A Very New Year!

New Years is a very big deal in Hawaii, and the merriment of our neighbors--who are all still strangers-- filled our home.

Our house is on a hill near the ocean in what seems like a crowded area. Some houses are huge and brightly painted (and filled with several generations of people), some small and less noticable, some are in between or behind other houses.

Anyway, there was music, the smell of Hawaiian-style bar-b-que, fried foods, and the smell of beer in the air, older people talking and laughing, teenagers running around playing with fireworks and being just mischievous enough to be fun to watch, children screaming and playing, cheering for passing of the New Year in every time zone, and hours and hours of fireworks that could be seen and heard from every window.

I woke up this morning to the smell of fried fish and the sight of some Philipino parents and children de-feathering a chicken and preparing it for what I assume would be lunch. It made me laugh, though I'm not sure why.

Chickens are to Hawai'i what dogs are to Chinle. We have chickens and roosters in our yard, walking the sides of the road, in parking lots, in the jungle, at the beach... and they never let an early morning go by without a loud alarm. I never noticed them when I was just a tourist, but now that I live here I see them everywhere I look. I see them so much I'm starting to notice what I think are different breeds, as well as breed mixes.

Anyway, enjoy the next chicken you eat, and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

P.S. Every package has arrived now except for our computer. But I have a good feeling about this week...