Not a very eventful day here at Chez Morefield.  Dan played golf in the morning while I gardened (amazing what happens when you're gone for a week!).  Then we hung out all afternoon watching the Ryder Cup.  The score at the end of the day (5 - 2 America) does not tell the story of the incredibly close matches.  It was a particular joy to watch Phil Michelson and Anthony Kim come from behind to win both of their matches.

I did get in some political reading while watching the match (and listened to a couple of political podcasts while gardening).  Lots of nattering about Sarah Palin and the post-convention bounce for McCain/Palin.  But I see the latest polls have Obama drawing slightly ahead again.

The best article of the group, imho, was an opinion piece by Jonathan Alter of Newsweek.  Click here to read it.  Like Alter, I am tired of the central topics of discussion being related to faux issues (ads, lipstick, all things Wasilla) instead of actual issues.

When we are faced with a financial market crisis that requires a government bailout to the tune of trillions of dollars, it's time to start talking about how these two men at the top of the ticket will govern.

A big clue from today?  Obama sees these steps as necessary.  McCain decries government bailouts.  Well, duh.  Nobody likes them...but if we don't shore up the system and allow banks to fail by the onesies and then the tensies...things will be a lot worse.  That seems like it would be just fine with McCain as long as he has someone to blame.

 

Well, it's official.  I will be a work widow at the beginning of October.  So Dan and I are taking a little mini-vacation at home.

It began with a golf lesson this morning, followed by a trip to Roger Dunn and then a movie.

If you liked (or even loved) Fargo like I did, you will really enjoy the gruesomely funny Burn After Reading.  I thought it was snort-worthy hysterical...but you've got to be ready for a little blood to leaven your laughter.

Particularly good were George Cloony, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt.  But the actor who carried the emotional center of the show, imo, was Richard Jenkins. 

So, if I'm sporadic about blogging the next few days...please forgive.  We're trying to wrangle as much together time as we can.  And if you like odd-ball humor, go see Burn!

That's the title of a song that's been on my I-tunes list recently.  So very apt for me.  Dan retrieved me from the madness that is LAX last night, waiting for me at baggage claim with a cheerful smile.  Despite the commute time to pick me up!  (How lucky am I?)

Then we visited (and watched Three and a Half Men reruns) while I wound down.  To sleep.  To dream.  And what a difference in the quality of my rest when I'm not sleeping alone (even crossways) in the king sized bed.

I rose early (3:00 a.m. Hawaii time and 6:00 a.m. in California) and played golf with a friend of ours, Tom.  Dan and I usually play with Tom and his wife, Renee', on Wednesdays.  But today Tom and I were on our own. We discussed everything from past bosses to current politics (an unexpectedly similar voting decision) to life and golf.  In between, we had a great round.  Tom shot a 79 and I shot a personal best, 93.

So...I'm thinking at some point tomorrow I'll get on the horse and start the research process into California Propositions.  I'll spice it with a bit of Presidential campaign commentary.

But for today, I'm going to relax after a dinner with Dan.  Hang out.  Go to bed ridiculously early (for either Hawaii or California time).  And enjoy coming home.

I'm almost packed...just waiting for the last load of laundry to dry...T-minus 90 minutes before I head out the gate.  I did, of course, manage to get in a farewell snorkel at Kahalu'u--and boy am I glad I went!

I saw four honu, a baby flying gunard, all kinds of little fry out for their first swims, a trumpet fish and a herd of humuhumu's.  It was fairly deserted when I went so I was able to tool around the bay without running into any people.  High tide and a lot of swell, so there seemed to be a certain frenetic energy to the denizens of Kahalu'u.

I said hello to all of the honu (and a couple of the fish) for Lynne, my usual snorkel buddy.  By the third honu I was cracking myself up.  It reminded me of Chad Riter, on the surface of this same bay, curled into a tiny ball and saying (very clearly through his snorkel), "Pretty fish, pretty fish."

Indeed.

It's always hard to leave Hale Honu...especially on such a gorgeous day.  The vog is gone, the sea and sky are blue, two young Hawaiian dudes are paddling by on their stand up boards. 

Sigh.

On the other hand, Dan will be waiting to pick me up at the airport.  That tops two guys on paddle boards any day.  Aloha, Hale Honu!  Hello, Laguna Niguel.

Wow, no takers on the Sunday Question?  I guess that I'm not the only one who needs to ruminate on the nature of "rights."  I eagerly await a response from the many thinkers who read this blog.

