Lament for a Lost Lanai

      More Letters From Paradise
       Lament For a Lost Lanai

It all began in the merry month of May, and it has been going on ever since. I am talking about painting our building. Sure, it is a big project, but so are other large buildings in the city being painting. Why,we ask, is it taking the painters so long? The answer is to be found with the guys supposed to be painting. Looking down from our empty lanai, I can very often see three men on a scaffold. Two of them are looking at their phones, and the other one is gazing at the palm trees and ducks, and thinking about lunch.

What painting that has been done is pretty good, but I am talking about painting our lanai. We have removed everything but a lounge (covered) and a mango wood chest (covered). Table, cushions,glass table top and chairs have inhabited our bed rooms since the merry month of May, as I have earlier indicated.

Living as we do in a sub-tropical climate, a lanai is very important. Dining on the lanai with the trade winds blowing is a delight. The view of the ocean is magnificent! That is, if you can use your lanai.

But there is some hope. Yesterday a guy swung over from the scaffold and painted our lanai! Hooray! I thought, but another coat of paint awaits. Patience hell, I want to drop water filled balloons down below, but I am a nice guy, so we will only grind our teeth and wait.

Why, you may ask, is a lanai such a big deal?  It is because it  adds another room to your apartment. I notice that when all these newer building were built, they added a suggestion of a lanai, which would accommodate two tiny chairs and a table.
So here we are, hanging on and hoping.

      Aloha
      Grant  

Page Fourteen

      More Letters From Paradise
           Page Fourteen
Living in Hawaii we enjoy fresh papa, mangos,bananas and other tropical fruit. And every so often, avocados. Our plumber Jim, grows avocados, and gives them to us.

When we lived in Michigan, we knew nothing about avocados. Oh, once in awhile guacamole served in a Mexican restaurant. That was about all.

Teena and I greatly enjoy Mexican food, and I make our home-made guacamole. The recipe is found on page fourteen of the 1977 edition of Betty Crocker's Cookbook. We think it is the best ever! Here is is for your enjoyment:

2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 green chili peppers, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1 medium tomato, chopped
Mash avocados, add the rest of stuff, beat until creamy. Cover with plastic wrap and put inside plastic container. Put in fridge, will keep for another day or more.

     Aloha
     Grant

Fresh Eggs

       More Letters From Paradise
              Fresh Eggs
Just in case you missed it, there are a couple of people in Chicago who are renting chickens! For $100. a month. Customers are provided with a cage,feed tray, and two or three chickens. It figures out that each egg laid, costs a buck. The article I read (and lost), failed to mention feed and grit. Chickens have no teeth and so their feed is ground with their gizzard. The article also failed to mention chicken droppings. And their manure is very strong smelling. You would better understand this, if you have ever kept a flock of chickens, and scraped manure from under their roosts.

I want to wish the customers of rent-a-chicken the very best. Chickens are easy to care for,but I think it is costing them way too much money for free eggs.

There is a law here in Honolulu, that each household is allowed to have two chickens.
That would be nice, but Teena and Maitai would strongly object.

      Aloha
      Grant