Hawai’i | BulgingButtons

January 1, 2017
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

Home Again and Happy 2017

I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to once again travel with my mother and son this holiday season. We had a terrific time sight-seeing and relaxing and soon I’ll tell you more about it, but for right now I just want to wish you all a wonderful 2017.

March 8, 2014
by BulgingButtons 6 Comments

Hawai’i Revisited or Where Shall I Live?

This afternoon I came home to find the tv on public television. My son was in the other room playing a video game and my sweetheart was steaming the tile floor in the living room. It appeared that the dog was enjoying the show, though. I don’t blame her.

Our PBS station is doing one of their fund drives, and today they aired a beautiful show about Hawai’i. It was mainly just scenery with some Hawai’ian music and commentary from various authorities on different aspects of Hawai’i and Hawai’ian culture, such as historians, botanists, surfers, and so on. It was breath-taking.

The program took me right back to my winter vacation where I had the pleasure of visiting this paradise on earth. I loved it there. The climate, the scenery, the beaches, the people, all were incredible. I hope to go back someday.

The whole experience makes me think about why we live where we do. I live in the desert southwest. I wasn’t raised here. I was raised in a wonderful old rust belt city known for chicken wings and blizzards. It is a fantastic town and a great place to visit every summer. It does have a few issues, though, the snow being one of them.

Many years ago I decided that I didn’t want to live there anymore. I wanted to live in the sunshine. I wanted to live where people could make a living doing what they wanted to do without having to know twenty people to get a job. I wanted to live in a place where the economy was growing, not dying. Things change, including the economy, but I’ve never regretted my decision to leave my hometown.

I’ve been in my adopted state for over two decades, and I still love it, but I love Hawai’i too. Would I like to live there? I might. Yes, it’s pretty far from the rest of the world, but I imagine loved ones would make the effort to visit. Why wouldn’t they? Oh yes, the cost and distance. I like Texas too. I never spent much time there until I met my sweetheart, but since then we’ve been there three times, and each time I’ve liked it more. I could picture myself living there too, where the summers aren’t quite as harsh as they are here.

Still, this has become my home, and I really like it. My son was born here and his father and grandparents live here. I’m in no hurry to pull up stakes and start again elsewhere. I have friends here and a career. Still, maybe someday I’ll go somewhere else. I’m hardly a rolling stone, but I’m not rooted to one spot either.

January 19, 2014
by BulgingButtons 10 Comments

Daily Prompt: Captive’s Choice

You’ve been kidnapped and given a choice: would you rather be stranded on an island, dropped into an unknown forest, or locked in a strange building?

Oh no! I’ve been kidnapped by a most unusual kidnapper. My kidnapper is giving me options. Where would I like to be delivered? This bizarre kidnapper is going to take me to said place and leave me, presumably to my own devices. Where, oh where, shall I go?

Option One: Island

Well, this depends a great deal upon the island, doesn’t it? If it’s Oahu or Hawai’i, then yes, please. But let’s assume they mean a deserted island. I’m thinking along the lines of Gilligan’s Island or Robinson Crusoe or the Swiss Family Robinson. That might not be so bad, at least for a while, but I think I would miss my family and I’m not much for a) boat building, or b) sailing away on a raft. Besides, they all had company, I’m assuming I wouldn’t, of if I did it would be more along the lines of Lord of the Flies. Jeez, in that case I hope I would be alone. Now I’m thinking Castaway and frankly, I don’t think I have it in me to live on bugs.

Option Two: Unknown Forest

This one might be a bit better. After all, presumably the forest is connected to some form of civilization somewhere, right? I could make a lean to and snare rabbits. I read My Side of the Mountain. Young Sam did it, so can I. I read Hatchet too, and the whole Hunger Games trilogy. People survive in the forest all the time, right? Or do they? And what about Big Foot? Or bears? Or worse? I saw The Blair Witch Project. And I wouldn’t even have a tent. Or a map. Or a sleeping bag. Ok, so maybe the woods aren’t the best choice either.

Option Three: Locked in a Strange Building

How locked are we talking? And what kind of building? Does it have working plumbing? Because that’s important to me. How about some sort of meal delivery system? At least out in the woods or on the island I assume there would be something to eat. In this locked building I’m not so sure. The whole food and water thing is really important to me. Even more important than the bathroom, and that’s saying a lot.

Ok, Mr. Kidnapper (not to be sexist, but that’s what I imagine in this scenario… a woman might have thought it out a bit better, just saying), I’m ready to pick. The building is out, too many variables. The island, while it might be great for a short vacation, is out too. Too far from civilization. So that leaves the forest. Can I least pack a sleeping bag and some granola bars? And if you don’t mind, would you please let my family and the police know where I am? Thanks bunches.