Feral Pigs of Australia

I realize that I haven't added to my blog recently. Adjusting to life in the shack has absorbed me completely. Gay and Dean came over on Saturday and graciously spent the afternoon on various projects to make life easier here, such as a rat-proof fruit-ripening box, now full of passion fruit and mango. I'm also going to have a hammock in my workspace upstairs--a longtime dream after hearing that the Texas nature writer, J. Frank Dobie, whose house we studied in at the Michener Center, kept a hammock behind his desk. (They say he died in it, and I couldn't really think of a better way to go, not that I'm planning to follow suit just yet.) And then yesteday I meant to have a day of rest, but the Hawaiian gods sent mop water (previously known to me as "rain") all day, so I cleaned and cleaned rather than let it go to waste. And today I set up my writing space and even wrote for a while before going downstairs to "think something over," and promptly falling asleep. After a deeply productive nap, it seemed imperative to go to the beach. So you see, the days are just packed here on the island of Kauai.

Otherwise, I've just finished a very funny travel memoir called The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific, by a Dutch-Canadian American named J. Maarten Troost. He accompanies his wife when she takes a position in an NGO on the island of Kiribati in the Pacific. He describes it as the end of the world, and truly, their experiences exceed anything any of my ex-Peace Corps friends have described, but the book has prepared me for Radio Australia, the one radio station I've found on my short wave radio with decent news at sunset, when my radio functions best (conveniently the time I'm most inclined to listen). For instance, in learning that Kiribati is voting with the Japanese on the issue of reversing the moratorium on commercial whaling in the Pacific--the hot topic right now--I now only know where Kiribati is located, but I also know why they might be voting that way. (Courtesy of Radio Australia I also now know that there are more feral pigs than people in Australia. "So you might say that we are losing the battle against feral pigs," the reporter asked the feral pig expert. "It's not looking so good," he answered.)

OK, my quesadillas are ready (with fresh papaya! Also, have I mentioned that Gay's cookware kicks butt?), the radio needs to be re-cranked, and my beer is getting warm, so back to important shack business. Hope everyone is well out there. More later...