life in the old lane

Went for an early morning walk with the camera and took a bunch of shots with my macro lens.

This is the Crown Flower – Sorry Doreen – I told you it was a Jade Flower – Hope you got your crown flower lei home safely. It is a GIANT member of the milkweed family and our local butterflies love it. So did Queen Liliuokalani.

Then I did chores. Grocery shopping, laundry, general tidy up around the room. Hard to believe that 25% of my Hawai’i time is over.

So, I made a little movie (with the real camera – and the plastic wide lens) on this morning’s walk. This is in case I need a little “ocean” when I am back in the asylum.

 

Click on any of today’s images for bigger versions. I took the macro lens out for a nice photo shoot this morning. Even tried movies. Movies were not pretty. Maybe I’ll RTFM.

This time last year is wasn’t two months into my widow woman act. Yes, this year is better. I am starting to figure out how to live my own life. Carlton left me well prepared, emotionally and financially to carry on. And, that is what I am most grateful for today.

And, I am grateful everyday that we had no “issues” outstanding. No apologies that need to be made. No promised made that were not kept. No loose ends. We didn’t get the chance to say goodbye. We didn’t need to say anything. It had all been said.

2015 – having Thanksgiving Dinner with friends this evening. A few more images from this morning’s “macro walk”

The new macro lens made the trip to Kona. I bought it in the middle of all of last summer’s moving and downsizing angst – retail therapy you know. But, I am not really 100% comfortable with it. So, I’ll make a point of using it – for macro shots and for anything else that works.

Cloudy and damp here today. But no worries.

Oldest granddaughter’s birthday today. Grandmotherhood helps tie you to the universe. For Sam – a little advice. Choose your life partner very very carefully. Travel often. Be honest in all activities. Don’t worry too much. Always remember – no one is promised tomorrow – not even the young.

Grateful for the opportunity to play with the GoPro.

Well, I think I am about done with the GoPro. I have learned a lot about it. And, about various video editors. Note: I did not try Final Cut Pro. I don’t need full Photoshop and I don’t need Final Cut Pro. iMovie 10.1 with a little help from Lightroom does everything I would ever need.

So, am I going to get a GoPro. I can afford one. No, I am not going to get a GoPro. I can understand why the price of GoPro stock has cratered. The GoPro is mostly a toy. A toy that doesn’t really belong in an old woman’s toy box.

The Good. It is really small. And, I really like small. And, it is very low maintenance. It seems to just need a little shower after a trip in the ocean. Even in the underwater case, it is still small. It doesn’t need to be loaded into the housing in air conditioned spaces. And, I haven’t had any issues with fogging. You can charge it with your iPhone plug. As long as wifi is off – battery life is OK. And, I dropped it from waist high to asphalt with no noticeable problem.

Video image quality is good, even great. It has 3 buttons.

The Not So Good. No stabilization. Still image quality isn’t as good as my Google Phone. There is the whole no viewfinder at all thing. It is truly a ‘Point and Pray” device.  And, with my elderly eyes – even with my glasses – I can not see all the tiny words on the LED. I was never able to get it to link up to either my android phone or iPad.

Bottom line. It was fun to play with. But, if I need a “rugged” or “snorkel” camera – I would be better served by a little ruggedized PS camera from Panasonic or Olympus. It would be bigger – but image quality, versatility, and functionality would be better and the package would be cheaper. If I just need small – my phone works fine. And, if I really want to do good work underwater – I’d best get a housing for my Olympus. And, the housing would cost more than the camera body. And, a fine fussy underwater setup really doesn’t fit into my simpler lifestyle.

So, I think I am about 45 years too old to appreciate the GoPro. And this is one of today’s GoPro efforts. About as good as it is going to get, I think. (It is less than 2 minutes.)

Watch it in full screen.

These “fresh” shark jaws were at my farm market this week end. No price. Guess you had to negotiate.

