The Lighter Side of Weight Loss: Chapter Forty-four

The Lighter Side of Weight Loss
By Sandra Warholic Seeley                                           

Aloha Friday at 21!

Chapter Forty-four

It’s getting harder to stay light-hearted during this never ending pandemic with dire warnings about future Covids. I can’t even say I’m going to run away and join a circus anymore, due to lack of circuses. In the past, I used to tell my husband, Edward the Great, that I was going to run away from home, and don’t look for me in Hawaii, my favorite place in the world. Now it’s not even legal to run away. Could running away be considered a necessary trip outside?

During the late 60’s, when I first flew to Waianae, Hawaii on the leeward side of Oahu, to assume my fifth grade teaching position, the biggest problems facing me were a major airline strike and learning to pronounce Hawaiian names. Now I don’t know how I would manage to snorkel wearing a cloth mask. It would probably feel like waterboarding torture.

So fifty years later, on sleepless nights (it’s 2:00 am), I travel back across the Pacific Ocean to visit with my 21 year old self while listening to the Don Ho radio station on Pandora. BTW, I can still sing “Pearly Shells” in Hawaiian! And I often listened to Don Ho perform in person at his nightclub. To ward off panic attacks, I visualize myself lying on the beach at Pokai Bay in my bikini (no need for WW at that time). I can feel the tradewinds playing with my long, BROWN hair. I can smell the heady fragrances of all the exotic tropical plants. I’m traveling again on the Likelike Highway (LEE-kay-LEE-kay) from Honolulu to the windward side of Paradise to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center. I’m driving a baby blue Mustang that my roommate (and 4th grade teacher) had shipped from her home in San Jose, California. To paraphrase “The Blues Brothers,” there are 5000 miles from here to Pittsburgh, we’ve got a full tank of gas, it’s dark out and we’re wearing sunglasses. I left out the part about a half a pack of cigarettes since we didn’t smoke (the 60’s were almost over).

When we weren’t exploring our island, we could be found in our classrooms learning pidgin English, while trying to teach proper grammar. I’ll never forget one student who decorated his Open House folder with swear words. When I asked him why he did this, he said his Mother can’t read English. Actually, I’ll never forget all of my students that year. I hope they are happily married with children of their own. I hope they remember me fondly, too. Now the song “I’ll Remember You” is playing in my head. Perhaps I’ll return to Hawaii’s arms to stay some day.

How is all of this WW related? Well, I just demonstrated a visualization technique that took me to my happy place. Perhaps you can do the same. If I have gained a few pounds lately (which I have), I can blame it on the menehunes, the mischievous little people of Hawaii. Today, my plan is to get back on track. If can can. If no can, no can. If tracking doesn’t work right now, I’ll live by that Pidgin Philosophy for a few more weeks. Either way, I pau! Aloha nui loa.

Until next week, go to your happy place, but wear a mask.

Sandra Warholic Seeley - All my life, and half of someone else's, I have lived in a humorous place called Earth. My muse is a tiny menehune from the island of Oahu in Hawaii where I lived for a year. Ernest Hemingway once sat under the exact same coconut tree where I did most of my writing. I'm also a sensitive to criticism Virgo who loves to get paid for writing and speaking funny stuff. Even though my mind is filled with volcanic ash residue and I'm still finding sand in my shorts, I will continue to write until my muse retires or I run out of pretty blue drinks, whichever comes first. Don't be bashful, email the author.