Another Go-Around

November 6, 2025

Like Dr Seuss’ Marvin K Mooney,

The time had come so David went!

Unlike the suggestions offered by Dr Seuss, I simply choose the method preferred by Peter, Paul & Mary, and I went by jetplane!

Well, maybe I’ll be leavin’ on a jetplane . . . but unlike Peter. Paul, & Mary, I do know wnen I will be back again. I’ll be coming back to Arizona on December 18.

As I look towards the front of the plane, there doesn’t seem to be many passengers on the first leg of my flight out of Phoenix to Sacramento.

Not many sitting in the seats behind me either!

The flight out of Sacramento, heading to Kona was a little different, but still not a full plane.

Right on time, we were able to see the tops of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea as they peeked through the clouds. Another 30 minutes, and we will be on the ground in Kona!

After the two hour bus ride from Kona to Waiohinu, I arrive at the property. I hook up the batteries so I will have lights in the shed tonight.

Then it is time to take stock of the plants. My tomatoes look like they produced lots of fruit while I was gone, but unfortunately, there was nobody here to tend to them.

The tire garden is pretty much bare.

But the onions are doing good!

November 7, 2025

In the morning, I set up the solar panels on the roof of the shed to power the batteries.

I tried to bring some of the more expensive foods with me. For instance, I can get eggs in Arizona for around two dollars a dozen, but here, they are $6. Unfortunately, I did not pack these sufficiently, and it looks like two got cracked on the way here! I’ll have to do a better packing job next time! Meanwhie, it is scrambled eggs for breakfast!

My pond/fountain has water in it. Dirty water, but still, it is water!

So I get out the solar powered pumps and stick them into the water. Maybe some circulaton will clean it up!

The next item was to open the tool shed by removing the plywood I had screwed over the opening.

I noticed there were some good sized guavas on the guava plants nearby.

Then up on the roof of the gazebo to turn over the solar panels. Not sure if this is even neessary, but when I leave, I like to turn the panels over so they are not making electricity that goes nowhere! I seem to think that this might damage, or wear out the solar cells. . . . and maybe I’m just crazy!

I bring the refrigerator and the solar power station out of the tool shed and plug them in.

I got some crackers and crushed them for the bird feeder.

And it wasn’t too long before I had my first visitor – a red headed cardinal!

I went over to the Ahi property to check it out. The grass on the road is a bit tall.

The driveway is not too bad, but it could use a bit of trimming!

as well as the “front yard” area.

So, I got out the weed eater and the lawn mower and went to work.

It didn’t take long to have the grass on Ahi road all mowed!

November 8, 2025

A bit of a treat – fresh guavas!

I’ve been away for about three weeks, but the grass along Holowai Road isn’t as tall as I would expect.

It is a bit shaggy in both directions, but still tolerable and not what I would term as “abandoned” and overgrown!

Down at the corner, around the signpost is a bit different.

A few minutes with the lawn mower,

from the neighbor’s driveway and all the way to the corner, on both sides of the road. This used to take me three or four days when I did it by hand!

Now, it looks like someone actually cares!

But yet, there is trouble in the storage shed! Time to set a few rat traps!

November 9, 2025

Gotta be careful with those traps though, I don’t want to catch those “rats with wings”!

For some reason, I decided to do some work around the corner rock wall.

November 10, 2025

Once I got started with cutting out the tall grass and removing the “bean type” trees I do not like, I got involved with stacking up the rocks to continue the rock wall along the front of the properties!

A trip into town with one bladder in the truck and I filled the bladder in the driveway.

Then I got busy with the table saw cleaning up the edges of the pallet material.

I group the boards together into their different widths to use on the roof.

Before leaving Arizona, I ordered some new, larger solar panels. They were supposed to arrive on the 7th – the day after I arrived. I received a text that told me my order had been delayed. Then I read about a UPS plane that had crashed on takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky. According to the “tracking” of my pakage, it was coming through Louisville!

I wondered if I would ever get them!

Well, they arrived today

and the packaging looks like they have been through a plane crash!

November 12, 2025

Work on installing roof sheathing boards continues. This is a slow process – re-using pallet material takes considerable time disassembling the pallets in such a manner that there is actually material to salvage. Sometimes, the boards are split so I use glue and clamps to put them back together. I even save the nails. Initially, I was putting the nails into the large plastic jars that my screws are shipped in simply to keep them from falling into the driveway and causing flat tires! I realized that many of these nails are exactly the right size for installing the roof sheathing. Most are a little bent and require a bit of straightening – some are really bent and require a lot of straightening. And some are simply not viable. But sorting and straightening the nails takes time!

I get tired of working on the pallets, the boards, and the roof; so I spend some time out in the road digging a shallow trench and burying the neighbor’s waterline. out of sight-out of mind!

That’s enough digging in the dirt – back to working in the sky

It is actualy looking better and better!

November 13, 2025

At the bakery in Na’alehu, they receive all their ingredients and packaging on pallets.

The pallets that they cannot or do not ruse, are stacked in a pile in the back of the parking lot on a first come- first served basis. At a price I like – free!

November 14, 2025

I had taken the seeds from a grapefruit, some from a few tangerines, and a bunch from some oranges and planted them into seperate pots. Each of the four pots had two or three citrus plants sprout. When they got to be about four inches tall, I took them to Ahi and planted them in four spots near the outhouse at the property edge. Unfortunately, I did not keep track of which ones were which. So it goes!

The grass in this area has grown faster than the citrus plants, so I used the weed eater and chopped down the tall grass.

Then I had a coconut break!