“You have tickets?” a woman asked us. “How did you get tickets?”
Five words: the fair and industrious Trudy. Long before the trip began (which is now one year ago), Trudy waited until the minute they went on sale and got us tickets for the hula competition at the Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo.
Yes. We had tickets. And as we entered the hall, we had leis draped around our shoulders and a gentle perfume trailing behind us as we walked in.
“These are general admission tickets,” the hostess told us. We nodded. “General admission tickets,” she said, pointing to the other side of the hall. We nodded and began walking toward the stage. “General admission tickets,” she said for a third time. “There are three rows over there behind the stage.” And she redirected us off to the left.
Behind. In front. The stage was visible from all directions. And we had tickets.
And we used the camera with abandon, until the battery mercifully ran out.
