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Reviewing The Red Poppy Origins

2012-02-06T08:36:00.000-10:00

I was up in the loft the other day, going through bankers boxes, looking for some missing papers. I found a pair of spiral note pads that conjured up memories from the past. I pulled them out of the box and, and sure enough, they were the original journals I was using at the time I conceived my initial thoughts for The Red Poppy.
Having found the papers of my original task, I grabbed the old journals and stepped down the ladder and immediately started reading. The date on the cover of the journal is 12/10/90, but the date on the first page inside the cover is May 5, 1989, scrawled in the upper right-hand corner of page one. It was the first of five hand-lettered pages of a short piece called "Moonlight Becomes You", with a note below indicating that I revised the piece on December 11, 1990, close to the date on the cover. I think this is because I started the short story, writing on a yellow pad, and then transferred the story thinking I would continue with it at some later time.

I began to read the aged journal, and a flood of memories came back to me. I remembered where I was when I began writing in this journal, and I remembered thinking about the short story I started writing. The journal started with about 18 pages of hand-written notes on various projects I intended to undertake (but never did), and then, a paper clip at a page where the first words were "Reis could see her face in front of him..." Although it was a very early version, I knew that The Red Poppy had seeds further back in time than the writing in this journal. After reflecting on my writing all those years ago, I remembered that the original concept was a short story written on several note sheets that have long since been lost. The dream sequence in the beginning of Chapter 1 was added sometime later when I decided to make Canar the main character. At this time I had no idea of where I was going with The Red Poppy, nor did I realize the effort it was going to take to write a complete novel.
The notes in this journal occurred after my friend, Karen Somer, challenged me, some twenty plus years ago, to take one of my short stories and write an entire novel from the concept.
Very early, the story began with Reis and Vand Grec in what now follows the beginning dream sequence, and as I turned pages I came to a page that contained the names: Henry Presenti, Miranda, and Roosevelt. It wasn't dated, but I remembered thinking about having a "hook" at the beginning of the story, something to give the reader a taste of what might come, drawing interest to where I was going. The Prologue (and Henry) was born from this early set of notes, and I have come to find that people have an immediate fondness for Henry as a young man. And to be completely honest, some of my favorite parts of the story involve Henry, especially in later chapters. For the most part, these chapters came quickly, and I was once told that the characters will begin to tell you (the writer) what comes next. In my case this has been true because so much of my writing involves my characters.
Following the six pages of notes that eventually became the Prologue there were research notes. I could tell that I was mapping out where I was going and what information I might need. At this time I was making it up as I went along, and the thought of an outline hadn't occurred to me as yet.
Research on Prohibition, bars, among many others were included as researched items in this group. Then I saw a note "Radio 9-10 pm One Man's Family (KGO). I remembered researching old radio programs in the 30's, and when they came on in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you read the Prologue carefully, notice I injected a reference to the program as Henry's mother brought hot cocoa and cookies to him. As I noted in my previous article, sometimes a writer (me at least) might do hours of research just to make a casual reference in a story, just like this one.
Afterward, there are some notes on medical research, and I think I did this research when Canar and her father were almost killed at Gnostia. I wanted to have my facts straight when Canar discussed her father's condition with the doctor.
At the top of the page with the medical research there is a reference to card catalog numbers, reminding me of the hours I spent at the County Library in downtown Santa Rosa. There was a page of quotes, two from Mark Twain and one from Lewis Carrol, but no record of the note I used at the beginning of the Prologue. Memory of how I found the perfect quote has faded, but in looking over these original notes, I am reminded at how in-depth my research was, and although I did not write an outline up to this point, I could see by my research that I had most of the story planned well in advance. So, at some point I realized I needed to have a plan. Maybe it was when I realized the enormity of the task to write a novel.
There were notes on personal histories of Reis, Canar (whose original name was Carya), and Vand Grec. I wrote a mission statement for INSAT, and then pages of star systems I invented: Vega (where Valdi is located), Amilib, Fen Oalli, and Caes Valane (where the exotic resort planet of Coppratee is loacted). I dedicated a page to each system with descriptions of important planets, relationships between the inhabitants (peaceful or hostile), environmental conditions, and some major cities of interest. I went to this level of detail because, even back then, I realized that there may be references to people and places throughout the story, and I wanted consistency, which in my mind makes the story more plausible to the reader. I remember having written a long description of the planet Hyperition, which was inserted in Chapter 2. Now, there is a short discussion regarding the unusual wood table made from Landappa, which only came from this remote and primitive planet in the Fen Oallie system.
There are notes about UFO encounters, paranormal occurrences, dimensions in space-time, there is even a family tree including Henry and Miranda starting at the top, then working down the generations to Michael Presenti in the year 2115.
And then, after pages and pages of research and notes on story ideas, I came upon the first semblance of an outline. I remember realizing that I was getting close to wrapping the story up, and it occurred to me I needed to consider how the story would play out. I seem to remember realizing the work would go faster and easier if I had a plan, and coordinating details might be easier. The outline started at Chapter 12 and continued to Chapter 19. I thought it was strange that I stopped my chapter outline at 19, but I looked on my computer files and found an outline that started at 20. So this was the beginning of my current practice of keeping everything on the computer and at my fingertips. I remember that at the beginning of The Red Poppy I was graduating from writing my stories as handwritten notes to writing on a computer, which I found to be much easier for the way that I create written works.
As I work my way through my latest novel, Raindancer, I find it much easier to make notes and develop a plan early on, but I still need to sit down at my computer and grind out the words. Computers make writing easier, but, they also make for more of a shut in experience as I don't make trips to the library anymore. Thanks to Wikipedia and other sites, all of the research is at my fingertips, and I can cut and paste into my notes, so no more lengthy transcribing into my journal. All of this instant access to information allows me to keep the thought moving, and it allows me to look at many alternatives, but it keeps me glued to this laptop, sitting somewhere in the house. I have learned that I can go to a Starbucks, and for the cost of an iced coffee drink, I can sit in a different environment and work. When I travel via airlines (in Hawaii it is often), I arrive at the airport early and find a seat (close to an electrical outlet), away from the crowds where I can free my mind and create.
Finding those original notebooks has allowed me to reminisce on how I began my journey as a writer. And it has revealed to me how much I have adapted to using new technology, but just like my professional experience in architecture, I don't think it really makes the process of creation that much quicker, just more convenient. In some ways I feel sad that this method of information gathering has fallen to digital files and hidden text. Spending time in the stacks and reading at an isolated table next to an outdoor garden brings back wonderful memories. Yes, I can take my laptop outside the confines of my home-office, but it's different. What is really great is that I can do research, while I write, anytime and anywhere. And I do a lot of research for my novels. A good example of my exhaustive research is Chapters 13 and 14 in Raindancer. All of the Navajo language was researched on the web, inserted and notes hidden between the lines of text. I can turn on the hidden text and find a word or phrase I need elsewhere easily, and I don't have to thumb through pages and pages of notes to find what I am looking for any longer.
I still keep a small journal of notes, sometimes plans for future work, sometimes notes on works I read on Authonomy, and sometimes notes for a current work. I started with a HB pencil in my hand, and I will end with a Pentel 0.7 mechanical pencil.

