Friday, February 9, 2024

 Friday, February 9, 2024 

    Wow! There was a strong earthquake this morning. Earthquakes are common here; the small variety can be confused with the dog jumping on the bed. This one could not be confused with anything other than an earthquake. The whole house shook. I worried about what would happen to the house and the driveway. Then, there was another shock, bigger than the first. A cousin emailed to ask if we were okay. The news revealed the shock was a 5.7 coming from Kilauea. It was felt all the way to Oahu.

    I spent most of the day at home working on updates, weeding, and walking. Yvette came up to talk to me about what to plant in the area where we will be removing the large Ficus trees. Patrick recommended the Croton, a medium-sized, brightly colored leaf shrub. Yvette sent me an email with information about native Hawaiian plants. I researched all the plants on the list on the Internet. 

One was a large tree, not appropriate for that space when we needed it to serve as a privacy screen. The trunk would be bare.

   One plant looked appropriate: Hawaiian, fast-growing, and not requiring too much water. It was the one hibiscus that had a scent. I rejected it for that reason. The mock orange overwhelms me when it’s in bloom. The large bank of gardenias we pass when we walk is also overwhelming. I didn’t want a stand of shrubs with an overwhelming aroma.

   When Darby came to pick me up for our evening walk, she showed me I had Hawaiian hibiscuses growing in the stretch along my driveway. I sniffed one of the flowers. I picked up the scent with effort. Nothing about it was overwhelming. This was the perfect choice. It grows densely. With trimming, the lower branches also remain lush.

   I had a quick frustrating session with Adolescent D.- very frustrating. He can’t remember a word he decoded and read from one line to the next. When a word becomes familiar enough, he will finally recall it. The poor kid. Poor me for having to deal with it, too.

   I went to Costco after working with D. I was out of chocolate-covered almonds. I ate the last ones in the jar and was horrified to discover I was out. I went to Costco to buy two more jars and the other items. I grabbed a few containers.

   When I entered Costco, there was no one on the check-out lines. When I got around to checking out, I had never seen them longer.

   Judy called as I was driving home from Costco. She had a terrible cold. Paulette had been sick with it since last Sunday. It was a good thing I didn’t go to church with them. I won’t go with them again this Sunday.