Blue Hawaii, Not! Fifty Shades of Gray, Yes!

Today, Friday March 13th, we docked at Pier II in beautiful Honolulu at approximately 7 am to grey skies, a light rain, blustery winds and somewhat chilly temperatures. Unfortunately, our arrival followed a rather bad thunderstorm which has rendered some of the streets and highways impassable. Oops! Didn't know they had storms in Hawaii. Volcanic eruptions sometimes, yes, but in none of my previous visits to our 50th state has it even sprinkled on me. Therefore my excursion of choice for today, "Panoramic Honolulu", was scratched. Thus, I shall not be able to dazzle you with beautiful panoramic scenes of Honolulu. Pity, as it truly is a beautiful city which as I learned yesterday encompasses the entire island of Oahu.

On previous trips I visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial with some of my grandchildren. Taylor told me afterward that she "got" why I insisted we dedicate a day to that excursion,

"It is your generation's 'Ground Zero.'" For any of my current co-travelers who have not had that opportunity, I pray those roads are passable today. In my opinion, a trip to Oahu is not complete without the opportunity to honor those who lost their lives on that fateful day, December 7, 1941. Vista's enrichment speaker has done an excellent job of summarizing the events leading up to the attack and its aftermath.

How can one resist?

So, one might ask, has all this grayness dampened my enthusiasm for this journey? No way! I attended four cocktail parties in as many days (missed a fifth as it was scheduled at the same time as one I did attend), earned a whooping two Big-O points in Trivia, attended two shows - one a really funny comedian, the other an entertaining MoTown show, eaten way more than I should, (but I ask you, could you resist this?), made new friends, visited with old friends from previous voyages, knitted, exercised a bit, watched several oldie-but-goodie movies, and generally had a grand ole time. Speaking of eating... it's that time again.

Today is Someday! Embrace the Gray!