Things that go Bump in the night

Things that go Bump in the night was Originally Posted on December 21, 2003 by lavarock

The other side of paradise begins to rear its head. As I have mentioned in previous writings, Hawaii has many plusses, which move it above the other states. Just yesterday I was doing my laundry and met a young man from the Midwest. He told me he loved the Kona area and Hawaii in general. It seems that our idea that people from the Midwest are friendly is not what he has found. He said that Kona has his home beat, hands down.

All of our activities are within a few minutes walk to a few hours drive away. Fishing, scuba, horseback riding, hiking, mountain climbing and even snow skiing can be found here. Not every island can boast that.

Some of our stores charge mainland prices and most of what you need, can be found here. Possibly more so here than other places, it pays to shop around and get to know what is on sale. Stocking up on sale priced items can help cut overall costs. An extra freezer might also come in handy for food items.

Over at the Hotel Manago restaurant last night, my friends had fish and I had the famous pork chop. It was good, but I think the way I make mine is better. Along with dinner came a big bowl of rice, potato salad and a bowl of what I think were rice noodles. Chop sticks were available for the asking.

The lure of warm weather brings many people here. After moving here you may find the “gotcha”. As with other locations, the temperatures reported online and on TV come from weather reporting equipment at the airport. It turns out there is no airport near where I moved! The airport temperature appears to have dropped to 70 overnight; however, here in Captain Cook it plummeted to 60! So you are laughing and thinking “Yeah, so in the East they have inches and feet of snow. What is YOUR problem with 60 degree temperatures?” Well, it would not be a big problem IF I had heat, or long pants or a sweatshirt or blankets…

The owner of the house appears to have trying to sell it for a while. I understand from a neighbor that it stood empty for years, and then had two separate renters. When my offer was accepted, the last renter moved out 6 months ago. The renter left the house in pretty good condition but I can see that there was no maintenance done on the house anytime recently. The kitchen faucets leak badly. Both toilets upstairs don’t work properly. The lanai railing needs to be replaced along with both sets of stairs outside.

Two rafters need repair, and some other items; still, the place has great possibilities and I think I got a good price for the land and house.

The house sits up off the ground by a story and part of the house is enclosed on the first level.; however, it is open to the elements. It is also open to animals. I may have some mice down there and will need to take care of them. I also have an ongoing battle with geckos getting in the house. They eat bugs but leave droppings. It also is disconcerting to see little green things running across ledges and walls. Sometimes they make sounds and that might be in the middle of the night. Speaking of bugs, I may also invest in a bug zapper. There are a few mosquitoes here that have targets on their backs…

I would love to rip out the two bathrooms and the kitchen and have them redone. I must wait until I own the house and that could still be “another 4 to 6 weeks”.

Twice I shooed a cat off my lanai and it dove under the house. That may not be a bad thing, because if it does its job, I may start feeding it.

So, I’m very cold overnight (all scrunched up trying to keep warm), I hear scratching in the walls, and I have small green lizards scampering around. I’m lying on an air mattress in front of a picture window where there is normally a view of the Pacific. Instead, I look up at a night filled with stars and drift off to sleep.

Only to be awakened at 7 am by what sounded like either ½ the house falling down or a shotgun being fired. I’m thinking it is the latter and that there is now 1 less turkey running through the neighborhood. Did I mention the wandering turkeys? I think we may have quail too, but am not sure.

As I say, it IS paradise, but to fully experience it, you have to go with the flow. You cannot cut people off in traffic nor use your horn. It just is not polite. Six o’clock may mean six thirty or seven or possibly not at all.

I guess George Burns summed it all up in the movie “Oh God” when he was asked why there is bad in the world. His answer was that good and bad balance each other. Without bad there would be no good. There would be nothing to compare “good” to. A common expression here is that without the rain, there would be no rainbows. And the world needs rainbows!