Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year!

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year! I hope this letter finds you in good health, spirits, and living a life you love. Retirement year-2 has been full of travel and fun. Here is how my year went:

A NY Times article enticed. I texted sister Gina in the waning days of January, “Would you be interested in an Amsterdam rendezvous?” That led to a 10-day, spring excursion to Amsterdam and London. Amsterdam RIJKS Museum held a Vermeer (one Dutch Master) exhibit: 28 of the known 36 paintings. 450,000 tickets sold out worldwide, in 4 days. We also toured the Van Gogh museum, discovered creamy eggs (YUM), visited the Hague to see The Girl with the Pearl Earring (who had already returned home from the RIJKS), admired the works of numerous Dutch Masters, hunted down a Dutch Baby (which is, as we discovered, not Dutch but German), ate Dutch pancakes (like a humongous crêpe - served sweet or savory), and walked, and walked, and walked. We arrived in London nearly 2-weeks prior to the King’s coronation and stayed near the Paddington station and Kensington Palace. Eating fish and chips at a local pub on our first night, we then vowed to eat international cuisine for all subsequent meals. What an adventure - and such ono grinds (good food)! BIL Michael and I were London neophytes so we played tourist: British Museum (I got totally waylaid in the Polynesian halls by Hoa Hakananai-a Moai stone figure from Rapa Nui and by Capt. Cook artifacts from Hawaii), London Tower and Bridge, the Shard, etc. We also visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, which is ground zero for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

I made two trips to Oahu. My first trip coincided with the visit of niece Lael and her family. They are all active and beautiful. The triplets will turn six and Alanna, eight, in 2024. I camped in Yosemite five different weeks. Two were volunteer weeks, one doing trail maintenance on an obscure trail between Tioga Pass Rd and the Hetch Hetchty reservoir. I climbed to Sierra Point, an old trail closed by rockfall in the 70’s. It’s a steep 1/2 mile and the real task is in sniffing out the old trail after crossing a boulder field. But the view… 5 waterfalls from a single perch: Vernal, Nevada, Illilouette, Yosemite, and Little Yosemite falls. It was worth all the effort and every scrape. I was also in the park twice with the Chinese Pilgrimage, a program that honors the work of the Chinese in literally building Yosemite NP.

I began hiking with two new groups. The German Hiking Club was started over 40-years ago in Grass Valley, about 90-minutes north of me. They hike in areas completely unfamiliar to me and that is attractive. I am also learning to guide hikes in the Sutter Buttes (Histum Yani or Middle Mountain to the native peoples). That has me hiking in the mountains twice a week or more - and that makes me happy. To that end, I walk 5-6 miles on most days. When I’m training for something, I add ankle weights and a weighted backpack (a not-so-new activity newly named “rucking”).

My ukulele band, renamed Ka Pili (the Connection), is refocusing our sound after our friend and bandmate Malia moved to Fremont, CA. (Lotta tears shed by all ovah dat one). I also continue to perfect my gluten-free baking - just for the heck of it. Los Gatos (the cats): Cali quietly passed at 21 years on Dec 14th. The boys: Koa Manoa and KeaMoku (6yo) - are delightful as ever and grow more affectionate with age. Favorite binges of 2023? Netflix docu-series on The Blue Zones, those 5 global areas that contain an unusual concentration of centenarians. The series looks for commonalities. Best Book: Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia. This book distills the commonalities of the Blue Zone denizens into increasing “healthspan” vs lifespan in suburbia. How do we get there? Can we reap the benefits of a long, healthy life outside of the Blue Zones? How do we replicate their lifestyle in the burbs? This book is fascinating despite being dense with medical jargon. What’s on tap for 2024? Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in late February. I will definitely kick up my weight training, stair running, maybe even hiking in the Sierra w/ankle weights as Day-3 will be 17-miles with vertical elevation gain and loss. Honolulu in March for a family reunion and to commit Aunt Sandra’s ashes to the ocean. Joshua Tree NP with friends in early April for the spring bloom. Mt Fuji in September. It’s a staircase = more stair training. Lots of ukulele rehearsals as Kimi and I get deep into duet-mode. I am thankful for good friends, a wonderful cat-sitter, and good health. Eh - how you? I would love to hear. May you live fully and prosper in 2024. Love and Aloha ~Lorin

Hau'oli Makakhiki Hou! Happy New Year!

