I was lucky enough to live fifteen years in the Hawaiian Islands before moving to Tahoe forty years ago, and I learned several valuable life lessons out there in what Mark Twain called, “The loveliest fleet of Islands that lies anchored in any ocean.” One of which I shall recount here if I can claw it back from recollection’s fragile vault…

I was news director at KHLO on the Island of Hawaii, and at that place in time, there was no news on the Island of Hawaii. In fact, our news studio was located on the sundeck of the Grand Naniloa Hotel, where you could hear Myna Birds singing whenever we went on the air. So one news-absent afternoon, a lady friend and I went hunting for a beach upon which to play. Soon enough we were in the shallows off the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and were frolicking in the surf there when a gentleman hailed us from onshore and hollered for us to come join him in some fresh squid he had just caught, and we did. 

He was a kindhearted gentleman who had a merry twinkle in his eye, and good snacks too, fried squid and Primo Beer, it just didn’t get any better than that. The squid was on a portable burner, and the Primo was on ice. It’s always the Hawaiian way, whether it be a spoonful of poi, or a puff on a pipe to share.

We talked about the weather, which was mostly absent, and about the news, which was always absent. Then for a moment it grew quiet and he motioned to the hotel with his hand and asked, “You see that top floor up there?”

“Yeah, nice view from up there.” I offered.

“Well, I own that floor, and own a football team too, the Minnesota Vikings, but you kids have something more valuable yet.”

“What could that be?” my lady friend asked.

In an earnest voice, he gazed solemnly at us both and said, “Youth, you have your youth.” And we smiled in the awareness of that truth.

I made a little promise to myself just then, to never, ever let go of my youth.

Thank you, Mr. Max Winter, wherever you are…

So should you happen to read a Pine Nuts column and say to yourself, “This McAvoy guy is really immature.” Well, that’s why, and I shall pull for the Minnesota Vikings as long as I live, unless they are playing the 49ers of course. In closing, I hope the current news director of KHLO in Hilo has it easy as I did back in those halcyon days of the sixties. There might not have been any news back then, but every day was a little bit like that day on the beach when we encountered Mr. Winter, and came away a little wiser for the company…

Audio: https://open.spotify.com/show/7Fhv4PrH1UuwlhbnTT23zO

Originally Published by KUNR, 12/06/2024, by Lucia Starbuck

An American White Pelican is roosting after a 20-person team rescued him from an icy pond in Truckee.

The seabird sure had an un-pheasant journey.

It’s normal to see pelicans in the Reno-Tahoe area. They’re big aquatic birds with long beaks and large throat pouches. They migrate from the coast and go inland during the winter to stay warm.

So it became clear to birders this pelican was feeling under the feather and wasn’t supposed to be here this late in the year. Unlike Nigel from “Finding Nemo,” who scooped up Dory and Marlin, this bird, nicknamed “Whitey” by the locals, was in need of saving.

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Photo courtesy of Doug Jones