There were about 60 seconds of sunrise this morning. Then it was cloudy, then rainy, and now it is back to cloudy.
Lovely cloudy rainy day.
And it was cool.
An altogether fine day.
Fortunately, I got my exercise in going to Walmart and Safeway during the first cloudy period. Safeway hasn’t recovered from Thanksgiving/the lettuce crisis.
Guess there is no salad in my future today.
So, instead of salad, I had papaya and cottage cheese for lunch. No hardship.
Yesterday was the last day for The Employee Gift Fund effort at The Asylum. I made five 2 minute videos to try to get out residents to give generously. They were shown on a rotating schedule on The Asylum’s digital signage screens.
We exceeded our fundraising goal. It wasn’t just my videos. But, they were my contribution – in addition to the check that I wrote.
Went out for breakfast with friends this morning as is my custom. And when I returned, fortunately well fortified with coffee, eggs, rice, and spam, it was time to decorate the tree. Up the ladder, I went. Down the ladder, I came. Down on the floor, I went. Up from the floor, I came. Two hours later, the tree was done and so was I.
After a nap. I went for a nice little swim. The water was a little cloudy, but very calm. I saw a fish that might have seen once. But, I have never photographed. The dark phase of the Longnose Butterflyfish. If you are ever going to see one it will be off the Kona Coast.
Dark Phase and Normal Color Pattern Longnose Butterflyfish.
Today’s movie is about one minute from 45 minutes in the ocean.
Kailua-Kona, a drinking village with a fishing problem.
These folk are fishing the school that I swam through from Friday’s video. But, no one was fishing when I went swimming through.
Trust me, I measured it. 20 feet of soy sauce selections.
Just a few photos from today’s walkabout in exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. Got in 3 miles. No swimming today.
Started off the day with a trek to the grocery. It was busy even at 6:30 AM. Guess everyone who, like me, waddled away from the dinner table on Thursday swearing to never eat again, are eating again!
Bird Bomb
These are zebra doves, introduced in 1920. We have plenty of them.
Its being to look a little like Xmas.
I am becoming such a boring old person that I am really considering giving up the blog. I used to snarkily say “to take interesting pictures, do interesting stuff”. Guess that applies to blogs too.
One thing about being old, Boring is Good. Because, when things stop being boring it usually means that the wheels have fallen off, big time.
(I have done the blog almost everyday since April 28, 2001)
Had a fine Thanksgiving with friends, new and old. After 3+ hours of talking, drinking, eating, I realized that no one said anything about politics. When I mentioned that amazing observation – everyone looked at me like I lost my mind. Why would anyone waste time talking about politics?
Thanksgiving – 2019
Dinner was enjoyed outside, in shorts and barefoot.
Today’s one minute movie is small school of halalu – young akule.
Look what showed up late yesterday. I don’t know if the post office found it or the hotel found it. I didn’t ask. I just said “thank you”. And I am grateful that I didn’t pitch a hissyfit over it. Also grateful that I didn’t pay top dollar for one at the local OfficeMax. I “need” this drive because my videos are gobbling up my hard drive. It is only 500GB, but it is SSD and plenty fast enough. Also, it is red and cute.
Got 40 seconds of ocean for your relaxing pleasure. Taken this morning with Shamu the Phone.
The Moorish idol, Zanclus cornutus, is unique — the only member of the Family Zanclidae. It is found all over the tropical IndoPacific Ocean. Its name doesn’t sound very politically correct these days. Maybe we should refer to it by its Hawaiian name kihikihi. Kihikihi’s favorite food is spongs. Today’s video is 45 seconds.
Hoping that everyone will have a tranquil Thanksgiving tomorrow. I will have another lazy Kona kinda day. Walk, swim, read, nap, and out for dinner with new (young) friends later. Everybody is young compared to me. How did this happen? How did I get so old? OH, well, it is all good.
– Breakfast – pb & banana
– Go to store to get “hostess gift” for Thanksgiving
– Make origami to go with the aforementioned hostess gift
– Swim
– Soak in tub
– Lunch – leftovers from Polo Sunday
– Read/Nap
– Inspect videos
– Go out for grilled cheese sandwich and Guinness for dinner
– update blog
Big old moray eel. Think it just wanted me to go away. So, I went. (cut from video)
Found a couple of eels today. 30 second not very good video today.
