December 1977

Aloha,

Ah, another year has slipped by and we are in another place.  Those of you who could not visit us in the South Pacific...well, it's too late because we left Pago Pago and are now installed in Honolulu once again.  The change was totally unplanned and precipitous.  Last summer, we came to Hawaii to finish up the details of the sale of our Lanai house and we were so struck with the climate and all the things to do that we decided to stay. Sharon was dispatched back to Pago to close things up and resign our jobs, and Ken began classes immediately at the University of Hawaii. He is still at it and probably will never complete his studies because that would mean he'd have to decide what he wants to do when he grows up.

Things were fairly tight in the employment market at first, but after a few weeks at the airport renting cars, Sharon lucked into a good job at Hawaii Loa College on the Windward side of Oahu.  It's a small, private college and is set in one of the most magnificent areas of the world...cool breezes, luxurious vegetation and impossibly steep, lush cliffs are what she has to put up with. As luck would have it, shortly after being employed, she moved into the head librarian job at the college while the former head goes off to India to study religion.  May he find eternal bliss there and never come back!

Our last months in Samoa were exciting.  The highlight of our time there was a visit by Queen Elizabeth and her yacht to our harbor. Her yacht, which is really a ship over 400 feet long, preceded her by a few days, and we were extremely lucky to have the contacts which allowed us to be invited aboard to a party given by the officers. It was an unforgettable experience, wining and dining on silver and fine crystal, surrounded by mementos of the glory of the British Empire.

Job-wise, we were both satisfied.  Ken was to receive another promotion to Coordinator of Foreign Languages for the Territory, and Sharon was about to move into a new Learning Resource Center at the Community College.  But we must have known subconsciously that our time here was coming to an end, for during the year we were slowly divesting ourselves of our possessions:  two boats and two motorcycles down the drain (along with most of our money!).

And now?  Well, we have a nice two-bedroom apartment near the University with an incredible view of Diamond Head.  We hope to have plenty of visitors because we have the room and we have an extra car.  Ken's folks plan to be here for two months at Christmas and Sharon's will be out in April.  But other than those times and the week before Easter (when we'll be on the Mainland skiing), we're free and willing to entertain.

The future?  We're not sure, as usual.  We may stay here for a few years, we may be off for Florida at the end of this school year, or we could be off to anywhere else in the world at the drop of a hat and without further notice.  So, if you've been planning a visit to Hawaii, don't hesitate.