Cannot access park
At the foot of Waianuenue Avenue is the county’s Kaipalaoa Landing Park, which was beautifully improved many years ago.
I would love to be able to relax in this park and enjoy the close views of Hilo Bay. Unfortunately, there is no way to legally and safely get to this park since there are no crosswalks, and the traffic signals at this intersection do not allow for pedestrian crossing.
After all these years, why can’t the county and state Highways Division get together and figure this out?
What a waste!
Bob Alder
Hilo
Finding balance
As a former kama‘aina returned to Hawaii, I have discovered unlimited opportunities to sustain health. Many newcomers are now in the “retirement genre” coping with health conditions, and now have the greater possibility and time to practice wellness and prevention.
As a vintage marathoner and former Ironman, now at a weathering 76, immunity to popular maladies is not guaranteed. Nonetheless, quality of life and vitality has not necessarily evaporated!
During daily powerwalks and cycling, there is a nucleus of exercisers who are consistent — and yard work folk who one could title as “the forty-niner faithful!”
Currently hosting mostly international Airbnb guests, this mutually invigorating cultural encounter has also become a grateful resource for the Cambodian Hunger Project. Many travelers in wonderment have asked — “Where are all the people?” — as they explore the splendor, ideal climate and beauty of the island outdoors.
One pool maintenance friend of longevity has observed: “At the beginning when newcomers arrive, a number spend time outside. In time, they tend to retreat into their homes.”
This begs the deeper philosophical question. Are we here to thrive, grow and savor the ambrosia of personal achievement amid the occasional trials of slipping and falling, or just content to be spectators on a stage of unfinished acts with the curtain being drawn to the approaching sunset?
Jack London vociferously defines the former: “I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist.”
However, at a more senior phase of life, we all have the right to a lifestyle and living pace of our own design.
Perhaps, like the froth of the ocean’s waves to the deeper abiding depths, the answer to living life with dynamic features in a context that is measured and tranquil — is a marriage of both!
Jim Barker
Keaau