Every photographer on the planet loves taking pictures of large Polynesian men teaching their keiki about the water. They go about it in such a gentle and loving way – no wonder most kids can swim before they can walk.
For the record: I learned how to swim from my father too. His technique was to push me off a fishing pier when I was 4 or 5. I assume that he would have saved me if I had started to sink.
Today’s unnecessary adventure was caused by my mask – which busted a strap out in the ocean. Now how exactly is one supposed to swim with a mask in one hand and a snorkel in the other?
Chicken katsu and guacamole sandwiches for lunch. Chili and leftover rice for dinner. Sort of low on nutrition!
We are having a cloudy day – I sort of took the day off from having fun. Did kitchen things – made bean salad, used up all the old fruit and veggies. Made some fine shark with mustard sauce.
And, I did cataloging and culling. Nothing like cataloging to remind one of good times. And to set the mind to thinking about new trip and new pictures.
I also did some work on my fixed income portfolios. I stashed some money in a corporate bond – and they told me this:
Putable upon on death – isn’t that a cheery concept? I guess I’ll just not die.
Surf’s up today. Not way up. But up enough to mess up the sea for snorkeling and general lazy swimming. So, I did the pool thing. And went to to ocean to watch the surfers.
Had shark, yellow squash and cone sushi for lunch. The ever popular turkey and avocado sandwiches are on tap for dinner.
After doing the blog yesterday, I stepped outside to check the sunset – and saw Philip sailing off towards Maui. As you can tell from Paul Allen’s palm trees – he had a favourable wind.
GUT CHECK TODAY. After finishing the laundry and defrosting the fridge – I dug the size six jeans out of the back of the closet and tried them on. They still fit. Will try them on again around Valentine’s Day. I would hate to have to make an emergency trip to Wal Mart on March 2nd for a bigger pair of pants.
About the iPad. Is it just me? Why did they call it an iPad? It sounds like a feminine hygiene product. Sorry Apple. Later: Just been reading about the iPad online – seems like others agree with me about the unfortunate name.
Name aside. Do I want one? Not yet. I’ll wait for Gen 2. Next year’s version will be twice as powerful and cost 1/2 as much. Of course, this could change. I could be overcome by technology envy. I don’t see as how it can replace the Airness as a travel buddy. And for a small trip – the Touch works fine.
I think this is some sort of triggerfish. It has been hanging out around the pier most of the winter. And, I have been trying to figure out what triggerfish it is. It might be a filefish. But, I don’t know what kind of filefish it might be either.
Sort of a do nothing day today. This is the last day of Carlton’s “weekend”.
Our Swiss friend, Philip – who is sailing around the world – is sailing away this evening. Heading for Hana, Maui. He has a webpage. Check it out. I should use Philip as an inspiration for one of my bucket list entries – go around the world by plane. Or at a minimum take the train across the US and come back across Canada.
Not really such a long way by local standards, but I have never ventured out that far. I took my camera. But the tunas were too deep for the camera, no manta rays swam by either. I did get scared by a turtle.
Here in “Keep Kona Country” land – we have parking lot chickens.
Lots of marine mammals today. We had lots of dolphins and at least 6 whales out in the bay/ocean. You could actually see whales and dolphins without moving the binoculars. I have lots of pictures of “where the whale was” and “where the dolphins were jumping”. I looked at them and sent them directly to the trash can. Last thing I need is more mediocre images to catalog.
Like many end of the earth islands – we have lots of old cars in Kona. Oh, it isn’t like Cuba – but we have more than our share. And, they are driven around on daily chores. Not kept in air-conditioned garages.
The island does not have a Chevy dealership. But we do have a BMW dealer. Don’t know what that means. But, if your Chevy breaks. You take it to the Toyota dealer.
I had such a great snorkel adventure yesterday, that I decided to swim farther out today. There are various floats, markers, and bouys in the bay – so you can keep track of your progress. I got out as far as the tunas and manta rays – but not far enough to meet up with the dolphins. Actually there was only one manta ray, but five or six big eyed tuna. Fortunately tuna is not on today’s menu.
Today’s menu – some veggies and chicken with a little cheese sauce were nuked for lunch and dinner will be turkey sandwiches.
Hammered in the market this week. I was a buyer on day one and two of the meltdown. Today, I did nothing – but I am thinking that I should have been a seller. But, I was swimming while the market was diving this morning.
New things that I still like: WordPress, the Mac, and Lightroom. I guess change is good.
Somethings don’t change – I am still culling, cataloging and converting a decades worth of digital images into Lightroom. Prayer to the goddess – please make my LR 3.0 beta catalog compatible with the actual release.
Nothing like a good day of snorkeling to help one out of a funk. Just off our pier there is a very good place to snorkel. But, I have never been to that spot because the water always looked a little unfriendly too me. Too many rocks, waves and sea urchins. Also no friendly beach to retreat to. But, I have been practicing my swimming this winter. And I have my wet suit. So, I swam out there for a looksee. Spent an hour out in the area. The water was nice and clear. But, there were not too many fish around. Main thing is, I got over my fear of that area. And, I am getting out of my minor depression. Next time the water is relatively calm – I’ll go again.
Food fairy provided one small turkey sandwich today. So, I added some broccoli and carrots and a little rice and called it lunch. Which we eat at 3:15 because that is when Carlton gets home from volunteering. And, since Carlton only eats at home – he will not take his lunch with him. Therefore, lunch is at 3:15. Dinner is at 8:45. Tonight’s dinner will be – maybe – a tuna and avocado salad with some chips. Chips will make it special. I get us one “single serving” bag of chips every week … we share it. Hope that will not cause the food police to hunt me down.
“They” were “repairing” the end of the pier for the last couple of months. But, it is all “fixed” now and the characters are back. The woman is an old Japanese lady who comes down and fishes for her family supper.
Today I decided to take a little trip to Lanai. Then I discovered that “you can not get there from here”. Actually you can get there – it just takes 3 planes and 2 different airlines. And $350. Lanai is about 50 miles away. So much for a trip to Lanai to get me out of my funk.
So, I went for a nice walk. Went for a swim. Took a nap and cooked fish, rice, carrots and spinach for lunch.
With so much at stake maybe I’ll just leave now. Rest easy Robert B. Parker.
