Monthly Archives: November 2022

Activism, Memoriam, Nature

Landing a Joke Well

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It could happen! Once in a while, I can proudly land a perfect one. I row with the Solano Rowing Club on a whaleboat most weekends. Maybe you had to be there, but while we were putting the boat away for storage today our coxswain Alison said, “next time we’ll work on ab holds”

I retorted, “What did you call me!?”

Coxswain Alison with Becky & Karen as strokes. We often see sea lions swimming by!

An original quote from yours truly is that “laughter is the best revenge against death,” by which I mean we can laugh and that alone makes life worth living. On another macabre note, I always wished I could sleep less when one thinks that a 75-year-old person has slept away 25 years of his or her life. I’ll never forget the chill I get when I heard the antagonist in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea claim “sleep is just a slice of death.”

Now for a segue.

We recently lost the goddess of candy pants, Judy Tenuta, to fucking ovarian cancer at the age of 73 (the same age my mother was when she died of fucking ovarian cancer in 2016). I saw Judy live in New York City years ago to my glee. Riding the subway home I had to hold on to my companion because I thought I’d fall on the subway tracks I was such jelly from recalling her jokes. I’ve always gravitated toward funny women, which partly explains my Streisand fandom, but Judy’s wit will be so uniquely missed. I went out and ordered her books and whatever else I could find on her but I always searched for her online to see what she was up to. I recently read her first book on the plane to Hawaii and quickly started using her quips with my husband on vacation. I still believe Judy was very underrated.

Fortunately, Judy was sometimes on the Stephanie Miller Show to talk about not just politics in her special way, but also her attempt to KICK CANCER’S ASS. I do listen to Stephanie Miller every morning on FreeSpeechTV and encourage everyone to join in. Stephanie spoke at Judy’s celebration of life recently. Through the last several years of SCOTUS packing and general mayhem in American federal politics, comedy like Stephanie’s and Judy’s has kept me sane.

“Is anybody hearing this? I feel like I’m taking CRAZY pills!” — Will Farrell

Activism, Holidays, Pets, Street Fairs

Photos with Santa 2022 Part 1

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As part of our year-end efforts with fundraising for Humane Society of the North Bay, we were featured in the Vallejo Times-Herald on the cover again (see below). Yesterday was the first of two times we are doing this fundraiser in 2022.

The things we do for charity!

Photo credits for some of these are Andrea Rodoni and Manny Furtado.

Genealogy, Travel

Hayden Family History in Hawaii

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I finally got around to posting juxtaposed pictures of my previous trips to Oahu and some of the key photos of my grandparents and parents from the 1950’s and 1970’s. My dad grew up for much of his childhood in Oahu, including when Hawaii became a state, and then later lived on Moloka’i when he himself was stationed there from about 1961-1963. This project was to take photographs in places where they were photographed decades earlier.

Check out my previous Oahu trips in 2009 and 2016. I will now have my 2022 trip added.

In 2009, my friend Kawika Mueller, who I had met on Maui the year before, helped me go to the places where my grandparents and parents had traveled which were recognizable on Oahu. I sort of recreated the shots thanks to Kawika.

My grandfather, Andrew Jackson Hayden, on the right with an unidentified man in the 1950’s at Nuuanu Pali State Park Lookout with views of the Koʻolau cliffs.
Me, Joseph Andrew Hayden, at Nuuana Pali Lookout in March, 2009 with the same rocks (now not ossified for some reason) and with a safety bar they must have added. This was the location of a historic battle, per Hawaiian custom.
Same lookout with me stepping to my right from the 2009 photo above for a different view.
Then me again back in 2016 in the same spot 2016.
This is me again back in November 2022.
Entrance to park in 2009.
Here are my parents in February 1973 looking down at Hanauma Bay State Park.
Me in 2009 at Hanauma Bay State Park.
This is me in November 2022.
My (step) grandmother, June Warner Hayden, in the 1950’s in front of the statute of King Kamaehameha in downtown Honolulu in front of the palace.
Me in front of King Kamaehameha in 2009. Understandably the statue seems less accessible when I got there.
1950’s Waimea Falls
2016 Waimea Falls – Shando went in the water and I took some video.
My parents, Floyd William and Giuseppina Hayden, in February 1973, just outside the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Punchbowl Hawaii.
Me in basically the same spot with Diamond Head in the background in 2009.
My grandmother June and someone (possibly my great-grandmother Ann Hayden) in front of Aloha Tower in downtown Honolulu. I have a bunch of other pictures from this area with my grandparents, but they are low-resolution black and white photos. I suspect this is where people arrived by ship in the 1950’s.
Me in front of Aloha Tower in 2009.
This is me in front of Aloha Tower in November 2022.
My father and his step-mother June were probably on the walk to Waimea Falls. I am guessing my dad is about 12 here and he was born in 1939, so that would make this the early 1950’s.
Me on the walk back to Waimea Falls in 2016.
Grandmother June and another woman in Honolulu sitting on a concrete beach wall in the 1950’s.
This is me in 2009 sitting on a similar concrete wall which appears to be shorter with Diamondhead in the background.
Nature, Pets, Travel

Kauai November 2022

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We saw 2-6 giant turtles beaching themselves each night we went over.
Our first sunset of this trip at Poipu beach, a short walk from our rental.
Kayaking, hiking and general adventuring was fun, with a motor ride back.
Hanapepe Bridge in a cute little town.
Salt Pond Beach, Kauai
Arboretum, Kauai with Kawai the dog
Shipwrecks Beach in Koloa, Kauai with Kawai the dog
Activism, Pets, Travel

Kawai Field Trip from Kauai Humane Society

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The first time Shando and I were in Kauai in 2018 we promised ourselves that we would participate in this when we returned since that trip was full of activities and we didn’t have the time.

This shelter has amazing grounds and a great program to allow tourists on Kauai to take a shelter animal on a field trip. Kawai was a wonderful older female who we enjoyed bringing to an arboretum up a mountain and then to a dog-friendly beach.

Travel

Oahu Visit 2022

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Our first night back in Waikiki. This photo was taken by a friend from California who now lives here at Bacchus bar.
Me standing in front of the Waikiki street sign for HAYDEN Street, as I did in 2016.

Our visit to Oahu included hitting some of the same tourist spots that we hit last time, but doing it better. For example, when we came to Hanauma Bay State Park, we went first thing in the morning (even without a reservation) and got in with no problem parking.

Waikiki Hyatt mezzanine has a waterfall
Beaches on the Oahu North Shore and Waikiki
Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout
Oahu Botanical Garden closeup of ants going nuts on a bloom.