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Yertle the Turtle

In downtown Abilene, TX there's a park called Everman Park that showcases several statues from 

Dr. Seuss books. (the park is often referred to as the storybook park)

This one is Yertle the Turtle.  It's just so adorable.  There's a sign to the right of the sculpture that has some text from the story.  I LOVE Dr. Seuss stories and I read a lot of them to my children when they were little.  I think they liked them too.

In the background there's some construction happening so, sadly, I couldn't get the statue without the clutter.  It was a beautiful day though, the temp was 85~~and we're only 3 days from Christmas.

Rain

It rained today. All day. A lot.

The dreary weather didn't seem to bother the tourists who were out in full force inbetween the downpours. There were three turtles on the beach today. The tourists were happy.

Even with the adverse weather, the beach was beautiful. Even though I was huddled under an umbrella, getting sprayed with the blowing rain, it was great being at the beach--hearing the waves break, watching the surfers, seeing the turtles romp in the surf, once again teasing the few tourists who braved the less than perfect conditions.

The ocean has a strong pull.

Posted at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Back to Haleiwa

Okay, okay, so I'm in a rut. Haleiwa, turtles, turtles, Haleiwa. But they're irresistible. Yesterday Jackie and I went to Haleiwa, just for something to do. Then we headed up to the beach. Once again, no turtles for her to see, so we hung around for the sunset. It wasn't spectacular, but nice and it gave her something to practice on. Of course, just being on the beach at sunset was spectacular in itself!

Then, yep, you guessed it, back to Haleiwa for a light dinner. We decided to go to Cholo's--much more on that in my post for today. (this is my post for yesterday, Sunday) When we got our table outside, I decided to take a few shots to show Jackie the zooming technique. So I pointed my camera inside the restaurant and this is the result. The only one that I like, but I'm happy with it.

Then, instead of dessert, we went over to the Coffee Gallery and while Jackie was ordering, I started playing around with the different scenes in the store. It was dark by then, so the shutter speed was very slow, but I did manage to get a couple of images I like.

Another sign I love. I just might take Phil's suggestion and make a collage of all the funky signs I'm finding. I know a few people in NY who would probably love to have this sign in their house, or on their garage door. Fun!

So come back later. Cholo's will be the main topic. I'm headed out the door right now to drive up there. We got permission to go in before they open, so we can photograph with our tripods without interfering with their customers.

Posted on Mon. for Sunday, Mar. 1, 2009

Hobby

One day last week, when I was at Laniakea Beach doing my turtle shift, one of the other volunteers was working on a crochet project. There were no turtles on the beach, and very few visitors. We began talking about what she was working on and she said she would make a copy of the pattern for me and leave it in the locker so I could get it the next time I was at the beach.

It didn't take me long to buy some yarn and get started. Now I have to figure out who I'm going to give this to. I may just have to put it away and save it, but I'm having fun working on it now.

This is my post for Saturday, Jan 31.

Friday, Mar 7, 2008

Aloha from Laniakea Beach

I had honu duty this morning. When the other volunteer and I got there, there weren't any honu on the beach and that was a first for me. So we just stood in the shade and watched the people watching the honu swimming around in the surf. If there are people at the water's edge, the honu won't come out, so we finally had to put the red rope out in an arc so they would have a clear space to climb onto the beach. But before we did that, I managed to get a few shots of one honu swimming around.

It's so fun watching the expressions on the people whey they first see the turtles, and then when one is coming or going, everyone gets so excited. The whole time I was there this morning there were only two honu on the beach, and one didn't stay very long.



Before this big guy decided to leave, I managed to get a bunch of good shots, but I'll bore you with only this one.

And there he goes, back into his playground.

The other volunteer that was on early-shift duty with me is from NJ, and she's almost done with a 7 week stay on Oahu. We seemed to get along really well, so when we were getting ready to leave I asked her if she would like to stop in Haleiwa for a "shave ice". Haleiwa is a small, historic town not too far from the turtle beach. There are a bunch of galleries, shops & restaurants there, and many places that make shave ice. But this one "general store" has the best. Shave ice is like a snow cone, but the ice is shaved instead of like it is in a snowcone. You can get up to three different flavors and you can get a scoop of home-made vanilla ice-cream in the bottom if you want. Is that even something one would have to think about? Very yummy.

This is Maryann with her shave ice.

After leaving Haleiwa, I stopped at the Dole Plantation for the first time since arriving here. I didn't get a pineapple ice cream because I had already had my treat, but I wandered around the shop and the grounds and got a few pictures.

There were a couple of these sign posts, but I thought this one was particularly interesting with the Antarctica arrow. I guess that's just in case one is getting tired of the 80 degree weather and feels the need to experience a change in climate for a while.