Andrea and I went to the play Dial M for Murder at Mānoa Valley Theater on Sunday afternoon, February 1. We had a wonderful
time. It was the best play we had seen in a long time and we participated in the standing ovation for the five actors.
I photographed the escambron bonsai that I would take to the Classic Bonsai Club Sunday morning.
The Classic Bonsai Club met in the Susannah Wesley Community Center in Kalihi.
A good turnout. President Alvin Chang put me up first to talk about the need for HBA volunteers.
The courtyard of the center.
My escambron after working on it at the club meeting.
Walking into the theater grounds. Dial M for Murder was a 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film based on a 1952 London play.
At the photo-op backdrop.
The setup was theater-in-the-round. It worked quite well.
Afterward we went to Et Al for dinner. Photo by Andrea.
I had a martini and the lobster roll. Photo by Andrea.
Andrea had an Old Fashioned and the salad with shrimp.
I had the chocolate macadamia tart for dessert. Photo by Andrea.
Tennis at the Kilauea Courts
Andrea went for a walk and shopping on Tuesday morning, February 3, while I went to play tennis.
Andrea backed her car out to go to the store on the birdfeeder cam.
Andrea and I attended the Zoom session of our OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (UH (University of Hawaiʻi))) class on Tuesday.
Writing in Lisp gets one used to lots of nested parentheticals.
Nine of ten enrolled attended the two hour afternoon session.
Anti-fascist Demonstration
Andrea and I attended the anti-fascist event on Kalaniʻanaole Highway at Waialae Iki Park on Wednesday morning, February 4.
There was a nice past-full moon in the west at Waialae Iki Park when we arrived before seven.
Andrea and I held the Honk for Free Speech sign provided by Beth.
The sun was in our eyes as it rose above Koko Head.
We went to Et Al. in Kahala afterward for breakfast.
I had two eggs over with Portuguese sausage and ulu hash browns and lots of coffee and orange juice. Photo by Andrea.
When we got home and before I mowed the lawn I photographed my bonsai naupaka.
I made an avatar image for Andrea from a photo above.
Dinner at Rangoon with Paul and Faye
Andrea and I drove downtown to Paul and Faye's on the thirteenth floor, had drinks and pupu, and then walked to Rangoon restaurant for dinner
Wednesday evening, February 4.
The Catholic church there is under renovation.
Looking up at the tower.
After the photo above. Photo by Andrea.
Walking toward the Hawaii Theater on the way to Rangoon.
Talking about the menu before we ordered.
Our coffee maker failed the next morning so we drove down to Jack's for breakfast.
Caroline Yacoe sent me photos from her after-tennis brunch January 24th.
Sea Grape and Bougainvillea Bonsai Work
I worked on sea grape and bougainvillea bonsai on Friday morning, February 6 while interleaving my exercise routine consisting of floor exercise
(stretches, pushups, yoga), 15 pound dumbbell overhead raises, dead lifts with the 80 pound bar, pullups, and presses and curls with the 40 pound bar.
This bonsai sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera) has been in this growing box for several years.
I will prune it and transplant it into an oval ceramic bonsai pot.
This newly transplanted bougainvillea bonsai will be ready for a show in one year. I pruned the sea grape (not shown).
I had six tenths of an inch in my rain gauge Saturday morning, the seventh.
Trying to get warm. Only 71 degrees F outside.
Baby, it's cold outside.
Our Saturday morning maiapilo lasted all day in this cold and wet weather. Photo by Andrea.
Scanned from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday, February 8, 2026. Copyright 2026 by the owner. Fair use for educational purposes.
We had soup and hot chocolate for lunch Sunday and afterward Andrea worked on her puzzle while I wrote and read.
I put on socks and wore a T-shirt under my aloha shirt it was so cold, 65 degrees in the afternoon.
CCM-EO is Community Climate Madate for East Oahu. I'm on the steering community. Monday's meeting was canceled due to weather and risk of
power outages for Zoom attendees. I continued work on the sea grape bonsai.
I photographed the shohin mock orange Monday afternoon, February 9.
I received several notices of press releases for my new book, Planet of Love.
Andrea and I heard a crash in the night and woke up to damaged bonsai and ground plants due to the neighbor's roofing material flying into our yard
on Tuesday, February 10.
The roofing material fell on my bonsai bench crushing several and many other plants in growing pots and in the ground.
We cleared bonsai of the benches and tried to remove the debris.
Andrea tried using a hand shear but it wasn't effective.
We noticed that the street light pole electrical cover had been removed again after the city replaced the one damaged earlier.
Neighbor Kedge came over and helped remove the material.
Andrea stabilized the metal sculpture while Kedge dragged the material back to the neighbor's property.
Kedge use his saws-all to cut the material.
All the material was removed.
After lunch I hosed down the driveway and side walkway and put the bonsai back on the bench and other potted plants.
Click the image to see the full resolution version.
Tennis
I played tennis on the Kilauea courts on Thursday morning, February 12.
Aiko and June.
Karen and Michiko.
Valentine's Day
Andrea went shopping and so did I on Friday the thirteenth. I bought some flowers and chocolates at Foodland.
I put the flowers into a vase with the balloon.
Friday afternoon we went to pick up taxes from our financial advisor's office. We get money back this year from both state and federal. First
time in a long time. We walked across the parking lot to Liliha Bakery where we bought some breakfast pastries: blueberry scones and raisin snails.
We exchanged cards on Valentine's morning. Photo by Andrea.
I played tennis at the Niu Valley courts on Valentine's Day while Andrea went to Mission Houses for a refresher class.
Sunday afternoon I had a Zoom philosophy meetup session. The topic was time.
