Waiting for Winds

The Eastern side of the Big Island has been receiving a consistent dosage of vog lately, so maybe the presence of some strong winds may be welcome! The news report is that we can expect it though, especially on our neighbor islands. Mayor Mufi Hannemann has already granted the City and County of Honolulu the day off because of the potentially dangerous conditions. There's a chance that the school students on the neighboring islands may get a day off too because of the expected weather.

Even if we in Hawai`i receive the nasty winds we're anticipating, it's still a breeze compared to the below-zero temperatures and harsh winds being experienced in some of the northeast and Midwest US. So far, five deaths have been reported this week because of the arctic cold.

A beloved Hawai`i personality, Mike Sakamoto died the other day. In 'Fishing Tales' he will be someone I'll always remember as the original star of the show, being that it was when he hosted was when I really enjoyed watching it.

I got this family picture in my e-mail yesterday, courtesy of Shawnna.

Wonderful Beginning to 2009

We had an awesome start to 2009 when on Saturday, January 3rd we gathered at Kow's Restaurant for a family luncheon.

Unfortunately, Amanda and Noah weren't able to make it. Other than that, everyone from the Aaron Hegerfeldt Ohana, the Wedemeyer Au Ohana and the Brannock Au Ohana was there. It had been many years since we have all been able to gather like this. We started off hanging out, talking stories, catching up and just having a relaxing time. Wow how our family is growing!
...and we ended with the performance by Keali`i that earned him the fish hook he's wearing (given to him by santa claus!), followed by more picture-taking. Many, many thanks to Aunty Debi and Uncle Wede for bringing us all together and making it a very special and memorable occasion.

Well, on another note, as we get ready to say good-bye to president Bush, I came across this hilarious article in BBC News about some of his funniest quotes... definitely worth a look! I gotta say I'm thankful for RSS feeds because that's how I found this funny bit!

Big Island Beauty

After many inches of rain for weeks now, Rainbow Falls starts to look more like a dip in a river rather than a water fall! Well, maybe it hasn't quite rained that much yet. But for a while there it seemed it wouldn't stop...

...until that big, golden, heat-producing orb in the sky that governs our day showed itself on Monday, giving us all a reason to get out our cameras, point them up at the mountain and start shooting away!
Beautiful Mauna Kea is made that much more breathtaking covered with tons of snow!

Still Remebering 2008

Now how can I move on to mentioning anything in 2009 without a mention of my brand new niece Rylee Ann!

...she's seven weeks old today and growing by the minute!

Remembering 2008

As we head in to the new year, I can't help but think back on some of the events that took place in 2008...

Early on in the year, Aloha Airlines shocked the state by closing their doors for good. ATA Airlines was soon to follow, along with a couple other airlines. As the year continued on, and the stock market and wall street hit record lows since the great depression, we start seeing other companies big and small also shut their doors. There will be and always is something good to come out of all of this. Who knows what the next coming years will bring in the financial department, but there's always a positive for every negative!

In Sports, UH Manoa Alumni Colt Brennan does well as a Washington Redskin, and Maui's Shane Victorino along with the Phillies win the World Series. A spectacular opening ceremony welcomes the world to Bejing for a great Summer Olympics 2008. Michael Phelps becomes a household name swimming his way to many gold medals, and we even have a couple of Hawai`i Olympians that proudly bring home the gold too.

Political signs cluttered up the roadway for some months there, but they proved effective for candidates like Billy Kenoi who was elected as Big Island Mayor, Mufi who was re-elected as Oahu Mayor, and of course Barak Obama elected as commander and chief. Top issues on the Big Island were Coqui Frog control, waste management, Marijuana possession penalties, and traffic for West Hawai`i. The main topic for Oahu was the railway system; and what dominated the presidential election was our country's economy and the war in Iraq.

Another thing when I reflect back upon 2008 is the launch of the Hawai`i Super Ferry and all of the controversy surrounding it. On the one hand environmentalists were worried that it would harm whales and marine life, and others worried about there being more cars on the roadways followed by more thefts, crime and drugs, and will this allow invasive species to spread faster? On the other hand, there were some that were eager to use the ferry because the price of flying becoming so outrageous and they only could ask: 'when is it going to start going to the Big Island?'

There are many other events that took place, especially here on the islands that I just can't think of at the moment, but as we move forward I'm sure we'll look back and fill in the blanks.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!