Well, we were very fortunate this weekend and escaped the full-force effects of a hurricane here in the islands.  Hurricane watching is one of those activities that really makes one aware of how relatively helpless we are, when pitted against the full force of severe weather.  The hurricane (typhoon, cyclone) pretty much goes wherever it will go, and all we can do is hope and pray.  Last time, we’re told that the high volcanic mountains on the island of Hawaii helped break up Hurricane Iselle.  This go-around, we were apparently protected by a ridge of high pressure just north of the island.  The impact we were left with has been a steady fall of rain over the past couple of days.
 
These weather events tend to bring back memories of similar times in one’s life.  My earliest attempt at humor that I can recall (I was three or four) was  while being carried by my dad to the car for a dental appointment.  It was lightly drizzling and I kept on telling him, “Hey dad, it’s grizzling!”.  I had recently learned about grizzly bears in association with Davy Crockett – and thought I was making a good joke by slightly altering the word for a light rain…my dad didn’t laugh or acknowledge the joke.  I think he thought I just kept using the wrong word.
 
When I was in the first grade, I remember a bad storm event that flooded our Kapahulu area lawn (fortunately, we were renting a former plantation house that was located on stilts, several feet above ground).  I tried checking old storm records and believe that it was Hurricane Nina, which affected the islands in late November, 1957.  The day after the heavy rains and thunderstorms, my mom dressed me up for school (I was thinking, huh!?!), carried me over our flooded yard, and cheerfully waved me off for my 1 1/2 mile walk to Jefferson Elementary (I guess our standards of safety have changed over the years, haha).  So here I was, having just become a big 6 year old several weeks earlier, gingerly making my way through the messy, debris-strewn school grounds, which featured quite a few broken and downed coconut trees (Jefferson Elem is right across of the Zoo and very close to the beaches of Waikiki).  I got to class, and met up with two or three other children whose parents must also have greatly valued education – only to be informed that school was closed for the day.  I remember turning around and making the long walk back home and, this time, having to wade through the waters myself, to reach our porch steps.  Later that day, as the flooding subsided, us neighborhood kids enjoyed our “day off”, sailing paper boats in the puddles even though our parents had warned us of catching polio in the dirty water.
 
The temporary recreational water features (brown puddles) left in the wake of such storms were always a great attraction for all of us kids.  Yet, we never could figure out why the dreaded polio germs our parents talked about, would be hiding in there or where polio germs went, when the puddles dried up.  I knew that I  would catch a cold if I played in the rain, but couldn’t figure out why getting wet at the beach didn’t count.  Of course, we were always warned not to eat just before going into the ocean, so that we wouldn’t get cramps in the water…however, I never noticed getting cramps after eating any regular meal, so I couldn’t see why cramps would only happen when I was in the water.  We were also warned not to cross our eyes or stutter for fun; or else we would be like that for life.  Back during those days, us kids didn’t use umbrellas…we all had to don hot, scritchy raincoats…though I never wore galoshes since I could wear my trusty rubber slippers.  Our rented home had the old-fashioned totung roof, which made a huge continuous low rumble whenever it rained.
 
Nowadays, my greatest worry during a storm event is the potential loss of electricity, and therefore – cable!  and internet connectivity!  Isn’t it strange that whenever the power goes out in the middle of the night, everything becomes very still and very dark…the only sound you can hear is a dog barking, somewhere in the distance?  In the old days when the lights went out, we used candles, then switched to flashlights, then fluorescents, and finally, today’s LED lights that have a great longevity.  One step backward – if you no longer have a lan line phone and the cell towers don’t work, you lose access to a phone, haha.  No more totung rumble, no dripping line of water from the roof – the rainwater quietly flows to the street via drainpipes and on to the nearby stormdrain, hence – no more play puddles outside.
 
I guess we should appreciate these rainy days, we obviously need the water to renew this important resource (although it’ll take about 25 years to trickle down and recharge the artesian aquifer far below us).  It helps keep our vegetation green, and it means I don’t have to wash car today….or does it mean that I just did wash the car?