Thursday 8/25/05 - Friday 9/9/05

TIDBITS: I was emailing some friends this week and thought I'd take some parts I was sharing with them and add them to the website.  Also, Marva, from CHRISTUS, AIM'd me and it made think of sharing just some basic news with everyone there since it's been a bit since I last wrote. 

I'm actually still going on a lot of adventures on the island but my camera is still kaput so I have no pictures which makes me hesitate to write as it's not as exciting to describe as it is to show & tell.  But anyway...

We have a lot of different wintering birds showing up that I have not seen before.  They arrived with our VERY active trade winds in the last two weeks.  The winds have brought the waves in force so snorkeling, and spear fishing, is a bit harder on me and I'm also much more aware of the safety factor so I tend to go to only the locations I know well, unless I'm just exploring and not swimming.  The trades really helped with the weather here though.  It had gotten pretty hot here the last 3 or 4 weeks so it was nice to have a breeze running through my place again.  I really like not having to have air-conditioning anymore.  I don't even turn it on in my car either which has really made me feel much healthier.

I recently went to two new beaches that were interesting.  One is called Secret Beach which is North of Kilauea (top of map).  It was a hefty walk, down a cliff after driving down a dirt road, I hadn't been able to find before.  This beach is known for its nude sunbathing area but I had been assured that there are two sections that are not visible to each other (a lava flow goes almost out to the water) so I went to check it out.  Not sure I could handle the nude thing.  I think I'm a pretty open person but I really don't want to see people's secrets.  There were quite a few families coming up the trail as I descended so I felt reassured that it was a good place to check out.  This beach has a great view of our famous Kilauea Light House and it truly was a nice beach but I thought it was not worth the trek down (and back up) as there are other beaches that are just as good, if not nicer, nearby that you can drive to (with a view of the lighthouse).  There were some pretty amazing estates on the cliffs above which were fascinating.  But, I think it's really only a great location if you want to nude sunbathe.

The other beach I went to was Anahola State Park (top right of the map).  This is the best state beach I have found so far.  It is even better than Hanalei beach for camping so I will be going there more often now.  It is also closer to Kapa'a, where I live .  It has a great reef and is very quiet.  The turnoff is a bit hidden so it's not a well traveled location by the tourists.

I like watching the birds here.  We have wintering Peeps (sandpipers) here now.  They just started showing up a couple of weeks ago with the trade winds.  What is so interesting is they winter here, but do not stay, and so there are many breed types.  I saw them in CC often but not the variety I’m seeing here.  It is a long flight for them.  Did you know we do not have seagulls?   Some do fly this far but they usually die after arrival as the environment is not what they need here.  I thought that was interesting.  On that subject; we do not have snakes either.  Whenever there is a snake sighting (stowaways from the airlines, etc.) it's a big deal.  There was one sighting I especially remember.  The news was reporting with an interview of two teens who were describing how they saw the snake in the road and, no kidding, demonstrating how they caught it in a trash can.  It was so funny watching this big long news affair and how the great hunters had caught them.  But it truly is a very important thing, even if I do laugh, because Guatemala has a real problem with the brown tree snake.  They have lost 35% of their bird population because of them.  There are direct flights from Guatemala to Honolulu so they search the planes from there and then again when they arrive.  Last year they found 10,000 stowaways.  Another thing we don't have is poison ivy, oak, and sumac.  I really like that as I just go tearing down the trails with no worry.

I love spear fishing!  I have caught fish on 2 more occasions now and I really like eating them.  I'm still not that good at it but I really enjoy the HUNT!

I hope everyone, and especially the CHRISTUS hospitals in Louisiana fared well during the hurricane and after. 

