Sunset Green Flash - Video

Legend has it that as the sunsets you will be able to see a green flash.....

Surf Painting

I'm sure Sapper would rather be in this painting he bought at the Haleiwa Art Show than the heat he's in now!

Haleiwa, known as today's surfing capital of Hawaii or "surf city" is a 100 year old plantation town with Aloha spirit. Hale'iwa means "house of the frigate bird," after the large sea birds that built beautiful nests in the nearby trees. (I have yet to see one-the bird or the nest.) Quoted from Haleiwa: A Pictorial History. Hey just thought you'd want to know.

Eat your vegies....

Waialua Farmer's Market was small but colorful. And I did get the feeling the vegies were fresh, roots and all. A bag of @ 20 big cherry tomatoes was only $1.00. I'm going to saute vegies tonight.

We finally had a few, hard showers. No storm rapidly moving across the state like in Texas, but they slowly come down off the mountain to cool us. Afterward its paradise again just a bit more humid.

Hebi was delicious!

Grilled hebi with salad was a delicious lunch. Hebi is commonly known as shortbill spearfish. Its dorsal fin is shorter than that of other billfish species, and its bill is almost nonexistent. Hebi caught in Hawaiian waters are usually between 20 and 40 pounds in round weight. So I had only a small portion of a large fish!

View from ocean apartment

Even on a cloudy afternoon, the view from Sapper's girlfriends place is gorgeous! I'm thrilled to be able to use the kitchen as the other place is appliance challenged to put it mildly. Made brownies today but diet starts tomorrow. Seems since I have the use of the truck, I tend to walk a lot less. Especially when its very windy, it dries my contacts out quickly then I squint. Oh the trivial complaints of living in paradise!

Shopped the commissary and PX today just like old times. VFFD is my new food focus - that is veggies, fruit, fish, and dairy. I tried shopped the outer perimeters of the store except a venture down a row to get tea. Actually the local grocery store's produce is fresher.

Also found a fun game on Yahoo games called Graffiti. You take turns guessing or drawing the word for others to guess. It is similar to Pictionary. Enjoy!

Cedar Trees Saved!

The old cedar trees on Snake Road were saved! Twenty to thirty feet of either side of the road is burned as you can see in the second photo. A few telephone poles were burnt and 5,000 ft fiber optic cable was replaced. Fire is contained now, finally. See the ocean horizon in front - just amazing like you are in a bowl.

Find the rhino...

Just a cool picture from zoo having nothing to do with my day. Prepping a house for a termite tent kept me busy. Everything that will touch skin (lotion) or that you eat/drink has to be double bagged and sealed. Even the stuff in the freezer! I can't wait to see a house in a tent, will definitely post a photo.

How can islands surrounded by water have a drought? The West side of Oahu especially where the fire is still burning is in severe drought conditions. The Winward side gets all the rain and the Leeward side is desert. Amazing....

I'm thrilled Sabre won the "Dancing with the Stars" last night and now I'm all set to watch Disney's "High School Musical 2." Just plain fun...

Gone to NTC

And speaking of gone, so is Sapper to the great sandbox of war-game training. So I immediately rearranged furniture. One must be comfy! Oscar, Isabella, and Nanner, the fish are doing swimmingly and watch eagerly whenever I near their food. Really smart fish for company but I may have another roommate and not know it! A gecko sneaks in when the door opens but I always chase him out. However there was evidence today behind the refrigerator that he's been inside. Think I'll name him Gordie Get Out Gecko - any other ideas?

Earth, Wind, Fire

Yesterday the winds went North and spread the fire. The whole mountain ridge was ablaze. It's now burned over 5,000 acres. Misted this morning and winds died down as Hurricane Flossie downgraded to tropical storm and headed West. "Snake road (Kaukonahua Road)" is closed and I will greatly miss the beautiful old cedar trees that lined both sides. Driving at night, you would see the owls swoop down for field mice. The road curved downhill with awesome view of mountains on West side and ocean ahead. It was one of those photo's I always meant to take and now it's gone.

