Jodo Mission, Lahaina, Maui -- (above) 12' high bronze Buddhist statue dedicated in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigrants to Hawaii; (below) pagoda at the Jodo Mission.

Of course I had to get some flower photos today, too.  These are hibiscus around the condo.

Whale Tale

This morning I boarded a 20' rigid inflatable boat off the shores of Kihei, Maui in hopes of seeing Pacific humpback whales.  The little boat is powered by two 225HP motors so it zooms along at a pretty good clip.  The wind has been blowing hard and made for a bouncy boat ride so photo opportunities were slim.  When the boat was under power, it was a choice between hanging on for dear life or taking photos.  I chose dear life.  I only took four pictures before deciding to stow the camera in the waterproof bin on the boat rather than risk having it splashed or sprayed with saltwater.  I, however, was not allowed to stow myself and shortly after closing the bin met face first with a wave that promptly soaked me from head to toe.  Saltwater tastes disgusting!!  Naturally, the other three or four waves coming over the bow found me just as I was drying out from the first onslaught.  Oh, well, with temps in the 80s and the sun shining and whales breaching 100 yards from our boat I won't complain.  It was fun!!!  So much fun in fact that I'm going to go out again when the winds calm and I can keep my camera out.  Keep your fingers crossed for a good whale breech photo.  It could happen.

Tomorrow it's off to Hawaii...and more photo ops

Who says you can't take good fish pics (like these two fellas below) without being underwater? These were taken at the National Aquarium but I'll visit Maui Ocean Center this week for more opportunities.  I know SCUBA is fun for some folks to get up close and personal with the creatures of the sea but I'll stay above water for now.

Just one fish

This past summer we went camping and hiking in an area about an hour outside of Fairbanks.  Who cares that the air was thick with smoke from forest fires burning on all sides of Fairbanks. The daytime temps were warm, evenings a bit nippy.  Alaska summers can't be wasted for any reason.

Accompanying us on this trip was my friend, Ti, and her 9-year old daughter, Des.  Des and my son, Connor, are like two peas in a pod. They get along famously and both love the outdoors.  Des is a quiet girl and is hesitant to ask people for things.  Even so I can usually spot when she has an idea or request brewing so I watched her.  She'd sidle up to her mom and whisper, turning her head to the side.  When she'd turn back my direction, her eyes were twinkling with the hint of a smile.  Definitely something brewing.  Turns out Des wanted me to teach her how to fish.  The women in my family LOVE to fish and now I could pass this on to Des who is like a niece to me.  This is too cool!

We were camped between two ponds whose only residents were fish the size of fish sticks, if even that.  But the kids wanted to fish so fish they did.  They used salmon eggs for bait and bobbers.  Des was a quick learner.  She and Connor patiently watched bobbers for movement.  Time passed.  I looked over.  No kids.  One pole was leaning on a lawn chair, the other laying on the ground.  The kids? Over in the camper refueling with snacks and drinks.   I hollered, "What if a big fish takes the bait and drags your pole in the water?"  Both of them beat feet to the poles.  Of course, I was giggling knowing Moby Trout didn't live in this pond.  During their next snack foray, one pole was wedged oh so precisely between the arm and supporting leg of a lawn chair.  The other pole was weighted down with rocks.  Ingenious little buggers. 

They alternated between fishing and prop-fishing for HOURS with only nibbles.  The fish were so teeny tiny that the itty bitty hooks being used were too big to stay in the fishes' mouths.  Des and Connor never gave up even though I had explained to them the prospects for catching a fish were slim to none.  "Pleeeeease. We just want to catch one fish then we'll stop." The moms replied, "It's almost 10pm and the adults are tired" to which we heard "But it's still light out, can't we keep going, pleeease? Just one fish.  Just one."  Blink, blink go the two pairs of pleading eyes backed by smiles and pudgy pinch-me I'm-too-cute cheeks.  Yeah, right, Ti and I can't say no to that.  

 A couple s'mores later Connor got a bite.  He set the hook.  Then he and Des brought in the fish together.  Not because it was huge mind you but because Connor knew Des hadn't caught a fish before and Des was glued next to Connor for the excitement.  She was bouncing up and down overjoyed to see a fish coming to shore on the line.  Ti and I didn't actually see much of this process but heard the squeals of delight and laughter echoing over to the camper.  They brought the fish over to us for photographic evidence to be taken. 

Then they set the fish free.....put away the poles and.....sat by the fire.  Hunh.  Literally "just one fish".

