Usually we drive out to the far end of the island to get shave-ice from a lady we've been seeing for many years. This time she was a little "spooky". We were enjoying our treats when she warned us in serious tones about the bad luck that befalls tourists who take sand (or rocks) home from the island. She said her daughter works for the Post Office in Hilo, and they get lots of sand and rocks mailed back saying "please put this back, I've had nothing but bad luck".
Now, I'm not for having a good chunk of the islands moved to knick-knack shelves in Iowa and other parts of the mainland. However, in my most serious voice I asked her "what about the sand that is stuck to my boogie-board and comes home accidentally?" She told me that I would be exempt from bad luck in this situation. Naturally I don't take any of this bad luck talk with grain of sand, I mean salt. When I get home I am tempted to mail pack a single grain of sand from my boogie board and ask her to put it on the beach at Mile Marker 16.
