Democracy for Vancouver

And we’re back.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a harder time getting on a plane home. If it weren’t for all the critters awaiting our return, I’m not sure we wouldn’t have done a u-turn at the airport on-ramp.

A few pics of our glorious vacation will follow, probably tomorrow as we got back at 11pm last night and have had no time for downloading the digitals or getting the underwater film shots developed.

Many thanks to bushtool and Chardman for keeping the smoke signals puffing over at my place in my absence, and to my Dad’s cousin Virginia (R.I.P.) and my parents who passed along her generous gift and made this trip possible.

As for Hawaii, the beaches and mountains and ocean are unspeakably beautiful, and the variety and abundance of wildlife - both flora and fauna - almost too much to process in 8 days. I had no idea there were mongoose in Hawaii, for example, or that birds could be so unafraid of oncoming vehicles, and be so reluctant to use their wings when confronted by 2,000 pounds of marauding metal bearing down on them. How they have managed to evolve an understanding that people are dangerous but cars are not is beyond me; they will walk, calm and heedless, in the middle of the road between two lanes of opposing traffic, but try to get out of your car to take a picture and they will evaporate instantly.

On the human side, though, Hawaii, like the rest of the country, is suffering from the tenure of the asshole-in-chief. Our accommodations were off the beaten path in Makaha, about 20 miles northwest of the Honolulu and 45 minutes from the famous North Shore, and the drive from the airport took us through communities ravaged by poverty. In many places it looked more like Central America or deepest, poorest Mississippi than one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

Portland, where I work, is very homeless-friendly, so we have become used to seeing the tent cities that spring up when the weather improves in June or July each year. But on Oahu, there is nowhere you can go outside of Honolulu and Waikiki where you will not see tents, and in some areas whole beaches and parks have been entirely taken over. We asked several locals about this, and evidently it’s a mix of the subprime mess, the downturn in tourism post 9/11, and the recent skyrocketing of fuel prices, which caused the shutdown of major local employer Aloha Airlines and an even further reduction in tourism.

So, even though J. put a strict embargo on news of any kind during our stay, the Wrath of Bush could not entirely be escaped. That will have to wait a few months more, in whatever corner of Paradise you may inhabit.