Day Dreaming

Last night I stood at the guard's gate and watched traffic in the late evening sun. Not much happens on a weekend shift so I was in a 'day dream' mode.

The sun warmed me as it drifted behind the large ugly plant buildings. I see no beauty in the concrete structures, the cranes, the electrical cables, wires, and transformers...but there you are, I'm there and that is my view to the west.

I rather look to the east and the river bluffs, watching the turkey buzzards float on warm updrafts. I once in a while spot an eagle who's presence is more prevalent during the winter months.

The smell of the Mississippi river drifted past me. I could smell water, fish, and the scent of brackish waters.

With a sudden flash, I was back in 2001 sitting with my father on the pier in Kailuah Kona.

We'd just come back from an evening walk down Ali'i drive.
We thought we'd sit and watch the folks having a luau at the King Kamehameha Hotel along with the open air show they had for entertainment. We giggled a bit, as we got to watch the show from the pier and not pay a dime.
The show was a bit cheesy, but the dancers were pretty good and we enjoyed the music.

We talked about important things, and not important things. I think I'd just spent a day dragging him around the Big Island hunting for information on the 'wild donkey' herd.
Dad was insisting that I take the mule ride in North Kohala.
Tempting.
It would be a great all day trip riding mules down to the beach and back.
It would have been a great story for Mules and More Magazine.

...and it would have been just plain fun.

All this came back to me from a whiff of water and fish. Of course the rest of the night I spent my free time traveling down a mental memory lane.