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! = Happy New Year! I hope this holiday season finds you and yours happy, healthy, and creating a life you love aka “Vitality at every age and stage.” In 2022, I did get some bucket list travel done by visiting Nepal and hiking into the famed Khumbu Valley, home of Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). In April we followed in the footsteps of famous climbers and trekked part of that trail. John (NP classmate and a favorite traveling companion) and I joined a group of ten for this trek. Our guide was Gary - with whom we previously hiked in the Dolomites. Three Sherpas guided and guarded us. Our bags were carried by jōkpë: a cow/yak cross, that is larger than a cow but more docile than a yak. So we hiked with lighter day packs and enjoyed the views. Our lodges were part of a new franchise on the route, Yeti Mountain Homes. Our rooms were private with hot showers but only when the sun shone sufficiently for solar hot water. At some point around 15,000 feet elevation, the trail curves around the spine of a mountain and the upper valley is visible all the way to Sagarmatha (Mt Ev). The famed Temboche Gumpa (monastery) was ahead on the right and Ama Dablam hung over that side of the valley. The Lhotse ridge hid Nuptse to the left. Sagarmatha took center stage, cloud plume blowing off her summit. Lohtse on the right. It was breathtaking - the best moment of my trip. All my training seemed to payoff. I walked 6-8 miles daily with light backpack and ankle weights. Additionally, I hiked in the Sierra, at altitude weekly. That translated into a very pleasant trip. In late June I did a horse packing trip into the Emigrant Wilderness, just north of the Yosemite border. It was peak mosquito season and the only thing I will say about the trip is that I would rather walk 15 miles than ride them. Early August, I joined with a group of 22 Chinese people on a 3-day pilgrimage to climb Sing Peak, on the southern Yosemite National Park (NP) border. Tai Sing was a famous hi-country chef who cooked for the historic Mather Mountain Party of 1915 (google it) at the inception of the National Parks system. There were many Chinese people that worked in the areas now known as Yosemite, Sequoia, and King’s Canyon NPs; their story is now being told in Yosemite NP. It was a fun trip and all the youngins usually spoke several dialects of Chinese! I’m sooo jealous! Of course I volunteered in Yosemite for a week and we camped in my new, favorite campground = White Wolf. It was a historic summer home for the indigenous Miwok and Awahneechee tribes - and trust me, they occupied all the best places. Lots of ground rock grindstones near the river and bat caves nearby. For the 3rd year I worked on Tuolumne Meadows restoration and learned to use a 100-year-old cross cut saw - mannn it almost cut on its own; through downed tree trunks like butdah. Lastly, in December John and I met friends in Joshua Tree NP - a designated “dark sky” area in the USA. We happened to be there during the Geminids Meteor Shower. Yowza! Shooting stars every 10-15 seconds! And man it was cold. I slept with my 20-degree sleeping bag inside another bag. I tore out my front lawn this year and put in a drought-tolerant, low-water-use, Asian garden. Still planting - but the gist is in. I continue to play ukulele and my band combined with my ukulele teachers band for summer and Christmas gigs. So fun! Best books Bacon read in 2022: Kareem Abdul Jabar is a devout Holmesian and is co-writing prequels to the Sherlock Holmes novels penned by Sir Conan Doyle. They are very true to Holmes history and are delightful in every way. I’ve become a KAJ fan. American Scandal is my fave 2022 podcast. I have lived through many of these “scandals” but lacked details and did not follow them to conclusion. It covers subjects like Iran/Contra, Theranos, Edward Snowden, Hare Krishna, Waco, Exon Valdez, etc. Super, super interesting. What’s on tap for 2023? The Jane and Bill descendants are descending into Kaneohe this spring. It will be good to see ev’body. Plus I NEED some humidity! Hope to volunteer in Yosemite again this summer. The application process begins in mid-January. The price of gas kept me from driving/camping to the East Coast for fall colors. I may attempt that in fall 2023. Dems da highlights! E Hookaulana (celebrate) 2023 by creating a life you love. With love and much Aloha ~Lorin