LAX

Los Angeles International Airport.  Seen it a lot in movies and television shows.  I guess with a six hour layover here we're gonna see a lot more of it, eh?

 
So, the plane had a tailwind, and we land about a half-hour earlier than expected.  No worries; what's a half-hour more or less?

We find a restroom, and then look for a place to sit down and relax over a big restaurant breakfast:  hot tea, hand-squeezed orange juice, sausage, bacon, eggs, toast or biscuits and gravy... Mmmm!  Lookin' right and lookin' left, strollin', lookin'... There is such a dearth of eating places here!!  (I love words!  "Dearth" sounds like what it means: a scarcity that makes dear; specifically famine.  Can't think of a more appropriate word to use there than dearth!  Pronounced durth.)

There's a Starbucks, but Granpa and I have never drank coffee and can't afford their prices anyway.  There are geedunks along the wall with juices and sodas, pre-made sandwiches, etc.   And there's a pizza place.  Pizza at 6 a.m.?  Nah.  But that's about all that LAX offers.  Can you imagine?!

We're standing in front of the pizza place (that has every seat taken!) and wondering what to do.  By now you know that I read everything my eyes wander over, and, lo and behold, the pizza places sells freshly made breakfast burritos.  (Don't tell Granpa, but two of them cost us $24.00!!!  Yup, this is L.A.)  We find a couple of seats in a waiting area at one of the gates and settle in for the long wait.  The burritos may have been mind-boggling expensive, but they are the biggest, best breakfast burritos EVER.

The Flight

Our pastor on Kaua'i and his wonderful wife were good enough to take us out to eat before dropping us at the airport.  We had such a good time visiting that we were pushing the clock to make the flight.

We get to the airport and start the baggage check.  Two suitcases - both overweight.  They offer to let us shift contents so that only one was overweight and subject to the $100 charge.  (Thanks - but what a challenge!)  Well, there's my Bible.  It's a biggie - maybe four pounds there.  Binoculars, another pound or two.  My kitchen tools that I'm inseparable from, there's a few pounds there.  John's can of coins; they don't add up to much - unless you're talking weight!  Add a lil' of this, and a lil' of that, and that ought to do it.

Back to the counter.  The attendant, I'm sure having been through this routine many times, is very surprised that I'm right on the money with my weight change!  (Now if I could shift my personal weight over to some other ol' bag...)  She accepts the two suitcases, and moves us and our carry-ons over to security screening.

I know the routine here, too.  (What a pain.)  Shoes, pocket contents and hoodie in tote #1, laptop out of its sleeve and into tote #2, sleeve in tote #3, open printer carrier, place printer in #4, carrier in #5, carry-on tote with purse, camera, etc. in #6, Granpa's shoes and pocket contents in #7, open overnight bag, remove CPAP, place in #8, bag itself goes in #9.  (Good grief!  Why bother to pack?  Next time I'll just bring it all in in totes on a cart!)

Finally, I get to step through the security portal.  An alarm goes off, and an announcement is made that I am the lucky winner of a random security search of all belongings.  Really?  You're kidding?  No?  It has been such a long, long day.  Most of my errands were in the rain - and I left the umbrella in the apartment.  Up and down stairs doing laundry.  I had to stop everything at lunch and look vivacious for Granpa's aloha party at the hospital, pack everything, clean the apartment, then look vivacious for the dinner with the pastor and his wife.  Now this.  Well, at least I don't have to look vivacious - which is good, 'cause I think I'm completely out of vi-va!

All totes have to be moved off of the conveyor, and a special agent needs to be summoned.  No worries.  We can do this!  Granpa is backing me up all the way.

Guess what?  They found nothing suspicious.  Nada.  Can you imagine that?

So, we're left to repack the whole kit and caboodle.  And it all GOES back!  (How many times have you tried to repack and something no longer fits?)

On to the gate area, and I can finally sit down.  Not.  Every single seat is taken including the floor along the walls.  We stand, without even being able to lean against the wall, for almost thirty minutes.  You know how romantic it seems to have a job that lets you fly all over the country?  It wasn't even romantic before 9-11...  Now, a job that lets you drive all over the country, now that's the ticket I want.  Hey!  Wait a minute!  That's the job we have (except when we go to Kaua'i.)  And instead of the "company" saying fly here or drive there, we get to choose where we want to go - or not.  Good deal!  What am I talking about?  GREAT deal!

