Inspire 'd'.

There's nothing like a bit of flower power to set my appreciation groove rolling.

Hello Iris.
All three were communing in the same garden, lovely stuff.

Morning dew.

One of the locals at Kanaha.

Her feathers will be smelling a bit smokey this morning after the fire on Stable Road. No one was hurt, but there'll be a lot of washing and cleaning going on for those affected by this yesterday.

When I pass this I always want to spray a 'd' on the end.......maybe I will..... and start a graffiti scrabble game.

Memorial Day.

Blue skies, smiling at me nothing but blue skies do I see.

It all looks so lovely, until I reveal that the perfect lush green bits are part of the new golf course being built in Wailea (clearly I'm not a golfer!). Still it could be worse, littered in condo's and ABC stores, choking off the view for the rest of us to enjoy.

At the end of Thompson Road is a nursery and as I rode by, the bold contrast of these three colors struck me as snapshot worthy. As was the bleating goat at the beach yesterday, but that one came out blurred.

Nuff said.

At 28 cents per kwh Hawaii's electricity is the most expensive in the country. Last months bill of $200 threw me over the edge and I stepped back in time, finally installing a washing line. The clothes pegging skills from my youth came flooding back and it was a pleasure to hang up my stuff and walk away for the day. Full of self congratulation, hours later as I unpegged my laundry, I discovered one minor disadvantage....a bird had seen fit to shit on my skirt!

And finally, on my drive back up Baldwin Avenue I stopped by the Maui Veterans cemetery.....it seemed like the right thing to do. Combatants from as far back as World War One are buried here and I quietly walked around looking at names, dates and rank. I watched wives pushing zimmer frames accompanied by daughters come and go with flowers and white haired old men talking story. All of a sudden the backs of my eyes became damp and I had a moment, which I guess is what today is all about.

PS: It's been at least a year since I've been out on my long board and boy oh boy could you tell! In honor of Memorial Day, ready, aim, fire!

Pun, fun & strum.

At the Olukai race last week, the girls who performed Hula also demonstrated how to make their thick ti leaf skirts and fragrant plumeria lei.

This made me think of a cleaning company here called 'Lei the Maid' and of a cheese shop called 'Who cut the cheese'. At the risk of being a pun snob, they just don't do it for me.

Yet somehow these do... in Kent there's a van company called 'Van Gough', in Hillsborough a furniture store called 'Sofa King Cheap', in Sheffield on Effington Road 'The Effing Sandwich Shop' and a bunch of classic chippies, of whom 'A Salt N Battered' & 'In Cod We Trust' rank high amongst my faves.

Whilst I'm on the subject, I fish sat for a few days last week and had flash backs to all the aquariums I've ever owned. It made me glad I don't have one any more, too much work....but happily Henry (said Betta above) was ameanable, quiet and well behaved.

Orchids are much easier, though under my care don't live as long as the fish. This one was purchased in Paia at the new Agua de Flora Botanicals, stop by if you're in the hood it's delightful inside.

Talking of Paia, my friend Aaron who works at Maui Cyclery is heading out on the mother of all road trips next month. Awakened by the contrast of not living his dream, he's taking the next five years to cycle around a good chunk of the planet. Check out his website www.beyondthe greatdivide.org, the Q & A will give you a really good idea of what he's in for! Dude-good luck.

It was so stinking windy all weekend, I had to venture elsewhere for fun.

Starting with the Makawao Forest. The mystery of passing more friends than normal running and riding was solved when I stopped to chat with my pal Tom. He'd organized a 12 hour forest romp for anyone that wanted to come & play, the banana's and water were on the house. I pulled over to let three expert riders fly by "hey nice to see you up here", yelled Jeff as he zoomed past. 10 minutes later and peddling hard up hill I crossed paths with Marsha and a girlfriend on their downward run, "hey how's it going?" and so it went on. All of us appreciating the trails and getting in a good work out in the process, super fun.

And then there was time to practice, practice, practice....though clearly not enough!

Confidence boosters.

Whilst sailing at Kanaha I lost my confidence because of one stupid fall and came in too soon. I've noticed this is a bad habit so before sailing I either have to double brush with Colgate to get in that bloody 'Ring Of Confidence', or think "What would Meesh do"?!

Action of another sort was required to restore my fragile ego so I headed to Ho'okipa, which (for an enthusiastic snap-shot shooter like myself) always delivers.

The usual suspects hung off the guard rail like droning notes on a musical score. Further up the fence the bikers I wanted to photograph were much more interesting, but I still haven't figured out my chat-up lines when asking for a portrait shot. I once read in a book that a compliment is a good opener "Excuse me, you lot look fantastic clad in leather and tatt's....all together now say cheese". Uff, it needs work.

Avoiding possible rejection, I settled on my compliant broken headlight for a close up.

I shall call this one 'Stick in field'!

What lurks beneath at low tide.

As I pulled in my driveway I was greeted by the Amaryllis that are in bloom. "Excuse me, if you don't mind me saying, you look fantastic clad in your red/orange leaves and your stamens are stunning. I think you'd make a great image, do you mind if I take your photo"?

The weekly mishmash.

Last week in the forest I went over the handlebars on my bike and took a bar end in the boob! Fear not, all is well (yes, I was wearing a helmet) and as a friend said "luckily you have airbags for your ribs"!

