Beth's Visit

Beth was here last week, and we all had a ton-o-fun. Sophie fell in love with Beth and demanded Beth's full attention every chance she got.

Beth and I visited many beaches - white sand, black sand, green sand. We played in some really rough waves and took many tumbles in the surf. On one of those tumbles, I lost my prescription sunglasses and enlisted the aid of Strange Men Wearing Goggles. Much to my surprise, the glasses were found! We dumped an amazing amount of sand out of our suits after that adventure. Three days later, I was still digging sand out of my bellybutton.

We saw turtles. LOTS of turtles.



We watched foolish young people jump 50 feet off the old pier at South Point. We were not the LEAST bit tempted to try it ourselves. The wind must have been 50 miles an hour that day. We returned with much dust in our eyes and ears.

We walked a few miles along the old fish ponds - sometimes on sand and sometimes on sharp lava. Along the way, we debated over the need for the "No Nudity" signs that we saw along this path.



We went to the Kona Cultural Festival at Keauhou and tasted many local coffees, ate mystery food, and rubbed elbows with a packed crowd.

We had the mandatory shave ice on Ali'i Drive. Beth insists that this giant pile of sweetened ice before her is only a "medium".



It was the total tourist adventure.

Aloha y'all!

Sophie Standing Tall

She just keeps getting taller and taller.

Kona Ironman

The Kona Ironman was this past Saturday. The cycling part of the race was a 100-mile round trip from Kailua to Hawi (on the northern tip of the island). They closed the Queen Ka'ahumanu highway for the riders. All week I'd seen signs at the bottom of Ka'iminani (my main access road) warning that the highway would be closed at that junction.
So on Saturday morning, I drove to where Ka'iminani was barricaded and watched the cyclists as they went by.
I arrived early enough to see the last of the riders heading north and then stayed long enough to see the first of the riders as they came back. The leaders were at least 3 hours ahead of the tail-end riders.

Other locals watching the leading riders returning from Hawi:



The last rider as he headed north - several hours behind the leaders. He's probably old enough to be the grandfather of the lead rider:



The lead rider returning from the 100 mile trek - and he STILL has to run a marathon after this:



Aloha y'all!

Here Come the Holidays!

Although the weather hasn't changed much here, summer is gone and Halloween is just around the corner. I'll have to learn to get myself into holiday mode without autumn leaves and cold nights to prompt me.  

My calendar shows expected visitors in November (2 groups), December (2 groups), January, and February. I look forward to seeing all of you! You can expect warm weather and sunshine but, if you are lucky, we'll spend at least one afternoon sitting on the lanai and watching a tropical downpour. I LOVE it when it rains here!

Sophie and I both survived my trip to Austin in September. After non-stop playing for five days at Paws, Sophie slept for 72 hours when she returned home. She usually spends one day a week playing with all her dog friends, but I think five days was just too much fun for her. The best news is that she didn't seem to pine away for me that week, nor did she pretend not to know me when I picked her up at 7AM on Saturday (the moment they opened). 

Sophie is now about 65 pounds, long enough to stretch most of the distance across a king-sized bed, and tall enough to stand with her paws on the lanai railing to finish off the breadcrumbs I put out for the birds.

Sophie supervises my ironing on a rainy Sunday...



Aloha y'all!

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!