Life. In Chewable Chunks. - December 28

THEY’RE BAAAACK!

Living in some amazing tourist destinations is always a wonderful experience — until tourist season.

Don’t get me wrong, I realize how important, integral and necessary tourists are to our economy in a town like Kona.  Heck, my husband owns a restaurant; we LOVE the vacationers and Snowbirds.  They fill our tables, pay our bills and make our daily life much more interesting, exciting and fun.

But try getting a parking space at Safeway the week before Christmas.  Or a spot of the floor of my local gym for Body Pump during the months of November through March — without coming a half hour early.  Or a rental car pretty much anytime during December.  Yes, even in Paradise, we complain.

And the traffic?  During tourist season, our single road around the entire island is woefully inadequate.

Yet, sometimes you just need some obviously non-local couple in a bright red Jeep Wrangler slamming on the brakes in the middle of the highway to snap a picture of a Mama Humpback whale teaching her baby to breach for the first time to knock some sense into you.  (Not literally.  I DO keep an eye out for these guys during tourist season!)

It makes you think:  I’m not just here for two weeks.  Or the Winter.  I LIVE here.  And I am forever grateful to be reminded of that.  Thank you, my tourist friends.