Betty and I moved to Hawaii in 1993, and for the next 14 years (7 x 2) the weather here has been warmer, surprisingly with less rain. In 1993, the pattern was, starting in January, cool and dry, slowly warming and getting more humid to September, when it was very humid and very hot. Then the rains would come. Tropical storms with occasional hurricanes the dumped so much water at a time, we sometimes had to stop driving, being unable to see anything several feet in front of the windshield. Now, THAT's rain! After the "monsoons" in October-November, December suddenly cooled and dried, and the cycle resumed. Mangoes ripened in September (I love mangoes).

It's said Hawaii has a seven year cycle of cool and dry to wet and hot. This year, I can't figure anything out. From January to June this year it's been hotter and wetter, so much so that my lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers have been growing like crazy, dying out in April, restarting in May and fruiting AGAIN in June. The mangos came out in May and June. What happened to the seven-year cycle? I don't know. No tropical storms, just lots of low level humidity and rains. No hurricanes. At least the local ducks and geese like it! So do the cockroaches and termites!

Is the weather changing? Are we globally and locally warming? Is el Nino no longer an unusual event? I don't know. How will this effect our water, surf, agriculture, and ultimately tourism? Again, I don't know. What's "normal" these days, anyway? According to Disneyland, we should be having weather like when I first arrived here. If you don't believe me, visit Disneyland in California and visit the tropical rainforest event. If it's in Disneyland, it has to be true!