Thanks!

Thanks! was Originally Posted on November 24, 2005 by lavarock

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is noon on Thanksgiving here on the Big Island and I’m doing a non-traditional Thanksgiving.

Granted, many people in the islands do non-traditional Thanksgivings, but that is because they were here long before the Pilgrims made it to the mainland. Still, mainlanders and visitors brought traditions the same as previous visitors so all holidays get celebrated.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been spending quite a bit of time helping everyone else here. Between working on websites for neighbors, to helping creating the New Kona Coffee Council website, to updating membership rolls and sending out emails, I’ve gotten little of my own stuff done.

When I discovered the steel belts showing through on my truck tire, I bought a heavy-duty jack and some jack stands and replaced my front drivers side tire with the spare. Actually, I was amazed that getting the spare tire off the truck was so easy. Ford has a small hole in the back near the bumper. You insert the jack rod and twist and the spare tire lowers to the ground, almost effortlessly. Then I jacked up the front of the truck, steadied the driver’s side with a stand and lowered the truck onto it. IN a few minutes I had the tire replaced. Now I just have to find rugged yet inexpensive tired to replace the current tires. I have seen prices ranging from $58 to $208 so far. Although the tires may fit and be appropriate for road use, I did a lot of driving over rocks just on my driveway, so need to have pretty good tires.

When that project was done, I went back inside to get my coffee beans. I had been soaking the coffee parchment overnight and it was time to plant! I have 300 ½ gallon black plastic bags filled with a nursery mix of black cinders and some organic matter. The organic part consists of macadamia nut shells and what smells like corn husks (all quite plentiful on the island). After placing a pinch of fertilizer in each pot, I poked a hole and inserted a bean into each pot. I found I was about 30 beans short for the number of bags. I am soaking some more beans as I write this. I currently have 270 bags filled and planted.

Although I have some coffee on the property already, these plants will be the beginnings of the estate coffee to fill the middle 5 acres of land. Unfortunately, 300 plants is just about 1/3 of an acre, so I have about 10% of what I need. That will include a few of the plants that don’t germinate.

If you want to see some photos, I will put a link on the left side of the blog here.

In the past few weeks I have spoken with a number of people who are thinking of making Hawaii their home. Some have done their research and some have not. I caution people that they should come visit for a month and act like they live here. That includes shopping and fighting what traffic they find and meeting and talking with people. Too often people come here for a visit and think this is the place for them, except that their view is based upon being a tourist and having people wait on them. We locals do laundry, shop and yes, even visit the dump. These are not typical tourist functions and tourists can put up with not having their favorite food or electronic gizmo while traveling. Imagine what it is like not to have those things often…

In any event, I personally am thankful that I was able to make the transition and each day I feel more at home and less like a visitor. And that is how it should be J