Mele Kalikimaka!!!

It's the thing to say, On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day.

I mention it because that's where I'll be for Christmas, as I have been for several years running, now.

This will be the last time though; for various reasons I'll be going a bit later in the Winter on future trips.

Someday, I plan to retire there, but for now I get my annual "fix" for a couple of weeks each year.

I was stationed on Oahu in the early 80's, but these days I spend my time on the Big Island...which is over twice the size of all the other islands combined, and has 13 of the 15 terrestrial climate types represented at various locations distributed over it's entirety.
(From desert to rain forest; everything but Arctic and sub-Arctic...and who needs those, anyway?!)

People often ask me about the cost of living there. While some things cost more, others cost less. Because the average daytime temperature is in the 70's, and in the 60's at night, heating/cooling costs aren't much of a factor. Plenty of meats, fruits and vegetables are produced there. In fact, the Parker Ranch is the largest in the United States. Taxes are low. Gas is expensive, but you can't have everything. Overall, it's not bad. Oh, and they don't tax pensions, either.

They grow some pretty big poinsettias there, too...