Finally, they start everyone boarding.  When I find my seat, I plop down, and that is all she wrote 'til we landed at LAX for a six hour layover.  (Oh, please...)

Aloha, and Mahalo!

Good-bye, and thank you!

We are homeward bound yet again --- but not to worry, our schedule will have us in Texas for only eighteen hours.  Then we're off to the east coast and back to the little farmhouse in the tobacco fields.  Yes, it's another command performance, a return appearance for Granpa.  (I think he's beginning to like being greeted by beaming faces and hearty handshakes.)

This time a tech broke her arm and is requiring surgery.  The department was so excited at the chance of having Granpa back that the only remaining tech volunteered to keep working and being on call 24/7 until we could fly back to the mainland, load our totes, and run up to Virginia.

The department here on Kaua'i is throwing Granpa a party, I'm packing, returning the flat-screen TV and rented car, giving away the few things we've accumulated and doing a final cleaning of the apartment.  (Whew!)

Granpa is excited about going back to Virginia because he loves the history so much and the people were so good to us there.  So, put away the Mai Tai's and bring on the Mint Julep's (sans alcohol please), we are on the way!

Glass Beach

As I was saying...

Off to the left of Glass Beach is a cliff.  We park up there by the cemetery, and walk to the edge.  Ah! An ancient, cooled lava flow.  Just look at those colors!

The lava tube collapsed somewhere back in time.  When they talk about The Tunnels over on the North Shore, this would be what it would look like if the ocean receded - only the tunnel would be much deeper.  If you snorkel out from the beach there, suddenly the lava flow ends and you are in deep, deep water and, yes, that's where the sharks are.  It took me less than a fraction of a fraction of a second to turn my tail back to shore!

Here at Glass, the whole shoreline reveals one pretty scene after another:

(I like his shadow in the bottom left corner :)

We stroll on, Granpa plays with the setting on his camera, and he gets this slow-motion picture of the sea flowing in through an arch.  Amazing color!  If you're lookin' at this on a smart phone, you need to move to a full screen computer!

As the water flows out Granpa refocuses his camera lens and gets a really great picture of the colors offered on the left of the cave.

In one of the pools of water left behind at high tide we find this little guy.  The water is sooo clear!

As usual there are simply too many gorgeous pictures to share...  Sorry.

Rather than clamber over the cooled black lava back to our car, we head up the cliff and inland.  Even there we find a pretty scene.

Even with the pesky power lines it's pretty.  I love the colors in the clouds, too.  

And, uh, how many people did you see crowding these photos?

We Discovered a New Beach

(I hope you're looking at this on a full size computer screen and not an iPhone...)

After spending more than a year on this island of Kaua'i a couple of years ago, we still didn't manage to get around to all of the beaches!  Now this beach, called Glass Beach, isn't very big at all and doesn't have a lot to recommend it - other than it's beauty.  (Duh.)

It's called Glass Beach because decades ago it was a dumping ground and there was a huge amount of broken glass.  The operative word there is "decades."  If there is any glass there now it has been ground up as small as the grains of coarse sand.  Granpa hopped out to take a picture - I thought he was taking the beach...

But it seems to be completely absent from this picture!

So much for thinking!  So, he hops back in the car, and we continue on the dirt road for maybe a quarter of a mile up a little cliff and down to - an ancient cemetery.  I mean "ancient."  Some of the marker stones are just slabs of stone with hand-etched (but no longer discernible) information.  We talked about getting a picture ...

But then both our attentions were drawn out to sea:

Uhhh.  That splash is bigger than that boat...

 Good grief!!  That whale is right on the boat - and there's a guy standing right on the bow!

 Way too close!  There's laws against hasseling the whales in their breeding grounds here!! 

I can't watch any more of this!!!

Lydgate - Another Favorite Walk

Again I say, the beaches on Kaua'i are almost always virtually vacant.  Oh, one or two are - relatively speaking - crowded, but most are almost totally private. 

Not even a footprint!  Now swivel to the right and what do you see?

