September 11, 2019
A moment of silence will be observed to correspond with the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, beginning at 8:46 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), the time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
To see the impressive 9/11 Memorial that has been created on the spot where the Two Towers of the World Trade Center once stood is something on my bucket list. We lived in New York for a year when we were just married, in 1961, but have never been back except for a brief visit in the nineties. And guess what? I am planning to visit New York the weekend after Thanksgiving this year and one of the things to see is the Memorial! Much more about that later – planning immense things like that take time!
Coqui Frogs on the Big Island
I wanted to post just the YouTube link to this article, to no avail. Instead here it is, taking up almost a whole page! When we had lived on the Big Island for a few years, we heard sounds at night, sitting on the patio; it sounded like two birds were answering each other. A few weeks later, there were more, similar songs. I went to the University Hawaii at Hilo two ask what kind of bird was making the beautiful sound. They told me that they were not birds, but tiny Coqui frogs, up in the trees at night, coming down to bury at the foot of the trees during the daytime. Not native to Hawai’i, originating from the Caribbean, they spread to Maui and Oahu as well. In just a few years they became a nuisance because of the high decibel sounds they produced, especially in colonies of hundreds. The government tried to eradicate them by spreading coffee grinds underneath the trees at first, later tried to kill them with acid spray; the coqui frogs survived all that. To many, they are extremely annoying. However, some people love them and some think they are a tourist attraction. One couple created a Place of Refuge, a Sanctuary for them on the Big Island. Listen and look and let me know if you have heard them when you were in Hawai’i and what you think of them.
It’s a Wonderful Life!
Until next time,
Ronny