Bonsai for Genevieve's Anniversary Celebration
We provided bonsai for table decorations at Genevieve's wedding ten years ago. We have been asked to provide centerpieces once more for the
anniversary celebration at Bellows Beach on Saturday, the 28th. I began getting them ready on the sixteenth of February.
A jade cascade (kengai) bonsai.
My premna root over rock bonsai one month after being pruned and repotted.
An aʻaliʻi (native Hawaiian) slant style (shakan) bonsai.
A podocarpus (yew) bonsai informal upright (moyogi).
A shohin Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa)bonsai.
Tuesday morning tennis at the Kilauea courts.
Another view of tennis on the seventeenth.
Wednesday afternoon an egret visited our yard. Photo by Andrea.
Andrea wrote an
essay
(PDF file) describing the saga of our neighbor who burned his own house down (with fictitious names).
Thursday Andrea photographed my painting my pots.
Lunar New Year Celebration
The Year of the Horse begins this month so Andrea and I invited friends over on Saturday the 21st to celebrate Saint Valentine's Day,
the Lunar New Year, and launch of my sixth book, Planet of Love (Auctus Publishers), a science fiction novella.
Friday morning the sky was red. I mowed the lawn in the morning before it started raining.
After lunch Friday I photographed our horse flag in our front window. Photo reversed to show writing from the inside.
We received this nice thank you card from the Manoa Heritage Center so I scanned it. Andrea and I have been volunteer docents there for over ten years.
After lunch on Saturday I photographed my bonsai podocarpus in a free form composite pot by Shogo.
Beth and Steve go for the food. Photo by Andrea.
Jo and Faye. Photo by Andrea.
Bryan talking with Gary and Karen. Photo by Andrea.
I sat at a table to eat with Laurel, Robert, and Randy. Photo by Andrea.
Guests began to arrive at five PM and by six-thirty the party was in full swing. Click the image for the full resolution version.
Andrea talked to Aries for a while. Click the image for the full resolution version.
Andrea talked with Paul. Click the image for the full resolution version.
Sunday afternoon I photographed the fukien tea bonsai material I won last month at the Pacific Bonsai Club drawing.
I photographed the juniper bonsai material I won last month at the Pacific Bonsai Club drawing.
Annual Volunteer Mahalo at the Mānoa Heritage Center
Andrea and I went to the Volunteer Mahalo lunch at the Mānoa Heritage Center (MHC) on Monday, February 23. This is the thirtieth anniversary of
MHC. There was valet parking (we parked on the street) and a catered lunch after an informative talk.
I pruned and repotted the fukien tea on Sunday and photographed it on Monday.
B. Kaʻimiloa Chrisman, M.D., gave a presentation on Hawaiian voyaging.
Our table-mates, Alan and another. Mrs. Chrisman recorded the presentation. Photo by Andrea.
There was an excellent catered lunch of Chinese food.
Dr. Kaʻimiloa Chrisman is wearing the hat and lei.
Andrea was honored with lei and a gift for her contributions as a docent. This is the reverse of the card she received.
Monday I afternoon I photographed the juniper I pruned and repotted on Sunday.
Tour at the Mānoa Heritage Center
I went to Mānoa Heritage Center to give an adult tour at 1:30 PM on Tuesday the 24th while Andrea went to a routine eye doctor appointment.
There was a rainbow when I arrived.
We got rained out after an hour so the four of us (Aiko, June, Karen, and I) left.
The tour at MHC was mostly young people.
We went out to dinner at Roy's in Hawaii Kai that evening. We had old fashioneds and pupu plates.
The STU address was on so we went out to avoid dementia. Photo by Andrea.
Sign Waving at Waialae Iki
Andrea and I attended the anti-fascist event on Kalaniʻanaole Highway at Waialae Iki Park on Wednesday morning, February 25.
I got the peace sign. Photo by Andrea.
Rule of law, not rule of lies. Clouds obscured the sun early on.
Photo by Andrea.
There was a big turnout of the liberal minded. Oh, wait, rule of law is a conservative principle.
We extended far down the park front.
Group photo when we were done from Beth.
Andrea and I went to Et Al. for breakfast, by the freeway by Kahala Mall.
We were hungry and then well satisfied. Photo by Andrea.
After we got home I worked on my bonsai Ficus nerifolia (willow leaf ficus). This is the before shot.
Tennis at the Kilauea Courts
I played tennis at the Kilauea Courts Thursday morning on the 26th.
Aiko, Aiko, Steve, and Karen.
In the afternoon I photographed my bonsai Ficus nerifolia (willow leaf ficus). This is the after shot.
My formal upright (chokan) style willow leaf ficus after pruning and unwiring with some fine wire added.
Dinner at the Little Plum
We went to dinner at the Little Plum restaurant in Mānoa Market Place Thursday evening, using the gift card from Mānoa Heritage Center
given to Andrea in recognition of her volunteer activity.
We had plates to share and cocktails.
Photograph by a waitress.
Friday morning walk before breakfast: we saw Zeus holding a scepter in the sky.
Later Friday morning I photographed the 14 bonsai we will take to Gen and Eric's anniversary celebration at Bellows on Saturday.
Open table ticket #22545090. Can't sign in.
Gen and Eric's Tenth Anniversary Party at Bellows
Andrea and I attended Gen and Eric's tenth Anniversary party at Bellows Air Force Station (AFS) on Saturday the 28th.
We arrived at the AFS venue at one PM, brought up the 14 bonsai, and went for a walk on the beach.
I gave a lei to Gen and Andrea gave a lei to Eric.
Faye and Andrea in the gift shop.
The singer had a solid body ukulele.
Eric and Gen affirmed their vows.
People watched the affirmation and gave applause.
Gen's turn.
The catered buffet dinner was delicious.
The buffet line.
A large chocolate cake was served by Eric and Gen.
Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com