Do you see anyone on this beach?  even on the beach in the background?  Okay, it was a misty day, but when you've only got a vacation of seven days, and you're going to be wet in the ocean anyway, what's a lil' mist?  Trust me, the beaches on Kaua'i are not crowded!

Back to the left, those black, cooled-lava rocks are covered in black crabs.  Rocks will be the only place you find these crabs.  In the sand are what I call "ghost crabs."  They're small, almost transparent,  fast, and fun!

Inland just a tad is a campground, (yes, you can tent camp in Hawai'i - $8 a night), restrooms with showers, a fabulous "bridge" playground/maze, and shelters.  This windbreak wall was built next to a group shelter that was just under construction when we were here before.

Kinda pretty, huh?

One more night here and then we fly back to the mainland and drive to Virginia for a Tuesday start date...

Only A Few Days Left on Kaua'i

Can it be?  Have we already been here five weeks?  Total bummer!!

Well, not ones to waste good time worrying over what cannot be changed, we hightail it to our favorite coastal walk:  Shipwreck Cliffs.  This is the cliff Harrison Ford and Anne Heche jumped off of in the movie, "Seven Days and Seven Nights," or more accurately, their stunt doubles did.  (Chickens!)

There's a path to the left that leads up onto the cliff, and then we can stroll along the edge or back amongst the foliage, take an easy path or do some climbing.

The wind is always refreshing, the views are spectacular.  

One of our most favorite spots has changed a bit since the last time we were here, but it's still a beautiful spot.  Some of the ceiling has fallen in.

Kinda romantic and sheltering, eh?  But is it prettier from the outside in? or the inside out?

We once took shelter under this foliage during a passing rainstorm.  It was amazing how it kept every drop of rain out!

Life in the 1500's

This is copied from a Facebook post.  There were no credits given, so I can't pass on the credit to you other than to say it's not original from me... (Please excuse some of the coarser language.)

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.  Here are some facts about the 1500s:

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery... if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor."

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot... they "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low. 

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell ...  Brides carried a bouquet of  flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it, hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw-piled high - with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a "thresh hold."

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."  (For those of you too young to know, we use that phrase to mean after-dinner chit-chat.)

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust."  (Again, for those of you too young to know, we use that phrase to refer to the la-dee-da society of uber wealthy.)

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. Lead would leach out and the combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around, eat and drink and wait to see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding "a wake."

England is old and small, and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins, take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive! So, they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night ("the graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

And that's the truth...  Now, whoever said history was boring?

Another Visit to Waimea Canyon

I think that I would have to say the Waimea Canyon is Granpa's favorite place on the whole island.  The views are spectacular, it's always cooler up here - sometimes lots cooler, and he doesn't have to worry about me snorkeling outta sight!

The road begins in the area where Captain Cook landed lo' those many years ago, and winds up the side of an old volcanic cone.  Kaua'i is the oldest of the island chain, therefore has experienced the most erosion and "soil" creation, therefore grows more vegetation, and is therefore known as the Garden Island.  When the Hawaiian weather forecasters talk about Kaua'i they say, "the Garden Island" more often than "Kaua'i."

It begins as a gentle valley.  There's a farm in the bottom of the valley off to the right. (I hate to show someone's private residence.)  Each layer of the canyon represents a different eruption and subsequent lava flow.

As we travel farther up the road the soil turns red - very red.  Waimea is Hawaiian for "red."  This soil washes down the mountain side and into the ocean in the area of Waimea town, so the water is nearly always cloudy.  Not much snorkeling goes on around here.

Once upon a time three rivers flowed from the center of Kauai from the Alaka'i Swamp at the top.  All three ran down the gentle slopes of the shield volcano.  Suddenly, a geologic fault caused that flank to collapse and the three rivers combined as they followed the path of least resistance to the sea.  This resulted in a variety of sharp, broken chasms being eroded away.  This next view from the Waimea Canyon Lookout is breath-taking in person.  Wild winds whip clothing, hair, cameras - everything feels as if it will be ripped from you without mercy.  It's exhilarating!