Visit The Red Poppy website at: http://www.tredpoppy.webs.com/

2011-12-07T17:57:00.001-10:00

There has been considerable progress on Raindancer recently and I am soon going to be posting new material to the web site: http://www.raindancer.webs.com/ under "Sample Chapters". There are other locations that new posts will appear such as: Book Blogs, Authonomy, and Write & Share but the link above goes directly to the home site for Raindancer.
It is common to find samples of a writer's work on their website or Amazon, etc. This allows a potential reader to determine if the entire work may be favorable to their reading preferences.
I want to provide a good representation of my story, allowing a reader to see the quality level of the writing, and something about the story I am telling. But keep in mind, changes (or embellishments) will always be on the table.
I like to think the work will get better as the story evolves, and as I grow as a writer. My participation on the above sites, with comments from my fellow aspiring writers, affords me the ability to reflect on my method of storytelling. My goal is to provide the reader with good storytelling, quality writing, as well as an interesting and believable story. In return I hope that my readers enjoy the story line and the characters, and gain a little new knowledge along the way.
Planning and writing a novel is a big job that requires a great deal of coordination, and in my case, much research. I have several tricks I employ that assist me in keeping all my story "facts" in line. I do this so the reader's experience is connected to the story and not being confused as to who did what and when. This requires careful planning and keeping of notes that reference who, what, where, and when.
For example, in Raindancer I decided to make a small change, or what may seem small. I made my main character (Xanszia) the oldest of three children in her family instead of the youngest. It just worked better, but I spent a day just going through and making sure all references to her standing in the family was (and remains) consistent through the story. This means reading and re-reading to make sure the writing is clear, the syntax is proper, and the facts are consistent from start to finish.
Along with the coordination of facts throughout the story, I am doing a bit of research for Raindancer on the Navajo Indian Nation in the Four Corners of the US, also know as Dinétah, or the traditional home of the Navajo. As with all of my stories, short or full novels, I enjoy providing the reader with factual knowledge as it relates to the story I am telling (actually I don't want to be called on the carpet for an error, which does happen). Although, I try not to let this research overpower the story, I feel it should support the readers experience, and add to the believability. An example of this occurred when I was writing The Red Poppy. I was looking for a significant real-life historical event to go with the time frame of Henry and Miranda spending a weekend at the Camp Rose house. I felt this historical detail would heighten the readers experience, and I spent a week of lunch hours (well maybe 1.5 to 2 hours) checking historical dates, and then looking through reels of microfiche to find local news articles. All for less than a decent paragraph on the written page. I have done the same for a small supportive sentence in Raindancer, but you will have to purchase the book to see where I inserted this historical gem, as it is much too far into the story to post as a "free" chapter. And today, with the internet at my fingertips I was able to do the research and insert my reference in less than a half hour. No more microfiche's!!

2011-11-26T07:27:00.001-10:00

The Red Poppy sold its first copy at Amazon/Kindle this last week.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Red-Poppy-ebook/dp/B00652M1G8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322328648&sr=1-1

2011-11-20T08:53:00.001-10:00

I am posting 4 chapters of Raindancer, my new novel in progress on this site for anyone to review and comment (in the right sidebar).
This work started out like many of my other writing projects, I have a general idea and write a chapter before I organize an outline. In this case Chapter 1 was created and then sat on my hard drive backup for several years. By chance I came across CS Lewis' "Till We Have Faces" and learned it was an adaptation of the Greek myth: Cupid and Psyche. After finding the text to the myth I began to think about the chapter I wrote and left on the archive drive. I wrote an outline and the story is unfolding on a daily basis (when I have time to write). I hope to have a completed work by the end of spring, depending on my schedule over the next few months.
I have posted these 4 chapters at the following sites:

Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/73242610/Raindancer

Authonomy: http://www.authonomy.com/books/39200/raindancer/

Raindancer

2011-11-09T19:02:00.001-10:00

I have been working on another novel (yes, science fiction again) and posted the first chapter here. Reviews and comments are welcome.

The Red Poppy on Kindle

2011-11-09T18:04:00.001-10:00

I was just notified that my novel The Red Poppy is now available through Amazon.com as a Kindle ebook.

Barnes & Noble has accepted the novel as a Nook book now.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

2011-11-09T13:28:00.002-10:00

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)

The Controversy of the Authorship

I remember the first time I heard Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, or at least the first time I knew that is what I was listening to. As I was growing up it was commonplace to hear the powerful sounds of a pipe organ as background music in movies and television shows. It was something taken for granted, it filled space, but for me there was something more.I heard something more, something special. Bach's achievement is distinctive starting with the first few measures as it Beethoven's fifth symphony. Both demand you take notice of it's heady structure from the first measure. And in both, that first run of notes grabs you and says, "pay attention, something great is coming". I saw the magic all those years ago, and although I did not have the musical background as I have now, the Toccata and Fugue captured my senses with it's arresting simplicity.

All those years ago I filed the memory of this piece of music away until one day when I was a first year music student. I was taking a class called Humanities 101, which complemented my music history class with a history of not only music but of art, architecture, and culture. I had heard of JS Bach even before attending music school and was somewhat familiar with his organ music through the recordings of E Power Biggs, the famous classical organist of the 20th century. But the first time I heard that single-voice exultation in that class there was something special, it was no longer an anonymous arrangement of notes that I appreciated, it was the masterful creation, executed through a human's mind. I was in love as it spiraled down from the upper ranges down to a diminished seventh chord and resolved with a D major chord. I had goose bumps and I asked myself: "What time period did this guy live in?"

When I attended college, music students were required to attend nine live performances a semester, writing a review on the music and the quality of the performance. Several of us in the music program regularly attended performances at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus, mainly because we were starving students and many of the programs did not require us to purchase a ticket. On one of these nights our little group of music students attended a recital of Bach organ works. We approached Royce Hall from a large quad area and ascended the grand steps that led to the lobby. Once we penetrated the doors to the hall we were immediately confronted with a massive pipe organ on the stage. It reminded me of observing a Volkswagon with a V8 engine somehow stuffed into it. There were keyboards, ornamentation that consisted of hand carved wood, highly polished and reflecting the stage lighting. And there was the massive bank of pipes that seemed to reach well up into the fly of the stage. We took our seats and I had the feeling that if the musician played this instrument half as well as it looked we would be in for a treat. After a time the lights dimmed and a small and frail-looking man appeared from stage left, walking toward the massive instrument. The applause was thin, after all, this couldn't be E Power Biggs as he had passed away just over ten years prior. The diminutive man approached a single microphone in the middle of the stage and welcomed everyone for their attendance. He then began a description of the behemoth at center stage. The wood was Honduras Mahogany, the octaves of the keyboards, the range of voices, and the foot pedals. Oh my god, foot pedals. Not only did the poor soul have to coordinate two hands, feet became a player in the music-making.

After demonstrating the range of notes and voices the organ was capable of, this man who was dwarfed by the instrument listed the pieces of music he intended to play. "We will start with the Toccata and Fugue in D minor..."

I remembered that name from Humanities class, but could not associate a particular rhythm or harmony of the music. But this was the last time I would only have a loose association with the title. The small man sat at the keyboards and began the toccata with it's distinctive three notes, and then this masterwork was etched on my brain, never to be forgotten. Once the second half of the toccata came to an end with a rafter shaking D minor chord the music turned toward the fugue. Sixteenth notes wrapped over and around sixteenth notes falling and rising in a constant rhythm. The complexity of fugue with its overlapping melody folding over itself again and again. The fugue portion of the piece is what is known as a four-voice fugue, which is a repeating sequence of notes, and in this case the sequence falls and rises, bends, modulates, and folds over and over. The complexity held me and when the piece was finished I knew that the Kommst Du Nun was next, and while we waited for a horn player to set up for the next piece, I found myself wanting more of the toccata and fugue.

