Meet Hamilton and we dodged a hurricane

On July 4 we adopted Hamilton from the local Humane Society. He is approximately 1 year old, weighs 10 pounds, and is a very energetic friendly companion. He is smart, learns quickly, and was obviously trained by someone before he became a stray. As such, we are making sure to keep him on a leash in the house and whenever we go out--except at the dog park which is totally fenced in. 

Judy found an amazing creature in the yard the other day. He's about 6 inches long and clearly was either sleeping or didn't care about these 2 huge creatures fussing over it. My guess is s/he probably eats other frogs since we have not been hearing a lot of frogs of late. This frog is about the biggest I think I have ever seen. It reminded Judy of a frog that scared the bejeezes out of her in Costa Rica; but that frog jumped out from a hiding place and startled her. This frog just sat there motionless so nothing to be frightened of. Unless you are a smaller frog, of course.

As most of you are probably aware, there was a hurricane that threatened Hawaii--Douglas. Well, it was over the one weekend we planned a getaway for Mike's birthday in Volcano. We had moved most flying objects from the lanai before we left for Volcano. People at Volcano were a bit worried, but not too much even though we were closer to Hilo which was in Douglas' sites. Well, Saturday night--no rain or windstorm. Sunday was drizzly and rainy but not the torrential downpour. Locals called it normal Volcano rain. Monday was similarly rainy, but just the normal rain. No wind. Turns out Douglas totally missed the big island for which we are grateful. Thanks to one and all for the good thoughts.

Turns out the little village of Volcano, right next to the Volcano National Park but outside the boundaries, is a wonderful artists community. We found the Volcano Garden Arts which has multiple acres of wonderful gardens with lots of little surprises throughout. The store represents approximately 40 local artists. Before we went to the village, we walked around the national park. Wild orchids grow there, at 4000 foot elevation.

 

 

Blown Glass Lava Flow

We hope all are staying safe. We are fortunate that the Big Island of Hawaii has been relatively Covid-19 safe. We have had a total of 117 cases on the island and all but a handful have been released from isolation or hospitalization. We do wear our masks when going to stores, shopping, etc. We were lucky enough to actually see a dentist recently--all the staff wore masks while working on us as well as other PPE. Given what is happening on the mainland, we don't think we are going to be able to return for a visit until early next year--at the earliest. Keeping fingers crossed that one of those vaccines actually works.

Love, health, and safety to all of you.