After enjoying the wild Kaua'i chickens up here in the parking lot, we hop back in the car and continue the upward climb.  We pass a couple of pull-offs and hiker/hunter roads.  Beyond the 15-mile marker, we pass the Koke'e Museum.  We'll stop here on the way back down, but Granpa is on a quest to get to the top!  Well, almost to the top.  At the very, very top is a parking lot for hikers willing to attempt the Alaka'i Swamp trail.  We tried it once, and it was, well, a swamp...  There is supposed to be a boardwalk, but it was covered in mud, and the patches of non-boardwalk trail were p-r-ret-t-y slippery.  We decided the better part of wisdom was to leave it to the younger folks.  Granpa works in the hospital; people DO die up here because things are slippery and the rocks are so crumbly.  One never knows when they are about to lose their footing... and it's a lo-o-ong way to the bottom.

THIS is the view from the top of the canyon, but look quickly because in a heartbeat cloud-like mists can begin forming and moving silently, stealthily down the mountain side obscuring views completely.  It's a mile or better down to that beach.  There is no settlement down there today, but that is where the Tahitian's first set up housekeeping.

On a clear day you can see forever, all the way to where the ocean falls off of the edge of the planet it seems!  One is never sure whether those dark patches in the water are cloud shadows or cooled lava flows on the ocean floor.  It is so far away that a boat's wake is the only thing that betrays the boats  passing. 

Off to the left you see white peaks.  There is a patch that appears to be barren soil with absolutely nothing there.  I ask Granpa to zoom in with his camera.  Well, looky here...

It's the more adventurous folks!  They hiked here (I think its about a 7-mile hike), and I bet they got MUCH better photos than we did!  Some day I think I'd like to try this hike, but I'm told it involves some really serious moves.  Maybe in another lifetime, eh?

Nisei Soldiers and Their Texas Connection

"Nisei" is a Japanese language term used for children born of Japanese parents in other countries.  This post is about the nisei who joined World War II as American soldiers.  Hawai'i, of course, was not an American state until after World War II, but their men formed the 100th Infantry Battalion.

Some thought that, while the American military allowed nisei to join, they were given the worst, most dangerous jobs because of their heritage, some even said they were merely used as "cannon fodder."  But this incident points to something much different - and there's a Texas connection.

It was October of 1944 in France.

The 1st Battalion of the 141st Texas Regiment (a battalion consists of a headquarters and two or more companies of men) were in the Vosges Mountains of France.  It was a low range of mountains in eastern France near the German border.  The Allies had pushed almost 400 miles from their August 1944 ANVIL-DRAGOON landings in southern France, scooping up some 89,000 German prisoners in their path.  At the Vosges, they linked up with some of Patton's Third Army and completed the continuous line of assault Eisenhower wanted.  Meanwhile, German high commanded ordered their army to dig in and stay in the Vosges.  They were ordered to halt the Allied advance, ordered to not allow the Allies to take any German soil.

Major General John E. Dahlquist, commander of the "Texas" Division, was green as a gourd (as we say in Texas) and wouldn't listen to his more experienced, seasoned, veteran men.  He was twice threatened with losing his command if he didn't hustle his troops to keep up with everyone else.  Now he pushed them too far, too fast, taking heavy casualties on the way.  Two hundred and seventy-five Texans from the 36th Division found themselves on a densely forested ridge headed toward the town of St. Die and out too far in front of the rest of their forces. They became cut off, surrounded by Germans who zeroed in on them from three sides. For two days, shells blasted their positions, but the Texans continued to resist, to fight on, even with very little food and very little water - and running low on ammunition.  Two attempts to break through to them failed. The Press dubbed them "The Lost Battalion."

Finally, on October 26, Dahlquist ordered the exhausted men of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), to return to the wooded slopes, rescue the Lost Battalion, as the Texans would come to be called, and restore his reputation.  The 442nd was organized on March 23, 1943, after more than a year during which Americans of Japanese descent were declared enemy aliens and designated "4-C," by the U.S. War Department.  It had taken all that time plus several key events to convince the Roosevelt Administration that these men should be allowed to enter combat for their country.

