Common Cents

I stood at the fast food counter on semi-autopilot. When the gal first asked me the question, I thought she’d asked the standard, “Do you want fries with that?” and I’d started to shake my head “No.” But then it dawned on me that she’d said something else. “Excuse...

Aloha: Living the Dream

I’m not nearly as brave as our friend Teri Dodson. Teri wanted to live on Maui, so she went on Craig’s List late last fall and found not only a great job, but also a woman looking for a roommate on the island of her dreams. And while I dearly loved all three of my...

Aloha: The Ultimate Souvenir

“Over my dead body,” said my mother in 1998, when I told her I wanted to get a tattoo. “You’re not going to desecrate that body I gave birth to, do you hear me?” And that was the end of my plan to have a green dragon inked on my shoulder. Never mind that I was 44...

Aloha: D.T. Fleming State Park

In 2008, “my Bob” and I had been about blown off the map when we tried to eat a Subway sandwich hunkered down at a picnic table freezing ours buns off at this obscure little state park on the western tip of Maui. But what a different experience Rick and I had! The...

Aloha: What’s for Dinner?

Having a full kitchen in our condo saved us the expense of ever eating breakfast out during this two-week vacation, and many of our lunches consisted of yummy “leftovers” from the previous evening’s meal. But every night, except those where we had a scheduled luau or...