I've lived happily with the knowledge that this incredible work is attributed to JS Bach. I regularly listen to Bach's compositions on my iPod while out walking. I am even listening to Bach as I write this article. And now I learn that there are people out there who dispute the attribution. These are people who are regarded as at the pinnacle of knowledge with regard to historical music. I do not question their analysis as most of the comments they make relate to technical differences in the work that do not agree with Bach's previous work or with common musical composition of the time. Having been a musician in my early life, and having written songs for performance I understand the development of style and how any creative person has a tendency to repeat similar motifs. I did not end up as a musician, but have spent the last 30 plus years in a creative profession, and I understand how style becomes ingrained and chronic, because it feels comfortable. These elements become part of your creative style that define your works. Look at the anthologies of great masters like: Pablo Piccaso, Jack London, Frank Lloyd Wright, and many others who achieved notoriety. They each have a style all their own that, over a lifetime has a beginning, a maturing period, and period of masterworks. Very few artists deviate from this course. In fact, I have been aware of this in my profession for years and make it a point to affix my "signature" to each of my works.

But as I listen to Bach and write this I am not ready to detach him from the Toccata and Fugue in D minor. I will stay within my callow confines with regard to Bach. I am not willing to let his reputation be dismantled by dislodging this masterful work from his repertoire. Until someone comes along with undeniable proof I will clench tightly the knowledge that the great master, JS Bach created this work. And I will continue to enjoy the mastery and complexity of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Published on Smashwords

2011-11-01T18:06:00.001-10:00

My Paypal at: www.tredpoppy.webs.com is finally working and the ebook can be purchased at this site as well as Smashwords. There are sample chapters here as well as the publisher's site, so please take a look.
The Red Poppy is on Smashwords (www.smashwords.com) in the Standard Category. It can be purchased for $3.99 in all available formats just like on the main site for the novel shown above. I am still awaiting my Premium Category rating so it will be released to places like: Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and more. I tried it out on my Kindle for PC and in Adobe Digital Editions (ieverything) and it looks just like a real ebook. Thanks to Smashwords for the tutorial on formatting.
Got to sell, sell, sell.
Thanks for reading. If you like it please TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

My First Novel - Coming Soon

2011-10-27T08:55:00.000-10:00

After 20+ years I am coming out of the closet as a writer and will be releasing my first novel: "The Red Poppy" in the upcoming months. The process of learning how to format, market, and the many facets of selling online has required a great deal of learning and unlearning, patience, and trial & error. I know that I am getting close to getting this work out to the public as an eBook, but in the interim you can find some sample chapters in the right side bar under "Work in Progress - The Red Poppy".
Feel free to look over the sample chapters here or visit my new site for The Red Poppy at: www.tredpoppy.webs.com, which is still under construction. And please feel free to comment at either site.

Chickens, Eggs & Numbers

2011-07-16T20:27:00.032-10:00

What came first, the chicken or the egg? All of us have heard this persistent historical paradox and have maybe ruminated on its complexity in some way. It induces one to contemplate development and succession, the start, development, and the product of any system that continues to evolve as long as it remains useful in purpose. The relevance of this question, in the context of this article, has nothing to do with chickens or eggs, rather, what influenced early humans to follow one path as opposed to another, and how did the system of language and numbers come about, and how did they evolve? What was it in history long past that motivated our species to go down one road as opposed to another?

My question takes us back to a time when intellect was a new concept for the human species and complex thought rather than instinct began to govern how humans lived and interacted. At the beginning point of rational thought, thoughts were not easily conveyed from person to person via a consistent method of communication. Whether it was body language or verbal “grunts” or other guttural sounds of some form, early humans realized that they had the ability command attention and to develop a language common to other members of their tribe or community. Language could have begun as gestures or a dance of sorts that was repeated many times the same way such that others learned what each move meant. It makes me think of honey bees when a new find of flowering plants laden with pollen is found. One of the workers does a dance for the others in a effort to communicate the location of the find. How specific is the language? How did it come about that bees developed this language? There seems to be something "built in" or instinctive to many species that commands us to convey our knowledge to others, especially when the continuance of a tribe or community could be at stake. At some point these movements, or dances, may have been enhanced with verbal idioms or common words that became known, entered into the vocabulary, developed, and then new words were invented, and on, and on. Human development turned down a new road at some point long ago, and we have never looked back since.

Turns, such as those I am speaking of, were so early in the history of known human thought that there are no reliable records to research and review in order to understand what motivated early humans, or shall I say, opened their eyes to realize they had the power of complex thought. There is evidence of a record of the evolution of language and number systems that stretches back as much as 5,000 years and pictograph images scrawled on the walls of caves that date back 10,000 plus years, but this record is fragmented and only a brief glimpse into the past is available to us today, and what we can see must be interpreted, and meanings assumed. We have no way of knowing at what point humans began to develop a communication system so that thoughts could be exchanged between individuals or from one individual to a group. As much as we know about lives of peoples living in the far past might be like, how could we account for all of the conditions and circumstances by which their lives were lived.

But at some point humans began to realize this mental power given to them, and a learning began. Slowly at first as this was entirely new ground and there were no maps or rules to follow, just trial and error until some form of understanding was carved out and accepted by a large number of members of a community. But the advent of language and the beginning of higher communication was a powerful tool and as they struggled to communicate, they learned.

When did humans develop the abilities of speech, language, and communication? Was speech preceded by gestures, and at some point it was realized that words, or sounds could be made, sounds that conveyed a thought common to all, and was speech a natural progression to language and verbal communication? It seems like a natural progression, but there are those who might question my hypothesis, and rightly so as we can only speculate on this subject.

Some scientists make a distinction between speech and language. Some say that language was developed early in human evolution, and speech was developed much later. This concept assumes that early humans were communicating by primitive gestures, drawings, and maybe primitive sounds for a long developmental period, and ancient cave drawings seem to back up that line of thinking. Just imagine a group of individuals, men, women with their children huddled around a fire in a cave in what is now France. They were learning and experiencing new things daily, and they probably wanted to expound their experiences to the others so they could share in the wonder of what was seen or felt. The impetus to develop a common spoken language must have been intense.

Scientists theorize that language developed over a long period of time out of the need to communicate without the use of hands, or being in easy view of others. For example: there may have come a time when early humans found a need to communicate, say a warning to someone in danger who cannot be seen readily, or in the advent of tool usage, hands were busy and gestures were difficult to achieve. The progression from gestures to verbal skills must have taken a length of time, and the development of language the same, but it seems a natural progression.

Many scientists make a distinction between speech and language. They believe that language (as a context for communication, and primarily as a cognitive ability to form concepts and communicate them) was developed earlier in human evolution, and speech (one of the forms of communication) was developed much later. The presence of speech without language is also possible, for instance, talking birds are able to imitate human speech with varying ability. It is also remembered that Quj-Gon Jinn remarked to Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars I that speaking is not necessarily a mark of intelligence. Although amusing and interesting, this discussion is not relevant as neither talking birds nor some speaking beings from distant star systems in Star Wars would be intending the acquisition of syntax as those who mimic do not have intelligence and the power of individual thought.

A sample of Cuneiform text on a clay tablet

Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. It emerges from Sumeria, a civilization that first settled the region of southern Mesopotamia, or modern Iraq, during the Early Bronze Age between 5000 and 4000 BC. The cuneiform script evolved from pictographic proto-writing in the later 4th millennium. The first documents written in cuneiform, or the Sumerian language, date to the 31st century and were found at Jemdet Nasr located in what is know as the central eastern part of Iraq.