Now Dahlquist ordered the 442nd RCT to rescue those Texans.  "For five days, fighting from tree to tree in heavy fog, they tried to get to the trapped men. On the morning of October 30 they were just 1,000 yards from the survivors -- but pinned to the steep slope by artillery and machine-gun fire. Finally, they had had enough. I Company and K Company rose to their feet and charged up the hillside, hurling grenades into German machine gun nests and firing from the waist as they climbed. I Company had started into the forest with 185 men; just eight walked out unhurt. K Company had begun with 186 men; only 17 emerged on foot. All the rest were dead or wounded or missing."  --http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5225.htm

All tolled, the 442nd nisei and Hawaiian draftee and volunteer soldiers suffered 800 casualties, including 54 killed in action, in those six day of nearly nonstop combat in the Vosqes Mountains of eastern France, to rescue 211 men from Texas.


On November 12, General Dahlquist announced he wanted to review the 442nd, to thank them for what they had done. When the battered unit appeared, Dahlquist grew irritated at their sparse numbers, ignorant at how much they had sacrificed.

My apologies to all of the men of the 442nd and their families who sacrificed so very much for those 211 Texans.  Thank you, mahalo, for all you have done.  I believe that your actions settled once and for all the question of whether the nisei soldiers were being used as "cannon fodder" or whether they were given the most difficult assignments because of their outstanding performance.

Eventually, the 442nd, bolstered by the combat-hardened 100th Infantry Battalion, comprised of Japanese American draftees from Hawai'i, became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service"  --http://encyclopedia.densho.org/442nd_Regimental_Combat_Team/

Rainbow Bark Trees

Having spent over a year on the island of Kaua'i back in 2010 we searched out a lot of what there was to see then.  One, of course, expects to see ocean and beaches and sea animals, because the Hawaiian islands are all volcanic in origin we expected mountains, and the tropical weather promises a lot of blooming things, but the discovery of Rainbow trees was a marvel!  We mentioned these beauties to someone who has been here for several years, and she hadn't seen or heard of them.  So we are on a mission to share the mystery with her.

We turned up into the Wailua Valley, drove past the "Fantasy Island" waterfall, and kept on going through island neighborhoods, and going, and going, and going.  The farther we went the more windy the road.  Debris began to litter the ever narrowing road.  Tammy thought we might have a touch of crazy in us.  (Well, she might not be far off base there...  The road became so wind-e that she and I began to be a bit carsick.  Could have been because we were cranking our heads around and around trying to see the beautiful foliage!)

Finally we came to the low-water crossing John and I had been anticipating, and the end of the pavement.  HERE was a perfectly manicured park and an oasis in a mountainside of growth.  They suggest you take a deep breath and, because this place feels like a giant oxygen factory, you will almost get a buzz from the purity of the air!!

We carefully drive across the running water and park on the far side of the river.  We've tried driving farther up the unpaved portion of the road before, but you'd need a monster truck with about three feet of clearance to accomplish most of it.  The rent car companies here make you sign disclaimers specifically saying that you will NOT attempt to drive certain areas of the island.  (Smart folks!)  So we limit ourselves to this particular portion - besides, it's the prettiest!

You might get a clue that this unique tree is of the eucalyptus family from the look of its base.  A better idea might be had from the leaves - but they are SO FAR UP!!  These guys grow to enormous heights!

Actually, they are Rainbow Eucalyptus trees, native only in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea or the Philippines.  They are also known as Mindanao gum trees.   I have no clue how they got to the island of Kaua'i, but they've been here a long, long time.

"The unusual phenomenon is caused by patches of bark shedding at different times. The different colors are therefore indicators of the age of the bark: Freshly shed outer bark will reveal the bright green inner bark. This darkens over time and changes from blue to purple and then reaches orange and maroon tones."

Read more at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/forests/news-most-colourful-tree-earth?image=1#GpMmDc3xGXXgbOfk.99

 Isn't that just absolutely gorgeous!!

You know, coconut trees aren't native to Hawai'i either.  Some guy back in Captain Cook's day thought he'd make his fortune in coconuts, bought a plantation here, brought and planted his coconuts, and waited for the big payday.  Unfortunately for him, coconut trees don't mature for twenty years - so he went broke.  (My kinda luck for sure!)  The back story on these Rainbow trees? No clue.



Can you believe that this tree is so common in the Philippines that it's used for pulp wood!  They cut down one of the prettiest trees God ever made to make paper!

