Mele Kalikimaka e Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Mele Kalikimaka e Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I pray thee well and hope this annual letter finds you in good health and spirits. Even better - with vitality at every age and stage. What an interesting year I’ve had. After 42 years of nursing and one year on the COVID frontline, I retired April 1st - no joke! Eight months out, I’m still trying to find my rhythm. The pandemic has surely spared me the common malady of instant over-commitment. The one thing I have dedicated myself to is daily exercise: a 4-6 mile walk, sometimes 8, and/or yoga via Zoom. With another new COVID variant on the rise, I’ve not returned to the yoga studio. Additionally, my cats have learned that when my yoga mat is rolled out, I’ll be on the floor - just where they want me. I get a good core workout and intend to add some light weightlifting in the new year. My trek on the Everest Trail in Nepal was postponed until April 2022 (fingers crossed). That opened my calendar for national travel. Though I currently loathe flying, I did fly home to Hawaii for nearly the entire month of May. There, we stood on a shallow sandbar in Kaneohe Bay to scatter the ashes of my parents, Aunt Cornelia, and Uncle Sammy. The day was beautiful and it felt “glorious” as my mother often proclaimed.

Kaneohe Bay: photo taken from sandbar.

In early June I attended the 3-day, Indian wedding of Mona and John in Long Beach. What a thrill! I attended with my dear friends, the Singh’s, whose large family has been so welcoming to me. I loved every minute! In late August, Bill (a faithful backpacking buddy on loan from his wife) and I packed into BAM (Bacon’s Adventurosa Mobile) to head north along the coastal route, then east, paralleling the Canadian border. Mostly, we camped in national and state parks. We visited seven National Parks (NP): Redwoods, Olympic, North Cascades, Glacier, Theodore Roosevelt, Wind Caves, and Badlands. We also visited Devil’s Tower, Mt Rushmore, and Crazy Horse. Our terminus was Ann Arbor, MI to rendezvous with niece Lael and her family, sister Gina, and her husband Mike. I made the westward, return trip solo, never driving more than 300 miles/day. Again, I visited national parks: Cuyahoga, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Great Basin. I met innumerable, wonderful Americans and fielded many questions about my van.

While I am thinking of it, here are some peak-season NP tips. You’ve undoubtedly heard that NPs are over-loved and overcrowded these last years. Some of them require timed-entrance passes, purchased online. So my biggest tip is to get into the park before the rangers manage the gates each morning. The park gates are typically open 24/7. Rangers begin controlling the entrances between 7-9am. Passing through the gates early will spare you the long, exhaust-fumed queues into the park. Many rangers now close their gates when park capacity reaches a specified limit. (When I arrived at Glacier and departed Arches, the gates were closed = no entry.) In Glacier NP, we awoke at 5am to be on the road by 5:30. So do some research before you go. Pack a cooler with food and hit the road. Also, be aware that all caves tours are now booked online several weeks in advance. Lastly, a senior “Golden Park Pass” is available at 62 years for a one-time fee of $80. (Free to Wounded Warriors and war-time vets with required paperwork). Not only does this provide free park access for one vehicle and four people but it also halves the camping fee. Wowee! Who knew? In November, best buddy John and I retraced my earlier trip up Californian and Oregonian coasts into Washington state. As we approached the mountains, the roads were slushy, forcing a hasty retreat to the Columbia River Gorge - where we were pelted by another atmospheric river. We were duly impressed with the plethora of state parks along the Oregon coast - seemingly every few miles… and sooo beautiful! I might migrate that way as drought is an increasing problem for California. I continue to play music with my ukulele band KaBang! (Kaneko, Bacon, and Yang). With bass player Wade, we typically hold weekly, outdoor rehearsals. I continue to take ukulele lessons though I am not sure my performance actually reflects that tutelage. Nonetheless, my teacher Carla (from Waipahu, Oahu) is skilled and patient. We collaborate on all the musical arranging I do for KaBang! and I’ve learned a bit about music theory, jazz, and how to modulate pitch to escalate musical movement in the distinctive style of the Brothers Cazimero (for you with Hawaiian musical roots). Good fun! Best Books Bacon read in 2021: The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff is an oral history of 9/11. With time zone disparities between the coasts, I saw the Twin Towers fall on TV before I went to work. I worked in an Emergency Dept. so I was not glued to a TV that or the following days. Time and distance buffered me from the granular events of 9/11. This book is an account from survivors and their personal experiences on 9/11. It is not necessarily factual, as few survivors had the facts. I found it moving and enlightening. Remember how we rallied for one another after 9/11? This book left me feeling hopeful for the American spirit and our capacity to care deeply for one another. You can also listen to an abridged version of the book in a podcast called Long Shadow - which you can find for free on your favorite pod-catcher. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. In Caste, she argues that the racial tensions in the United States are better explained through the lens of caste, not race… [She examines] the eight tenets of a caste system, how the caste system affects the lives of people in the upper and lower castes, and how we can move away from caste and create a more equitable society. I love books that enlighten and move me, this was one. I am currently reading Grant, the definitive biography of Ulysses S Grant by historian Ron Chernow. I dunno… it seemed fitting to understand the events of the Civil War more fully. What’s on tap in 2022? First and foremost, I am making a commitment to switch to automated, randomly-generated, long, and complex passwords for my devices (iPhone, iMac, iPad). Like a dinosaur, I have resisted - and you know the rest of their story. If COVID allows, best-buddy John and I will trek on the Everest Trail to 15,500 feet. Then on to Egypt, for I have friends in Cairo. We hope to see The Great Pyramids of Giza, Alexandria, Luxor, and Petra. I also hope to volunteer for 1-2 weeks in Yosemite this season. Dat’s real soul food. Perhaps a cross-country trip to New England to see the fall colors? What is going on in your world? What inspires you and keeps you moving? How is your family? I would love to hear. Keep an open mind to changing science. Walk with caution. Use kind words and a gentle tone. Love self and one another. E Hookaulana (celebrate) 2022! With love and much Aloha ~Lorin