As to my last full day here this go-round, it was a lovely, (if vog-y) Monday in Kona.  I was up before dawn to hit the Kona Country Club one more time.  Once again, I was all by myself on the Mountain Course and, although I didn't score as well this time, I quite enjoyed the solitude, the views and the many wild mountain goats roaming the course.

After returning home and taking a much-needed shower, I travelled North to see the latest home built by Jerry Akers, who built Hale Honu.  Jerry's wife, Karen, was good enough to show me the property and it was truly stunning.  Located in the Hualalai resort area (next to the Four Seasons), the home is 6800 square feet, on the golf course, with four bedrooms and gorgeous living spaces...and every luxury one could imagine.  Very fun.  If you know anyone who wants to drop $9.5 million, they're looking for a buyer!

Since returning home (and to reality), I've been finishing up the final chores at the house.  I'd enumerate it all but then you'd all be sleeping by the end of this blog!  Suffice to say, Hale Honu is in great shape and I head home via United Airlines tomorrow at 1:00 pm, Hawaii time.  I'll sneak in a last snorkel before packing then head up the coast...sad to leave Hale Honu...glad to be going home to Dan!

Probably no blog tomorrow...unless I see some stunning fish while snorkeling.  See you when I'm back on the mainland!

Now that I'm just about completely relaxed, I'm two days away from leaving Hale Honu.  Today was cleaning day--scrubbing, sweeping, checking and replacing lightbulbs.  Before you feel too sorry for me, though, I spent a good deal of time on "break," watching the eerie overcast (caused by the "vog") day snail by.

I've done a good bit of reading since I've been here (and a bit of journaling, too).  One of the books I'm reading is called The Shack by William P. Young.  I picked it up on a whim a few months ago and have found it to be a profoundly challenging book...especially for such an easy read.

Young grew up as an MK (missionary kid) in New Guinea.  He attended Bible school, received an undergraduate degree in Religion and then attended (but apparently didn't complete) seminary.  So the book is informed by his Christian world-view...but it's also informed by a deep humanity and a quest for answers to life's toughest questions.

Which leads me to the Sunday question.  In the book, a man meets (literally) with God at the cabin where his young daughter was killed some years prior.  God is presented in three aspects and various conversations ensue.  In one of them, the man says:

"Didn't Missy have a right to be protected?"

The Spirit answers: 

"No, Mack.  A child is protected because she is loved, not because she has a right to be protected...Rights are where survivors go, so that they won't have to work out relationships."

I've had to sit with this quote for a while this trip, mull it over, argue with it.  Which is why I'm putting it to you.  Do you agree with the Spirit (as Young presents it)?

Or do you disagree?

I took a break today from politics, from cleaning Hale Honu, from just about everything one could label "productive."  That's not to say that I didn't read the paper (online since the local paper didn't show up).  But I firmly decided not to blog about things political, not to worry about polls or teapot tempests.  Today was my day to relax.

And so it was!

After the paper and a few cups of Kona Joe coffee, I strolled down to Kahalu'u bay where I snorkeled for about an hour.  I was a bit later than usual, so there were more sightings of tourists and no turtle sightings at all. 

Since it was an extremely low tide, though, I was able to get closer to some of the coral reefs while still floating about and thus was able to add an elusive sighting to my snorkel list--a scarface blenny.  These shy little guys normally hide when a snorkeler dives down for a close look.  By just hovering above, I avoided startling the fish and got a nice long look.

I ambled home and relaxed for awhile before setting off for the day's main event--a massage at the Ho-ola Spa.  Placing myself at the mercy of Zen-master masseuse, Tyrone, I blissed out on the lanai for a deep tissue massage.  Because Tyrone is so versatile, the deep tissue also includes pressure point massage.  By the time he was done, I was a happy noodle.

After a quick bite to eat, I came back home...chatted with Dan for a bit and later with my friend Lynne (my usual snorkeling partner who abandoned me this trip).  Then I settled in on the lanai for a long afternoon, reading in the overcast, windy weather.

After a couple of hours, I happened to glance up and was treated to another rare sighting.  Just off the cove, I saw what at first I took to be a huge sea turtle.  Closer inspection proved me wrong.  Instead it was a group of three spotted eagle rays.  I spent the next hour or so snapping photos, taking a film and calling Dan to tell him about the sighting.

I wish I could upload the photos but the p.c. I'm using doesn't have the appropriate port...so I'll have to wait till I hit the mainland.  In the meantime, I'm heading back out to the lanai to toast the sunset.  Not bad for a non-productive day, eh?

Because it's getting awfully deep in the spin zone also known as the Presidential campaign.  Check out the article in the LA Times today about two non-partisan fact-checking organizations calling McCain's campaign on their recent, misleading advertisements. 