And, of course, one of God's cutest creations, the koala bear, makes it's home in the Eucalyptus tree, only coming down long enough to make its way to another Eucalyptus - and hoping to find another koala just waiting to be asked out on a date!  

These trees can grow between five to eight feet a year and can get as tall as 220 feet!  The trunk can get as thick as six to eight feet around!  Why, that's almost as big around as I am!!

Thar She Blows! Humpback Whales!

The very first thing Granpa and I do is look for the whales!

The humpbacks vacation from Alaska and the West Coast to Hawai'i during the winter months, giving birth to their babes in the warm central North Pacific and seeking out an "escort" for those females in estrus.  They are only here through March - sometimes leaving earlier, sometimes a bit later.

So, we are lookin', lookin', lookin'.  Granpa's got his camera with the monopod to steady it in the fierce Trade Winds; I've got my binoculars at the ready with len's polished and focused.  We've chosen a spot on shore with a wide, wide view of the ocean and waters only hundreds of feet deep as opposed to thousands of feet deep.  The whales seem to prefer about 600 foot deep shelves.   We watch.  We wait.  But not for long!!

This is our first assurance that the whales are still here!  The mist is the result of an underwater blow indicating that the whale is about to surface!!  When we were here on Kauai the last time this was about as good a picture as we got of whale season.  Since then, John got a new camera for Christmas that will take a series of shots in rapid succession.  We're hoping for something more this time.

Adult female humpbacks are rarely alone in Hawaiian waters.  She will usually be leading a group of males or is being chased by a single male.

She may have given birth upon arrival here in late September or early October, and have an "escort" for herself and the baby (calf), though escorts may only hang around for a very short time.  I can almost imagine the whale-eyes he's making at her as if saying, "Hey, babe.  How was you're trip down from Alaska?  These Hawaiian waters surely do warm the soul, huh?  Hope the delivery of that darlin' calf was an easy one.  Well, gotta fly!  See you around the coastline again real soon..."

What?  You think it's different from species to species?  Maybe - but not from male to male.  (Just kidding, Granpa.  YOU were different from ALL the rest, and that's why I chose YOU!)

The lead whale will throw its tail up and the chaser will lunge and dive from behind.  (The first photo was taken into a rising sun; the second in a mid-day chase scene.)

 If you see this lead "fluke swish" from the front or back, it's hard to see the chaser's back as it lunges.

Getting a good shot of the chaser's back you may miss the fluke swish altogether ...

(Nothing in life is simple.)

There are eleven documented populations of humpback whales in the oceans.  The one that migrates to Hawai'i comes 2,700 miles from Alaska, leaving behind their deep feeding and resting waters.  Relatively speaking, Hawaiian waters are more shallow which help whales accomplish several things.  First, it concentrates the whales in a smaller area, hence they can find each other.  Next, the shallow banks seem to allow for more successful reproduction, and better survival of those calves born from last years mating.  (Notice the word, "seem."  Here's one I find very hard to believe: The actual mating of humpback whales has never been seen, filmed, or documented.  Everything about it that you might hear is pure guesswork!)

One thing that seems to be consistently true about these whales is that they are never totally and completely consistent.  Seems a few whales here and there stray from their "population" into the breeding grounds of a neighboring population.  For instance, and "Alaskan" whale may end up off the coast of Mexico, or Hawai'i, or Japan.  No one knows why.  I'm sure it makes for better genetic mixing, but why do they do it?  Do they get lost (probably males because they're not about to ask for directions!), or are they juveniles in rebellion, or is there some primal plan going on here?  Also, apparently not all whales abandon their Alaskan homes every winter.  And whales may breed en route, so they don't have to migrate at all...  See?  They are consistently inconsistent - which may be how they manage to keep a few of their secrets!  I LIKE 'EM !!

 An unsuspected breach

Blogging is not all I do...

As Travelers, we stay in touch with our closest friends through Facebook.  These are a few of my recent status updates (without getting political.)

When our sons were little, I would watch them struggle with a new challenge. I loved watching their little minds work - the eyes tell all! When learning began to turn into frustration I would then, and only then, offer to help. If they said yes to me, then I would do all in my power to help them learn how to overcome the problem. I wouldn't do it for them. I would help them LEARN how to overcome the problem.

