Summer is Over....

​    Another fantastic week passed, and we enjoyed more food, fun, and friends.  We shared several more crab feasts and pulled out much more crab than we needed for ourselves.  Consequently, as of today, several more packages are heading out filled with crab.  One package is on its way to the San Francisco area, and the other is heading to Michigan.  It is so great to be able to share this plunder!  Also, I am making all things I can with green tomatoes.  At this point, it is evident that many of our tomatoes will not ripen, so I made several recipes using them.  They are just delicious.  One of them is called crustless green tomato quiche, which is delectable.  I also intend to use everything in our fridge instead of buying anything else.  If we run out of food, we will hop across the border for delicious meals in White Rock and Surrey, British Columbia.  We might be getting out of Birch Bay just in time.  The atmosphere is filling with smoke from area fires, particularly wildfires that started in Canada.  It is almost impossible to avoid the smoke when these wildfires occur, so I am happy we will be heading out for the worst of it.  We look forward to arriving in Waianae and hanging out with our sons and Hawaiian friends.  Steve is already looking forward to pier fishing and hopes that some of his fishing companions are still around.  It is hard to know for sure that they will be because some of them are homeless and living on the beach.  Life is hard for them, and we feel very sorry, but there is virtually nothing we can do except provide friendship and occasional food stores.  However, the problem of homelessness, particularly among native Hawaiians, is a huge issue that definitely needs solving.  Housing is incredibly expensive on Oahu, and they have no hope of ever purchasing a home.  Some programs pretend to help native Hawaiians put a roof over their heads, but the home will never belong to them, and the pretense instills a feeling of hopelessness that is difficult to overcome.  There is much resentment among these people, and I do not blame them.  We are so grateful to have our little piece of land that our Mango Shack rests on, and we can enjoy our visits to Hawaii without worrying about anything.  We are grateful for everything we have managed to acquire and hope we will be able to continue to live in Washington and Hawaii for a long time.