A Dedicated Bicycle Lane
Life In Playa Del Carmen
How the Locals at a Mexican Beach Deal with the Unusual Visitor
This time around, I walked on the beach, stopped, and did a few yoga poses while some other shirtless buff white male tourist did yoga with some seriousness-ness 100 meters away. All the while, six beach sweepers walked towards me, slumped, and in a nonchalant and unhurried manner. They had on hats, long nylon sleeve … Continue reading How the Locals at a Mexican Beach Deal with the Unusual Visitor
Is Cantonese propriety rude or respectful?
by Emy LouieAll my life, my Chinese friends and relatives would say, "My parents are Chinese," or so and so "is Chinese." So what does that mean, really?Now, as an adult "elder," I am confronted with situations where I need to talk to strangers, nationals, or ex-pats from Guangzhou, China, who speak Cantonese. So how … Continue reading Is Cantonese propriety rude or respectful?
The Visit at Night
I want to comment on the April 14, 2021 incident of the South African man’s accidental visit to an upper Nuuanu mansion. Based on a picture and video of the upper Nuuanu residence that this South African man accidentally visited, the look of that coifed residence is night and day compared to the next door … Continue reading The Visit at Night
The Effect of COVID Regulations on the Bus and on Mom-and-Pop Places in Honolulu
Since 1974, I have been happily riding the bus, but, unfortunately, in 2021, to take the bus borders on the onerous, and to frequent a mom-and-pop establishment is just as onerous: let me tell you why. While on the air-conditioned buses in Honolulu, I get cold, so I bring extra clothes to stay warm: I … Continue reading The Effect of COVID Regulations on the Bus and on Mom-and-Pop Places in Honolulu
Open Air Rural Restaurant Design, Post COVID
https://youtu.be/WbK0jRQHBNQ Short of being entirely outdoors, this open-air restaurant allows maximum air circulation.
Beach Erosion: What a Town in Central America Did About It
The Fence That Changed the Alamo Plaza
So it was in 1876 that [Isaac Leonard] Ellwood sent [Pete] McManus to Texas to introduce barbed wire to the ranchers and cattlemen...Barbed wire has lived on and continues to serve the cattle business [and] changed the landscape of the American West.Marilyn Bennett in It Happened in San Antonio https://youtu.be/CFyymZiOwP8
How to Start a Meditation Practice
Posted on August 24, 2012 Updated July 24, 2020 This is how I see meditation. This is my personal experience, so here are some tips for you to try out. Find your own way or variation that makes you the most comfortable. Here is my explanation of meditation: you are a radio receiver. There are a … Continue reading How to Start a Meditation Practice
The Beach’s Convenient Trash Disposal
Here is the female Mexican Grackle or Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). Regardless if it stands in one place or flits around, its face has a fierce-looking demeanor. It has subtle variegation of colors: a dark ochre-colored belly, lighter in color compared to its dark caramel wings and tail. Do not confuse the female Mexican … Continue reading The Beach’s Convenient Trash Disposal
The Eleven Courses at My Father’s Eightieth Birthday Celebration
Photos by W.L. The first course (not shown) was a cold meat platter with jellyfish salad. 涼拌海蜇 ~~~
An Alaska Back Country Adventure
Let us embark on an Alaskan adventure! Starting from Anchorage, Alaska at Turnagain Arm, a famous waterway, we head to Anchorage’s Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Then, we take a train from Anchorage and head north to Denali National Park and Preserve. Within that Park is Mount Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, which at 20,310 … Continue reading An Alaska Back Country Adventure
The Birds That Keep Their Distance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peWz48r92gQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12c01YnTzZk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o52nFXcjl8g Chapters This Side of the Hemisphere: Easy Access to Wildlife Saved by a Tin Bag Revenge of the Jungle Ants The Bird from Heaven The “Research” Center TBD What A Cow Would Do That a Sane Person Would Not Do What Stands Around A Lot and Is Ready to Strike? Wild Horses … Continue reading The Birds That Keep Their Distance
Tropical Kingbird: The Bird That Wants to Entertain
With a yellow underbelly and forked tail, this “yellow bird” looks like it wears a black mask--a black stripe that you can even see from behind the bird. Certainly compared to the songbird version of a blackbird, these “yellow birds” are quiet, as the blackbirds drown out the more silent birds. At first, one may … Continue reading Tropical Kingbird: The Bird That Wants to Entertain
This Side of the Hemisphere: Easy Access to Wildlife
In Central America, in a remote and rural place, a land of lakes and volcanoes, wild animals outnumber humans 50 to one. Here, the annual weather averages a low of 73 degrees Fahrenheit to a high of 91. Isolated from the rest of Central America by a large body of water, one huge section of … Continue reading This Side of the Hemisphere: Easy Access to Wildlife
What A Cow Would Do That a Sane Person Would Not Do
As you will see here, the cows’ sense of time and relative physical space is different from humans. Except for the “cow talk” below, if humans did similar things, they would be considered insane. What cows do notice is grass, other cows, humans, open space. But do they notice sunsets? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ocHkIS3s7Y Above. The white cow … Continue reading What A Cow Would Do That a Sane Person Would Not Do
Revenge of the Jungle Ants
In the open-air tropics, we are urged not to eat in our rooms. Because if any morsel of sugar remains, the ants arrive shortly after that. Or if it is too late and you have ants, gently lure them away. If you disobey, the following is what happens. One day, I had an empty bag … Continue reading Revenge of the Jungle Ants
Miscellaneous Musings 