God is like that. First we must recognize our need, then we must acknowledge Him and allow His power to work through us until we are made stronger. It is so very simple, and can be so very gentle - IF we allow Him into our lives before chaos and calamity take over.

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There are those who exhaust themselves trying to stay above chaos and calamity, believing that they don't need God, that they are strong enough in and of themselves to overcome all things. Well, they might be. But stand up next to God. Now who's stronger?

One of our sons is as stubborn as a mule (well, maybe more than one). I had a precious girlfriend when the boys were small who had the wisdom of saints. She pointed out that there was good stubborn and bad stubborn. As adults, we call good stubborn "patience." So I worked with him throughout his childhood pointing out when he was being good stubborn and when he was being bad stubborn. Over the years he gravitated to the good stubborn as his motis opperendi. (Did I spell that right?)

His most wonderful wife is still prayerfully working on him, but he's a Godly man (and an alright guy, too!)

Are you being stubborn in your relationship with Christ? Let go and let God. It takes a mighty man (or woman) to confess the error of their ways and ask Jesus into their heart. But that's okay. It took a mighty God to allow His Son to die for your sins. God knew he could resurrect Jesus, but He had to watch the death first. God did it because He loves you, too. Accept it. Accept Him. Just tell Him you believe in what Jesus did, ask Him to forgive you, and the let go and let God guide your every thought.  Easter is celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.  Resurrect Him in your heart, now, too.  Find a church service - maybe a sunrise service - and totally commit your life to Christ.

Amen. So let it be said, so let it be done!

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 If God is not in your thoughts, he's probably not in your actions, either.

 

Hawaiian Digs

Thanks to our agency, Sonotemps, for working out a "roof" for us.  It is greatly appreciated.  February is one of the high months for tourism in Hawai'i, and on short notice, there is no single place we could find that was available for five weeks.

The bed is only a double, but it may be the best mattress we've had in our travels.  It's in a corner, with a window at the head and one to the side.  We're on the second floor, and so the breeze is very good - in fact, I had to go buy a wee blanket for myself!

The apartment has a shower tub.  The last time we were on Kaua'i we had what I called a "Menehune" shower - so small we couldn't bend over without one end or the other hitting a wall. (Scroll down the left column of titles - way down - to read about our last Kaua'i contract.)

There is only a single chair, but it's not bottomed out and has a padded footstool.  Very comfortable!  It's a "barrel" chair, so when I'm on the computer I have to dig my elbows into my sides and only move my wrists over the keyboard.  I look at it as an incentive to lose weight, so that I'll have more elbow room!

I've spent a good bit of time cleaning the kitchen.  These are my three best friends.

 

 
Tis the first thing I do when we get to a new place.  The spray bottles are 99 cents each at Wal-Mart, then I buy dish detergent, ammonia, and bleach, (all very affordable) put some in each sprayer and water them down.  That and a Scotch Brite pad, and I can clean anything!

I think I've about got it done now.  I've never seen a sink, stove top and refrigerator all in one compact unit before.

I didn't even attempt to clean the drip pans - just bought new ones for a couple of dollars apiece.  The refrigerator doesn't work - and is beyond cleaning - but at one point it was a pretty cool idea! There is now a small stand-alone refrigerator that doubles as a surface to put the microwave on.

There were no pots and pans.  We bought a small skillet for bacon and eggs, and a porcelain pot for a vegetable.  It had no lid, so I ordered a pizza (Yeah, right, Granma, you got the pizza just for the box.  So why did you eat the whole thing!!!)  I cut a circle out of the cardboard, wrapped it in foil, poked a hole through the center and stuck cardboard strips through it for a handle.  Works like a charm - and I never have to wash it - just replace the foil !!

This toaster oven is the sum total of my oven space, so our meals pretty much consist of microwave-able fare.  Therefore, we had to renew our Costco card.  Took some dedication to get this baby cleaned up, but she's mirror perfect now!

The TV is only about 12" and is analog only.  It got 11 channels - and some of those not too clear.  We opted to rent a 32" digital flat screen for about $3 a day ($100 a month), so now we get a gazillion channels, and Granpa is happy when he has to stay close because he's on call.  (I very much like to keep my man happy!)