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year)

 Hau’oli Makahiki Hou (Happy New Year) to you and yours. I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. 

My annual letter a-l-w-a-y-s opens thusly, wishing that you and yours enjoy good health and spirits. Never has this been more salient as we are assaulted with job loss, income stress, social and physical isolation, while being stalked by a deadly virus. I hope even in this, you can find moments of joy, happiness, and hope.

Koa, Kea, & me

For only the second time in my life, I spent Christmas alone. The lights on my tree blazed all day while a constant stream of carols suffused every nook and cranny. Nonetheless, it lacked luster without the gathering of friends and family. The footer on my emails reads: 

This year, to lovingly observe z Holidays means giving up “but we always…” for the sake of everyone - so that next year we might once again have it all. 

Only you can make it so. So do so.

… I could hardly ignore my own advice.

Well COVID sure put a monkey wrench into our year; didn’t it? So much for traveling home for Mom’s 95th or a subsequent memorial. Cancelled our 3-week hiking trip in the UK and a 2-week Home-for-the-Holidays including both Christmas and New Year. Do you know that in my 41 years of nursing I have never had a vacation that included both Christmas and New Years? This, my final year of nursing, was gonna be it. Auwe (alas) no mattah no moah; I going retire in 100 days anyways.

Yes, we lost my Mom and her sister Cornelia this year. This social isolation is very, very hard on our super seniors. Weeks before Mom died, just when Honolulu ended its lockdown, my cousins whisked “the sibs” (Aunties Jane (my Mom), Corn, San, and Ellen, and Uncle Dave) to an outside, physically-distanced luncheon. They invited us all to FaceTime into the gathering. Mom was mostly non-verbal and it was the last time I saw her and Aunt Corn. Good thinking cousins! Dey so akamai (smart)!

Working in an outpatient clinic is all kinds of new stress. Because my asthma has become a real problem, particularly during winter, I work in an N95 from the first day of fall, through the winter. (See how much you’ve learned this year? I don’t even need to explain PPE and N95.) So even before COVID hit, I was already in protect-my-lungs mode. 

Kaiser was very fast to respond, canceling all in-person appointments and non-emergent surgeries prior to the California lockdown. Because we already make telephone and video visits, we pivoted to virtual work over one weekend. It wasn’t pretty but it was better than anyone else in the region - by far. 

While I am fortunate to be working, still, it is anxiety producing to be locked in a small exam room with anyone for 20-minutes. What if they are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic? I think I pretty much speak for most healthcare workers (HCW) when I say: wear a mask, practice physical distancing, do it outside, and during this surge - stay home and do not gather.

Remember that during the 1918 flu pandemic, most of the 1.5 million deaths occurred during the winter. Just like, “Only you can prevent forest fires”; Only YOU can keep you/yours/us safe.

I am flummoxed by the lack of COVID response in the US - as is, BTW, the rest of the world. I’ve presented the science in my blog and will not repeat it here. But you are welcome to visit and read at: 

https://lorinzmuze.blogspot.com.

