Christmas Eve 24 Dec 2007

Christmas Eve ~ full moon was yesterday

Sunrise in Paradise

Another sunrise in paradise.

Surf Sunrise

Surf Sunrise.

Blue Angels Hawaii 13 Oct 2007

Click the arrow above to view the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team performing in six thundering F/A-18 Hornet jets over (and under) my home in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, this afternoon. The F/A-18s can reach speeds up to 1,200 mph.

Hula Halau

A Hula Halau (hula school) performs at a community event on the Big Island of Hawaii. A halau preserves and teaches Hawaiian culture, language and history through the ancient art of the hula, with chant, music, and song.

Makapu`u Lighthouse, Hawaii

The view from the high cliffs overlooking Makapu`u Lighthouse on Oahu, Hawaii, is so big and so far you can imagine seeing beyond the cloud shadows cast on the sea's surface, over the curve of the Earth, and all the way to the continent.

Golden Shower Tree

Like Royal Poinciana below, the Shower Tree bursts into a mass of color when it blossoms, leaving virtually no leaves visible. This is a Golden Shower tree located here in Hawaii, and we also have Rainbow Shower Trees, whose petals are each both pink and yellow. Later, when the petals start to fall from their grape-like bunches, they shower down around everyone and everything and swirl on the roads like cherry blossoms in the spring.

Royal Poinciana

Once a year the Royal Poinciana erupts into a mass of fiery red blossoms atop its' gnarled trunks, earning it the appropriate nickname "Flame Tree". This one in Hawaii.

Gecko

Geckos have transparent membranes instead of eyelids, can change their skin color, and chirp and interact socially with each other, an unusual ability for a lizard. Geckos have special toe pads that allow them to walk on vertical surfaces or upside-down on ceilings, an often comical attribute well known to human residents of tropical zones worldwide, where geckos often choose inside of houses as their permanent habitat. Usually considered “cute”, geckos are rarely deemed a nuisance because they feed on insects and keep households pest-free.

Happy Tikis

Happy tikis adorn a parking lot garden in Hawaii. These wood carvings were created by shaping faces into the stumps of coconut trees. The tree stumps were then buried upside down in the ground so that the root ball of the coconut tree sticks up and forms these tiki's wild hair. Red ginger blooms in the background.

Shark in the Shallows

After a brief walk from my home, I photographed this black tip reef shark roaming the shallows near Coconut Island in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He is a "guest" of the University of Hawaii Marine Research Center.

Lotus Flower

I photographed this perfect Lotus flower in a private garden in Hawaii. A water lily, lotus are among the most ancient of flowering plants and may be the missing evolutionary link between flowering plants and seed plants such as pine cone bearing trees. Shrouded in the mystery of myth and legend, Lotus are considered sacred to some regions and religions. Lotus lilies are the only plant to simultaneously flower and bear fruit, and their seeds can germinate as long as 200 years after being shed.

Kaneohe Town

Kaneohe town on the Hawaiian Island of O'ahu is nestled at the base of the Koolau volcanic mountain range. Vertical volcanic cliffs such as these are known as pali and the vertical ribs in them are caused by thousands of years of tropical rainfall erosion. This is the back view from my home.

Waikiki Street Performer

Street performance Waikiki, Hawaii: Tie a bright sarong on your dog's neck, roll back his biggest neck fur wrinkle, insert pet mouse, let go of wrinkle and presto, Wrinkle Doggy Mouse Show! The dog was making good money judging by the wad of greenbacks in his paw, and his owner's nice mountain bike leaning on a storefront nearby.

My Koi Pond

The koi in my pond are like stuffed animals: they multiply in the dark!

Honu (Green Sea Turtle)

Green sea turtles, called Honu in Hawaii, are an endangered and protected species. They live in warm ocean waters and cannot retract their heads or legs into their shells the way land turtles do. Green Sea Turtles grow up to 4 feet long and 500 lbs, do not reproduce until 25-50 years of age and may live to 80 years. Primary predators are large sharks and humans. Green Sea Turtles are named for the color of their fat, which is green from their diet of algae & seaweed. They usually live near coral reefs, swimming 30-60 feet deep, and often sunning on the surface or on rocks or sand during the day and sleeping underwater at night in crevices in the reefs during which time they can hold their breath up to 2 hours. They are easily seen from shore or while snorkeling or diving. Sea turtles mate in the ocean and females lay and bury their eggs in sand on the beach.

Click the arrow above to watch Honu swimming in Hawaii.

