Punahou Carnival

It’s that time of year again. The annual Punahou School Carnival, right down the street from us, always heralds jammed side streets and late-night noise.

One of the most popular events on Oahu, the carnival is the epitome of high school hijinks and fun – a huge rummage sale, lots of local foods, games galore designed to separate your money from your wallet, and a passel of E.K. Fernandez rides and games.

Take away the carnival, and you take away one of the islands’ largest fund-raising efforts, good income from vendors, and a sizable chunk of profit from the Fernandez carnival activities.

I used to go to the carnival, it’s only a short walk down the street. The problem is that it’s all downhill – a steep downhill. Which in itself is fine, except that the walk back is all uphill – a steep (really steep) uphill. No stroll in the dark, that’s for sure. It’s a hike.

And our residential street is always crowded. It started yesterday before noon and won’t abate until around midnight tonight. The cars creep onto our lawn (we used to have a yard-sprinkler system that was crushed years ago), and in the morning, there are empty soda pop and beer cans all over the yard.

It’s not my favorite time of year, that’s for sure.