Friday, September 16th ~ Just felt like writing

Today, as I came home from working with employees at the County Victim/Witness program (which was great fun) I was watching the ocean as I drove along.  It has changed so much in the last 3 days.  We have storms brewing all around us and the water is so churned up with high waves and riptides that it is brown and really yucky looking. We had an experienced surfer die yesterday at Poipu Beach, they have pulled numerous people out of the water in the last two days, and so today they just completely closed all the beaches (even the south side).  I have been told never to swim in brown water (sharks can't tell if you are food or not) and never to swim where there are no Hawaiians (Hal's tip) and I have followed those rules but until this week it was not as clear what that actually meant.  I had gone to the beach on Tuesday morning just before the storms started but the weather was still nice.  I drove by two beaches that looked really rough and just continued North until I got to my favorite beach, Tunnels.  It was a little rough with rogue waves coming in every 4 or five sets but seemed to be reasonably calm.  But there was no one in the water.  Not a good sign.  I was just starting to walk down to the beach nearby where there is a lifeguard and ask about going in when they drove by on their little ATV and posted No Swimming and Rip Tides signs.  I decided to pick up some shells and leave but I was very disappointed.  As I drove home I heard on the radio that many of the beaches are closed from September to March on the North shores and thought well I guess I'll go to the South side as I did during March when I arrived but I was a bit frustrated.  I have enjoyed the swimming so much and was concerned there would not be many opportunities to swim until March.  Well, with life there are many turns...

I spoke to a Kama`aina  ((kah mah eye na ~ local) from work and he reassured me that it would be sporadic times that it would be closed but that it isn't that often.  I was so glad to hear that.  I kept thinking about what I could do for entertainment and hiking, etc. is really not as much fun as the swimming.  He also told me the fish would be more plentiful during this time so I would be more successful with my spear fishing.  That's a plus!  The conversation made me feel a bit better.

Then, as I was driving home today and feeling a little down from this still I pulled into my place and on my porch were bananas (from Ralph & Jeanne) and a grand feel of storms in the air.  Everything turned around for me then.  I can't get over how blessed I feel living here.  Some things just really bring out the feeling and the last three days have been the best.  First are the storms, I really do love storms.  Then the gift of the Apple Bananas.  They are tart, not sweet, and I really enjoy them.  But most of all I really feel blessed to have new friends that share.  Gail also brought me an avocado from a friend at her work today too.  The avocados are huge and so fat-heavy that they don't turn brown in salsa or even when you put half in the fridge for the next day.  And the flavor!  Amazing!  Everyone is so great about sharing.  I'm the mango queen lately; doling them out as fast as I can pick them and experimenting with recipes of fruit leather for everyone to taste test.

Last night cheered me up too.  I had a Survivor party with Ralph, Jeanne, and Agatha and we had the most fun!  We joked about our picks for the games and teased poor Ralph about his pick of Danni who I was very vocal about.  I felt she was strictly eye candy and couldn't believe he picked her.  The teasing and the contests that we have set up for the season are really going to be fun.

Our Games:

Everyone brings pupus.  Last night we had pretty typical stuff but Agatha brought Jalapeno jelly, cream cheese and we spread that on crackers.  Oh my goodness, this was the greatest stuff!

We have new people joining us next week, hopefully, so we will have more money for the pot and a fantastic time I'm sure.

The storms are amazing!  They just hang around, with the lightening streaks going across the sky.  Different from the storms in Texas.  They are above you.  Obviously there is not a large land mass so they just kind of hang for hours.  You don't see lighting coming down like in Texas but across above you.  The thunder sounds like a rolling thunder.  The winds are like California Santa Ana Winds; warm, whipping, but pleasant.  The temp averages around 80 so a bit warm but still pleasant with the winds.  I really do like this weather, even if I can't go swimming just now.

Tomorrow I drive for Movie Tours and it will be a bit different with a large two bus group.  That should be fun with 2 drivers, two narrators from Movie Tours and a Tour guide that is bringing this group of 24.

I also spent some time this week working on a project for a contractor that has been interesting to do.  It's a spreadsheet that the drafting personnel fill in and then it prints on a plotter to the big paper.  I had worked with her on how to do the form fields and pick lists before and now we are working on the file and how it will be put together to print for the contractor.  Fun stuff!

It is so fantastic here!  I love my jobs, I love the new people I've met, I love my place.  I just feel so blessed to be here! 

PHOTO FROM EV during a drive to Lihue - Wood Rose vines are starting to bloom!  Very invasive but so totally beautiful!

Aloha!