Michner's hawaii

We finished reading Michners book "Hawaii a few minutes ago. It is more than 50 hours in audio format. It has given me some things to look for. Although the book is more than 50 years old, now, it gave me a sense of how geography, culture and politics have converged to make, Hawaii, a model for the changes to be encountered here on the mainland. The discrimination, prejudice and exploitation of minorities by the ruling class has given way to integration, economic power and political involvement by all groups. Because Hawaii is dominated by the Pacific, the dynamics are different from those here. It is clear that California is much like Hawaii in the way it must deal with these issues from an an Aisianrather than European emphasis. After the names are removed, though, the issues of political and economic integration are the same. The book is wonderful.

Trip to Hawaii

Mary and I are going to Hawaii for 2 weeks. This will be our first time, there. We are both very excited about our trip. We are traveling with our friends Mike and Shirley. We will be on Owahu, about 30 miles from Honolulu.

We are planning on doing hiking, eating, swimming, eating, touring Honolulu, eating, playing in the big waves on the north shore and did mention Eating?

I hope to do blog entries here during our trip to document our experiences. If you have any comments or suggestions for us, please let us know by making a comment below. I plan to make detailed and general comments about food, airplanes, the resort, the people and anything else that occurs to me.

Amusing Quote

The minute you or anybody else knows what you are you are not it, you are what you
or anybody else knows you are and as everything in living is made up of finding out
what you are it is extraordinarily difficult really not to know what you are and
yet to be that thing.
The minute you or anybody else knows what you are you are not it, you are what you
or anybody else knows you are and as everything in living is made up of finding out
what you are it is extraordinarily difficult really not to know what you are and
yet to be that thing.
Author:
Gertrude Stein

Now, she sure has a way with words.

Trip To Hawaii

Mike and Shirly Ellis and Mary and I are going to Hawaii in January. I am quite excited about our trip. Mike and Shirly are coming over tomorrow to discuss possible tours. At thisw moment, I would like to post comments here about our trip including planning and then posts from Hawaii. I wonder if I can post audio? I would love to post recordings from Hawaii for everyone to hear.

Chicago Trip

I went to Chicago on a business trip this week. I live in Lansing, MI, a medium size city. I travel to Detroit regularly. It is, inevitable that I make a comparison.

Chicago is a vibrant and strong place, while Detroit struggles.The city of Detroit is far more familiar to me than Chicago, so my comments are be to be judjed through that lense. Detroit streets are easy to navigate as a blind person. Chicago is very loud and there is stuff all over the sidewalks, everywhere. Chicago has the most wonderful public transit. It is easy to get most anywhere by rail. In addition, there are busses to supplement the rail system.

Downtown Chicago has a "pedway" that is a subterranian system of tunnels connecting a lot of downtown businesses and streets. It is a good alternative to the loud environment on the surface, but is limited in that it does not go everywhere.

In addition to the Chicago trip, Mary, Larry Posont and I traveled to Desmoines Iowa for Allen Harris' retirement celebration. Desmoines has a system of overhead pedestrian walkways. This system seems to connect most places in the downtown area. It is similar to the Minneapolis pedestrian system.

Now, Detroit has the People Mover which is a very good way to move about downtown Detroit, however it is a small system. The Detroit bus system is a mere skeleton of its former self. It is still possible to get around, but it is not as easy or convenient as in past times.

Now, I must comment on age. I commented to someone this week that I formerly did not notice the noise. The noise interferes with my travel confidence. I must sometimes force myself to venture into that noisy environment without the benefit of reliable sound cues. Part of it is certainly my unfamiliarity with the area, but the sounds of the elevated trains obliterates almost all sound as they pass. There is a lot of construction that makes noise plus disrupts the sidewalks. The complex and stimulus-rich environment forces me to think carefully about all my cane travel training, my belief in my skills and the use of the cane. When I think rationally, I regain confidence and step out with faith in my abilities.

Since bloggingis new to me, please forgive the rambling nature of this post. Travel has always been an important part of my life. Venturing on to the streets of Chicago has caused me to take stock of my feelings. To become fully confident, I would need weeks of traveling alone. I did glimpse the edge of my fear and confidence and am encouraged. Age, with its accompanying change in my senses and sensitivities, and lack of practice have definitely undermined my confidence, but these experiences assure me that I can succeed anytime I choose.

I watchedthe vice president nominee last night. I guess if that is the best she could do to campaign, it is a pretty poorstatement of what the Republicans are offering. If the most they can do is talk about the Democrats, obscure the fact that she did try to get the bridge to nowhere, hired a lawyer to try to get earmarks for her town, then how is she for change?

She bragged about her vetoes. What did she veto? That is more interesting than that she vetoed stuff. Why didn't she say what she vetoed?

The whole convention keeps bringing up Reagan. Is that where they are living? We need to think today, not 30 years ago. Speaking of Reagan and Bush, it should be pointed out that each of them created record deficits during their administrations. Where is the fiscal conservatism in that? Why is Reagan a hero? He killed plans to make America energy self-sufficient begun by Carter. He killed the change to the metric system. He created huge debts for the country. All I hear to his credit is his rhetoric, the very criticism the Republicans are leveling at Obama. Where is the consistency?

Enough of my rant for now. I have been thinking about our garden. We have a raised bed "Square Foot Garden." it is in 2 2'x8'x2' boxes that our neighbor calls coffins. We grew string beans, radishes, basil, tomatos, peppers, eggplant, carrots and onions. The tomatos are the most successful. The radishes are the biggest failures. The radishes grew very large tops with no radish under the ground. My brother told me that I did not plant the seeds deep enough. We will try some different things next year.

I have been watching the 2 national political conventions. I am trying to be objective about the Republican event. It is not possible. The tone is so negative. Viewpoints need not equal moral defects. It is not morally defective to believe that we are are our brother's keepers. It is not unpatriotic to disagree with the war in Iraq. God will do the judging.
Sure, I get angry about other's disregard of the rights of others, insensitivity toward my friends and family or bigotry and hatred. My job is to do justice and love God and let God handle His stuff.
I am not sure I can watch as the Republicans will tell us that they are righteous and everyone who disagrees is some kind of moral defective. Not my style.