As dad mentioned in his comment under my last post, when we were in Honolulu we saw someone who resembled Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (thankfully known as “Iz” to his fans – so I won’t have to type that again…). Iz is best known for his rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with a ukulele accompaniment – you’ve probably heard it about a zillion times, in various movies and television shows and commercials. It’s a rather sedate and soothing sort of song, and Iz’s voice isn’t exactly what I’d call a “powerhouse.” So if you’d never seen the guy who sang it, you might be surprised to know he looked like this:
Yes, all six-foot-something, seven-hundred-something pounds of him. Sadly, Iz died in 1997 of a weight-related respiratory illness. At least that was the story in the papers. Apparently there’s a possibility he is still hanging out on a balcony in Honolulu, as dad’s camera attested to:
Actually, this guy looks a little smaller than Iz… but I suppose it’s possible he’s been reinventing himself during his stay in the Cabin in the Middle of Nowhere. (Elvis’s cooking isn’t too good, anyway, so I’m sure most people WOULD lose some weight after hiding out for a while…) But it was interesting when we were in Hawaii to notice all the public service announcements on TV that lauded the benefits of walking. I saw several ads encouraging Hawaiians to "get out and walk" for "even 10 minutes a day!" Apparently all the people you see hanging out on the beach in bikinis and board shorts are TOURISTS -- the locals are a bunch of lazy bums who never leave their homes if it requires some sort of exertion...
Speaking of losing weight… Rick and I have been trying to walk for about a half hour around the neighborhood at night. (That’s in addition to whatever workout I do in the afternoon… so I’ve been getting lots of exercise lately…) Tonight we walked up to the Walgreens on the corner at the entrance to our neighborhood and bought a Gatorade and a Vitamin Water (you know, we had to stay hydrated because of our strenuous exercise). On our way back, we realized that part of the sidewalk ahead of us was being watered by two ill-timed and ill-aimed sprinklers. The water was arcing over the sidewalk and landing somewhere near the asphalt in the road, hopefully providing it with enough nourishment to grow into a big, strong highway. The first sprinkler was spraying close enough to the ground that we were able to hop over it pretty easily, but the second one was much higher. But hey, it was just water. I handed my Vitamin Water to Rick (hold this… I’m goin’ in… er… over…), took a couple steps back to get a running start, and leaped over the sprinkler like an Olympic hurdler. (Or maybe more like a little kid playing jump rope… I don’t know… one or the other.) Now Rick stood on the other side of the stream of wasted water, holding two drink bottles and clearly jealous of my ability to spring like a gazelle. He grasped the bottles, sized up the height of the sprinkler water, and, with determination in his eyes, strolled through the sprinkler spray like he was enjoying a day at Schlitterbahn. Well, gee – I could’ve done THAT.
But I understand – there’s no way Rick could’ve matched my obvious ballet-inspired water-leaping grace, and so to spare himself the embarrassment of falling face-first onto the sidewalk, he avoided the situation altogether. I get it... And I think I'll go drink some Vitamin Water to recover from my tiring efforts...
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