Category: The DayBook

This week’s “do something new”. I photographed a new butterfly and figured out that it is an Asian Swallowtail.

I can not say that I was out seeking butterflies. I was out on a “fitbit forced march”. When I saw a big black and white butterfly. Eventually, I realized I had my camera with me and I was able to snap an image before it moved out of range. This butterfly is common in southeast asia. And obviously, we have at least one in Hawai’i. But, none on the mainland.

Went for a chilly swim this morning. Took a few mediocre photos with the $99 camera. The saddle wrasse wanted to be in every picture.

Big surf tomorrow??? Think we’ll not see big stuff over on this side of this island. Back home they are hyperventilating about monster snow coming on Friday.

In Samoa, one gets buried in a snazzy concrete cistern in the front yard. This leads me to believe that there are no real estate sales in American Samoa. Because, who is going to buy a house with someone else’s granny in the front yard. There wouldn’t be room for your own granny. Some folk are buried in what would be considered a “Carport” – in Samoa I guess they are called “Burialports”.

The Samoans seem to take being dead very seriously.

Some would say that I didn’t take Carlton’s death all that seriously. But, I didn’t take him all that seriously when he was alive either.

I presume that I’ll be getting Carlton’s ashes back from Georgetown this spring. What to do with Carlton then?

1. Sprinkle him around Hulihe’e Palace. Don’t ask – don’t tell. Carlton liked this. He just didn’t want to be in the ocean – because he gets seasick.
2. Let Georgetown put him in Mt Olivet. Carlton was OK with that.
3. See if I can find his DD214 and stash him in a Chock-Full-Nuts can in the mausoleum at Arlington. I think Carlton would be OK with this.
4. Turn him into a tree – but where – I don’t have a front yard?
5. Turn him into a diamond – no way!
6. Blast him off into space – Carlton would be seriously pissed at that waste of money. Heck, he would most likely come after my sorry ass.

And you know, it really doesn’t matter. Because – he will still be dead. And, I am not the kind of person who goes to visit the departed. Unless they are stashed somewhere really cool. Join Jim Morrison in Paris perhaps?

I survived my offline time very nicely. Walked, swam, visited, ate everything in sight, acquired more food, read, took pictures, deleted most of the pictures, did yoga, napped…

Checked out the high school canoe races.

When did I get so old? It seems pretty inefficient – just when we start to get our shit together – we die. No wonder the human race is so messed up.

Remember my 2016 Resolutions?

• Read more. Facebook less.
• Do one new thing every week – I am not too sure what I mean here.
• Have a technology free weekend every month. Even when I am in Hawai’i.

One new thing every week was the roadtrip to Kua Bay. I decided that since I am so old – I’d cut myself some slack and if I haven’t done it it 20+ years it is still a “new thing”.

And, starting at 6AM – going to 6PM tomorrow… Technology free weekend. I cut myself some slack here too. I can read books on my Kindle. And, continue to edit my images from Samoa using Lightroom on the Airness. But no Facebook, no games, no mindless surfing around, no checking airfares, no email. And, no TV. (Not like I am going to miss the ‘Skins in the playoffs)

 

Just for giggles, I was shooting some plant porn this morning – well, specifically – hala tree porn. When – geckos appeared.

I took the day off from all things physical. I only logged 2 miles on the fitbit. No swimming. Well, I did do 30 minutes of yoga.

Does anyone else think it is hysterical that Chipotle Mexican Grill has to call a timeout to discuss food safety? Tacos and Montezuma’s Revenge. How much more Mexican can you get?

And, are we having fun yet with the stock market? All the “talking heads” are telling us that this isn’t as bad as 2008. We’ll see. I have:

• My money that the money guy manages
• My money that I manage
• Carlton’s money that I am managing using Carlton’s long established guidelines

Carlton’s money is the winner in this this environment. My managed money comes next and the money that I am paying to have managed is the loser.

And, snorkeling was so smooth and so clear – I fired up “movie mode” on the $99 camera. No post processing on the movie – except color correction in Lightroom. It was movie mode that caused the first $99 camera to lock up. I hadn’t tried movie mode on this one. no reason to try something that I really don’t use.

But I love that first photo! So glad I popped my head out of the water to be sure I wasn’t going to run into something/someone. And, that I had the $99 camera.