Some ten millennia ago the Sumerians began using crude clay tokens to count their agricultural and manufactured goods. This system of attempting to account for numbers of items was a predecessor to a unary system of counting, and it demonstrates how language and number systems began to evolve. Sometime later they began placing the tokens in large, hollow, clay containers which, for some unknown reason were sealed. The quantity of tokens in each container came to be expressed by the making of impressions on the container's surface, one being a picture of the tokens inside, an attempt to advise others of what the pottery contained. They next dispensed with the actual tokens, relying solely on symbols for the tokens, drawn on clay surfaces. To avoid making a picture for each instance of the same object (for example: 100 pictures of a hat to represent 100 hats), they 'counted' the objects by using various small marks. In this way the Sumerians added "a system for enumerating objects to their budding system of symbols." Evidence of this early form of writing turns up during the Uruk period, dating around 3300 BC. Prior to this pictograms were either drawn on clay tablets in vertical columns with a pen made from a sharpened reed stylus, or incised in stone in the same manner.

It has been claimed that the key feature distinguishing human language from non-human communication systems is recursion. This linguistic sense of the term recursion involves the insertion of adjective phrases within phrases as exhibited in the complex sentence "The man with the old crusty eye patch he wore since WWII, walked to the store that burned down before his uncle had put down the down payment", rather than the less informative, "The man walked to the store". And it is the syntax that I am speaking of here. The development of a primitive language which becomes more and more complex as more adjectival components are developed to make language more and more specific.

The same line of thought is included in the development of number systems and mathematics, which can be seen as a form of communicating the relationship of numeric concepts.

A numeral system, or system of numbers, is a writing system for expressing a numeric concepts using a given set of symbols in a consistent manner. It can be seen as the context that allows the symbols "11" to be interpreted as the decimal symbol for eleven or the binary symbol for three.

The most commonly used system of numerals is known as Arabic numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals, and the simplest numeral system is the unary numeral system, in which every natural number is represented by a corresponding number of symbols. If the symbol / is chosen, for example, then the number seven would be represented by ///////. Tally marks represent one such system still in common use.

Example of a Unary Number System

The standard method of counting on one's fingers is effectively a unary system which is most useful in counting or tallying ongoing results, such as the score in a game of sports, since no intermediate results need to be erased or discarded. Marks are typically clustered in groups of five for legibility and are similar to the practice of using digit group separators such as spaces or commas in the decimal system, making large numbers such as 100,000,000 easier to identify. The first or fifth mark in each group may be written at an angle to the others for easier distinction as a group or set. Another example of a unary counting system clustered in counts of five is the Chinese, Japanese and Korean custom of writing the Chinese character, Korean Hanja character, or Japanese kanji character 正 which takes 5 strokes to write, one stroke each time something is added. This character is sometimes referred to as the “herringbone” method of counting due to the rectilinear pattern formed by the marks.

In Brazil and France a variation of this system is commonly used which is similar to the "herringbone" method where four marks are arranged to form a square, with the fifth mark crossing the square diagonally instead of arranging "sticks" in linear fashion.

Addition and subtraction are relatively simple in the unary system, as they involve little more than writing a string of symbols or a group of symbols, which requires the person reading the symbols to “do the math” in their head. Multiplication and division requires a higher knowledge of mathematics and are more difficult to perform if a unary system is the only method available.

Also, with a unary system there is no explicit symbol representing zero as there is in other number systems, so unary is a very limited system with a single digit. If there were a 'zero' symbol, unary would effectively be a binary system. In a true unary system there is no way to explicitly represent none of something, though simply making no marks represents it, but this is done implicitly and it requires the understanding of the receiving party. Even in advanced tallying systems like Roman numerals there is no zero character, instead the Latin word for 'nothing,'nullae, is used.

As mentioned earlier in the article, there was a time when there was little or no language, and a time when there were no numbers to represent one, two, or three of anything. When early humans began to develop communication it could be surmised that there came a time when numeric concepts were understood and fingers, rocks, sticks, even eyes were used to represent numbers. And it is easy to surmise that a unary system of counting could have been the earliest form to represent numbers of people, game, or enemies, even the marks on pottery urns indicating how many tokens were inside demonstrates the use of this simplistic numbering system.

There was a time when early humans did not have, nor did they need complex words and symbols for numbers. A terminology using words or concepts such as: flocks of sheep, heaps of grain, or lots of people would suffice as exact numbers were not needed. There was little need for a numeric system until groups of people formed clans or tribes, villages and settlements and began a system of bartering and trade that in turn created a demand for keeping track of numbers and of currency.

Paper and pencils were not available to transcribe numbers, and numbers did not exist for the most part, so other methods were invented for means of communication and teaching of numerical systems.

The Babylonians stamped numbers in clay by using a stick and depressing it into the clay at different angles or pressures. The Egyptians painted on pottery and cut numbers into stone.

But these number systems were devised of hieroglyphic symbols instead of number symbols. For example, the Egyptians used the following numerical symbols:

And groups of symbols were used as shown below to communicate large numbers:

The Chinese had one of the oldest systems of numerals that were based on sticks laid on tables to represent calculations. It is as follows:

The Roman numerical system is still used today although the symbols have changed from time to time. The Romans often wrote four as IIII instead of IV, I from V. Today the Roman numerals are used to represent numerical chapters of books or for the main divisions of outlines. The earliest forms of Roman numeral values are:

The first major advance in abstraction by ancient humans was the use of numerals to represent numbers. And I would consider this a major development in early humans as this demonstrates a rising to a higher level of complex thought. The ancient Egyptians developed a powerful system of numerals with distinct hieroglyphs for 1, 10, and all the powers of 10 up to over one million. A stone carving from Karnak, dating from around 1500 BC and now at the Louvre in Paris, depicts 276 as 2 hundreds, 7 tens, and 6 ones; and similarly for the number 4,622. As well, the Babylonians had a place-value system based essentially on the numerals for 1 and 10.

A much later advance was the development of the idea that zero can be considered as a number with its own numeral. The use of a zero digit in place-value notation dates back as early as 700 BC by the Babylonians, but they omitted such a digit when it would have been the last symbol in the number. The Olmec and Maya civilization used zero as a separate number as early as the 1st century BC, but for unknown reasons this usage did not spread beyond Mesoamerica. It wasn't until the year 628 when the use of a numeral zero was originated by the Indian mathematician Brahmagupta in.

However, zero had been used as a number in medieval computes (the calculation of the date of Easter), beginning with Dionysius Exiguus in 525, without being denoted by a numeral (it cannot be written as a Roman numeral); instead nullus, the Latin word for "nothing", was employed to denote a zero value.

The first systematic study of numbers as abstract entities is usually credited to the Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Archimedes. It is also interesting to note that many Greek mathematicians did not consider 1 to be "a number", so to them 2 was the smallest number.

Several set-theoretical definitions of natural numbers were developed in the 19th century and today numbers systems are a part of our everyday life, and numbers systems have become exceedingly complex as has the mathematical languages (algebra, calculus, trigonometry) developed to count people, inventory, or even change, and further used to describe the oddities and realities of nature.

A Golf Story Continued

2011-07-02T07:41:00.002-10:00

Golf is a simple game. Just hit the ball from a fixed position, let it fly down the fairway to the green and then roll it into a hole. RIGHT.

In my first post on this blog I described my new mastery over the game of golf and that I had nearly achieved the goal of breaking a score of 80. One would think that I would just stay with a good thing and continue to improve with what I had going, but, although I had achieved some success, something wasn't completely right about what I was doing.
The reason for this particular post is that about a month ago I decided to make a change with my golf swing, and how I have taken my baseball prowess for hitting to right field and making it work for me in golf instead of always struggling to avoid the malady. Each time I stepped up to the ball it became difficult to remember all of the steps required to strike it cleanly. Align properly for the shot direction, pull the club back correctly, keep the left arm straight (as possible), pull the club and not push the club, rotate the club head back to perpendicular, and so on and so on.

