Aloha dear friends and family,

As this week has gone by, the change of the season in Wainaiae becomes clear. At the same time that the hummingbirds arrive in Snoqualmie Pass the whales begin their journey north and the beach shifts with currents from south to north. We are intermittently spotting whales, but there are way fewer. As an aloha to the whales, I want to share with you some of the photos I got this trip. I don’t have a super zoom lens, but it still fun to see the pictures.

The shifting of the sands is a strange seasonal dynamic of Papaoneone beach here at the Hawaiian Princess. The sand is heavy and runs on the sticky/heavy side. As the ocean currents shift from winter to summer and back again the beach shifts dramatically. In winter the sand covers the rocks and coral on the north side. When a storm rolls in the sands can shift in just days exposing the ocean floor almost up to the building and the sand is deposited on the north side of the beach covering the rocks and ocean floor north. The first time we saw the shifting sands of our beach, we had just closed on our condo purchase. In the previous March when the previous owners accepted our offer on the condo the entire beach in front of our building was pure white sand. In July when we came back for the closing half of the beach in front of our building was exposed rock. Needless to say we freaked out a bit, but we quickly learned this is a regular seasonal shift of the beach sands here. We witnessed it the next fall when the sand came back to the south side in a big three day storm. This same dynamic is what causes the epic “pipeline” surf on the Northshore.

With the change of the seasons comes later sunsets. And I’ve been able to capture quite a few

Strangely, it’s been a busy week here. We try to play pickleball every day to stay fit with our small select group of “Camp Oahu” friends who are still here at the condo. We still follow the news pretty closely, but only for an hour or so each day. Thankfully, we get to FaceTime video with the grandkids often thanks to their wonderful parents. And we’ve been able to share Saul’s success with the “PNW: a concert for your quarantine” online musical performances which is how Saul made lemonade from lemons when the big SXSW (South By Southwest) music/tech/art conference in Austin, TX was cancelled. We’ve also spent a lot of time, with great success, setting up an online bridge group for our Rainier Club bridge friends.

Coronavirus question: should we all wear masks when we go out now? We’ve read a lot about it. And I guess we’ve come to the conclusion that it can’t hurt. So we ordered some pretty fabric masks from JAMS, a local clothing store here in HI. We look at them as our quarantine souvenirs. When we ordered them they were available with filters. Dr. Birx said in the White House briefing today, when asked, that we need to remember that masks don’t protect what you touch, and your eyes are exposed, so she thinks they create a sense of safety that just doesn’t exist. So even if you wear a mask, you still have to distance yourself from others, wash your hands frequently, and generally stay away from people you don’t live with as much as you can.🤷🏽‍♀️

Here’s some funny things that have been shared on FB. How about this covid-cover of Adele’s “hello” I also think this is an interesting post on Covid-Math. I hope he’s right.

And I have to share this great video of a mounted police officer getting a burger at our restaurant on Seattle’ Capitol Hill. Jasmine was there for a Q13-TV interview and captured this wonderful experience.

When we first got here we were able to do some scuba diving. I shared the whale song dive with you earlier but here is a fun interaction with an octopus. Watch as it “jets away” when the diver releases it. This is one fast octopus!

This morning we listened to a Kellogg MBA School video class on “Leadership During a Crisis.” I thought there was a particular helpful question and answer. One of the participants asked, “How do you know you have all the information you need to make decisions.” The Professor’s answer: Of course we never have all the information we need to make decisions, and this is especially true in a fast moving crisis. All we can do is get as much information as possible given the time available, be transparent, make the best decisions we can, and then be nimble and agile enough to adjust or even reverse course as new information becomes available.

Stay home, stay well, stay connected!