Out of the frying pan....

and into the fog. Back to northern California from Maui. Where Maui was hot, humid and sometimes breathless, the bay area can be cold, drizzly and breezy. It was that way when we arrived two weeks ago, but now it has settled in to a fall weather pattern -- warm to hot during the day for a few days, then the fog rolls back in to cool everything off.

So we have been busy with cleaning up, laundry, errands, and visiting my mother. While we were in the south bay, we visited the annual Slavic Festival in Saratoga, where we marveled at the dancers' costumes in the 95 degree heat, checked out some crafts and traditional foods, and took a peek in the church.

The trip to Italy is still a possibility, although it has been delayed so long that we may be in New England by the time they make up their minds! If we are on a plane on Sunday, it will be to Venice; if we are not, we will be on a plane Tuesday to Boston. Happily, most of the packing is the same for both. Stay tuned!

But the sunsets are pretty cool....

That very faint image in the far distance beyond west Maui is the island of Molokai, making a return engagement after the trade winds have blown away the vog -- a mixture of volcanic gases and water vapor.

Plans for Italy continue to develop. It now appears we will be leaving California the first week of October, and returning about the first of November. So Thanksgiving in Maui is still on the schedule. We are thinking of a few days in Venice before arriving for Tom's 2-3 week consulting stint in Florence, and then a few days in Rome before jetting back to California. So -- advice about things to do/see/eat gratefully accepted!

Sometimes...

a sunrise is as good as a sunset.

Change in plans

A couple of weeks ago Tom got a call from a fellow we met in Geneva a few years ago, asking if Tom might be available to do some consulting for an Irish company based in .... wait for it .... Florence, Italy.

Well, I guess so!

And after a few days of real confusion about what might happen when, we finally decided that we would return to California as scheduled, then leave shortly thereafter for Italy. Since we have never been to Venice, we are thinking to go directly there for a week or so, then get to Florence and get settled. We expect to be there until mid-November. With any luck, we will return to Maui in time for Thanksgiving, where we have celebrated Thanksgiving for the past 25 years or so. But, we may have to be flexible. Keep an eye on the schedule to the right for updated travel dates....

We had planned to visit Martha in new Hampshire, and do some leaf-peeping, but here we are with an apartment, a car, and a reason to be in Italy. And so we'll just have to put the leaf-peeping and lobster-eating on hold for another time.

So we have ordered our guidebooks, gotten our electrical adapters, changed our various doctors and hair cutting appointments, and are busy going on errands, making lists, harvesting mangoes....and enjoying the sunset.....

My morning walk

Back to bananas, welcome mangoes

The comment arrived this morning -- actually the question -- what happened to the bananas? We had a banana tree with a full stem of bananas last winter that fell over in a windstorm just before they were to be cut. About 80 pounds altogether, and they were terrific. The mother tree was cut away, and there is an earlier post with a picture of the younger tree with its new flower and tiny banana buds. Here is that tree now. So those baby bananas are growing bit by bit. What we have learned about bananas is when they look like they are about ready, it takes another 2 or 3 months. But happily, our neighbor Alfie has harvested some -- he has quite a stand of banana plants -- and we find a few on our front steps every day or two. They taste fresh and bright and much more like a tropical flower than the ones available in stores.

So here are what ours look like about now...we think they are on schedule to be Christmas bananas.


But what we do have now, and this is so exciting, is mangoes! We have a small, scraggly tree that was growing near the ohana (cottage) when we bought the property, and was right next to the new bedroom that we added. At that point it had not produced anything that we knew of, and looked like the mango version of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, bent and neglected. All of the workers wanted to cut it down, and assured me that it would only produce trash mangoes, good only for chutney and jam. But I would not think of cutting down a productive tree. So they carefully worked around it.

The following year we trimmed the ficus tree just above it in the yard, and the little mango got some sun. And it took off. And it produced. And its mangoes are huge, and the best I have ever eaten.

The following year our mangoes were rustled -- that's it, a truck arrived when we were away, and our tenants at the time watched as the tree was stripped. No doubt they ended up sold to a store for $2 or $3 a pound. I was beside myself. All that time waiting for my little tree to survive and produce, and someone stole all the mangoes! We let people know that we did not appreciate it, and our mow and blow guy, Al, put a kapu (forbidden) on the property -- now none of the local folks would dream of taking them.



Mangoes usually produce two crops a year, one larger than the other. Our little tree , now growing, has skipped a couple of the smaller crops, but this year it has been covered with them. we've watched them grow from miniatures to full sized, and they are big. Now they are ripening, some on the tree, where they are attacked by birds and rats, and others in brown paper bags in a cupboard. Those we have shared them with have agreed -- the best mangoes they have ever eaten. And, as one fellow pointed out, they are also graced with a very small seed -- a wonderful trait in a mango!



Our tree has another desirable trait. Its mangoes ripen late, and over several weeks. All the other mangoes in the neighborhood have been finished producing for several weeks, and they ripened all at once. Ours are taking their time, and we can enjoy them over a couple of months.

This is the first crop where we have actually been here to enjoy the entire crop. We pick a few at a time, and share with our neighbors. Mostly we eat them out of hand, but they are delightful in fruit and green salads and over ice cream. I also make a mango crisp, the same way as an apple crisp but with sliced mangoes. But let's face it, most of them are gobbled up fresh and dripping over the sink!

To cut a mango, cut one large side off, leaving a small center area for the seed. Then score the cut piece crosswise, then put some pressure on the center of the outside skin, to force the piece inside-out. After repeating this process for the other side, this will leave a center section containing the large, flat seed. I cut off the skin, then cut off as much flesh as I can before discarding the seed. if you want to eat the fruit right off the seed, have some dental floss available -- there are stringy bits that get between the teeth. Take care with the skin, however, and any sap -- they contain a chemical related to the irritant in poison oak and ivy, and can cause a mild rash on the skin or around and in the mouth.
You see this cut mango? Well, it is already history!