One last thing regarding COVID. We saw early reporting in January from Wuhan that implied coronavirus was airborne. Unfortunately, it took the CDC the better part of a year to make that known. This new reporting shows confirmation data out of S Korea. “Coronavirus can travel farther and faster inside restaurants than previously thought, South Korean study suggests. Two diners at a South Korean restaurant were infected with novel coronavirus in a matter of minutes from a third patron who sat at least 15 feet away. The third patron was asymptomatic at the time.” WATCH z video!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2020/12/11/korean-restaurant-coronavirus-airflow-study/

But I don’t go to restaurants, you say. Yes, but when you invite even a few people over to eat, your home becomes like a restaurant. If attendees have not quarantined before and after a negative test or for 10-days, your gathering poses an unnecessary risk. With the virus mutation becoming increasingly transmissible, nothing but an N95 will keep viral particles out. The surge we are experiencing now is from small, familial gatherings over Thanksgiving. Officials fear the Christmas bump will force us to triage people away from healthcare from tents in the parking lot. 

We are living through, what is on track to be, what history books will call, the greatest catastrophe in American history. With 350,000 Americans dead and a disease continuing to spread like wildfire, keep your masks on - we will likely need them for most of 2021 if not longer. Remember, the COVID vaccine does not prevent infection nor the spread of infection. Hopefully, like the flu vacc, it boosts your immunity to prevent a lethal infection. Make sure your lifestyle choices are consistent with survival.

The number of HCW COVID fatalities now number in the several thousands, though this data is not officially tracked. It stands to reason that if no one is tracking, the numbers are assuredly higher.

As we discuss surging outpatient personnel (like me) into staffing the hospital, I will make my exit if needed. Nurses and doctors came out of retirement to work the pandemic - some of them died. This is not the battle for older, frontline workers. This is a young persons war - and that’s not me.

My ukulele band KaBang! had continued to hold outdoors, physically-distanced rehearsals all year. But we have stopped for the winter, taking no chances to get through this surge.

Cora, Ayla, Leia, Alanna

 I did get to Newport Beach, CA in October to visit with Lael and her family before their move to Michigan. Because I could not isolate ahead of time, I wore a mask, kept my distance, and slept in BAM (Baconz Adventurosa Mobile). With some reluctance, I took my Humpty Dumpty (made by Aunt San) and bequeathed him to the next generation. He’s like 58 years old so I was a little sad to let him go.

With lots of alone time I have devoured books, podcasts, and MasterClasses. Here are some of my recommendations:

Favorite podcast: Presidential by the Washington Post. This was originally a weekly broadcast prior to the 2016 elections. Highlighting each President in order of ascension, it begins with Washington and ended with Obama. They have since added two more episodes. I discovered Presidents I knew nothing about. It was a fascinating recall of American history as everything of import is touched by the hand of the President. Really, it was fascinating. 

Favorite books: Lincoln-Team of Rivals. At times, reading this was a slog, an almost daily accounting of Lincoln’s presidency. Nonetheless, there are striking similarities to our times and division. Famous for his generous opinions of others, one cannot fail to admire the thoughtfulness and grace that ruled Lincoln’s decisions. Angry letters never sent, snippets from his journal, and headlines from the NY Times all combine into a stimulating, nourishing stew that renewed my hope for our male-dominated, federal leadership. This tome is worth the time.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has co-written a few excellent prequels to Sir Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series. Apparently KAJ is a real Holmesian; these books are true-to-form, in-the-vein, and riveting respite.

I have more recently been thinking and reading about citizenship, civic duty, and living in a way that is responsible to and for others in my community. America is known for its rugged individualism but that, it turns out, is a myth. Nor does that mentality serve us well in a time that requires us to consider others, to love them as ourselves, and to speak the truth. The new year is always a good time to reflect on who I’ve been, how I behaved, were my words kind and did I honor others?

What’s on tap for 2021?

Believe it or not, my 65th birthday quickly approaches and I am eligible to retire on April 1st. I had planned on another big party for both birthday and retirement. Auwe! Maybe 2022? When safe, I do plan to pack my van and drive east to see friends and family. Maybe even drive parts of Route 66. Maybe end up in the NE for a never-done-before: see the fall colors before returning home.

I would love to hear how you have fared and the direction of your life.

Be well. Find joy. Laugh, sing, dance, play, and love.

A hui hou kakou (until we meet again)  ~Lorin