Home Sweet Home

Home, sweet home: couch surfing from my living room facing Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, for me includes spectacular views of the Koolau volcanic mountain range, Mokoli`i Island (aka Chinaman's Hat Island to haoles), the famed Kaneohe Bay sandbar and numerous coral reefs in the bay. Yes, it's another day in paradise.

Bird of Paradise

Strelitzia reginae, commonly known as “Bird of Paradise”, originated in Africa near the Cape of Good Hope. It first flowered in Europe at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. The species was then dedicated to the reigning Queen, Charlotte, who was the wife of King George III of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The long lasting, exotic, tropical blooms of the Bird of Paradise make them a favorite of the florist industry.

20 Sep 2007 Floating On Clouds

A crescent moon seems suspended in an azure sky over waves of cottony clouds that covered the land from Desolation Sound, B.C. to about 3/4 of the way to Hawaii. When the plane first rises up through the clouds and you can just begin to see through the soft haze of their surface, everything turns surreal and it seems as though you are floating on clouds and anything is possible.

20 Sep 2007 Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier, tallest peak of the Cascade Range at 14,400', pierces the cloud ceiling in Washington State and is viewed over a wingtip on my 3rd flight that day on my way home.

20 Sep 2007 Spirit of the Haida Gwai

Late artist Bill Reid's famous Spirit of Haida Gwai jade color sculpture on display at Vancouver International Airport in B.C., Canada.

19 Sep 2007 Herons Fishing

Under a late summer sky, two well-fed blue herons stand guard over the sand bar protected entrance to this salmon spawning creek at Salmon Point, south of Campbell River on Vancouver Island, B.C. The low islands in the background are Quadra, Cortes & Marina Islands, and the tall mountains beyond them in the distance are the Coastal Range of British Columbia's mainland.

18 Sep 2007 Driftwood Carving Competition

Driftwood Carving Competition on the shores of Willow Point in Campbell River on Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. What started many years ago as a single event, has now evolved into an annual competition that has resulted in enriching the city's streets and businesses with the past decade's accumulation of fantastic, spontaneously created, beach art.

16 Sep 2007 Campbell River, B.C.

Campbell River, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada: Salmon Capital of the World. Topiary and flowers groomed in the shape of Campbell River's claim-to-fame fish adorn the downtown park adjacent to the Quadra Island ferry terminal, to and from which many islanders commute.

Chesterman's Beach, B.C.

Surfers and a dog accompany sunset horseback riders on Chesterman's Beach, on the wild West coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

12 Sep 2007 Squirrel Cove, B.C., Canada

Relax on a one-of-a-kind hand carved wooden bench at Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island, as you take in the spectacular view of West Redonda Island and the Coastal Mountains beyond on mainland B.C. The governement dock here is frequented by local fishermen and islanders, and in summer by tourist boats. To get your boat fueled up here you must bring a jerry can and walk up the dock, along the long wharf and next door to the general store (where I am taking the picture from) to fill up at their auto-style gas pump on shore, then walk yourself back with your precious and heavy load.

12 Sep 2007 All In All, It's Just Another Fridge In The Wall...

The fridge fence, Cortes Island, B.C., Canada. When you live on an island, a tiny island, recycling is King. And on Cortes, EVERYTHING is recycled. Spray paint art embellishes this home owner's fence made of stacked, recycled refrigerators, in the form of the phrase, "All in all, it's just another fridge in the wall...".

12 Sep 2007 Straw & Mud Cob House

Hollyhock's "Cob House" on Cortes Island, B.C., Canada. This building is used as a spiritual retreat. Years ago I was present on many of the days it was being hand built. Cobb construction involves straw and mud and other hand worked innovations; glass bottles were placed through the walls during construction where ever through-wall holes were necessary for outlets or other needs.

Hollyhock is now a non-profit educational and healing retreat center; http://www.hollyhock.ca

11 Sep 2007 Sun sets Behind Victoria Peak, Vancouver Island, B.C.

Sunset on the beach at Sutil Point, Cortes Island, B.C., Canada: I walked out to this deserted beach and settled down alone on a driftwood log in the sand to watch the sun set beyond Vancouver Island, casting crepuscular rays upon the 7,000' crags of Victoria Peak, an extinct volcano and Vancouver Island's third highest peak. It was quiet, except for the sound of a gentle breeze in the beach grasses and the waves lapping, and very beautiful. I sat there for a very long time and enjoyed sunset turn to dusk turn to darkness.

11 Sep 2007 Manson's Landing

Beyond gnarled driftwood weathered silver on the shore at Manson's Landing on Cortes Island, a fishing boat motors in on a sea of saltwater sparkles. The only way to get to Cortes Island is by private boat, seaplane or a series of at least 3 ferries from the mainland.