TEXAS HEAT

well i see both TX and KS were well in the 3 digits the last few days. WHEW IT IS HOT!
Cajun likes to be inside and outside, he loves Tracy but he is my shadow. Up, down, in a room, outside, he's there! When we tried to leave him in the laundry room this morning he emptied a hamper, emptied the trash, cleaned off the top of the washing machine, and broke a mirror on the sink.

the English Springer Breeder trainer I spoke with today just to crate him when we leave and he won't get so frantic. No problem, I will!

The scenery in Hawaii just never ends! OUTSTANDING Carol!

Kaena Point

We went out to see the kite boarders and it's just amazing how they fly over the waves! This is toward the Northwest most point on Oahu called Kaena Point. Note: the guide book says "climb the swaying ladder to the top for exquisite view...." hah - who are they kidding....not me! I highlighted the kite surfers so you can see them better. You can also double-click on the photo and it will enlarge it. I'm still working on the video's to edit and post them....

Fire!

Spent most of day watching the fire. It was small as we headed out for lunch, then the winds picked up and woosh! Luckily only one greenhouse and farm were damaged though it was dangerously close to town. Sapper stood on the roof to take center photo. We also sorted stuff for yard sale and did more organizing packs for NTC and Iraq.

Unit Sports Day

Unusual sports - that all enjoyed. Water tricycle and kayak race plus a bear crawl, low crawl and fireman carry in the sand. After a short breakfast break it was on for ultimate Frisbee which is more like a tag football game. Sapper and team won both events! After a refueling lunch with 1/2 yard of beer a long snooze was in order. Amazing the strength they have, tourists lined the sidewalks to watch them!

There are so many blog add-ons to design, post, and add even video. This will keep me busy learning! Have anyone checked out other blogs - some are full of photo's and videos. Need to get smart on all this new technology.






Can you imagine carrying someone taller than you in addition to two full water containers?

Gnarly Market

Market is just plain gnarly today, not in the least because I was up at 5:30am watching in bed on my laptop. J1 was cruising through stocks when I just required a jolt of caffeine. Or maybe the Crystal Light Energy drink J2 is cooling down with - is that sweetened with Splenda?. Green Tea is the main drink here.

These gnarly old trees just amaze me. They are right by the beach area and have lasted for hundreds of years. Bark is a beautiful! (Don't let Cajun hear that) How do they withstand the onslaught of wind and waves?

Sapper got his braces off! Does this make him look older? "Free at last, free at last" he says. He has a permanent retainer on the bottom and a clear one not noticeable on top. Now he's truly ready for the sandbox experience!

I opened up this blog for anyone so it will be easier to post. One thing I ask though if you post photo's please decrease their size for web viewing (72 dpi.)

So who dares to go first?

Best ahi lunch

Walked 3 mile circuit and stopped by the Grass Skirt Grill for lunch. Awesome ahi (tuna) over brown rice with a salad and a slice of pineapple. It's number 1 for now, the best lunch I've had here and I'm keeping track. The plan is to taste test every cafe, deli, shrimp bus, and restaurant (30+). Now let me see: two meals of different dishes at each place to judge true flavor times number of days here - yep I can get out of a lot of cooking! Hey how about food photo's?

"Catch-phrase" has caught me! Love the game we played last night with friends. The goal is to describe without gesturing the word or phrase given. It is a hand held, battery operated game that is passed to next player when answer is correct. One is taking it for the soldiers to play while they wait in their Strykers... (Lots of hurry-up and wait time in the Army) Fun, hilarious, and addictive - just go buy it. Did I mention the chocolate cake with ice cream?

Sapper Unit is ramping up for departure. Sweetheart leaves Friday and Sapper following Thursday. It will be quiet around here. Later....

Aloha

New to blogs but I'm looking for a easy way to share comments and photo's while in Hawaii. Just finished J. A. Jance book, Edge of Evil (very good read) and was inspired to blog.

Hawaii is beautiful...but that's an understatement. While the Midwest is suffering in the 100 degrees, it is always between 74-88 degrees with the Tradewinds keeping it cool.

The food has been awesome and being around the Sapper and all his buddies is great fun!