Everything we accumulate will have to be donated to the Salvation Army or given away when we leave.  Ordinarily we just pack it up in the car and take it back to Texas.  But we're not payin' airfare on another suitcase to get these things home.

John's on call this weekend.  There's a beach and the port where cruise ships put in only about 2 miles from here, so we might hang out there with binoculars looking for whales breaching - or watch some of the gazillion TV channels...

Just thought you might wonder how we get settled in at a new location!

A Touch of History for Hawai'i

The Polynesians, of course, were the first to discover the Hawaiian Islands (only they weren't called Hawai'i until many centuries later.)  Sometime around 1300 A.D. the Polynesians virtually stopped all voyages to these islands, and the Hawaiians developed a sophisticated culture of their own making.

Almost 500 years later, when Captain Cook landed on Kaua'i and named these islands the Sandwich Islands (after his mentor, the Earl of Sandwich, back in England), he found about 400,000 "native Hawaiians."  They were a friendly, self-sufficient (had to be!) and very productive people.  As he moved inland to the east and north, exploring the island, Cook might have seen something like this:

The Hawaiians built and lived in grass houses (pili) (without the wood and glass windows in Cook's time...),

 
built saltwater fishponds on the shores called loko i'a, made feather-crested headgear (mahioles) and created petroglyphs called ki'i pohaku.  These things were not replicated anywhere else in the world.  They were completely and distinctively Hawaiian.

When you arrive here, if you're going to take a taxi, you had better learn their language.  It looks like English, but it ain't English!  If you give the taxi driver an address in English pronunciation, he will have no idea where to take you - even if he himself is a New Yorker or a Texan!

The first missionaries to arrive found no written language and so created one using only 12 letters.  (Why?  N-o-o-o idea.)  There are five vowels : A, E, I, O, U.  That's cool, but they aren't pronounced the same way as OUR vowels.  There were only seven consonants:  H, K, L, M, N, P, and W.  These ARE pronounced the same as ours, except for the W which might sound like a V.  That's the easy part.

Vowels are like this:
A - as in Ah if stressed, or above if not stressed
E - as in say if stressed or dent if not stressed
I -  as in bee
O - as in no
U - as in boo

There's a particular type of lava called 'a'a.  That would be pronounced ah-ah. (See the stress marks on both letters?)  A Hawaiian chief is called Ali'i (ah-LEE-ee).  Check these out:  hala (HA-la) and hale (HA-leh).  One is a tree and the other a building.  You will be known as a haole (HOW-leh), a white man.  Perhaps the better part of wisdom is to hand the taxi driver your address written on a piece of paper...

Within 100 years after trading ships and exploring adventurers arrived with diseases and immigrant workers, the native Hawaiian population dwindled to just 40,000.

There is an island off of the coast of Kaua'i known as the Forbidden Island because it is forbidden for any non-native Hawaiian to step foot on the island - even for a picnic!  It has a population of about 200.  The island's real name is Ni'ihau.  (You might remember the movie "South Pacific" referencing the "Forbidden Island.)

Home to Texas and Off to Kaua'i

Now it's a mad dash for home across mostly familiar territory, dropping down through Wyoming and Colorado, nick the corner of New Mexico and into the Texas panhandle.  Home, sweet home!

But before we get there, we are blessed yet again with some wildlife.  Pronghorn antelope are hardly American looking, but they sure are American.  The American Indians thought the antelope hide was the prettiest and best.  They liked very much to make wedding clothes out of antelope hide.

These deer were literally hunkered down on the side of the road.  They waited for us to stop the car and back up!

 This one was hiding by himself a bit to the left in the brush.  Pretty good camouflage, yes?

Aren't they absolutely exquisite?  Don't cha just wanna hug 'em?

There is a snow storm moving in on us.  We hope that we will at least make Cheyenne, Wyoming tonight - maybe even Denver, Colorado.

Beautiful, isn't it?  You shoulda been there!  The snow came down fast and thick, but before we got to Denver the weather lifted, and we actually made it almost to New Mexico.  After spending the night in Trinidad, Colorado, we drove on home to East Texas making it there Tuesday evening.