Thanksgiving memories

That's me -- MSHS Buccaneer band geek extraordinare. Fall of my senior year we marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. (That would be November 1967...42 years ago!..if you're counting).

It marked several turning points in my life -- first big trip without my family, first trip to NYC, falling in love with NYC, falling out of love with my steady beau (temporarily, but portent-iously) and being on TV for the first time. Of course, I was in uniform with 125 identically dressed others, marching down the street, but STILL!

We were the band that leads in the Santa float -- that guaranteed us pretty good screen time. And we were behind the float that carried Dionne Warwick. Took me years to get "Say a Little Prayer for You" out of my head. Damn. It's back.

It poured down rain for almost the entire duration of the event. We queued up in the Central Park staging area and someone issued us throwaway clear plastic raincoats. We had to stuff our bright gold plumes inside our shakos (the West Point style hats that went with our cadet clone uniforms) to keep the dye from running down onto our faces.

When we got to the marker that cued us to the main viewing stand in front of Macys, we doffed the raincoats, stuck the plumes back in our caps and performed our brains out. (Almost all of us ended up with strep throat by the time we got home!)

When we went to NYC in 2007, we stayed in a hotel near that Macy's -- THE Macy's -- and I was tickled to death to see that the painted street markers are permanent. Of course they need to be touched up each year before the big event, but I can honestly say that a full 40 years after my turn on that tarmac, it still made my heart leap just a little to see it.



I have a recording of the medley we performed - if I knew how to post an MP3 here I would. We were pretty good.

A photo of me walking in Times Square with my soon-to-be-temporarily-ex boyfriend and two of our friends was in our home town paper, along with interviews. The clippings are in a scrapbook at Mom's or I'd scan them in here. It was a pretty big deal back then. Hope it still is.

I still watch the Parade every year -- growing up we called it the Macy's Day Parade and I thought that Macy was the reason for the holiday. I'm still thankful for Macy's. I first read the book "Miracle on 34th Street" when I was a very young child, and the original movie version (1947 B&W with Natalie Wood as Susan Walker and Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle) is still one of my very favorite holiday films. So to have actually perfomed in that parade was huge for me.

And my favorite part ever year is each and every one of the bands. Because I know how hard they worked to get there -- the fundraising (humiliating door to door sales of everything you can think of), the endless practice sessions (marching in the parking lot after dark to get the feel of miles of asphalt.) It was all so very worth it.

So if you watch the Parade this year, think of me and all of those sweet band geeks getting their moment. And enjoy!

When you live in Paradise, why travel?

I'm frequently asked where people who live in Hawaii go for vacation. These days, frankly most don't. And a stay-cation here is pretty awesome, all things considered.

But I do love to travel -- even though my job has me on the road (in the air) about 20% of my time. I love to explore new places, to see places I've only read about or seen in movies/TV. And I find that now, having been to a lot of places, seeing them or reading about them is even more fun than before. I will even admit to buying the book '1000 Places to See Before You Die' and flagging them as I go. Doin pretty good so far.

Travel is our big splurge. We don't live in a fancy house, and while our cars are nice, we also tend to keep them for 10 years at a stretch. I don't do designer clothes. But we try to take a major trip a year. We started doing that right after we married, and I finished chemo. I think it was the latter that motivated us -- appreciation for every minute we are given in this life, and refusing to put off enjoyment of that life until some vague tomorrow. Even during stretches where the means were thinner, we've found a way.

I like approaching the world like a buffet - so many different tastes to sample, so little time. That's why we tend to prefer cruises...unpack once and have the hotel follow us around. We've covered an awful lot of ground that way. And there are places that we have merely touched that we would like to return to for more exploration. Some day. After more tours to the unknown.

My friend eque does the more in-depth travel, taking wonderful trips on horseback in exotic locales. I love reading about her trips and seeing her pictures, because I know that it would not be for me personally, but I enjoy the vicarious experience.

It's a little like food -- some are grazers, always looking for the next dish. Others enjoy the lavish meal, savoring each morsel. But in either case, it's nourishing.

My favorite trip of all that we have taken to date is still our Vietnam tour in 2004 (pictures posted elsewhere on this blog). I arranged, over the internet, a private tour, with a driver and guide. We rode around that beautiful country from the Mekong Delta in the far south to Hanoi and Halong Bay in the north. To see the peaceful countrysides and industrious cities that I had previously associated with (needless) war and destruction was a revelation. It left me changed forever. In a good way.

I'm really blessed to have had the confluence of desire, means and ability to have had these experiences. And I eagerly look forward to the next trip.

Look out! It's BEHIND you!!

Nothing to say -- just clearing off the holiday post. I can't stand to leave decorations up past the holiday in question. Just looks pathetic.

This was taken a couple of years ago, on a tour round the leeward coast up past Makaha with some friends from Australia. The big white golf ball is a radar outpost. I just liked the contrast.