Hawaii the healing place? (Hilo: fit in, transplants, live in)

[WannabeCPA]

Agree with "Vaedrem" that this is a very personal thing that can't be quantified by people on this forum. As for me, when my allergies were really bad in my teens and twenties, I noticed that when I moved to the mainland for college they got significantly better within a few days. Whenever I would come back they'd get worse, again within a few days. In my case it's supposedly the mold and pollen that's present here that causes my nasal passages to get irritated. I find it hard to believe someone would just wake up from a nap one day and have their chronic back pain be gone, no matter where they moved to. However, I won't question your honesty since I know strange things happen. You should just thank your lucky stars your pain somehow disappeared.

[pj737]

With close proximity to active volcanoes, I would think that people residing on the Big Island would suffer from far more respiratory ailments than here on Oahu. I have very mild asthma that only gives me problems when I visit Hilo and Kona. Once I fly back home, I'm good again.

The placebo effect has been scientifically proven to be powerful and can "heal" many people from whatever it is they are suffering from IF they go to a place they personally feel presents a healthier living environment than the one they came from. Stress can have significant detrimental impacts on disease and lesser concerning ailments; being active outdoors in natural environments (which you can do YEAR-ROUND here) increases your sense of well-being and reduces stress. Year-round convenient and easy access to both the ocean and tropical forests allows people to escape the stress that modern day society brings.

One could of course argue the high cost of housing could ADD more stress. But this can be negated by adjusting one's perspective of space and the "need" for it. The happiest people I know "live with less" and really take advantage and appreciate the plethora of natural wonders Hawaii offers its residents.

[pj737]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

How do they keep the snails off of their vegetables?

My mother told me verbatim "I pick them up after dark with chopsticks and feed them to the ducks".

She also said there are organic pellets that are used that are relatively safe (we have dogs too) but she never uses them.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by pj737

My mother told me verbatim "I pick them up after dark with chopsticks and feed them to the ducks".

.

That sounds like a sustainable plan to feed a million people - let's get the implementation started.

[pj737]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

That sounds like a sustainable plan to feed a million people - let's get the implementation started.

My mother isn't feeding a million people.

And there are ways to deal with slugs (large scale) without using pesticides on the actual vegetables themselves.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by pj737

My mother told me verbatim "I pick them up after dark with chopsticks and feed them to the ducks".

She also said there are organic pellets that are used that are relatively safe (we have dogs too) but she never uses them.

She must have been talking to the agricultural extension folks.

We had a lot of African snails at our other house and the extension folks suggested putting the snails on the driveway and driving over them. That would have killed them, I suppose, although that requires a lot more work than tossing them in a bucket of salt water. However, then you have a bucket of dead snails in salt water, perhaps soapy water would work better then they could be tossed onto the compost heap afterwards.

Do ducks eat lettuce? Is there anything that eats slugs and not lettuce?

Maybe picking off pests is helpful exercise for creating health?

[smarino]

Possibly what Tibetan Buddhists call an auspicious coincidence. It really isn't important why it happened, I would just be grateful and let go of it. People get healed all over the world, not just on the Big Island, and of course bad things happen to good people over there too, sometimes for no apparent reason. I personally have had some incredible healing experiences on the Big Island, and on the other hand, there have been some really bad experiences too. Some experiences were neutral.

It's interesting that you posted this because recently I had what appeared to be a very bad experience here in St Pete, and was honestly thinking of returning to the Big Island. Sometimes the energy there can promote healing. But for once I asked for help from some members of my spiritual center that I really didn't know very well, they responded, and things have gotten better in a much shorter time that I ever expected. The folks I asked were wonderful, and within a week the stress from my 13 year relationship suddenly ending right out of the blue is pretty much gone. It's not what I expected at all. Who gets over a 13 year relationship in one week? My physical issues, which have been pretty severe, have also gotten much better. There's also the case that I have been working very hard at this on my own, so there is a visible cause and effect going on.

In many spiritual traditions, what may at first appear to be a bad thing is actually a good thing, and vice versa. My physical problems, which coincided w/ the breakup, initially devastated me. The 'ol lady was gone, I didn't know what was going to happen next, the plans we'd made were dashed in an instant, lots of things were happening that were irrational and confusing.....how could that not be called bad? Yet this experience led to my connection w/ some good people at Shambhala, got me out of a rut that I didn't even know I was in, and strengthened my spiritual practice. There is still a little pain, but nothing like before. It's manageable again.

Don't forget to address the practical side of things and maybe get a good physical to see how things are going in your back. I have a bad one too, and backs are mysterious things indeed. When I was younger, my 10 years of work as an auto mechanic and contractor involved lifting all sorts of heavy things, yet no problems came up. Then one day I was sitting on a desk, turned around to look at someone, and nearly went to my knees from stabbing pain in my lower back area. It has bothered me for 30 or 40 years, and put me in the hospital ER more than a few times. The pain will be there for months, and then be gone for months. I believe what happened to you. Sometimes it happens that way, and it has happened to me in similar style, and to others I have known. Congratulations.

[pj737]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

She must have been talking to the agricultural extension folks.

We had a lot of African snails at our other house and the extension folks suggested putting the snails on the driveway and driving over them. That would have killed them, I suppose, although that requires a lot more work than tossing them in a bucket of salt water. However, then you have a bucket of dead snails in salt water, perhaps soapy water would work better then they could be tossed onto the compost heap afterwards.

Do ducks eat lettuce? Is there anything that eats slugs and not lettuce?

Maybe picking off pests is helpful exercise for creating health?

Oh... the African snails. They are everywhere. Especially after a nice drenching rain shower. Unfortunately the ducks don't like them the way they like their shell-less brethren. They are generally tossed in the trash (and never crushed).

The ducks eat all the leafy vegetables (among other things) so they are relegated to an area that is surrounded by a low fence. I'm pretty sure that anything that's going to eagerly eat a slug will gladly munch on some freshly grown lettuce. But I'm not a farmer so can't say for certain.

Picking slugs as gross as it sounds is definitely therapeutic... especially when you know they are going to make for a high-protein meal for the feathered fellas.

[hotzcatz]

This year the snails seem to be everywhere, my neighbor was mentioning the same thing, too. Not sure what eats snails, there should be some critter out there that likes their food crunchy. If you just toss them on the trash and not squish them, don't they just crawl out again? Or go cause trouble at the dump? I figure their shells add calcium to the soil when they eventually break down?

Meditation seems to be becoming very popular, Smarino. There's a group that meets here in Honokaa on Sunday afternoons at the Hongwanji. How things can become so much better from quietly sitting, I'm not sure, but it seems to happen.

Maybe less stress and a slower pace of life in Hawaii helps with folks' feeling better?

[pj737]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

This year the snails seem to be everywhere, my neighbor was mentioning the same thing, too. Not sure what eats snails, there should be some critter out there that likes their food crunchy. If you just toss them on the trash and not squish them, don't they just crawl out again? Or go cause trouble at the dump? I figure their shells add calcium to the soil when they eventually break down?

They are tossed into the lidded containers provided by the city. If they can manage to not get crushed in the garbage compactor and the trucks dump their waste consistently in the same area, there may be some snail reunions at Kapolei's Waimanalo Gulch. Not sure what the impact on the dump would be but I can't imagine the shelled critters causing any more problems than all the hazardous materials that gets tossed into trash bins every day.