I go down the the Kona Country Club pitching green about 3-4 times a week to work on my swing and get some exercise on late afternoons. During one of my recent trips I noticed that on my practice swing I was more relaxed and easy. Then when I stepped up to the ball to strike it I was more tense. I also noticed that I was "swinging to right field" on my practice swings, and the swing was easy. I thought, why can't I do this when I go to strike the ball? So many times I stood over the ball just trying to get comfortable, which was not one of my usual check list steps. Get comfortable, swing easy and the ball will just fly off of the club head just where I want it to go. RIGHT.

My fear of the dreaded "slice" was great, but temptation to try a new approach, an easier approach was greater. The next time I went to the pitching green I ignored the temptation at first, but curiosity took over and I tried to line up so that I could swing with the same body motion I did as a baseball hitter. It was a struggle at first. The thought of hitting the ball up, into the parking lot way off to the right was daunting. But there wasn't anyone close by, and if I did hit it up there I could always blame it on someone or something else. So why not?

I adjusted my position, pulled my left foot back a little and aligned the club head with the flag. After several practice swings I noticed that my view point with the ball had similarities to my old baseball days. I could see the ball better from this position, much like waiting for a pitch from the mound. I looked up to the green again and tried to imagine how I could swing like in baseball and get the golf ball to land up on the green. I took another swing. It felt good, the motion was so natural and easy, my hips cleared and the follow through was smooth and easy. What the heck. I lined up how I thought I should and took a practice swing. Smooth and natural, easy. I stepped up to the ball and imagined it going high in the air and landing on the green. I swung, smooth and easy and the ball flew off the end of the club head, just about 90 degrees on a low and fast trajectory, right into the thick groundcover. SH..! At least it went low and not up into the parking lot. I quickly looked up to see if anyone up in the restaurant or bar saw the deed. I don't think so.
The problem occurred to me; I was pulling the club toward me when I started the down swing, pulling the club head away from the middle of he ball. I tried again but this time I made sure I kept the club head on the ball and voila! The ball flew in a high arc, my body had rotated naturally so my hips were facing the target and the club was over my left shoulder. The ball went to the left side of the green, which was a result of pulling my left foot back. That was easy to compensate for in my next attempt, the ball flew high, over the bunker and directly at the pin.
It's been about a month and I have worked on this motion with much success, and some setbacks. Sometimes the old motion gets into the mix and the ball goes off my line, or to crazy places, but I've been paying attention and have found that 80% of my shots are pretty accurate. So now it is time to try it out on the course.

Hawaii 2

2011-01-18T19:00:00.013-10:00

The Hawaiian Archipelago stretches across the Central Pacific a distance of 1,500 miles and includes many more than the 8 main islands most are familiar with. Due to the action of plate tectonics each island is formed as the Pacific Plate slides over a "hotspot" in the Earth's crust, allowing lava to push its way to the ocean floor from the interior of the Earth and form volcanic mountains. The Pacific Plate is the largest of the tectonic plates on the Earth, and it moves slowly toward the northwest at about 1.5 inches a year. Over millions of years, progression of the plate has resulted in a long arc of islands, atols, and shoals.

The geologic youngest of the Hawaiian Islands is Hawaii Island or the Big Island as it is better known. It is also the largest island in the chain and home to Kilauea, the only currently active volcano in the islands. Scientists believe that Kilauea has been in continuous eruption for about 400,000 years with a few short-lived breaks. As of this writing the current eruption has been going on for over 25 years and no end seems to be in sight, but these islands would not have come to be if the volcano's were not actively producing real estate. We have visited the eruption site on several occasions, but the most memorable trip was a night walk over the recent flows to the current surface flow of that time.
The weekend started with a drive to the little town of Volcano from Kona, which is almost 100 miles and another 20 miles down to the lava viewing area. We booked a room in a bed-and-breakfast in the little town as our plan was to visit the volcano at night, which would make it a late return trip home and less comfortable of an adventure.

Walking on a live volcano at night has the potential of being very dangerous, and that night we had many opportunities to do ourselves severe harm (20:20 hindsight). We came to find that evening that trips after dark to the volcano, while there are surface flows, is like a carnival. Cars were lined up on the side of the pavement from where earlier flows over-ran the road on their way to the ocean. Hundreds of people were walking over the flows with flashlights and lanterns, and looking up the slope we could see what appeared to be a brush fire, but we came to know it was the surface flow of new lava making its way to the ocean. As the volcano is within a National Park, someone from the Park Service anticipated a swarm of visitors and had set some reflective markers on the cooled lava marking the path to the new surface flow. We didn't see any rangers that night, but it is certain that the visitors did not set the markers.
The path into the lava flow was like I5 through Los Angeles on a Friday evening. Walking accross the cooled lava is more difficult than one would imagine as the flow heaves and cracks as it cools. Staying on the path had its difficulties due to the number of people, the darkness, and the constant reminder that we were very close to a new flow of lava. Within a half hour we arrived a what seemed like a stopping point for the throng. I climbed up on a mound of cooled lava and someone said, "turn your light off and look down", and I did. At that moment I noticed the glowing lava flow pushing its way down to the shore, not more than 100 feet away and the heat was like a blast furnace. I felt like a turkey or ham being moved into the oven at Thanksgiving. When I did look down I saw glowing rocks in the surface cracks just under my feet, and felt the heat below me. I moved rapidly and as I recall.

Beach at Old 'A'

Beach north of Old 'A'

This brings to mind a uniqueness of the Big Island that people do not realize until they visit Hawaii Island. The Big Island is new real estate, not new on the market, rather, new land that wasn't in existence 100 years ago. For those who have not been to the Big Island, this is the reason there are few white sand beaches like you will find on Maui, Molokai, and Oahu. There hasn't been enough time for the rock and coral to become pulverized by wave action so it can be deposited on the shore. One is reminded of the newness of the island when arriving at Kona International Airport as your landing takes you over the 1801 flow from Hualalai volcano. I joke about how it makes you feel like Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.
There are some nice, sandy beaches on the Kona side of the island like the one at Mauna Kea, Waikoloa or Hapuna Beach. There are more beaches on the Big Island, but the percentage of beaches to shoreline is much less than on the older islands. The photo above to the right was taken looking south from a popular beach near the town of Kailua Kona. Actually, there is a good spit of sand and public toilets and outdoor shade structures erected by the County. But the area along the surf is not as approachable as the photo above depicts. The photo to the right is more like what you get, and this beach is actually better than most as you can walk from the sand to the water to cool your feet on a hot day without having to negotiate old broken lava flows.

Kekaha Kai Beach

There are some isolated coves like Kekaha Kai Beach just north of Kona International Airport. Access to this little slice of Polynesia is a slow and winding 2 1/2 mile road that inconspicuously turns toward the ocean from Queen Kahahumanu Highway traveling a rutted and circuitous path over the old lava flows. There is a parking area near the beach, but again, it is a walk of about a quarter mile to the sand, but the effort is rewarded. The strand of white sand is narrow and a little steep, but the ocean is approachable. We have gone snorkeling at Kekaha Kai and although there are few of the bright-colored fish common to the reefs of Hawaii, there are enormous turtles that will curiously swim with you. Kekaha Kai is a wonderful slice of hidden Hawaii.

Pahoehoe Lava

Lava on the Big Island comes in two forms. One is called A'a (2 short A's) and the other is called Pahoehoe (pa' houi-houi). The photo of Kekaha Kai Beach depicts A'a lava, which is aptly named. This lava gets its rough form from the high volume of gases within the lava as it is deposited. The best way to remember the difference between the two forms of lava is that A'a looks like (and is) what you would say "A - a - a - a" if you walked over it in bare feet.

