PONO IN DREAMLAND - I
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For two weeks in September, Pono spent his days in a dreamland populated by his son and daughter-in-law and three little sprites. I call it a dreamland because it is so different from the reality of life as a lone, elderly retiree, hanging in there in Maui. Here are a few of the dreams.
Picture yourself on a narrow, crooked road with an occasional house, but
lots of brush and trees. Suddenly, off in the distance you see a splash of
color and movement. Why, it’s the Dance of the Sprites! Clover in
green and white, Scarlet in red and white, and Poppy in a white gown.
Would that convince you that it’s Dreamland?
A couple months before my visit, Clover let out with a squeal one day.
Interview determined she had swallowed a coin. All three ladies were shown
a penny, nickel, dime and quarter and they all agreed it was a penny. Off
to emergency where an x-ray showed the coin, but even the meds couldn’t agree on
the coin type, leaning toward a nickel or quarter.
Courtney applied due diligence to subsequent Clover outputs, but
apparently missed it. A follow up x-ray didn’t find the coin and (unless
someone strains the contents of the septic tank) we will never know what Clover
ate!
Courtney amazed me! Mid-afternoon she would go on interacting with
the kids but she moved her center of activity to the kitchen. She peeled
and chopped, boiled and baked, and did lots of magical things that resulted in
tasty and I believe nourishing dishes that encouraged me to try my hand. I
came home and bought a Crock-Pot. I look forward to peeling and chopping,
gathering and assembling, and then simply turning on the machine and waiting for
completion of meals.
Of course, Courtney was backed with a garden full of fresh fruits and
vegetables, years of experience, the internet, and a great imagination.
But then, I have electricity and the recipe book that comes with the Crock-Pot.
Report to come.
As a background activity, to keep busy while she was cooking dinner and
dealing with the kids and chatting with me, Courtney had her food dryer going.
Being harvest time, huge quantities of apples and grape tomatoes were being
dried for winter use.
Courtney also treated me one day with a pasty from the freezer. I
had finished my last pasty at home a couple months ago and my source doesn’t
ship in the summer, so that was a pleasant surprise.
At BH, I spent a fair amount of time outdoors. One day as I sat in
the shade by the fire pit and picnic table, the girls were indoors and it was
really quiet and I saw 3 deer not 44 meters away from me munching on apples!
I also acquired a few bug bites in the outdoors, but the majority of my
decorations were bumps and bruises caused by the sharp little elbows and heels
and solid butts of little girls. Even reading was an “active” pursuit and
the kids were all over me while I read. I have these trophies, but I
wouldn’t trade them!
Scarlet would jump up on me, rip my glasses out of my pocket, jump back
and grab a book, and then settle down somewhat, ready to have the book read to
her. Depending on the activity of the moment, the start of reading
attracted one to three listeners.
One book had lots of references to a mom and I started saying it with a
long o. Each time with three little squeaky voices assuring me they were
listening by correcting it to MOM! They also disagreed with my
pronunciation of the last syllable in dinosaur and corrected me in that book.
My cell phone was an attraction once, combined with the snaps on my shirt.
The little ones would remove the phone, slide it into my shirt, and then chase
it around my body.
Another day they found some chicken feathers in the yard and took turns
stuffing them into my sleeves and shirt front. The next morning I found a
feather in my bed. Pono must be molting.
Yet another day they focused on my hair, grooming me with plastic forks
until they found the comb in my pocket. Not sure how it happened, but that
night I found sand in my hair.
The day I arrived, Poppy made a yarn ring and gave it to me.
If you keep up with Ponograms, you may recall #120, The Story of Four.
I’m not sure how this got into Poppy’s mind, but one day she stuck a 3”x3” piece
of paper on my sleeve and walked away. When I took it off and looked at it, it
had four colors on the front. I looked at Poppy and she motioned me to
turn it over. It was covered with the number 4! Later she gave me 2
cut out number 4s. That afternoon she kept producing imaginative examples
of combinations of the number 4, illustrating her certain Sandin ancestry!
Note the connection between the number 4 and the letter D. Also the
word FOUR made with 4s. Also the “fractal” 4s. Not bad for a
beginning first grader.
All three of the girls have an aversion to wearing clothes. They
made me realize how far I have progressed into intolerance of cold. I
appeared one day in my regular fleece jacket to find the twins in the yard in
their skivvies. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the temp was only about
70°. I did notice that the kids spent a bit more time snuggling that day
than usual and that evening JR built a fire in the fire pit.
Clover was more prone than the others to shed her clothes. She was
also more prone than the others to express affection with kisses and “I love
you”. Clover didn’t like stuff on her hands. She nearly wiped glue on me
once and she did wipe milk on me another time. Other incidents were
suspected.
Scarlet was the quickest to suggest that I read and the longest to pay
attention. She also seemed to be the one to most often have food and drink
in and around her mouth.
The kids have lots of toys. One of the most common is Legos.
They have literally bushels of them of all shapes and varieties. The
combinations never end.
In addition to gardens and orchards, the grounds of Tech House include
chickens, ducks, two rabbits, two goats, a cat and a dog. I didn’t get too
familiar with most of them, but Nougat the cat – wants to be petted, but wants
the person petting to reach for him. I played hard to get and he finally
lay down right beside me and put front feet on my leg. Marmalade the dog –
is strong as an ox and graceful as a bull. She wants attention also, but
just doesn’t know how to accept it.
I live in tourist country. The condo I rent is in a complex that has
lots of short term rentals. My town, island, county and state are all
supported by tourism. But I have never seen masses of tourists to match
what I saw in Bar Harbor! I think it is due to the cruise ships.
Ships dock in BH and dump thousands of people directly into the town. BH
is not that big. The sidewalks, shops, local park, shuttle buses and
streets are filled with people! The buses haul people into Acadia National
Park, but before and after their Park visit they walk BH. I know the
business folk (JR & Co included) are thankful for the tourists, but driving
through town and trying to find parking is a nightmare. Fortunately, Derby
Lane Cottage has its own parking and is within a block or four of everything!
This describes the BH year from May through about October. By the
end of October, the sidewalks are rolled up, the tourist-oriented shops,
restaurants, and rentals are closed and shuttered, employees who have come in
for the season and many business owners have migrated to Florida, and BH again
becomes a sleepy small town.
Dinner at McKays – at the end of our meal, kids were telling waitress what
they were planning to wear for Halloween. I told her I was coming as HRC
and she nearly wet herself laughing.
BH has a noon signal – a ship’s horn blasted twice. One day the horn
went missing, but starting at about 1210p it blasted once every minute about 10 times
– an apology?
My average sleep time on the trip was about 11 hours per day – with occasional
naps.
AFTERWORD
Yes, I have more, but I think I will save the rest of the pics and stories until
next time. When I work with these memories, my constant smile
taxes my facial muscles. Of course all I need to do is turn
on the news for four minutes and the smile goes away. Hope the
sprites get a smile out of you as well!
If you got this far, here’s your bonus:
Sprites tap dancing.
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