Today, I swam out in search of the akule bait school. Akule are big eyed scad. While I was swimming with the akule, I thought about those shark jaws. Didn’t see anything that had better teeth than I do. The ocean was too murky for good movie making. But that didn’t stop me.

Guess what – I discovered that my beloved Lightroom will do minor corrections to video. Who knew? Try to open a movie in the “Develop” module and Lightroom says “nope – you can not process videos in this module”. Well, it turns out – you can do many corrections in the “Library” module.

The video is 2 minutes long. About 2 minutes too long. But hey, I spent most of the afternoon playing with this.

Now, about men. In Alaska, the single ladies said “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.” In the interest of research – I have been checking out a couple of age appropriate single men who are staying in my hotel. I have known one of them for years. His wife died about 3 years ago. He is fit. Too fit. He is looking for someone to run marathons with him. Oh, and when he isn’t running – he is nonstop talking. The other guy is full figured. He is looking for a nurse/cook/mommy. Fortunately, I am settling into the widow life very nicely, thank you. If I were looking for a man – I’d be looking for a very best friend. Someone I wanted to spend time with. A low maintenance guy with his own interests and lodgings. Someone who wasn’t looking for a maid, caregiver or training partner. And, no, I will not go the cougar route.

Note to Carlton: You are still the one for me.

Went snorkeling at 7AM. As soon as the parking lot was opened. I tried very hard to be a serious photographer with the GoPro. I was rewarded with this white yellowtang. I knew they existed, but I have never seen one.

Note to Carlton: This would make you laugh. Billy and I were coming out of the water at low tide after an hour of snorkeling. I thought I was making a rather graceful exit. You know it is tricky. As soon as I stood up – I heard applause. I was embarrassed. I thought I had done a good job. I sure didn’t deserve ridicule. Fortunately, I remembered – it is Sunday. They have AA in the beach shelter. Sure enough someone was reading “…. a fellowship of men and women…” Nobody was paying any attention to me – well except for Billy. He always makes sure I make it out OK.

I spent the rest of the day making a video from today’s clips. Here is a mini version.

I had plenty of time to work on origami while the videos were “processing”. BTW – I still like still photography better.

Playing with origami stars today. This one is a winner. It what is called a “modular” in the origami world. It is made out of five modules which magically fit together. It is pretty easy to make – but a little expensive. Minimum cost $5.

So, I experimented with lower cost options…

Note to Carlton: I hope you are having fun. Being the center of attention in anatomy lab. Our world isn’t too much fun right now. The “civilized” world seems very unsafe. A group of Muslim fundamentalist are on a mission to precipitate the end of days by starting a holy war (don’t you love that phrase) between the faithful (them) and the infidels (us). I think it has something to do with the Crusades. The faithful (them) are willing to die and kill everything and everyone in sight. The infidels (us) haven’t a clue what to do. We aren’t willing to die. So, we are just afraid. I am ashamed to say, I am feeling safer here in Dengue-ridden Kona than I might feel in a more urban setting. The new normal. It is like 9/11 all over again.

Speaking of Kona – a little glimpse of Kona

Snapped that image at the grocery this morning. I went in to get a paper and maybe something to nuke for dinner. Well, I was taken “domestic”. Ended up getting eggs, ahi, potatoes, pineapple, salad stuff, real food. Food that requires “prep” above and beyond nuking. I had the ahi with avocado and a fine salad for lunch. Oh, and a beer. Egg sandwich on tap for dinner.

Went up north with friends, old and new, on this rainy day. Good time.

Grateful for friends, old and new.

And, on a more trivial level – grateful that I successfully repaired my snorkel yesterday. At least it worked fine when I took it for a test swim this afternoon in the safety of my hotel pool.

88 cases and counting. But, we don’t have bug spray.

Now, I remember that last summer I was hugely amused that The Donald was running for president. Well, stop already, it isn’t funny anymore. President Trump. Couldn’t happen. Could it? Scary.

