"Rainy Day in paradise..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux  one of Kauai's true gems, Today she 

guest-blogs about  the weather, and when Bettejo talks weather it's actually interesting!  Enjoy...

www.bettejodux.com

Trust me on this one, dear reader. It rains in Paradise. We’re not called the Garden Island for nothing.

I live just below the wettest spot on earth, Mount Kahili. I think I live in the wettest valley on earth. I’ve watched a big black cloud enshroud the mountaintop and slide down the mountain, like a slithering snake, to come to a screeching halt directly  atop my roof and rain over me. I’ve lived in a plantation ‘mansion’ on the Alexander Dam Road that was mostly buried in drippy fog, while at the bottom of the muddy drive Bill drove to work every morning, the sun was shining.

Well, it is the age of Aquarius,I was born to be drenched.

I hope many of you, reading this, tune in to the Garden Island news paper Forum-the most well read page in the paper-and become familiar with the voice of Kauai. Our little  struggling  newspaper  is the heart of Kauai. The Forum-our voices- are it’s soul.

I think newspapers have souls.

Anyway, it’s pouring on Kauai today. Flash floods, mud slides and collapsing old dams are the order of the day. Downpours so heavy windshield wipers can’t keep up and you can’t see through the windshield are clouding our vision.

Well, there are fewer drownings- that’s a plus sign-who goes to the beach when he/she can sit in a warm, comfy, unsmoked- filled bars, dives and restaurants complete with food and drink and gossip? Hey, on Kauai we feed on gossip. Who’s screwing who, who’s ripping who off, who’s headed for skid row? Or already there.

Otherwise it’s just a normal day in paradise. Greedy politicians are on the take. angry voice take to the airwaves, public television screens and others to the Forum. House bound, cabin fevered  Kauaians  vent their spleens. And, in the darker region, communists , atheist, protesters, rebels and conspirators abound.

We could be, without a doubt, the most contentious, diverse-racially, religiously, politically island in America. In the world. Good thing Hawaii has good gun laws, otherwise we’d probably all be out there shooting at each other.

We don’t agree on anything.  No how. No way.

We need more highways. We need more development. We need more tourists. We need more bucks. We need to get the damn homeless off the beaches and out of the parks. Wal Mart’s suffering. So many shops and stores closed down at Kukui Grove- our Ala Moana Center- you wonder how they pay their bills. J.C. Penny’s gone. Borders. What next?

We are micrcosmic America.

But on the upside. We have an excellent community college.The best amateur theater. We love our artists and celebrities and they love us.

Mike Bond will visit Talk Story Book Story tomorrow night. I’m going to be there. Buy a signed book and I need another book like my valley needs more rain. My library needs a library.

But we have Hanapepe and Kimo’s blog and my column and Jeffrey Pears.

We are the richest island in the country.