Of Mice and Men and Women

Viva and Barbara search for driftwood while keeping social distance

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry
           
 --  John Steinbeck, "Of Mice and Men," adapted from Robert Burns' poem, "To a Mouse"


Just when I thought the third time was a charm, a little mouse changed things on us.

The mouse crept in while we weren't paying attention. We never saw the mouse. The mouse came as a part of Covid-19.

On our third attempt, we were able to book a flight home. We are scheduled to depart our beloved island in less than two weeks.

We went online today to confirm our flight and discovered that it's still a go, however, the time has changed. The mouse apparently ran up the clock.

"We don't arrive in San Francisco until midnight," said Barbara.

"What? Let me check that."

It's true. A best laid plan had changed again.

"How would we have known if we hadn't checked?

"Can you imagine missing our flight because we didn't know the time of departure changed."

It was a rhetorical question with a nibbling answer.

I double checked all emails from Hawaiian Airlines, not finding an updated or changed schedule.

"I guess we need to go online to look everyday."

"Maybe the change was made this morning and we'll soon receive notification.

The new schedule has us departing an hour earlier and arriving an hour-and-a-half later.

"That means more time at the Honolulu Airport," said Barbara, with a sigh that alarmed the chickens pecking in the bushes.

I shuddered briefly, considering that puts us at perhaps the riskiest place in Hawaii for four hours awaiting our flight to SFO.

I had already begun to weep just thinking about leaving.

We feel safe here. Only 20 cases of Covid on the island and those have either left or run a benign course. Mayor Derek Kawakami displayed great leadership and jumped right on sheltering-in-place, closing the beaches and instituting a night curfew.

The vibe here is relaxed. Signs of reopening are slowly unfolding. The predominant messages in The Garden Island newspaper are notes of caution: Let's not rush things.

Meantime we have stacks of mail, a yard full of weeds and our sweet German Shepherd waiting for us at home. We are not at home. The time has come to plan our exit strategy. Slowly, yet surely the countdown has begun.

Unless our flight is once again canceled all together.

"I would be so stoked!"

Barbara said, “Let’s stick with the plan and see what happens.”