KokoHead Smiles

09/09/2025

Will our children grow up in a world of plastic garbage too? This nest fell out of our coconut tree. I was shocked and saddened by the contrast of my childhood memories of finding a bird nest involved being mesmerized by the skill of small birds weaving natural grasses, twigs and mud into a beautiful home - not today's bird nest that looks like our landfill. What world will my grandchildren live in with all of our plastic garbage today? This isn't just an ocean problem. Netflix: Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy is an eye-opener if you aren't already aware of the problem we all cast a blind eye to. I mean, it's not my problem others will have problems with my problems...is it?

06/08/2025

Sometimes all I can see is what's in front of me, or better said, it's all I choose to focus on. I have to remind myself to take the time to look around and notice the beauty that is revealed by seeing things from a different perspective.

03/29/2022

Sometimes waking up too early is worth it

09/21/2020

4:20am alarm: So not worth it.
6:20am Hilo commute: So worth it.
Perspective sometimes takes a bit to develop but the beauty of the moment is always present. My challenge is not being in a state of beauty, it's being in a state to readily feel beauty. Delivering smiles to Hilo is teaching me to smile for what I have. Thankful for the moments.

06/20/2020

Plan A+: When Plan A fails it's not Plan B, it's Plan A+.
"I'm Loving It" with McD's, my son Ian's freshly broken skateboard arm and covid dog . We were bummed tonight that covidfear kept us from our Plan A of sitting inside Ronald World, but Plan A+ was even better eating inside the bed of the truck in the parking lot with a gorgeous Hawaii sunset.
Everywhere I look covidfear (not covid itself) is ruining so many people's Plan A, including my own, that I can't wait, baby, for Plan A+.
🌴

05/18/2020

Every day is Happy Traeger Day . Thanks bro! Teriyaki chicken Hawaiian style.

05/14/2020

In the Dominican Republic, my 12 year old son was an excellent assistant for the day in a makeshift clinic for 5 long days in a row. Might be the first dental "office" where the doctors and staff sweat more than the patient in 110 degree weather without A/C. We had 1990 dorm room quality mattresses on tables for the patient to lie on. They waited hours and sometimes days to get in without saying nor likely even thinking about a single complaint or writing a bad YELP review. Americans are so spoiled we can't even smell our own stinky intolerance for minor inconveniences and yet we complain about them as though they're substantial problems. Hundreds of patients who had never seen a dentist before living and smiling in conditions best summed up as humble. We made a small difference but received more in feelings of the heart than services we gave.

05/07/2020

05/03/2020

Beach Clean up at Bellows organized by Kaiser High School's beach cleanup club. Very cool to see all the gunk and junk removed.

04/30/2020

Dentistry Dominican Republic style with my oldest child in a makeshift clinic for 5 long days in a row. Might be the first dental "office" where the doctors and staff sweat more than the patient in 110 degree weather without A/C. We had 1990 dorm room quality mattresses on tables for the patient to lie on. They waited hours and sometimes days to get in without saying nor likely even thinking about a single complaint or writing a bad YELP review. Americans are so spoiled we can't even smell our own stinky intolerance for minor inconveniences and yet we complain about them as though they're substantial problems. Hundreds of patients who had never seen a dentist before living and smiling in conditions best summed up as humble. We made a small difference but received more in feelings of the heart than services we gave.

04/26/2020

My son wanted to know if he could dig out from the vertical before the tide made him a permanent sand anchor. It was well worth our effort watching him try. Fun times.

04/23/2020

: My family anxiously waiting for me to rack myself in the forehead, again. Japan's national engineering standards are perfect for removing Koko Head Smiles off 6'5" gaijins. I have more scars on my skull than a fullback's helmet after living in the Toyko area for 2 years and our recent trip back reopened a fair share of them without a single "Moushiwake arimasen.