Saturday commute xc: bad proceedings on shore

Koloa felt some of the

aftershock that turned

Honolulu and Lahaina in-

to places of decadence,

but it was no overwhel-

ming problem on Kauai.

Dr James W. Smith noted

in his journal in April,

1865, Three whaleships

here at anchor & bad

proceedings expected on

shore. But if bad pro-

ceedings took place,

they could not have 

been too glaring, since

Smith made no mention

of them in later entries.

We can all point to more

than one pandemic which

has been propagated by

discretion in the prac-

tice of medicine. On the

other hand, none of us,

immersed in the great Age

of Indiscretion as we are,

would welcome a breach of

confidentiality from the

caretakers of our woes.

An island - and sometimes

the smaller, the better -

will always seem to be

that grant of confidence

in space, that Dr Smith's

journal was in comment. 

This is renewal as even

the confessional under-

stands it. Homeland se-
curity, if you like. I 
love Kauai for many rea-
sons. It returns to one, 
whenever it's recalled.

Edward Joesting

Kauai

  The Separate Kingdom

University of Hawaii Press, 1984©