“Kids” living on the beach. Nothing too wrong with living on the beach. This beach is across the street from a bathroom and shower. Hope these kids get back to “where ever” before they fall in with some of the long term serious druggies. Hopefully the kids are just on a little low budget vacation.

I walked like a crazy woman today. Don’t know what I was thinking. Logged almost 7 miles on the Fitbit. Needless to say, my body is sort of yelling “send down some real food please”. Might just go have a little dinner somewhere. Or go get a nice bowl of pho at my neighborhood Vietnamese joint. Don’t think pho is “real food” however.

Honl’s is my favorite place for ghost crabs.

 

Late last summer, I was at my desk in my beloved old apartment – “processing snail mail”. I happened to have my checkbook, new address labels, etc. The Daughters of Hawai’i sent me a newsletter and a couple of raffle tickets. I usually just pitch the raffle tickets. Figure, I give the Daughters enough money. But, since I was going to send the Daughters a change of address – I wrote a check for the tickets, stuck address labels on them, and sent the tickets back along with my request to change my address. And promptly forgot about it.

Well, you can imagine how surprised I was when I got a phone call telling me I won a king size handmade quilt. It is set up for hanging – but it is HUGE and I am out of wall space at the Old Bat Cave. Guess it will just have to end up on the bed. And, my lawyer will have to add the quilt to her list of “stuff that shouldn’t just go to Goodwill” when I go.

But on to the outrage. I have been watching with great dismay all this anti-refugee talk. But, it reached a new level of outrage today when I am reading the Washington Post and found this article:

The small, southwestern Virginia city of Roanoke should refuse to help settle Syrian refugees in the U.S. just as Franklin Delano Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans in America during World War II.

That’s the argument being made by Roanoke’s Democratic mayor, David Bowers. In a statement Wednesday, he said he was requesting that all government and non-government organizations in the city of 99,000 suspend any assistance to Syrian refugees “until these serious hostilities and atrocities end.”

As justification, he compared the situation to World War II.

“President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” he said, “and it appears that the threat of harm to America from ISIS now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then.”

The internment of Japanese, many US citizens, during WWII was a dark time in our history. When I went to school, we didn’t learn about the internment. I was a so called educated grownup when I realized that many of my “Japanese” friends here in Hawai’i were born in places like Arizona and California. I had to ask “why were you born in Arizona?” And, ever so carefully, with no obvious animosity, I was told about Manzanar, Amache, Heart Mountain etc…

Not the greatest photo. I don’t see them in great numbers where I usually swim.

But, the prize fish today is the Saddle Butterfly. Don’t see them very often – anywhere.

We had the whole beach/ocean to ourselves. Which is good, because we made less than elegant egress. But, no skin was lost.

About time to think about gratitude.
Grateful for my wetsuit that protected my okole during my ocean dismount this AM.

Another cheese sandwich and salad for dinner – not missing tonight’s New York strip steak at the asylum one bit.

PS – Ended up with less than 400 images today. I am not loving the GoPro. Having fun with it. But not loving it enough to actually buy one. Part of it is my new “simplified” lifestyle. But mostly, my little old lady life just isn’t GoPro material.

Note to self: If you decide to snorkel around for 50 minutes or so… and have the GoPro set on 30 shots per second – you end up with 1260 images. And, you have to spend the rest of the day tagging and deleting images. Not to mention a couple of videos. I have about 150 images left on the Airness.

(Gee – I’d best reformat my little micro sd card.)

Well, you guys have to see some more GoPro photos. Because – those are the only pictures I took today.

Over 50 cases of dengue fever on our island.

One of the entrees at the asylum tonight is “apple glazed duck breast”. The entree here in winter quarters will be cheese sandwich with a little salad. And, I’d rather be here eating a cheese sandwich here. Than at the old bat cave eating glazed duck – never mind that it is “free wine night” as well.