Ho Ho Ho from Honolulu

      More Letters From Paradise
        Ho Ho From Honolulu
The first shipment of Christmas trees have arrived. Another shipment is to arrive on the 30th of this month. They are all inspected for any pests wanting to hitch a ride. Sixty bucks is not uncommon to pay for a tree. I remember needle drop, don't you?

This morning when I opened the paper, I saw a picture of Tom Brower, our State Rep. holding a sledgehammer. It seems that he was so fed up by the homeless with their stolen shopping carts, he decided to do something about it. Those of you who have been here, know the mess that goes with it. If a cart has the identification of a store, he returns it. If not, he smashes the cart. Tom lives in our building, and we have found him to be a quiet sort of a guy. Big surprise, never would have suspected him to do such a thing. There are mixed reviews, concerning  his means of solving the homeless problem. There are already shelters around the city, but many refuse to use them, and obey the rules of occupation.
The huge statue of Santa is once again up on the Ala Moana shopping center. In the central court at one o'clock, a hula show is presented for all the shoppers. Information concerning the dances, is given in English, Japanese, and now Chinese. (Direct flights now from Shanghai) Tonto and I were there today to get a prescription for her, and it was snowing. No kidding. A snow machine was causing flakes to lightly fall all over the central hula court. I thought it was a fake, until some melted on me. This will be the extent of snow for us this year.
Tonto has the Christmas itch, and will be putting up our tree pretty soon. It will be covered with ornaments we brought here, and the rest from Hallmark. There is a trolley which takes you around the city to view all the city lights. It has been sometime since we did this, but I think we will this year.  
         Aloha
         Grant