Scooter Saga

We left for Maui right after New Years (1/3/2020) and returned to Portland 2/20/2020.  Almost seven weeks!  It wasn't seeming as long as it used to before we made friends there.  Kai Makani was truly starting to feel like a second home (only warmer) .  In addition to having visit from mainland friends, Earl and I were having a grandchild visit for the first time completely on her own*.  The airlines consider passengers 14 and over "independent travelers"—yay! Too close to whales In addition to the tropical flora there, Maui also has amazing wildlife.  We have white egrets in our complex.  They're less obtrusive than the Pooping Pigeons (that we can see anyway).   But we also saw a rare, endangered monk seal basking in the sun.  Local  conservationists  were quick to tape off a wide area to keep nosy tourists at bay.  Snorkelers, divers, and swimmers  usually see plenty of turtles and fish.  The humpback wh...

Disclaimer:  These posts happened in 2019.  Before the COVID–19 virus turned our world upside down.  Although I had plenty of material, I just couldn't get motivated to write.  Things may seem a bit out of date, but I just needed to decide to get busy and move on to 2020. The good part to owning a half interest in the co ndominium in Maui is that Earl and I can use 24 weeks  a year.  Our partners have to get by with only 8 weeks a year.  The bad part is that we get more meetings and home maintenance.  I know, I know. Quit whining. A first world problem...  The day before we arrived, there was a huge brushfire.  It closed the only road between Kihei and Lahaina.  Closing roads is a very low bar, since Maui isn't known for having many alter nate routes.   Fortunately by the time we got there, the road was open, the traffic was manageable, and all we had to contend with was the fire smoke.  Since the...

Earl was a dedicated, but realistic convalescer (is that even a word?)    He reluctantly cancelled a bucket list adventure to Borneo in the Spring, knowing he wouldn't be able to meet the hiking requirements.  It was a difficult, but reasonable decision. Determined to get back in biking condition within a year, he signed up for the Gran Fondo Whistler ride in September with a friend.  She too, had been hit by a car on her bike, had surgery on her injured shoulder, and eventually recovered to ride another day.  In fact, she had become one of Earl's mentors through this ordeal.     We headed back to Maui for most of March.  Tropical warmth feels better than Northwest rains to a healing bone structure.  This time Earl could walk and lift, so we were able to resume most of our usual routine.  We weren't going to run the risk of losing luggage this time*.  Because his shoulder was still weak however, I wasn't going to "latc...

After Earl's bike accident in September*, enough healing had occurred (sort of) to allow a return to the warmth of Maui. He could sit and walk, but he still was protecting the injuries in his upper body.  Fortunately, we had friends and family accompanying us to do the 'heavy lifting'.  What heavy lifting, you say? Putting carry ons in the overhead compartment was one of those things he couldn't do at the time.  Flight attendants are always willing to help roll, but are prohibited from lifting, so we brought part of  'the village' with us. Ordinarily, Earl and I never check luggage.  We have our routine for getting on and off an airplane with minimal assistance from others**.  Usually, Earl puts his backpack carryon on his back, I latch on to his sho ulders and he walks me to our seat.  Then he lifts the carryons into the  overhead compartment   ( not this time) .  We're always the last people off the plane, I latch on to Earl's sh...

It's been a long 10 months since Earl's bicycle accident on the highway in Maui*.  The accident affected him in w ays other than the physical injuries.  Not that we needed another lesson on how life can turn on a dime, but I thought we had that one down.  Little did we know, there was more for us to learn.  Where I've had almost 15 years to adjust to disability, this was a foreign experience for him.   Making the adjustment from caregiver to an injured person was hard.  Earl had spent the last decade being my primary caregiver  and felt bad about not being able to that.   Tammy: "Like you did this on purpose?  Last I heard, you were going for a bike ride and minding your own business." My experience with disabilities ended up being fortuitous.  Having different deficits made the tag team approach to tasks more doable – pathetic looking, but doable.  Being wheelchair bound and no longer concerned about balance whe...

"Tammy, have you written a post lately?  Did you take me off your list?"    I knew some friends really wanted to know if I was among the living, but were afraid to ask.   Spoiler alert:  I am alive and there is no list.   When questioned, I tried a variety of excuses, but they never rang true.   –Was there nothing new to say?   Unlikely.  The last post was September 2018 "The Maui Event"*.   It's been quite the year since Earl's bike accident – Was I traumatized, anxious, worried?  Probably not.  It  wouldn't help anyway.   Besides,  I'm t oo superficial.   –Were my 'sharing' days over?   No one would believe that –Was I too busy?   Come on!  It may take me awhile to do things, but it's not as if my dance card is full. –Did I have 'writer's block'?   Oh puh-leeze!  Given the structure of a blog, that seems a bit presumptuous. –I didn't have any ph...

Earl and I headed to Maui for an early Fall month.  Warm weather, a pool for swimming, lots of reading, TV watching, eating time and Earl could bike to his heart's content.  We had dinner with our neighbors and enjoyed the beautiful sunsets 😎. A week in (9/18/2018), Earl left for an early morning bike ride and I enjoyed some solitude,  checked my email while listening to Pandora music – all was right in my world.  I received an unfamiliar, but local call on my cell, answered it, and was greeted by a cheery female voice. "Hi, is this Tammy?" "Yes,"  I answered, thinking 'who is this?' 😁 "Are you related to Earl?" 😐 "Uh, yes," my heart began to pound... "Are you his wife?" "Uh, yes," I knew then that she wasn't calling to ask me to meet Earl somewhere for a beer. 😨 "Well, Earl's fine, but he did have an accident on his bike and this is the Maui police calling.  He was talking to us befo...

Just when I thought we could do nothing new in Maui, the nuclear missile alert happened.  It's always something. At 8:00 am, Earl’s out for his beach walk and waiting for the start of the Maui High School canoe races. I’m in the condo when I get the first alert. At the same time, with canoes about to go in the water, all activity was halted.  As a wheelchair-bound person, I was concerned, but not panicked.  I mean, really? First alert 8:04 1/13/2018 To Earl T: Interesting alert. Where would we go for shelter from a nuclear missile?  More to the point, does it matter? E: Not sure. Turn on the news T: The news says if you’re outdoors, go indoors.  If you’re indoors, stay away from the windows.  They said that they will let people know when the alert is over. E: Do they say anything about when the canoe races are going to start? (He was just yanking my chain. He really came back to the condo) 8:34 Oops. Nevermind 😳 My first ...

Bad weather seems to be following Earl and me this year.  We couldn't even escape it in Maui.  Sure, it was nice at first, but then the blue skies and sun Lake Kai Makani gave way to clouds and the rains came.  It was different from the more persistent, but light rain in the Pacific Northwest. Rain in the South Pacific may be warm, but it can also come as a tropical deluge. Our sweeping lawn became Lake Kai Makani, the parking lot flooded, the beach views turned gray.  In fact, it was 64° and sunny in Lake Oswego and 64° and rainy in Kihei.  Go figure.  Bad weather in paradise?  It did get better.  It always does. No pool?  I'll bike instead Devices to the rescue?  Sue us. The highlight of this trip was hosting two of our grandchildren (the first two had come in January) . Of course, they were looking forward to all the Maui attractions, but especially our pool.  Except that it was closed for resurfacing.  ...