Musings: Carried on the Wind

I spent the best part of the morning — literally and figuratively — watching albatrosses south of Ka`aka`aniu. I wish it could have been the entire day, but an editor’s request for revisions ASAP called me back to my desk.

Still, it was enough to fortify and sustain me, watching them soar on the wind, sit serenely on their nests, bob and touch beaks in their curious little rituals — not to mention simply hanging out among them in the splendor of a rugged, wild coastline.

I love their giggling calls, their clacks and moans. It’s an auditory reminder of the natural order, much like a phone call I received last night from my friend Daniel in Hanalei.

He held the phone out on his deck so I could hear my friend Kaimi leading the North Shore lua boys practicing their haka — the sounds of stomping feet, chanting, a pu being blown, all carried on the wind. It was good to hear/feel that kind of energy going out in Waioli Park in downtown Hanalei.

Daniel also reported he’d seen the “jet stream” from that rocket Japan paid $50 million to blow up in the waters off Kauai yesterday. He didn’t know what it was until he saw the evening news, but said it gave him an ominous feeling to watch that looping stream, looking like the time the space shuttle blew up.

Kauai never did get the Japanese tourist business that officials wanted, so guess now they've decided to sell missile tests instead of sightseeing tours.

Speaking of sightseeing tours, I heard Hale Mawae — one of those who hung the banner over the edge of the Superferry on its first voyage to Maui since the bailout bill allowed it to return — talking on the radio yesterday about the massive vomiting among those on-board. He called it “a hoailona” — an omen, or sign.

Later, I got this email from a friend, wondering why the Superferry barf-o-rama coverage waned:

“The media has been silent about the impact of the rough conditions on the SF's passengers for the trips on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The conditions had to be worse than Thursday. Doesn't nausea and vomiting sell papers?

"I read an article on the net that said that 1/3 of the population get motion sickness easily, another third get sick when there's a lot of rocking and the last third can handle anything. Maybe he's [Superferry CEO John Garibaldi] in the latter category.

"You should google Lake Express. It's a high speed ferry serving Wisconsin and Michigan with boats built by Austal. Apparently, Lake Michigan can get pretty choppy and passengers have been stricken with bad cases of motion sickness. I have a hard time believing that the SF investors didn't factor this into their calculations. Maybe it's been about the military all along.”

Hmmm, yes, maybe it has, and just this morning I got an interesting tip along those lines, that I’ll be happy to share. But first I need to do a bit of investigating.