Beginning on November 1, which is the date of my mother’s first letter from her Hawaii trip 84 years ago, I am serializing day by day, the book, Cecilia King’s Extraordinary Senior Trip, which you can obtain from Amazon in either Kindle or paperback.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming nine-months in Hawaii 1940-41.

Honolulu, Sunday, November 24, 1940

Sunday night –
Am just now beginning to get waked up and raring to go. And here I do go – to bed. Another beautiful day in Honolulu. Each day I like it more. Each day a new thrill from the trees, colors, flowers, and life on the island.
This morning after I had fixed Uncle Ed’s “Sunday Morning” (bacon and toast) he took me out to DeRussy & left me for paddle tennis. Played three bum sets – played so poorly, in fact, that even my opponents were embarrassed for me. Then Uncle Ed came for me – we had a snack lunch at home & rode out to Schofield Barracks to call – with good luck because none of them were home. One couple I’m very anxious to meet because she was such a good friend of Susan’s the Leymans. But I seem to always miss them. Drove out across the vast gullies & mountains covered with sugar, pineapple & banana trees, to the north shore where the rough sea breaks right onto the shore with no coral reefs to stop it further out. Had dinner again as last Sunday – at Kemoo Farm” – I had lobster omelet tonight & ‘twas very good – with coffee ice cream – then drove back past the lights of Pearl Harbor – into town & through the brilliant Waikiki lights – around Diamond Head & into 4534 Kahala.

Figure 24 - Assuming street addresses have not changed since 1940, this is the location of the King residence at 4534 Kahala in 1940. The current house at the location was built in 1989. Zillow estimates the current value as $4,827,500.

I was in a bookstore yesterday & happened to see a book I had read by James Thurber. It is so ridiculous and idiotic but subtly ironic that I thought U. Ed might get a kick out of it, so I sprung it on him tonite and it furnished a full hour of chuckles for him. So I felt well repaid. Working as long & hard as officers do – they are very tense & irritable – and I feel that anything I can do to amuse him is certainly a relief to us all. And he really did get a great deal of pleasure from my “nursery rhymes” by Thurber.
Am beginning to casually eat gnats in the butter, ants on the bacon, with lizards staring at me – without much hesitation. After all – why not? If they were larger & more palatable I might even read from the menu “bring me a stuffed gnat with ant sauce, garnished with spider legs.” Sounds rather crude, in a letter – but that’s Honolulu.
I have to go to the dentist at Shafter tomorrow so if he gives her too much cocaine I could help her home on the bus – which means that my laundry bag increases another square foot. In two more days I won’t have a clean garment left if I don’t declare a Blue Monday soon.
Hope you like the pictures – even though mine do look like a dual photo of a possum & Cheshire cat –
Will try to get this off tomorrow – will send in my financial statement at the end of the month.
Don’t know what I’ll do about Xmas gifts. So far the only thing I can find out either of them wants & likes is Uncle Ed’s craving for licorice can’t spell it but it sounds like lik-er-irsh gum.
Hope I get a letter from you on the clipper tomorrow –
Hope you are all right –
Love,
Cecilia