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.