11 Sep 2007 Manson's Lagoon

Manson's Lagoon on Cortes Island in Desolation Sound, B.C., Canada. The flood and ebb of tide creates swift reversing currents and a slender sand spit at the entrance to Manson's Lagoon.

09 Sep 2007 Approaching Saltery Bay, B.C., Canada

Coastal British Columbia, Canada: Approaching Saltery Bay (South of Powell River) on the B.C. ferry "Queen of Tsawwassen" after travelling up the Sunshine Coast on a clear and sunny day.

09 Sep 2007 From Earl's Cove to Saltery Bay

Sailing into the sunset on B.C. Ferries vessel Queen of Tsawwassen along the Sunshine Coast between Earl's Cove and Saltery Bay, B.C., Canada.

08 Sep 2007 Cedar Survivor

Tall Survivor: this stately giant of a cedar tree in the coastal forest near Sechelt, B.C., Canada, bears the scars of men who tried to fell it decades ago. The two large horizonal wedges cut across the tree's trunk were meant to place planks in for the loggers to climb and balance upon while felling the tree.

Sunset Reflection On Kaneohe Bay

The setting sun throws up a fan of crepuscular rays as it descends beyond the Koolau Mountains on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and in this unusual coincidence the reflection of the sky's vivid colours also falls precisely onto the Kanoehe Bay Yacht Club.

Giant Hawaiian Bumble Bee

This immense Hawaiian bumble bee may be a type of Carpenter bee, but I have not been able to find pictures of this particular type anywhere. It was so big that when it decided after 15 minutes of me taking macro photos of it, sometimes having the camera lens brush its' body hairs, that it had had enough, it could barely keep its' rear end airborne while chasing me, accompanied by the sound of its' thumping helicopter-like wing beats, all the way out of the marsh, across a football field, past an assortment of my laughing friends, and into the relative safety of my car.

Crab in the Hole

A case of patience: the crescent of sand from the upper left of the picture, down around the foreground and up the lower right is the curve of the crab's hole into which an extension tube on my camera was inserted and then followed by a lengthy wait. I'm not sure who was more surprised, the crab or I! This is from my 2005 archives and was taken in an inland mangrove swamp in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, way down south closer to Guatemala. The crab's pink colouration is one of the food sources that give flamingos their coral feather colour.

Close Encounter

Uh... so ok I love animals and tend to get a little TOOOOOO close at game farms... but fotunately this giant towering over my 5'3" frame liked me. Ostrich, game farm Alabama, 21 Apr 2007.

Japanese Maple

This beautiful red Japanese Maple grows in a lush botanical garden in Mobile, Alabama, which I visited on the 18th of April 2007.

Alabama Beggar

In the town square in Mobile, Alabama, are dozens of these cute furry beggars but they can be very aggressive so best not to have food on your person unless you plan to give it away!

Pilot Station, Mobile Alabama

This remote pilot station offshore of Mobile, Alabama, used to house the marine port pilots who escort all big ships into the river Port of Mobile. Access was gained via a stairway adjacent the tiny dock underneath the house. The structure must have seemed tiny and frail in the face of Hurricane Katrina. Today, Mobile pilots come by power launch (as in 2nd pic) directly from the Port to the waiting ships. I passed this area during a voyage from New Hampshire to Alabama in the Spring of 2007.

Pre-Dawn Fishing, Hawaiian Style

Fishing Hawaiian style might include taking your brand new king cab truck far off the road onto a lava rock ledge and then walking out (to check the set of your rods) into the pre-dawn spray of a 35 foot swell that has come halfway across the Pacific Ocean to crash in sea fans upon the shore.

Red Hot Molten Lava

What, you can't walk past THIS point? Well, ok, I'll wait till dark when the red hot molten lava is glowing brilliantly, go on past, melt my shoe soles as I walk on the hot lava and watch a molten river flow past my toes. Big Island of Hawaii, 25 Feb 2002. This is something you really, really just have to do at least once in your lifetime; it's incredible.

Frangipani

Plumeria, known as Frangipani in the South Pacific isles and Southeast Asia, is a very drought hardy tropical flowering tree that originated in Central America. Plumeria has spread around the tropical climate zones of the world, but particularly in Hawaii and the South Pacific islands, with countless beautiful and colorful varieties, many richly scented. Its flowers are widely used in leis and arrangements and for many other ornamental purposes. Beautiful plumeria is named aftger 17th century botanist Charles Plumier.