Just enjoy a little quality time with a sea turtle. Honu in Hawaiian. (about one minute.)
Small bump in my universe. I ordered an external drive. USPS says they delivered it. Hotel says nope. “I was at the Desk at 1:27 and no package arrived for anybody”. I choose to believe the hotel. This is not worth getting my granny panties in a twist over. Maybe it will show up. Or maybe it won’t.
Best to follow the “Advice from a sea turtle”
-Swim with the current.
-Be a good navigator.
-Stay calm under pressure.
-Be well-traveled.
-Think long term.
-Age gracefully.
-Spend time at the beach!
“Think long term” – It isn’t worth annoying the hotel staff over the missing drive.
Billy wanted to go upcountry and take in a polo match or two. So, we put on long pants, grab jackets, borrow a car and off we go. Polo on Hawai’i Island is not fancy.
Of couse, I don’t have anything approaching appropriate camera gear. But, that didn’t stop me. Heck, I think the little 45 second video even turned out OK. Upped my recording and rendering to 4K. Maybe I will like what YouTube does with it better. Give it a look in full screen.
Billy thought that this guy was going to fall asleep or die. But his owner said that he was 21 years old and his regular job was being a cattle horse. He sort of considers polo silly and doesn’t like it. But, he still had to go for a chukka or two.
Elderly polo pony
I was sort of iffy about going, but followed Carlton’s “Shut up, suit up, show up” rule. Had a great time.
It really is pathetic when you call cutting a papaya in half, scooping out the seeds and scooping in cottage cheese “cooking dinner”. I added a fine slice of banana bread. And, finished off the rest of the coffee. Sounds like dinner to me. I had to wash a knife, spoon, and coffee cup.
My legs were rested up enough 45 minutes in the ocean. Starting to get a little cool. Might be time for the wetsuit soon. I am a little too big for my wetsuit. Which is why I haven’t needed it yet. An insulating layer of blubber, you know.
Yellow phase trumpetfish and yellow tang. Cut from the video.
Today’s video is 36 seconds.
Note to Carlton: Cliff’s kids invited me to Thanksgiving Dinner. It was so sweet that I almost got a ticket back East. But, then I remembered that (1) I have given my room at The Asylum away to a friend for her brother who is visiting for Thanksgiving (2) Three storms are lined up for Wednesday and (3) The cost of that ticket, even in the cheap seats, will buy a lot of rice and spam for the local food bank. A hui hou, my friend. A hui hou.
You know, I am not a person of faith. In my life view dead is dead. But, wouldn’t it be nice if I were wrong. And… but that would get really complicated. What if I had two really great husbands. And what if they had other women? Lots of parallel universes?
Night comes quickly near the equator. This shot is about an hour after the one at the top of the page. NightSight Pixel2xl
My legs are unhappy today, I almost didn’t go out to the old airport with Billy. But, I went and was rewarded with the fine sunrise. And, I could see snow on Mauna Loa. More snow on Mauna Kea.
Snow on the mountains today.
Listening to my body – I decided not to swim today. My legs have to work extra hard to make up for my arthritic shoulder. And, it was pretty choppy. I sill logged 9,000+ steps. Decided that I couldn’t live without cottage cheese. And, I had to hit two banks before I got money. It is all good. I have money and cottage cheese. (which I plan to eat with my excessive supply of papaya). Damn, cottage cheese is an archetypical old woman food, isn’t it?
crop from yesterday’s lavender tangs photo from the go pro.
I absolutely love the ocean. Always amazed at how much better I feel after some ocean time. Mentally and physically. Years ago on of the hospice organizations had an ad on tv. A strong young man was carrying a frail old woman in a muumuu out into the waves. I so understand that. Don’t imagine that is a service The Asylum hospice provides. I had a Park Service friend in North Dakota. Her Mom was in hospice and wanted to go on a snowmobile ride. It happened.
Have my best day with the GoPro. Until today, it would do basically whatever it felt like doing when I was in the water. Turns out I assumed when GoPro said the touch screen doesn’t work underwater they meant it do not work. What they meant was it did not work correctly or consistently. So, when I grabbed it with hand – anything could and did happen. RTFM. Discovered. Screen Lock.
