Basking in tropical humility
It's been 10 days since I last heard a car honk. Actually, make that any kind of vehicular honk, be it an electric bike's urgent "beep beep", the angry bleat off a truck horn, or a frantic bell ringing atop tricycle handle bars.
No, I haven't gone deaf. I've been in Hawaii. Here in Honolulu, the sky is insanely blue and when people say it's "foggy" outside they refer to clouds draping over mountain sides.
With abundant natural blessings, people on the Hawaiian islands are understandably relaxed. Gone from my line of vision are the scowling faces of Beijing traffic wardens, bureaucrats, and street vendors. Instead, everyday I'm greeted with beautiful, ethnically ambiguous faces, glowing tans, and the jolly vowelled sounds of "Aloha!", "Mahalo", and "Mele Kalikimaka!"
