, but there are poisonous water snakes ...When we whitewater paddle or the kids play on the rope swing at the creek, there's all kinds of bacteria exposure. But I'm freaking out over the centipedes and roaches and the rarely life threatening bacteria. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the dangers in Hawaii are far easier to prevent than the ones here. Or maybe that's because I want to be in Hawaii and have my plane tickets now.

Aloha!
Cindy