Pahoehoe at Old 'A'

On the other hand, Pahoehoe lava is beautiful and interesting. It tends to be blacker in color and is less gaseous so it flows in "flatter" sheets. The image to the right is of an old Pahoehoe flow that has been weathered and scoured by the ocean, but it still has the pooling lines that form as it cools. To the left is a typical Pahoehoe flow that also has weathered and is covered by large rocks that have been thrown up from the water during times of high surf.
When Pahoehoe is newly deposited and still cooling the lines sometimes resemble intricate braids, and in the sunlight all of the different minerals sparkle reds, greens, yellow and more. To see this you would have to walk on a live volcano and get close to lava that was at 2,000 degrees not too long before you arrived.

Christmas on Maui

2011-01-12T06:10:00.008-10:00

When most people think of spending Christmas on Maui, thoughts of sunny beaches, surfing, golf, and luau's come to mind. This is the image that is promoted by the State tourism board and all the hotels, especially during the winter months. But having lived in Hawaii for 11 years, we know that there is another Hawaii that we all somehow knew existed, but was overshadowed by tantalizing images of warm sand and umbrellas, blue ocean, and Mai Tai's. Although, people are curious, and once in the islands they explore and find the obscure gems of the up country. During our visit at Christmas we spent a morning in the little town of Paia and found it almost overrun with people and cars. It had been found by people who had been lured to the islands with thoughts of beaches and spectacular sunsets, and then they did what most do, they explored, and they discovered.

The Hawaiian Islands make up the most remote island chain in the world, a distant 1,800 miles to the nearest shore. This paradise was created by volcanic eruptions coming from a "hotspot" on the floor of the Pacific Ocean that has deposited massive volumes of lava from within the Earth, and over the millenia the lava built up and pushed above the surface of the ocean. Madam Pele kept on going and Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island now push upward to nearly 14,000 feet above the waves. On Maui, Heleakala rises above sea level to just above 10,000 feet.
These mountainous islands are home to many climate zones including: coral reefs, rain forests, and alpine environments. Literally, you could ski on Mauna Kea on a winter morning and surf on the Kona Coast in the afternoon.

This Christmas story's focal point is located on the northeast slope of Haleakala on the island of Maui, in the little up country hamlet of Makawao. This sleepy little town of 6,500 is situated 1,500 feet above sea level and is surrounded by lush growth that is buffeted by trade winds and rain showers on a daily basis. It is green, it is lush, and it is just up slope from the old pineapple and sugar plantations of the 19th century and enjoys a comfortable climate year round. Unlike lower elevations on Maui that stay in the 70's and 80's most hours of the night and day year round, the up country towns have cooler evenings and pleasantly warm daytime temperatures. Makawao is just one of several hamlets in the area. Little centers of commerce like: Pukalani, Haiku, Paia, and Hailimaile are close by and each has its own unique character and claim to fame. Not far to the northwest are the major towns Wailuku where the seat of Maui County government resides, and Kahului where large shopping centers and a mall are, as well as Maui International Airport.

Life on Maui is different from Hawaii Island, and the same can be said for all the inhabited islands in the chain. We enjoy visiting our daughter on Maui and surprisingly it is almost like "going to Hawaii" even though we live a quick 20 minute airplane ride from Kona to Kahului. For many years our daughter lived in the historic whaling town of Lahaina and we became familiar with quaint harbor town and with the tourist mecca's of Kaanapali and Kapalua on the northwest coast of the island. It is always a pleasant diversion from our home on Hawaii Island, there is more shopping, restaurants, and sights and long sandy beaches. It is a different place from Kona, and Makawao is more to our liking being that it is up country and rural.

Christmas of 2010 was a family gathering that included us and our three daughters and our three beautiful granddaughters. We all descended on Makawao on December 22nd and spent the next 5 days enjoying our grown daughters, and my wife enjoyed being Tutu (grandmother) to the babies and our 10 year old granddaughter. Our son-in-law took "the guys" to Piihole Ranch where we zip lined through the rain forest above Makawao on the 21st. It was an exhilarating experience flying over deep ravines and lush green pastures while hanging from a thin steel cable and flying along at a quick pace.

On the 24th we all went on a private whale watching adventure from Lahaina as December is the beginning of the Humpback whale mating season in the warm waters surrounding the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. It was an unusual morning on the water as the usual brisk trade winds that buffet the islands were very slight, and at times during the morning did not exist. We enjoyed picturesque views of Molokai and Lanai, and we saw whales cavorting in the mirror-like waters. This was an outing that everyone enjoyed.
The image to the right depicts the calm ocean and the island of Molokai with a cap of clouds over it, and if you look carefully, just to the left of Molokai is Oahu.

And we did see whales.

When I think of Makawao while I go through my usual work day, I don't dwell on the quaint and old wood structures of the town, structures that look as though the only thing holding them together was the many coats of paint that had been applied over the years. No, my mind thinks of a cat that I saw sleeping on a chair on the porch of one of those storefronts. His repose said it all about the up country life on Maui. Don't you wish you were snoozing on that chair, oblivious to the world passing by?

Mauna Lani Point - Pavilion and Pool

2010-10-19T08:15:00.001-10:00

We started this project back in 2007 with a limited budget and a short time line. The project was begun by the association of the Mauna Lani Point condominium development to upgrade and expand the Pavilion, upgrade the Recreation Building, and Pool Area. The original complex was built in the early 80's and little had been done over the years to upgrade the facility or correct access issues that could become a legal nightmare for the association. Although, the maintenance crew kept the facility in excellent condition, it's age was showing.
The original program called for the Pavilion to be remodeled with new finishes and some expansion of the outdoor lounge area. And of course, the budget did not match up with what the owner wanted. We completed our design that we felt would not over-reach the budget and received approval from the Board, then the owner went silent for a number of months. The next call I received from the owner's representative was that they had decided to remodel the pool area first. So we worked furiously to get coordinated with the designer they had hired to select materials, and produce some design drawings for the work. In December of 2008 the pool upgrade work began. The old pool area was nice and intimate with lush growth surrounding it, but it didn't reflect the Polynesian atmosphere of other pool amenities at the adjacent resorts or other complexes.The finishes in the pool area consisted primarily of concrete while the newer resorts were outfitted with natural stone decking and upgraded tiles. Lush landscaping around the perimeter of the pool was already in place so the only new plant materials necessary were in a couple of small planters we created as a part of the design.
The plan was to re-plaster the pool and color the plaster with a light grey so that it would have a more natural look. Refurbish the old pond adjacent to the pool that was not for swimming, rather, it provided a beautiful waterfall over a lava- rock wall into what looked like a natural pond in a rain forest. The pool deck surface was to be covered with a natural stone (random quartzite) and the old, outdated shower area was to be rebuilt using a lava-rock veneer. New pool furniture was purchased to complement the new finishes.

The images to the right were taken during the pool remodel construction. The upper image shows the existing shower area after demolition and the beginning of setting the new natural stone deck surface.

The middle image shows the existing electrical equipment that was mounted on the surface of the building. As this area was going to become a thoroughfare from the Pavilion to the pool and the equipment needed to be enclosed. The finished product would enclose the equipment in a room with mahogany doors that were re-used from the Kitchen area.

The lower image shows the pool while the new plaster is being installed and the natural stone decking was being finished. The pool area was starting to come together at this point.

In March of 2010 we selected a contractor and work began on the Pavilion portion of the facility. This required demolition of the existing trellis and rebuilding a new and larger trellis. Adding a new covered lounge area and remodeling the existing Kitchen area and the women's and men's toilet rooms. The floor of the Pavilion and Recreation building received the same natural stone as the pool area, the base material at the columns and the Kitchen area is basalt that had been flamed and brushed, and all of the woodwork (cabinets, coffered ceilings, trim) was constructed out of Merbau.

