Dashed out this morning during an unexpected sun break to run the dogs in our “secret” field.

While there, I got a message from Michelle, the manager of my gym, that Elena, who teaches my old folks class there, would be live on Facebook at our regular time, 11 a.m. Dashed back home to do it. It was great!

There’s always something, though, wherever I can find a place to run the dogs. Apparently, a large flock of Canada geese had spent the night in “our” field. And, apparently, goose droppings are a delicacy. I restrained Roxie and Dolly as much as possible. Still, I’m wondering if “things” might look a bit different later today.

One day, Meg and I drove to Wailuku to buy a wonderful desk she had found on CraigsList. On the way there, we drove through tho old sugar mill.

When I was last there, the mill was a flourishing industry which had employed hundreds for over a hundred years. It was shut down a few years ago because of the pollution it produced. Remember the tune? “C & H pure cane sugar. From Hawaii. Grown in the sun.”

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. workers gather for a group photo at Puunene Mill on March 1, 2016, the day the final harvest of sugar cane began. –

It was a real community with a church.

And a meat market.

Schools and housing , now standing empty.

The Puunene post office is still open. Once, I lived on Maui for a while. I liked to use this P.O. It was never crowded like the one in Kihei.

And this old bookstore.

Now it a charity store. Books are 25¢ each, except the ones on the porch which are free. I bought some that I didn’t really want.

Have the Golden Oldies channel on this morning, getting some exercise dancing around the house in my pajamas. Then they started playing the Riverias “California Sun,” and I had to stop and re-gain my composure. I am really California dreaming’ today. Rainy here all week. Luckily, I got to soak up lots of sunshine on Maui and in West Texas this past month.

Advice from this old woman for the new work week: Make sure your do-do list has something happy to do every day. I just ordered a small vase of flowers to be delivered to Mother in the nursing home.

Sorry to mention this, but NOT available from any provider to deliver to her: any kind of kleenex. I did just fine an obscure provider which will supposedly ship a package of this:

I also strongly advise doing something for someone else today. Maybe telephone an older person who is not comfortable texting. Or mail a hard copy note to someone.

Better yet, get someone else to tune in to the Golden Oldies channel and dance simultaneously if not together.

Typically, my Sunday mornings start off like this:

Then I get up, feed the dogs, get coffee, bring out the NY Times Sunday crossword, and turn on the news before getting ready for early choir rehearsal.

Not today, except for the dogs on the bed.

Today, there is no news, no choir rehearsal, no church. Just the crossword.

One day is much like the other. But for me it is essential to have a to-do list with at least one special thing on it every day.

Today, it will be to watch St. Paul’s service of Morning Prayer on Facebook. We were even given a detailed service bulletin so we can pray and sing with the socially-distanced presenters.

After that, I will be getting in line at Fred Meyer’s pick-up dock to have my weekly grocery order loaded in the back of the car. Presumably without human contact.

Tomorrow? I’m not sure yet, but I am soliciting suggestions.

Most Sunday mornings before leaving early for choir rehearsal, I read several newspapers online and watch the talking-head shows; but today there is no news. So I decided to go back to to Maui.

On my recent visit, one of the special things Meg arranged for me was to tour some very private gardens in her neighborhood. Through an electric gate, several very large houses sit on very large lots. I’m guessing about 3 to 5 acres each. On each one sits a huge, grand house. The houses sit empty for much of the year while the owners live in other houses in other parts of the world.

Josh, a brilliant, knowledgeable, and dedicated gardener lives in a garage apartment on one of these properties. Over the years, he has established huge gardens of tropical fruits in all the unmanicured areas just beyond the manicured lawns and swimming pools. He tends it all. And every Saturday he takes the week’s harvest to the Kihei street market.

Here are just a few shots of Josh and his gardens:

As we walked through the garden, we sampled several exotic fruits I had never seen or tasted before. I wish I had taken notes and more pictures, but I really just wanted to be present.

Lots of things on Maui, all tourists can do. Not this.