Time

C.S. Lewis wrote about the mystery of time in a letter to a friend of his on December 23, 1950:

"Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? Notice how we are perpetually surprised at Time. (`How time flies! Fancy John being grown-up and married! I can hardly believe it!') In heaven's name, why? Unless, indeed, there is something about us that is not temporal."

Fish are clearly at home in their environment. Perhaps our uneasinesss with time suggests that humans were not created to live in this world. In any case, we're obsessed with time. I've got book called "A Sideways Look at Time" and i've not had time to read it yet. Go figure.

But it's true--we act as if we're surprised with the passing of time. Sadly, i can say that i don't know Hilo all that well now. You know you don't know a small town when you can't suggest a good restaurant anymore. When my mom asked me where i wanted to eat, i named restaurants that had either closed or changed hands. Sad. It made me think of the Hilo that existed when i was young. The Wendy's that was a chiropractic clinic is now a Starbuck's. Roy's Gourmet became Kay's Lunch Center, but is now, "Kalbi Express."

I was reminiscing and feeling nostalgic about things i no longer see in Hilo. Reading the above bit from C.S. Lewis was reassuring--why should i be so awestruck that a town has changed much in 10-15 years since i spent so much time there?

So, rather than listing and lamenting on things gone by in Hilo, i'll list 3 semi-new things to me that i noticed:

1. The Poke Truck with their motto, "We make em' like you like 'em" (See picture above) If you're not local, or have no idea what poke is, here's a clue. We didn't stop to pick up some poke here--my dad's recipe is better than any chef in Honolulu. Actually buying poke is like the equivalent of a Baskin and Robbins employee paying for a scoop of Jamocha Almond Fudge. Dad was actually offended when i brought home some ahi poke from KTA supermarket one day. Well not totally offended, but his first comment was, "no mo enough chili pepper..."

2. On the corner near the airport, there's a drive inn that has been home to many fast food restaurants. When i was young it was Dairy Queen, then it changed to many short lived local plate lunch houses. The former DQ has finally found a well-liked resident, "Verna's." Unless you've heard about the food there, you might miss it if they didn't have their great sign that greets people at a busy four-way stop: "If no can, no can. If can, Verna's!" We got Dad an extra large grey Verna's t-shirt (with the aforementioned logo of course!) and we all recited "If No Can, No Can, If Can VERNA'S!" at various points throughout the trip. Extra points if you can decipher what their slogan means. We came up with a few variations...

3. De la Cruz ice shave truck. They stop in at the parking lot of Onekahakaha beach on weekends to serve the hungry kids tired of drinking saltwater. They sell anything from manapua, gravy burgers, rainbow ice shave, li hing mui, to hostess ding dongs. i've not seen the old Filipino couple who operate the truck in years. i was happy that we happened to be at the beach that day.

And no, i'm still not out of vacation mode. i'm still thinking about the lifeguard thing.