Magical Geckos

A month ago, Sophie chased a gecko around my office until he sacrificed his tail to escape. The tail was still twitching as Sophie played with it and proudly gave it to me. Ewww.
Yesterday, that same gecko showed himself again, sprouting his stubby, newly grown tail. Ewww again. I guess the replacement tails don't get their normal green color for a while. About half the geckos I see in the garden are wearing a similar short pinkish regrown tail.
And yes, I still have geckos in my office. I frequently dedicate myself to chasing them out, but new ones seem to find their way in. At present, my office is home to both this recovering gecko and another with a full tail. I can only hope they are of the same gender.



A bit of gecko information: these lovely green geckos with the red spots are Madagascar geckos -- only one of many species of geckos on the island. These are the only non native species, and yet have become a symbol of Hawaii -- perhaps because they are by far the most attractive. I'll try to get pictures of the 'other' geckos for you. I've seen at least four other species in my yard.

Aloha y'all!

Daily Sunset Show

When you come for dinner, this is the show that we'll put on just for you! It's even better when you can smell the BBQ and feel the cooling trade winds. Chez Dana is open 7 days a week, with the sunset performance starting at 6PM all year round. Dress is island casual. Reservations are appreciated.

Aloha y'all!

Growing My Own Pineapples!

I started these plants by cutting off the tops of pineapples and rooting them in water (after an interesting "hang them upsidedown for a week" ritual). Some are the usual Maui gold variety, and some are a white variety that I got from my neighbor's plants. White pineapples are hard to find at the farmer's markets and impossible to find in the grocery stores.

They've been growing in pots on my lanai until this weekend when I finally made them a home in the ground. It was not terribly fun digging holes in this lava rubble, and I had to use a pick instead of a shovel. Hauling all that border rock and gravel was also not terribly fun, but it was good, productive, sweaty exercise. And seeing those little pineapples in the ground WAS lots of fun.

I've been slowly working my way around the perimeter of the backyard creating that boulder border for the newly planted podocarpus (that's the fuzzy plant between the pineapples). The podocarpus are 5 feet apart all around the yard (about 35 plants in all). Eventually they will create a tall, dense hedge, but for now I have lots of blank space for things like pineapples.

I have no idea how long they take to develop babies, but in the future I hope to always have fresh pineapples to share with you when you visit.

 

Aloha y'all!

Sophie is 8 Months Old Today

 

 

56 pounds and still growing. As anyone who has ever fallen asleep in that chair can attest, it's a HUGE chair. And she totally fills it.

Best Photo of the Summer

I entered this photo in the Star Advertiser's "Endless Summer" photo contest.

That's Ella and me walking at the Old Kona Airport beach. Emma took the picture.

Aloha y'all!

San Jose Trip Postponed

Thank you to everyone who offered to put me up while I'm visiting San Jose. No fewer than seven people offered me a place to stay!
Unfortunately, late last Friday the trip was postponed. Indefinitely. Budgets and cost cutting and all that. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

In the meantime, perhaps these photos will entertain you...

Giant coral knuckle found at Pine Trees beach (5 miles from my house):

Sand from Kekaha Kai (4 miles from my house)
and Pololu Valley (on the Hamakua Coast):

 

Both sand samples were collected by Megan. Our plan is to collect sand from every beach on the island.

Speaking of collecting coral and sand and other beach souvenirs... I'm told that it's bad juju to remove a rock from the island. It angers Pele. Coral and shells don't carry the same curse - you can remove as many of them as you want. I'm also told that people who DO take rocks to the mainland often find themselves cursed and mail the rocks back, hoping to remove the curse. Those who don't have a friend here address the rocks to the Kona postmaster, who displays a pile of returned rocks at the Post Office.

Aloha y'all!