Since I've been in the Hawaiian hinterlands (and having much technical difficulty), I've missed most of the brouhaha surrounding Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment.  I don't have audio on my pc (another technical glitch), so I haven't checked out the McCain web-ad that takes the comment out of context and, according to accounts, accuses Obama of calling Palin a pig.  It sounds like I'm not missing much.

I am surprised that McCain would allow members of his campaign to go to these lengths to smear Obama, given what he endured at the Bush/Rove campaign's hands in 2000.  McCain's reputation as a straight shooter and an "above politics as usual" maverick would seem to be at risk if he continues on this path.

The party faithful won't back away from him (or, it seems, from Palin) for lies, distortion and spin.  But it just may be that independent voters will be turned off.

Which is why it's important for Obama to avoid a tit-for-tat retaliation of spin.  He's already skated dangerously close to fabrications of his own (as noted in the LA Times article). 

There are ways to use your opponents verbal missteps to highlight their weaknesses without twisting their words.  For example, McCain's tongue in cheek statement that if you make over $5 million, you're rich. 

Instead of saying McCain literally thinks $5 million is the demarkation between rich and middle-class, Obama could say, "I know my opponent was making a joke when he said $5 million dollars in income is the definition of rich.  But what does McCain's bad joke tell us about his mindset?  We're in an economy where average Americans are struggling with high gas prices, dwindling job security and a mortgage mess of enormous proportions.  And John McCain would rather joke about what makes someone wealthy than come to the table with real tax relief for average folks.

This is a man who had to check on the number of houses he owned..."

That's the type of argument that carries weight...that convinces people rather than just being sound and fury, signifying nothing. 

Some days I wish there really was a spin-free zone.

Since I was offline for a few days, I thought I'd also toss in this link (courtesy of my b-i-l, Ken) about Palin's false claims to being a reformer.

I read an article in the LA Times that said some folks are worried that "calling Sarah Palin a liar" by exposing her record on the "bridge to nowhere" might make Barack Obama look bad.

As opposed to Sarah Palin's BEING a liar?

What a goofy political world we live in.

I've been on a universe-imposed hiatus from the blog since arriving here on Monday night.  For whatever reason, the internet decided not to work on Tuesday morning.  Nothing I could do (with or without the help of cable tech support folks) brought it back to life.

So I took it as a sign that the Power that is thought the world would chug along just fine without my armchair quarterbacking.  I made good use of the time, working on the house, shopping for replacements to items that have gone walkabout, meeting with folks, snorkeling, walking along beautiful Alii Drive and, today, golfing.

It was my first ever time to go for a round of golf by myself.  I was a bit nervous but I went anyway and am so glad.  My tee time was 6:28 a.m. and I was scheduled to play with a couple from Canada.  When the woman said nervously that she didn't really play much, I offered to play ahead since there weren't any other folks scheduled on the course for an hour.  She looked quite relieved and off I went.

Which leads me to the lessons.

#328:  Ask for what you want, but be prepared to participate in making it happen.  I had said a quick prayer, asking for the opportunity to play alone.  When I got to the pro shop and found I was scheduled with this other couple, I gave an internal shrug and was prepared to play with them.  But when I talked to the wife, and observed that the husband was a bit slow getting out there...it seemed to me like God was saying, "It's up to you."  So, I asked for what I wanted again and lo and behold, I was playing alone.

# 976:  I am primarily responsible for me.  This one seems obvious, so bear with me.  Sometimes, on the golf course, there will be better players ahead of one's group and also behind.  This results in an uncomfortable "squeeze" where the group behind is waiting for you and the group ahead is off the green before you make it to the tee. 

In such a case, one needs to "pick up the pace."  This has been a source of discomfort for me over the years because I try to not only pick up my own pace but to compensate for everyone else's pace as well.  So I rush.  I don't concentrate.  And I play even worse (and thus slower) than before.

Playing by myself today reminded me that the only thing I can control on the golf course is my own game...and imperfectly at that.  I am responsible for my game, not anyone elses.

In life, I think it's much the same for the most part.  Unless one is a mother or father, or a caregiver to a dependent adult, one is only responsible for oneself.

This is not to say that we don't have responsibilities TO one another.  Of course we do.  We make commitments and want to fulfill them.  We are in relationships that require compromise and investment.  We love people and so want to be helpful to them, of use.

And in each of those cases, we are not responsible FOR the other party.  We are responsible for our own actions and others are responsible for theirs.

In life, and in golf, we can only play our own ball.