Finally, at the far limit of my long lens – a whale sighting. My friend, Billy, returned from the mainland last night – and drove me up the coast on a whale hunt this morning. It was fun to go somewhere that I can not get to on foot. The whale was lagniappe.

Finishing sorting and organizing the photos from 2015. Still loving the bats. I am going to learn how to fold a great origami bat this year.

Nice swim today, nice walk, enjoyed watching Obama doing the State of the Union thing. Think about The Donald giving the State of the Union. Or worse – Ted Cruz. It is kind of interesting watching the RINOs (Republicans in Name Only – or moderates – for my non-US readers) wring their hands over a Donald or Ted as Presidential candidate. Which would be worse? Seems to me that either would be the death knell for the “Party of Lincoln”.

Needless to say, the boat didn’t find any dolphins – because I was there.

The waves weren’t really good for surfing. But, they were better than no waves. And by 9am the waves were settled down – but – swimming was still like swimming in a snowglobe. So, no fish pictures today.

Been thinking about resolution #7 – Do one new thing every week. At my age, coming up with new things isn’t easy. I have done a heck of a lot of things. Stay tuned.

A lazy sort of a day. The ocean was unfriendly for swimming. So, I just swam “laps” at the little protected beach across the street. After watching the Redskins lose – I went for a nice late afternoon walk – looking a the ocean. Nobody surfing. It was too junky.

Time to get some New Year’s Resolutions. These are last year’s resolutions.

1. Stay the course to the old folks asylum. I am an old person. 
2. Go to at least one real yoga class per week. 
3. Get rid of all of Carlton’s stuff
4. Back at the apartment – start getting ready to move to the old folks asylum.
5. Do not buy any new/used clothes without getting rid of TWO items. 
6. Keep weight around 115 pounds. 
7. Keep walking.
8. And, this is very important now – COOK real food. 

I did pretty good with last year’s list. The only thing I didn’t do was COOK. But, the asylum COOKS for me. I did such a great job with last year’s resolutions – I am kind of leery about making resolutions this year…

Resolved 2016

1. Go to at least one real yoga class per week. 
2. Do not buy any new/used clothes without getting rid of TWO items. 
3. Keep weight around 115 pounds. 
4. Keep walking.
5. Participate in one activity per week at the asylum.
6. Read more. Facebook less.
7. Do one new thing every week – I am not too sure what I mean here.
8. Have a technology free weekend every month. Even when I am in Hawai’i.

I didn’t take the $99 camera out today. But, I did see some nice fish from the pier.

See Any Dolphins? I don’t either. That thing at lower edge is a canoe paddle. You don’t see any dolphins, because I am a marine mammal repellant. Yes, if I am around, you can be sure there will be NO NONE ZERO NADA ZIP marine mammals. No dolphins, no whales, no narwhals, no seals, no mermaids.

This morning, I saw dolphins from my balcony. I grabbed the camera and rushed down to the pier. The dolphins knew I was coming – so they left.

Really tired today. I think my program of walking fives miles a day, plus daily swimming and yoga have taken a toll on the old body. Carlton was sort of my reality check. He would remind me to take a day or two off from time to time.

About Ted Cruz. There is something very wrong with the man. He reminds me of Richard Nixon. He would be the scariest president ever.

Note to Carlton: Your beloved Theodore Roosevelt NP in Medora, ND is number 5 on this year’s NY Times 52 places to visit in 2016. Right between St John’s VI and Mozambique.

I was sort of moping around after lunch today. It was cloudy and “cold”. Well, I talked myself into suiting up and swimming out. I did come back to the hotel still encased in my wetsuit. No way I was going to take it off out in the cold wind. So… photos from the $99 camera.

 

When I was coming back in, I saw a cute little puffer fish. The one on the right is a spotted puffer and grows to about 12 inches. The one on the left is the Hawaiian whitespotted toby. It maxes out at a couple of inches. Both are true puffer fish and can inflate to complete round balls.

And, when I was getting ready to take my fins off – what should I find – a devil scorpion fish. It is our version of the stonefish. The Australian version of the stonefish can kill you. Ours can just hurt you.

These critters are very common just off our pier. Most of the time, they remain invisible.

Oh, the ocean swim worked its magic.  I out over the moping.

And now, it is dinner time. Soup? Brussel sprouts and hardboiled eggs? Tuna and avocado? Lots of options. I think it needs to be brussel sprouts. They have been in the fridge the longest.