Catching Up

 Copyright © 2022

By Ralph F. Couey

Image and written content

The English monarchy has a very long history, some 1,400 years if you go back to the Kings of Wessex.  In that time there has been 65 monarchs who have sat on the throne.  This past week, Elizabeth passed from this life after 95 years, 70 of them as Queen.  Nobody over that nearly a millennia and a half ruled for anywhere near that long.  

She assumed the throne at 25, after the death of her father.  Winston Churchill doubted her abilities, thought she was far too young for such daunting responsibilities.  For such an eminent statesman, it was a rare misjudgment.  Not only did she prove equal to the challenge, she embraced her responsibility to serve the people, her subjects, and the country.  Her strength, intelligence and equanimity in the face of all that the country and her family have endured, earned the respect of the entire world.  On the day of her passing, I could here the soft footsteps which marked the passage of history.  

Charles is now King, but he has a past that has caused a lot of grief.  The death of Diana was a personal loss for millions, and the stories that emerged of his treatment of her painted a dark picture, indeed.  An air of uncertainty hangs over the Royal Family.  Elizabeth was the glue that held them together through scandal after scandal.  

And now, she is gone.

It remains to be seen if her successors can recapture the grace, strength, and respect that was her enduring legacy.

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We have watched as the mainland has been baked and broiled this summer.  Triple-digit temperatures have been visited on nearly the entire 50 states, creating an unprecedented drain on electricity.  In addition, most of the western states are dealing with extensive and serious drought conditions.  Winter, the time when snowfall is supposed to replenish water sources, has not produced the snowfall required.  There is real concern that these states could run completely dry by the end of this decade.  The future of this region, and the tens of millions who live there, now hangs in the balance.  There is no man-made solution in the offing.  As the history of the Dust Bowl years recalls, sometimes for unknown reasons, nature just turns off the spigot.  All we can do is wait for the rains to return.

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On a happier note, for nearly three scintillating weeks, we had grandchildren in the house, as our son's family flew in from Virginia for a visit.  Our niece got married, which sparked the reason for the visit.  It was a great reunion, full of fun, laughter, and love.  I managed to take some time off and went with them as they made almost daily visits to the beaches here in O'ahu.  It was a time for us as grandparents to embrace the unrelenting passage of time reflected in their growth.  I know most grandparents think their grandchildren are the loveliest, smartest, and most talented in the world.  With all respect to our peers, ours actually are.

One of the great things was having the time to talk to them and listen to them as they weighed in on different subjects.  Yes, they're still children, but not for much longer.  We're so proud of all 11 of them.  Now these three are back in Virginia in school, and back in to their busy schedules.  Our son, Robbie, was already slated to coach Ian's flag football team (providentially called the Chiefs), but when no one else would step forward, he agreed to coach the baseball team as well.  I know this takes a lot of time during each week, but he is a skilled and knowledgeable teacher.  He understands kids, and what they need.  His tutelage was on display Saturday the 10th, for the first games of the season.  On the football side, Ian quarterbacked and threw three touchdowns in a 27-20 win.  We were proud, but it certainly was one of those moments when the thousands of miles between us hung heavily on our hearts.  

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The renovation of our home continues in fits and starts.  Just before the wedding, we had solar panels installed on our roof, 23 of them.  It was good timing, as electric rates are beginning to rise here.  But its nice that during this very warm summer, we have a place of refuge where we can run air conditioners with a clear conscience.  We will find out next week exactly how much the rebuild of two rooms into an en suite (hope I spelled that right) will cost us.  We've set some money aside, but we'll probable have to dig into our equity to cover it.  That project should be in full motion by October, and hopefully will finish before Thanksgiving.  For the first time in the history of this house, there will be two fully functioning bathrooms.  Yay!

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Here in the islands, life goes on.  In a place where it was already expensive, costs have gotten worse.  The gas prices have fallen somewhat, due mainly to people using less.  Gasoline usage nationally for the month of July was lower than during the worst of the pandemic lockdowns.  With an unexpected glut of supply, prices came down.  But the other necessities of life, food and shelter, continue to rise.  This situation may increase what has been the steady stream of young people fleeing Hawai'i for the mainland.  It's just nearly impossible to make ends meet for them.  It remains to be seen what the long-term effects of that exodus will be.  

The tourists are back, and the state is in the black fiscally for the first time since the beginning of the Pandemic.  Of course, traffic is horrible, but like many things about this place, it just has to be endured.  Violent crime has increased, and it is now dangerous to walk areas of Honolulu after dark.  The violence has begun to encroach on the areas around Waikiki, as some tourists have discovered.  Home invasions are on the rise, which has everyone on edge, especially the Kupuna (elderly).

There have been several instances of shark attacks, and a lot of people have found out how hot the sun really is when you're sixteen hundred miles closer to the equator.  I think that a lot of people view Hawai'i as this big amusement park set up and run just for their benefit.  But this is the tropics, and there are creatures in the sea and on the land that kill.  Some of them walk on two legs.  One of the most discouraging behaviors is the massive disrespect that tourists have for Native Hawai'ian culture.  There has been too much casual desecration of this place by people who never take the time to understand.

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The first images from the Webb Space Telescope have been published, and opened up a whole different level of wonder about our universe.  Viewing in infrared, it has revealed details in sharp detail never before seen.  The scientists are still exploring those images, but there should be a veritable explosion of new knowledge as this new data solves old questions, and raises a host of new ones.  

Lately, I've been able to look up and see in the night sky, the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn hanging together in the sky.  It's a wonderful sight that fires the imagination, at least mine.  I guess with all the bad news flowing around, it's kind of an escape to look up and dream across the light hours, and parsecs.  The known universe is enormous beyond words, and still largely unknown.  Our planet and its people will be interstellar dust before most of those questions can be answered.

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We've been busy these past few weeks.  The staffing crisis at work continues, and as a result we are all working odd hours and missing off days.  The good news is that the boss had decreed that we are no longer to cancel vacation or come in to work sick, as we have been forced to do too often.  Cheryl come home from the hospital with lurid tales of what she has had to deal with at work, mainly the poor quality of many of her colleagues.  Truth be told, we are both ready to really retire, but are unable to do so just yet.  Still, we've found time to spend an evening at the beach at the end of the day, just being together.  Quietly we sit and as the sun sets, we watch, awestruck, as God paints the sky.