It’s a holiday weekend, but it doesn’t quite feel like a holiday weekend, certainly not one that kicks off summer.

One of our favorite restaurants–Hukilau Lanai–is offering curbside pickup tomorrow evening, so I ordered veggie lasagna for me and mahi mahi for Eric. We haven’t ordered carryout during this whole COVID-19 stay-at-home, safer-at-home, quarantine, shelter-at-home, lockdown, brouhaha, or whatever you want to call it.

Besides Hawaiian monk seals and Laysan albatross and white-rumped shama, a few other animals have been entertaining me during these past few weeks. Only instead of in person, they’ve entertained me via video. First, there’s Olive and Mabel, a couple of cheeky Labrador retrievers. The series is only four episodes in. No telling if there will be more. We can only hope. If you haven’t seen all four, take a look. And even if you have, take a second or third or fourth look. They get better with each viewing.

This series is narrated by Andrew Cotter, a Scottish sports caster who works primarily for BBC, but as you can see, he dabbles in some other non-BBC sports, as well. I don’t know about you, but I think the BBC should get its act together after this pandemic and sign Olive and Mabel to an exclusive series. We need more Olive and Mabel in our lives.

Today, my friend Wendy posted an adorable reunion of a man and donkey after being separated for some time due to quarantine. The voice-over is entirely in Spanish; however, the emotion of the reunion transcends language. Listen to the very end when the donkey starts braying. That’s what some compare to the call of an endemic and endangered seabird known as ‘A’o, or Newell’s shearwater. Just imagine a few hundred ‘A’o “singing” like this donkey throughout the night.

You may want to bookmark this page. I am. Because I’ll want to return to it again and again, especially on those days when I’m feeling down for whatever reason. Mabel and Olive and this happy donkey are sure to provide a smile whenever it’s needed.

One new COVID-19 case was added to our statewide total, now 643.

Be well.