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. You can order the entire book from Amazon in either paperback or Kindle format, click here.

Honolulu, Sunday, December 7, 1940

Another day of curtain hanging and bed maneuvering. My hospital bed has been replaced by a brilliant silver quarter master number – It’s much more comfortable but also is about six inches nearer the bug hang-out on the floor below. I also did a bit of carpentry today – after sawing for two hours I had three square chunks of wood & through each one a nail, labeled respectively – “(1) money spent daily, (2) bills due, and (3) expenses on horizon.” It’s a pretty primitive
bookkeeping method but I think it will do the job.

We were so very disillusioned about our new Filipino boy when he came back today – and we discovered he was insane.

Not violent, just very confused about it all, and stupid. After Aunt Susan had dismissed him definitely three times he still stood inside the door mumbling and muttering half aloud to himself -- & when she asked why he didn’t go he looked up & giggled, then resumed his inane figuring. So we had to call Uncle Ed to get him back into his right senses and out of the house – but he’s still hired, beginning work tomorrow.

We had supper tonight at a Swanky-Franky Drive-In. I had a kau-kau klub (pronounced cow-cow, meaning “food,” in Hawaiian) turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, etc. sandwich. It was just dusk – and all around we could see the tall palms silhouetted against the gray clouds and last gold of the sunset. It is so beautiful that one doesn’t expect it to be real –
Funny though, I don’t feel a bit different then I did at home – and in spite of all this loveliness and strangeness I still feel restless and a little lonely at twilight no matter where – Am beginning to decide it’s not the world made wrong – but I.
OK, Nero, what you need is another 12 hours sleep & quick like –
So – another Good Night.

P.S. I’ve been tasting that ambrosia you mentioned ever since. So I eat pineapple & pretend it’s ambrosia