at the "dollar plus" store

naptry, we hardly knew ye

yes, it's true, i moved and have and disassembled the Naptry. See?

This ephemeral occurrence also went extinct. Much like this old Edison phonograph the Salvation Army was selling. (no, i didn't buy it. it was tempting though!)

But now I have more time to do fun stuff like go to the Naalehu music festival, where I got to see Ledward Kaapana (with his nephew Ikaika) and other great slack-key guitarists. There was great food too. And hula!

Here are some ali'i for you. They're very fancy and important.

After the festival, we enjoyed a late lunch at this cafe, Hana Hou. It is the southernmost restaurant in the united states, and if you come visit me I will take you there for their incredible desserts. (See the sign? "Eat Dessert First"? Awww yeeuh :)

And look, here is some hawaiian sovereignty bling i found at the mall!

And in job news, this is what a *good* day at work looks like these days. That rocky stuff is a'a, the crumbly, hard-to-walk-on version of lava. (Pahoehoe is the smooth ropy variety -- much easier on the feet.) This is Melody atop the a'a mountain. The view of the sulfur dioxide plumes coming out of the volcano vents was amazing from up there (~6000 feet).

I know you're wondering: How is the doodle transitioning? Well, apparently he hates it here too. He has his own room, an assortment of kitty toys, gets a lot more snuggles than when he was a latch-key kitten, and seems to be quite happy. He hasn't been outside in two weeks and seems fine with that, so this is Kitty Retirement Home!