by the numbers

I can't remember when it was in the past 24 hours, but I had the realization that not only did I not have to blog about the past week of vacation for several more entries, it would be better not to. So many times in the past I've taken on such a task, it really becomes a chore. Three weeks later, I'm digging back into the holiday that was, and if it's that awful for me, how must it be for the three people who read this. Mercy. I'm all about mercy. Well, tonight I am.

So let's move on with a wrap up entry on the Hawai'i vacation. Conrad and I have had a relaxing (if breezy) dinner of ribs out on the balcony, and we're each feeling our way through a certain melancholia. Ah well. We - like you - can always go visit the vacation photo sets (yay!) as often as we like.

So let me do a quick by the numbers entry, and barring any unusual reminiscing, move on with this blog, keeping it closer to the day that was.

0. Number of photos taken on the last two days of vacation.
1. Number of times I've been to Hawai'i this year, contrary to popular belief.
2. Islands visited: Lana'i and O'ahu.
3. New Aloha shirt acquisitions.
4. Nights on each island.
5. Books read while on vacation: Under the Ivy; Eat, Memory; Still Life; Hardcourt Confidential; A Fatal Grace. I made it a good 125 or so pages into The Disappearing Spoon as well. Thanks, TK, for the recommendations!

Other random or repeating numbers pop up in my mind (7 trips to Hawai'i now, by my count; 2 mai tai a day limit (violated once, I think); 2 dips in the ocean and 1 in a hotel pool; 9 hours in the air from Chicago to Honolulu).

In the end, it was great. I saw sights new to me (anything on Lana'i, the 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu) and familiar things (Book Ends in Kailua, Side Street Inn for dinner in Honolulu). And I wish I were there now, still vacationing, lost in a book with a glass of lightly chilled red by me and Conrad, reading, nearby.

[insert sigh]

One day.... One day....