And then, on the morning of October 13 there was a fire in the old sauna room. I don't know why I picked that day, but it just happened that I was visiting the site to take photos of the finished product that morning.
Luckily the maintenance crew was on scene and held the fire at bay until the fire department came and doused the intense flames.
The sauna room was lightly touched in the remodel with just a "sprucing up" of the cedar floor slats and seating as well as an upgrade to the door and windows. We were also very lucky that the existing Recreation building was constructed of concrete. This limited damage to the Men's and Women's toilet facilities to the paint on the common wall with the sauna. This fire comes at a crucial time for the complex as many of the owners will be returning for the Christmas holidays, expecting to see a new, revitalized Pavilion and Pool area. We are working with the Association Manager and the Condo Board to clean up the damage and try to finish out the old sauna space. The owner's are not sure whether or not a sauna will replace the old one as, although a forensic investigation is ongoing, it appears the heater was the cause of the fire, and the popularity of the sauna is being questioned.

Many thanks to Kaleo Perreria of Lahela Kulana Corp. for the construction work, to David Haggith, the Association Manager, and the Mauna Lani Point Board for their quick action and directing the design and construction team to achieve a quick resolution to the damage.

Kona - Ironman Championship

2010-10-09T19:57:00.001-10:00

Every October the Ironman World Championship Triathelon invades Kailua Kona on Hawaii Island. There are Ironman events held all over the world during the previous year, culminating in the "World Series" of Ironman in Kona.
During the months of September and October the population of our little village doubles and our usually quiet life is disrupted by the deluge of athletes, support staff people, family's, and groupies. People come from all parts of the globe to enjoy Hawaii, watch the athletes, or participate in the race. Walking along Alii Drive through the village in the weeks leading to the event, you can hear numerous languages, different styles of dress, and cyclists everywhere. It is truly an international event and the scene is like a Carnival.
The serious athletes (professionals) come several weeks early and can be seen swimming in Kailua Bay, cycling on all the crazy, narrow streets and out on Queen K Highway, and running everywhere. Only two times a year does the intersection at Henry and Queen Kahahumanu Highway get backed up and Safeway overrun; Christmas and Ironman week.

For those who are not familiar with the Ironman events you would be amazed at just what these athletes put themselves through during an event. It starts with a 2 1/2 mile swim in the ocean, then a 112 mile cycle that winds through the village and out to Hawi and back. The event finishes with a Marathon, yes, a full 26 miles.
All of the excitement leads to the start of the race at 7:00 am Saturday morning from the Kailua pier when the canon roars and lets loose a puff of smoke. The water begins to boil and you realize it is caused by 1500 swimmers starting a journey that will take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours, or more. Some do not finish, and I do not blame them. Just having the guts to start is enough.
The professionals make the swim in 45 minutes to about an hour, swimming down to about the Royal Kona Resort at the south edge of Kailua Bay, and back to the pier. After pulling themselves from the water they jump on their bicycle and begin the riding portion of the punishment.

The cycling course is slightly different every year, but it usually winds through the village several times before the athletes turn north on Queen Kahahumanu Highway for the long, hot, and windy ride to Hawi at the north end of the island. The highway heading north passes by Kona International Airport and immediately the scenery becomes old lava flows which seem to radiate the heat of the day. In another 8 miles, at about Hualalai Resort they leave the wind shadow of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea and the trade winds begin to pound them, and it does not stop until they return. With the exception of the large resorts that are accessed from the highway, the road is desolate and in many ways foreboding.

The finish line stays open until midnight with the loud music and blaring announcers congratulating each athlete that crosses the finish line. The pounding music and the huge video screen light up the turn in the road where Palani Road becomes Alii Drive. Then the loudspeakers become silent and the lights go off, the carnival shuts down and the clean up begins. By Sunday morning the packing and clean up is well underway. People are out on Queen Kahahumanu Highway picking up water bottles, sponges, and other trash.
I make my run to the dump early Sunday mornings, and this morning I was happy to see that most of the liter was gone, along with other remnants of the race. The finishing line props down by the pier were still being removed at 6:30 am, and Alii Drive was still closed to general traffic, but it will be gone and the area cleaned up before too long. The visitors will begin leaving on Sunday, but some will linger in the wake of the grueling event to enjoy what our island has to offer. And in a couple of weeks our little village will be back to normal, and I will be able to get through Safeway in a reasonable time.
We grumble at the inconveniences caused by the influx of people on our home, but we have only missed the start of the race once in 10 years. The deluge of people and the national sports coverage is great for the economy of our island. The hotels are full, supermarkets sales skyrocket, and merchants sales spike. Especially in these times, Ironman is very welcome in Kailua Kona, on Hawaii Island.

Yosemite

2010-10-06T19:58:00.001-10:00

Ahh, Yosemite, the crown jewel of California. Our family has great memories of a magical place; another paradise.
You can look at pictures and you can listen to others talk about their experiences, but, when you visit the valley you are drawn into the magic of Yosemite. To take in Yosemite in just one hour or one day is no more than looking at a picture book or brochure. You are just turning pages, but not experiencing the essence of the valley. It takes a little time to gain perspective on the scale and drama of the valley, and to begin exploring many of the niches that Yosemite offers. Trails, waterfalls, and vistas are at every turn.
Our family has been visiting the valley for the last 30 years, and it is always at the head of the list of places we plan to go on next years vacation. Although, it's a little more difficult now that we live so far away.
I have always loved camping and being outdoors. During my youth my family camped on the Colorado River yearly with uncles, aunts, and friends. We explored, water skied, and lounged. As an adult I participated in some mountaineering and rock climbing and spent years enjoying a closeness with nature. But I had not been to Yosemite, except for spending one night in the valley so long ago I cannot remember any of the details of that visit.
When we lived in Santa Rosa, CA my wife, whose family frequented Yosemite when she was young, booked us for a weekend at Houskeeping. I was always up for something new, and being an outdoor adventure, I was in. Yosemite was just a 4 hour drive through some of California's most beautiful scenery in the historical gold rush country. After spending those few days in the valley I was on board. It became an easy sanctuary to achieve and we went several times yearly between June and September for years. And we always would go to Housekeeping. It is camping, except that the park provides the tent, bathroom and laundry facilities, a small general store, and walking distance to most of what is important in the valley. Houskeeping is a grouping of tent lean-tos set up and maintained by the Park Service. They meander along the Merced River which affords many vistas like the photos in this posting. It is easy in and easy out, so all we had to do was move in and go out and enjoy what the park has to offer.
We last visited the park in August of 2009, and before that we had not been for 16 years because of our traveling. It was a wonderful trip, and in many ways it was a pleasurable trip down memory lane. Because of the 12 years between the older girls and our youngest daughter, she did not have memories of the park that were held by her sisters. We did take her maybe 2 times, but she was very young and held little memory of being there.
August 2009 was also the first time we had all three daughters with us, and we had the pleasure of having our granddaughter as well. A true multi-generational vacation.

The adventure started with us flying the red eye from Kona to Phoenix where we met our middle daughter. Our youngest was with us on the trip from Kona and we rented a mini-van at Sky Harbor, packed the van, and headed to Southern California. We met up with our oldest daughter and my wife's parents in California. After a night of rest we woke early and drove to Yosemite sans, the older generation.

Our youngest was a little skeptical about the magic of Yosemite at the outset, but she is a real trooper and is always up for an adventure. She was concerned about the whole "camping" issue which involves shared bathrooms, dirt floors, and bears. Our traveling life with our youngest didn't include much in the way of camping. We stayed at nice hotels on most of our travels where dirt floors and bears were never an issue. On the contrary, we camped many times with the older girls, and I was assured they would enjoy the experience during this visit.

