life in the old lane

Today, it was a little too choppy out in the ocean. So, I swam around the rocks in Kamakahonu Bay. Lots of fish. Lots of rocks. Lots of murkiness. And towards the end of this 90-second creation – a couple of large mullet come swimming along. They are totally harmless. Even safe to eat. (Unlike the barracuda).

If you live on an island in the middle of the ocean – Honolulu’s single-use plastics ban is a good thing.  Consider the collector or decorator urchin. Ocean littler and debris “collects” on these guys. (Some folks think that the urchins seek out the debris and call them “decorators”.) It doesn’t matter. They are very useful critters. They keep algae and seaweed under control. Collector urchins  are 24/7  algae and seaweed eating machines.

And finally this collector urchin. Decorated with a plastic spoon.

 

 

Forty-five minutes of paper folding reduced to 20 seconds. (This one is for you Barb!)

Been revisiting my photos from my lap around Australia in February 2018.

This fine example of wall art is in Broken Hill which is at the westernmost edge of New South Wales. The train stopped here for a couple of hours and I had a nice walk around the town. In fact, the town would easily warrant an overnight visit.

I found a some movies. This one was taken out of the train window. The train is just creeping slowly along. (1 minute).

And how about this yummy sky this morning?

Billy and I were starting the day in our usual way. Watching the sun come up, when a couple of folks show up with paddleboards. It seems like a good place to paddleboard. Plenty of parking, nice sandy beach, and wicked as ass coral and sharp rocks about 2 feet from shore. Folks who really know what they are doing can surf here. But nobody paddleboards. Fortunately, they listened to Billy. Then, we went for a walk and had breakfast.

I had a good time today playing with the pictures I took in Australia a couple of years ago. Wonder if I could go back to Virginia by way of Australia?

This afternoon I went for a swim. And, I saw the biggest barracuda that I have ever seen. I am sure that it was at least 3.5 feet long. Maybe longer. I am used to seeing one-foot long barracuda. But this “Great Barracuda” lived up to its name. They really aren’t dangerous. But it did get my attention.

Another chore today. Dig out the damn white dress and be sure it is good to go. Gotta go to a funeral next week.

Doesn’t that dress just look like me?

There were about 60 seconds of sunrise this morning. Then it was cloudy, then rainy, and now it is back to cloudy.

And it was cool.

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.

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.

Today’s movie is about one minute from 45 minutes in the ocean.

These folk are fishing the school that I swam through from Friday’s video. But, no one was fishing when I went swimming through.

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!

These are zebra doves, introduced in 1920. We have plenty of them.

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?

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.

Let’s recap today

– 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

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.

I was sort of iffy about going, but followed Carlton’s “Shut up, suit up, show up” rule. Had a great time.