Danjo in Maui

Because I didn't take just my camera, I took my guy...

Danjo waiting for dinner

at

the Sea House

on Napili Bay

(I dare you to find me a better beach anywhere).

It is nearly sunset

(see crab photo in last blog post for dinner aftermath)

To his right is the path

leading down the shoreline to our room

The sea turtles are swimming

around the coral reefs

with the eels and angel fish and lobsters

in the water behind him

but you can't see them

in this photo

but we know they are there

because we did see them

while snorkeling

(which is scary

because you must breathe through a tube

with your face in the water

and can't stand up or touch anything

but fun

because there are sea turtles).

Danjo

exploring the tide pools

(complete with hermit crabs and sea cucumbers and tropical fish)

after breakfast,

at the Gazebo place

down the beach

from our hotel

which has macadamia nut pancakes.

The island in the background

is either

Molokai

or

Lanai

I think.

Well, actually

it is

Lana'i

because I looked it up.

Danjo eating

Aunty Sandy's pineapple

on

the road to Hana.

He liked it better than the passion fruit

(ask him about the passion fruit)

Aunty Sandy

had

decent

banana

bread

also.

But

Grandma Esther's

is better.

Danjo at Nahiku

We watched the ocean there

for a very long time.

You have to drive through

Tarzan's neighborhood

to get there.

Just to Danjo's left are

insane people surfing

(no you can't see them but we could),

or hoping to surf.

We never saw them catch a wave

but the waves were

really wow.

REALLY WOW.

Danjo at Big Beach.

It is a big beach.

It was empty,

possibly because of

the big black cloud

over it

that looked like rain.

It had nice sand.

And a lifeguard.

The Maui beaches are short of lifeguards.

Perhaps the sea turtles will save you

if you

can't swim.

That is all for now.

Revisionist Vacation

We're back home, and I'm back at school, learning how to use Photoshop to make some minor changes to our Maui experience...

"...We were watching this sunset at the beach while eating dinner at this great open-air restaurant, and all of the sudden, this giant hermit crab came crawling out of the ocean and onto the sand, just a few feet from where we were sitting! People started screaming and running. Food was flying everywhere. It grabbed our waiter and crushed him with it's claw. The just-lit tiki torches fell over and the restaurant began to burn. I grabbed my camera as Danjo downed the last of his Mahi Mahi. As we ran down the beach path towards our room and away from the chaos, Danjo exclaimed, 'I sure don't remember seeing that while we were snorkeling!' I stopped and looked back. 'Wait!' I cried. Doesn't it look just like the one we had in our hand at the tide pools this morning?' Danjo turned white as a ghost. 'If that's the same one, it could be after us,' he whispered. As one, we turned and fled for the car..."

Yesterday

We drove the Hawaii equivalent of the PCH on steroids--one lane, the best part paved like mom and dad's driveway. It's like driving to heaven and back on the road from hell. Voltaire had Hana in mind when he sent Candide to El Dorado. He had Hana in mind when he had Candide and Co. leave El Dorado with sheep loaded with gold and end up home emptyhanded, to tend their little garden. It was a perfect activity for Sunday.

And I took a photo for you. Just one. It's cows. There's lots of pictures of Maui beaches on the internet, but you may not fully appreciate the Maui cows:

It's All About Maintaining Proper Perspective

Have a happy Sunday everyone

because in the new creation

there may not be any sea...

How you know you have come to the right place...

Spontaneous Generation

I had this conversation with my daughter over the weekend...

Me: "You absolutely have to clean the birdcage today--it's gross"

Her: "But it's not that bad! There's no plants growing in it!"

Me: "Uhh...plants?"

Her: "Yeah! Remember that one time there was plants growing in it. And beetles! I created life in the birdcage!"

Apparently cleanliness keeps her a notch below godliness. She'll be cleaning the birdcage just a little more often going forward.

A Photo Assignment

Today we had a field trip in photography class. Go to this well-known downtown area and photograph first like a tourist and next like an art photographer. Immediate discomfort. Not a place I would go as a tourist, not feeling artsy. Not so bad though in the end. I think I ended up photographing why I don't go here as a tourist. Here's a few...

Pleased to discover that I can successfully operate the camera in manual mode...most of the time.

Shameful Plug

Young Adventurer is selling stuff for school. This always happens this time of year. The kids are selling overpriced stuff to raise money for something or another. At the previous school it was always cookie dough for sale, with an occasional jelly roll thrown in for fun. This year, at new schools its...

Cookie Dough!

...with chocolates and jewelry and an entire online catalog of random stuff thrown in for fun. Also, in case you like the previous brand of cookie dough, or you're looking for a bargain, Venom is selling cookie dough too, to raise money for her school orchestra. Her cookie dough is cheaper.

All of that is pretty much irrelevant though, except the part about chocolate. You see, Young Adventurer's catalog includes Funky Monkeys:

Monitos Raros

You'll go bananas for these cute chocolate monkeys

with yummy banana cream on the inside!

6oz. Boxed. $10.00

I have to say, they really are cute. I'd order them, but I don't like banana cream. I sprung for the Green Mint Frogs (ranas verdes de menta) instead. Also cute. Also 6 oz. Boxed. $10.00. Someone please order the monkeys. They're only $26.00/lb. They're really cute. Honest. Just contact Young Adventurer for ordering information (They aren't available online). He'd be happy to help you.

Yes, I'm sure the school would profit more if you just donated $10.00 directly, but then my son wouldn't get to bring home plastic ducks on a lanyard as a prize for sales.

Even if you don't buy anything, you've at least had the opportunity to learn how to say Funky Monkey in spanish.

Dragons and Pirates and Mustard and "Week!"

A bedtime story that I read tonight to one of my kids. I think I needed a good bedtime story as much as "Belinda" [name has been changed to protect the high schooler] did.

[The everyday bedtime story for all the Adventurers (when all are bed-timing at the same time) and me is North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, who also is busy Dancing In Minefields and Counting Stars and blogging about floods and rabbits and art and death and hope in addition to writing very entertaining books, possibly because he's not just a fool with a fancy guitar...]

Truth in Metering

The aim is correct exposure. The middle column and lower right should all be the same. Why the minDoF exposure on the black test is different, I do not know. I checked my calculations and the camera settings and can't find my mistake. I think it may be actually the best exposure, according to the all-important histogram. Go figure. Great fun though!!

I also tried this at home with a collection of white Webkinz (good for something after all!) and a table cloth. :-)

Reflections

Hope you weren't expecting a wordy post. I have one planned, but this isn't it.

Excellent use of a stringed instrument