Kona, day 17

Pattie feeling a bit better, wanting to do some work around the house, and to get out for a (masked) walk.  So the day was productive, including a nice drive around, a walk in the area near where we used to depart for scuba trips with Kona Honu divers…

and also a walk around the harbor downtown.  There, by the water’s edge, we say tons of fish and enjoyed identifying the few we’ve become familiar with through diving here.

But the most productive part of the day was concluding our ongoing discussion of how long to remain here in Kona.

Our isolation here, our feeling that, were we home, we could at least putting our house back together, be doing yard work at home, riding our bikes and even just feeling a part of our own community by just physically being there, even if isolating there.  I spent a few days researching some flight stats, and have learned that planes seem to be somewhere between 1%-15% full, and the airports are reported nearly empty.  With that information, and the sense that air travel will only pick up after April 30, we’ve elected to not extend our time here beyond the current April 18 reservation.

So, airline reservations to return are now made.  Limited options, of course; a single flight/day from HNL to SFO or LAX, with SFO having a single option for direct to CLT then Greenville.  We’ll see how things ultimately work out, as some flights are being cancelled b/c no one is on them.  No matter what, it’ll be  24 hrs of travel; if there are delays, well, we’ll get there eventually.

I read this article in the Chronicle, and found it one of the more helpful perspectives to try to digest.  A very worthwhile read.  Anything that might help deal with this is valuable.

A good exchange with Jason re the cello diversion I’ve started and sent him.  I gather he’ll present some of it in an online presentation/recital later this week, and I very much look forward to that.  Rarely does one get to hear something in progress like this, so I think it’ll be an interesting process.