The droves of Snowy Egrets at the land fill never cease to fascinate me. With it's lack if obvious predators, the Green Waste section is a veritable 'all you can eat' buffet and thanks to the recent rain there's even a watering hole.

Ginger on steroids.

I'm not a big chime fan, but if pushed to pick a 'dong of choice' I prefer the regulation and depth of a clock tower or church bell. However, Goodies in Makawao is lined with a multitude of chimes and the cacophony of tones created by even a slightest breeze... actually does work.

Macka B sing; "Everybody loves Bob Marley everywhere me go its da same old story...Bob, people of all nations de love da rastamon vibration". True......but I wonder if Bob would have loved his head on a boogie board?

Soft pedaling,

All forms of transportation have their perks and for me, my bike provides the freedom to explore, while getting a workout and the joy of being able to carry my camera. Tootling along the road to Hana I jumped off when the urge grabbed me for a closer look at nature's fantastic creations.

'ohhhhhh look down there!"

Sean Penn said of Alaska, "I'd never seen anything like it, it was like nature on steroids". I say Hawaii is a bit like nature on pakalolo.

I rest my case.....

These old irrigation ditches divert water from the East Maui water shed to quench the thirst of the sugar industry and upcountry residents like myself. The first 17-mile leg of a 74-mile ditch system was organized in 1874 and as we all know everything is connected. So the consequence of me having water in my taps is that native species that lived in the once abundant streams and taro farmers and residents of East Maui are (to put it mildly) parched.

Drat and double drat, what happened? I was having such a nice time showing you nature and all of a sudden man comes along and puts his big foot in it and I can't help but tell it like it is.

OK-wait, here's a nice bridge that man built so we can do some things right.....right?

....though you have to admit it pales in compassion to this bamboo forest. When driving I always anticipate this vista as it never ceases to take my breath away. With pedal power I was able hop off the saddle and really take a moment to soak in the wiggly panorama. BTW, did you know the word 'pedal' has it's origins dating back to the 17th century and comes (of course) from the latin word 'pedalis' or 'a foot in length'.

Okey-dokey now everyone take a big inhale of the delicate fragrance of the lovely ginger which accompanied me, along with the aroma of squashed guava whose pulpy roadside guts will make a delicious meal for someone I'm sure.

As I headed home I thought "you know you're in Hawaii when...."

An assortment of thoughts.

Nice-huh?

I've been dating different stand up paddle boards to find 'the one' that I have chemistry with. So the little one foot surf (of late) on the South side has been a perfect learning curve playground for me.

It's what I do with any significant purchase, I try all my options before making a final decision so I have no doubt that I made the correct choice. It's a carbon copy the attribute testing I recently went through with the camera. How heavy is it, can I manouver it easily (on and off the water), do my feet like the decking, is my balance easy and of course how much does it cost. There won't be a second date with this particular board but I had fun while we were out.

As I rested my paws post paddle, I thought about the ironic Craigslist post I'd just replied to. Months ago I tried a Hawaiian Island 10' board that has since been the standard I've measured all others by. A few days ago that exact board was on Craigslist and I answered the ad as I knew who it belonged to. I asked the owner if he was willing to give an 'exwife' discount and of course he wasn't. The universe gave me the board I wanted but with the joke of attaching it to a man I used to be married to! It was/is all amicable between us, but still I noticed a little voice in my head saying "ya know-he was always bloody stingy, so I'm not giving him the satisfaction of paying full price". Evidently arguing for my limitations worked a treat as I made a low ball offer and didn't hear back from him!

So in my purchasing journey I've got a few more boards to try and amusingly I'm now entertaining the idea of buying the same board my 'ex' is selling.....so I am willing to pay full price, just not to someone I feel I've already given enough of my money to!

Enough of that, lets all stick our noses into nature (but not where it doesn't belong) and take a good long gander at her scrumptious perfection.

My goodness me, what would I do without her?

This is a leftover pici from Hana, a salt and pepper beach in the making and talking of pepper.....

......I didn't do it!

Exactly Cozmo, nap time.

Beauty supplies.

Half way up the mountain (aka Haleakala) the conditions are perfect for growing protea. There are lots of different varieties, but these bright and beautiful pinsushions grabbed my attention. 

A floral Sputnik on steroids. Not keen on the yellow or red variety ?? No problemo.....

..... e voila!

Back home I gave Cozmo bonus points for his feline creativity in fnding a spot that wasn't wet.

In contrast, half way down the mountain are visions like this which are so frustrating. No one should ever be allowed to make another plastic bag again....ever. Sharon's new rule: if you need a plaggy bag just drive by your local landfill and pick one up.

I can let the trash bum me out, but we all know everything has its purpose. Without those ugly plastic bags would we see the glory of the protea? I wonder if everything was perfect in our world, would we still find something to whinge about? The contrast is what makes us grow, appreciate and fine tune our existence into that which is pleasing to us. 

Take two: I can appreciate everyone who threw away those plastic bags because without them, I would not have had that startling wind blown vision. Which in turn wakes me up to be a more conscious recycler and allows me to cherish nature even more than I already do. Mo bettah.

Beauty is in the eye...and all that.