Only 11 Days Left

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So.  

Sadly I have to say that I only have 11 days left on the island.  In honor of that fact, I decided to take a trip to the North Shore today.  It was beautiful and sunny and there weren't any big waves, so it wasn't too crowded.

The following photos are just random images I took while at the beach.  I don't know the people and there wasn't much activity going on, so this is what you get.

Every time I see the water looking like this, all I can think is that it's so beautiful it looks fake.  But really....that's the color it is!  All I did in post-production was darken the exposure a little to replicate what I actually saw with my eyes.  Stunning, eigh? 

Just a random couple sunning themselves.  I was kind of intrigued by the tattoos. 

I stopped at the Dole Plantation for a look-see.  On the grounds of the gift-shop they have small plots of different varieties of pineapple growing.  This is just one variety and I completely forgot to look at the information to find out what it is.  

I also stopped in Haleiwa for my next-to-last Shave Ice.  Maybe next time I go to Matsumoto's  I'll be with someone and I can have them take a pic of me with my favorite Island treat. 

SPAM!!!!

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Okay.  I've been trying to avoid this for a very long time.  "Word Verification"--ugh.  What a bother.  It's difficult to read the letters sometimes and you have to scramble once, maybe twice, to get a combination of letters you can read well enough to reproduce.  It's bad enough I had to begin using "comment moderation" about a year ago, now I have been reduced to this!  

I apologize to anyone reading my blog who might want to leave a comment.  Bear with me for a while and I'll see if this fixes the problem.    Lately I've been receiving comments that are SPAM!  They aren't vulgar or particularly objectionable, content-wise.  They're just annoying, nonsensical and invasive.  This morning I had 3 (three, mind you) such comments, so I'm glad I have comment moderation.

Okay, you say, what's so bad about that?--"you can just mark them as spam and they won't be published".  Right.  But it's annoying.  And it's MY blog.  And I don't want those comments at all, even if I can intervene and prevent them from being published.

So, anyone out there who wants to leave such messages, here's my point:  STAY AWAY.  Of course, these comments could be computer generated, in which case I'm stuck with them.  

Ergo, "word verification".  Sigh.

In order to prevent this post from just being one long rant, I chose some images from my archives to help brighten your day, and mine.  Hope you enjoy them.

And, by the way, if you're visiting this blog, feel free to leave a comment.  I enjoy hearing what you think of my images and experiences.  Just don't leave SPAM, :-)

A Hot Hike

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Today 5 of us hiked walked the Kaena Point trail.  The end of the trail is the western-most point of Oahu.  As we began the hike walk  at the trailhead, we got our first inkling that the going would be very muddy--these guys were mud-caked, busily assessing why their mud-caked truck was no longer moving after traversing the mud-caked trail.  I guess you can find rednecks anywhere!

It was hot and muggy and there wasn't an iota of shade along the 2.5 mile trail.  But it was beautiful!

At the end of the trail there's always a good chance of seeing nesting Albatross & their young, and basking Monk seals.  I got a few images of the birds, but they aren't very good.  There's and edict about not getting within a certain number of feet of the Monk seals, so this was the best I could do.

We walked along the east side of the point, but this view is looking back at the west side of the island.

A little graffiti at the point.

Thankful Thursday Macadamia Nut Farm

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We finally made it!  My friend, Jackie, and I have been trying to get to the Macadamia Nut Farm ever since I arrived here in January.  All the circumstances aligned today...

Besides selling coffee and Macadamia Nuts of all varieties, they offer a sweet little tour led by one of their "chiefs".  It's actually pretty hysterical in addition to being somewhat historical.  

Our transportation was this "bus".

The chief was a real ham and didn't hesitate to pose any time he saw a camera pointed at him.

We were treated to a little boat ride out into the lake, and this is the view in one direction.  This is the area where several movies have been filmed:  Soul Surfer, Gilligan's Island, Lost & 50 First Dates among others.

Jackie asked me to take a photo of her.  

Practice

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I've been out photographing several times over the past few weeks, but I haven't edited the pics, so I don't really have any to post.  But this afternoon I spent some time working on some still life photos.  

Lately I've been on the lookout for good objects for notecards.  I don't know exactly what sentiments would go with these images, but I like them and I had fun shooting them.

Thankful Thursday OR Somebody Has to Do It

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I spend a lot of time at Starbucks.  Not because I have to this year, but because it's an interlude and it's a pleasant place to be.  Unlike last year, there is wifi at the house where I stay, so when I go to Starbucks I usually read.  It's an emotional thing.

 I don't really read Oahu Revealed anymore, I just needed a book to use for the photo and it was the handiest one.

Today I spent some time with a friend at the pool in her development.  

It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.

Random Views

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Two different days, two different views.

Plantation Village Tour

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This morning my friend Betty, my daughter Leah and I took the Plantation Village Tour in Waipahu.  

We had a head's-up that we should go on a Monday morning and ask for Espy as our guide, or docent which is the technical term for museum tour guide.  She's actually the daughter of a plantation worker and although her parents were originally from the Philippines, she was born on the plantation after her parents became plantation workers.

So she was able to give us truly first-hand information about what life was like on the compound in the mid-1900s and in addition to giving us historical info about the other people groups who lived there, she interspersed that information with personal stories of her life with her parents and siblings.

It was a nice tour, made even nicer by Espy and the fact that she fed us lunch at the end of the tour.  Being a volunteer at the Plantation,  she only works on Monday morning but every Sunday night she spends hours preparing food to bring to serve her visitors.  Oh, yum!!!  

There were several school groups going through the tour at the same time as we were.  

The following group of images show details of the insides of various living quarters.

The little hammock in the corner is where the "baby" would sleep.  There would be a wooden bar stretched across the middle in order to prevent the baby from tipping over.