We arrived at Housekeeping in the afternoon and immediately went into our usual routine which was started so many years earlier. After unpacking and getting settled, we walked over to Curry Village where we ordered pizza, found a table on the outdoor terrace and ate our dinner, all the time reminiscing about past trips to the valley. Afternoon quickly became evening, which in turn became night. It didn't take long and our youngest was hooked.

For the next week we hiked, all the girls rode horses, we walked everywhere, and took copious pictures of waterfalls, meadows, and vistas. We had campfire at the end of the evenings and it was during these sessions I learned just how the older girls felt and remembered the past. The conversation was filled with memories and the older girls remembered our camping trips, especially those to Yosemite all those years ago. It was revealing, it was heart-warming. I felt like the girls were getting closer as sisters, and we were getting closer to the girls.

Being a family is building memories over a span of years. Memories that only you can share with those you care most about. But it is more than just the memories. It is being a family, a safe place you can always count on.
Find a place you and your family enjoy and frequent it.

And yes, we did see a bear.
We found her in an apple tree in a clearing one morning while we were walking. She abandoned her cubs for a short time to gather some fruit, and munch a few while she lingered in the upper branches.

Hawaii 1

2010-10-04T10:30:00.001-10:00

Is this Hawaii? Or maybe somewhere in Northern California or the Pacific Northwest?
Hawaii is not what one expects once you get beyond the palm trees, beaches, and a climate that is stable at 85 degrees all year around. Sixty degrees is like a cold winter storm front and we actually close the windows a little sometimes in January and February.
This place we have called home for nearly 11 years never ceases to amaze. Here on Hawaii Island (Big Island) we are living on some of the newest land on the Earth. But once you get away from the beach scene and drive inland ("mauka") it becomes a place like many others we have visited over the last 30 years. The little up-country town of Waimea (Kamuela) reminds me of Santa Rosa and Petaluma in northern California. But continuing on east from Waimea you arrive at the Hamakua Coast, and you are reminded of what a beautiful paradise you are in.
Our island is growing everyday thanks to Kilauea, which has been erupting for over 25 years now, and there is not any sign of it slowing down or stopping anytime soon. So what is the big deal? Tourists flock to Hawaii Island just to visit Hawaii Volcano's National Park by the hundreds every day. Yes, Madame Pele's wrath is good for the economy of the island(s) and it affords people the ability to view one of nature's most violent displays of how the land on Earth is formed. We have visited the volcano and walked from the end of the road (covered over by a previous lava flow) to where the lava was flowing over the surface on its way to the ocean. It is an amazing experience, and I recommend it to anyone. It is an awesome display of nature's overwhelming power to create and destroy and it reminds us of just how small and powerless we are.
Isn't this just wonderful? For the tourists, yes. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they will never forget. Hawaii Island has much to offer: beaches, volcanoe's, rain forests, snow-capped peaks, and more.
For those of us who live here there is a negative result of this creation of new real estate, something that we know as "VOG", which is pollution in the form of a sulphur dioxide laden cloud that descends on those of us who live here in paradise. The affect: very much like smog we have experienced on the mainland. Irritated eyes, symptoms similar to allergic reactions causing headaches, plugged nasal passages, and these are just the symptoms we experience. Sulphur dioxide is toxic and is perported to be causing acid rain that is devestating coffee plantations near the south end of the island.
The sunset included in this posting was taken from the deck of a home we leased above Kona International Airport. It was taken before Kilauea began spewing out massive amounts of sulphur dioxide, and as you can see, the image is clear. Today, like many locations on the mainland, the sunsets are hazy and the once clear horizon only provides beautiful sunsets like the one above, occasionally.
Hawaii is a wonderful place - to visit. Each island is a different world of its own. We have a daughter living on Maui, and we love to visit. Lahaina is a favorite; a quaint fishing village on the northwest shore, and we have wonderful memories of our visits. One such memory is of a small coffee shack near the harbor at Lahaina that we frequent many mornings. Here we get a cup to go and set out for stroll on the beach just south of the boat harbor. It makes us feel like we are on vacation in Hawaii.

A Golf Story

2010-10-03T09:15:00.001-10:00

I have always loved golf courses. Beautiful scenery and a challenging sport, and, in some cases, a sanctuary of nature sometimes in a congested urban setting. My love of golf courses is similar to that of snow skiing in that I love the sport and the scenery is well worth stopping to enjoy from time to time. What could be better?

Over the years I attempted to strike a golf ball with what I came to understand as clubs ill-suited to accomplish any semblance of control or accuracy. Couple this with my baseball past. I was a good hitter through pony league and high school and hit for a good average well above the .400 mark. But in reflecting on the hitting career of my youth, I didn't equate how my affliction for "hitting to the opposite field" could have an affect on my golf game.

My father was a very good golfer, and he took me to the course many times, probably to his complete embarrassment. I wanted badly to learn to get down the fairway and on the green in regulation, and he continued to take me along. I never failed to slice my way down fairways and punish boxes of golf balls in each outing. I learned to play in the rough and on other fairways as we moved toward the green. If there was water, I could find it just by swatting that little dimpled white orb.

Although I continued to try over the years, I found only frustration. Then one day a golf instructor helped me with my grip, and it helped enough that I gained some confidence in that about 50% of my shots actually went "straight". I bought a set of custom fitted clubs and set off to enjoy the game I wished for so long to play. When we moved our family to Hawaii I was anxious to take in some of the beautiful golf courses available. I was invited to play a round of 18 holes with some of my co-workers at a beautiful course on the Big Island called Makalei (http://www.makalei.com/). The elevation of the clubhouse is about 2000 feet above sea level and the course plays 9 holes up the mountain and 9 holes down the mountain. Makalei is a beautiful course with lush growth and unusual animal life everywhere. What is even better, the driving range is half way up the mountain, with panoramic views of the Kona coast. After I went to the range once I became a regular, mostly just to enjoy the view, and listen to the call of peacocks echoing between the trees. But something happened one day up on the range. After pushing almost an entire bucket of balls into the valley far to my right I remembered something. I used to hit to right field! And I took several practice swings, feeling my body turn to just between second and first base. That was it! I set a fresh ball on a tee and took a swing and voila, instant transformation.

I still struggle with my old habit of turning toward right field, mostly when I am tired or when my mind is cluttered with other things, but for the most part I could hit the ball relatively straight. But this did not make a large decrease in my stroke count for 18 holes.
Recently, while watching the Golf Channel I gained a greater understanding of what course management meant, and how to apply it. I began to study some of my favorite local golf courses and set a plan of attack for each using my new knowledge.
While I was studying course management I discovered, or re-discovered a chipping green at Kona Coast Country Club (http://www.konagolf.com/). At this location, which is minutes from our home, I began to learn more control and different strokes for different conditions. I also learned what distance I could expect from my short irons up to an 8, and I worked on my stroke to improve accuracy. I frequented the chipping green 2 or 3 times a week and gained confidence, learning a little something new at each outing. I then decided to play a round at Makalei one weekday afternoon. Makalei is more of a locals course out on Mamalahoa Highway and getting an afternoon tee time, alone, is no problem. Armed with all of the preparation, I attacked the challenging course keeping in

mind my setup, balance and tempo of my swing, and managed to finish with an 85! My goal is to break 80 and I am well on my way.

The image to the right shows one of the ocean view holes at the Mauna Lani Country Club on the Big Island. The tee box is out of the frame to the left and the green is somewhere in the middle of all the sand traps. Look closely and you can see the outline of Maui in the background.

I know that I may not ever play in a tournament, or challenge a tough course like Pebble Beach that would love to chew me up and spit me out. It's about enjoying my time on the course so I can appreciate those moments when I look out over the course just to savor its beauty.

Stone Creek Golf Club

Phoenix, AZ