When we finish a shift at the Visitors’ Center we’re both quite ready to sit down (and perhaps even take a snooze). Such was the case today. Our shift ended at 2:30 pm but there were a few wrap-up things so we didn’t leave until after 3. When we got back to the house both of us just kind of collapsed. I have a paper that needs to be notarized. There is a local office with a notary, but she wasn’t in today. They told me that the bank in a neighboring town had a notary, so I left Nina stretched out on the couch and drove over there to find that their notary’s day ends at 3 pm. I was a bit disappointed, but nothing I could do. Driving back I decided that waiting until tomorrow to get the notarization done wasn’t the end of the world. Further, it was time to do something a little more fun and invigorating.
The town of Laie is on the east side of the island of Oahu. About twenty minutes west of here is Sunset Beach which is on the west side of the island. Sunrises are beautiful in Laie. The sunsets at Sunset Beach probably are the same. So, when I got back to the house I suggested to Nina that we go watch the sunset. That meant, of course, rearranging schedules and mealtimes. Sunset was at 6:54 pm tonight and we wanted to be there well before sunset.
It worked out. We got there as a small rain shower passed through, headed west out over the water. As a result, there wasn’t much of a sunset to watch as the clouds pretty much obscured the sunset.
But, the beach was delightfully calm and very pleasant. There was a fallen palm tree on the beach which provided a very convenient seat (I did bring folding chairs in the trunk of the car, we just didn’t need them). We watched people, the sun go down, and the waves crash on the beach until a bit after 7 pm and came home quite refreshed.
Our day at the Center was pretty quiet for the most part. We have days where the place seems to be mobbed and other days where very few people come in. Today was pretty much in the latter category. Most of our visitors this morning were people here in Hawaii because someone in their family (a son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter) graduated last Friday from BYU-Hawaii. When people fly to Hawaii they might as well stay at least a week and most of them do that. I understand that the next few weeks will be pretty quiet until school starts letting out for the summer in the US. June and July are supposed to be very busy at the Center. I rather enjoy busy days since it’s very interesting to talk to a variety of people.
Instead of a variety of people, today we had a variety of computer problems in the interactive displays at the Center. The technology being used is rather dated and is scheduled to be completely updated this summer. While that will definitely bring a different set of issues, I won’t miss the current set when they go away.
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Life is very pleasant.