ALOHA FROM AXIS ISLAND

BEFORE GOING TO HAWAII, THE IDEA OF DEER hunting there struck me as akin to pineapple on pizza—an odd combination that contradicts the natural order of things. Proper pizza is topped with meat, not fruit (and, no, tomatoes don’t count), and deer are hunted in timber, mountains, deserts, and swamps—not in a tropical honeymoon getaway like Lanai.

The flight from Honolulu didn’t take long, for which I was grateful. The gentleman in the seat next to me was friendly but large. I’m not built like a Milanese runway model either, so we both tried to make the best of it as our forearms jostled for the center armrest. He was wearing flip-flops, shorts, and a T-shirt, and his carry-on consisted of a