“Fascinating Facts about Hawaii”

That’s the working title of a book I’m working on and it’s the reason I have neglected this space for the past several days. I’m entering crunch time for this new project.
 
Eight or ten years ago, my wife and daughter and I were sitting around the dinner table talking about some of the really unique things about Hawaii . . . things we know about and take for granted. and the idea for the little book was hatched.
 
Interestingly, there is also a connection to train travel. When I’m having a meal in an Amtrak dining car and my dining companions learn I’m from Hawaii, that’s when the questions often start. The fact is, most people know very little about these islands.
 

For example, many people are surprised to learn that there is a ranching tradition here that goes all the way back to the monarchy days. In fact, we had working cowboys here in Hawaii several decades before there were any in Texas. That’s a fact that’s fascinating for a lot of people.
 
Here’s another one.
 
Everyone knows about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. But almost no one knows that there was a second attack about three months later, although it involved just two Japanese planes. Furthermore, although daring, it was a flop. The pilot in the lead plane became disoriented and they dropped all four of their bombs over a residential area, doing no damage. Interesting, eh?.
 
Anyway, I have a publisher and now there’s a hard deadline. Perhaps I’ll try out a few more here in the days ahead.