Apple carts

Several years ago I had a lot going on in my life.  Kind of like my apple cart of life got toppled and things were a mess to say the least.  I saw it coming down the pipe but refused to acknowledge the impending challenge(s) I'd soon face.  I guess I hoped the cart would right itself and, if not, I hoped to have the wherewithal to plow ahead anyhow.  In part, I counted myself lucky up to that point in life that nothing bad had ever happened to me.  Well, certainly nothing that I hadn't found the strength to conquer.  (I'm reminded that "bad" is in the eye of the beholder.)  All the details of the overturning cart aren't as important as when the cart was fixed.

One of the many issues at this point in my life was that, for money reasons, I had to change jobs.  Not a big deal for some folks but for me my job was the solid point in life, my refuge at times and I was having to leave it.  It was in a secluded office with four male co-workers (guys keep their nose out of your business, priceless), there was no first hand public contact, the hours were flexible and the job duties were a perfect match for me.  I thrived there!  It was very upsetting to leave.  One of my supervisors was a lady in Anchorage.  One day before I left she said, "Maybe this is God's way of sending you to someone who needs you.  And maybe it's His way of putting you near someone you need."  Oh peshaw I thought!  That couldn't be true.  My life was being torn apart and here was this lady making some sense of all the turmoil........of all the nerve.

I started my new job in a building of a sea of 100+ cubicles.  My work area consisted of a dozen cubicles, minimal human interaction (I'm okay with that part) doing a job that paid more but could easily have been performed by a monkey or first grader.  A living hell that opened at 9am and closed at 5pm.  Ugh, life threw me a curve ball.  I swung and missed big time.  Take me out of the game coach!

After roughly a month of drudgery in this new job, I realized that one of the people in my office had been going through some of the same "life issues" as me.  She was a very quiet person, soft spoken but I could see she was smart, well-grounded and not a quitter by any means.  Gut feeling told me she had a big heart;  one that had been trampled on but nonetheless I could see it was there.  I got the feeling that she didn't hold too many people close but then I had a habit of doing the same.  She had a daughter who was a couple years younger than my son so we had that in common, too.

This is where the cart began to right itself. This is when I realized that my ex-boss in Anchorage was right.  Oh, my God, she was right! Here was THIS woman in my new office who needed me and I needed her.  Her name was Ti.

Ti and I quickly became and still are the dearest of friends.  In fact, we joke that we're sisters who never met until we were grown adults.  She's who I look to when I want to see what strength and calm really are.  She's who I admire for her positive kick-life-in-the-butt attitude, her innumerable good qualities, priceless smile and contagious laugh.  I know we each have our faults, our weak moments and our "leave me alone" times.  We're each good at internalizing things until Life demands we tip our hand a little and lean on someone.  Life keeps us busy so Ti and I sometimes don't talk or see each other for periods of time but it's like we never miss a beat when we can catch up to one another.  I know we're always here for each other when it counts.

Isn't it strange how life plays out?  When your cart is turned upside down with apples strewn everywhere, it's usually for a good reason.  I figure all the bad apples had accumulated to excess in my life.  Space had to be made for a new crop so Life gave the cart a good, hard kick.  Part of this new crop was a new friend named Ti.

PS:  Our kids also hit it off without a hitch, like they've always known each other.  It does my heart good to see them talk, play and laugh.  But that's another blog, another time.

100 Word Challenge

My dear friend, Ti, blogged about a writing challenge.  (She's an eloquent, well-versed, uplifting writer and I love to read her blog.)  The challenge itself originates from Velvet Verbosity: write 100 words, no more and no less on the word "nervous".

Here's my own contribution:

"10-60?" I ask.  "Code 4" comes the response.  My officer is okay.

Phones ring constantly.  Radios blare 10-code all night.  People scream for help, sirens blast, lights flash but no rest until it all stops.  A typical night of traffic stops, burglaries, false alarms, fights, warrant arrests, civil disputes, domestic disturbances, 911 calls for help, traffic accidents, shots fired.  It gets hectic.  At times, seemingly never ending chaos.  Is it too much to ask for peace and quiet?

Another emergency call.  Officers on scene.  Moments pass.

"10-60?" I ask.       Silence.

"10-60?"                Silence.       

What I wouldn't give for noise right now.

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, Newfoundland, Canada

Look, Ma, no zoom lens!

 Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, Canada-Summer 2004
We set out on a wildlife cruise from Bay Bulls, final destination Witless Bay.  At the mouth of the harbor not ten minutes after we left the dock, our boat stopped.  We sat for about 30-45 minutes roughly 100' from a Zodiac and a kayak.  Those tiny boats had the best seat in the house if you ask me.  Whales!  Big, beautiful, graceful, gentle behemoths of the Atlantic ocean surrounded us. At any given moment there were 6-8 humpback whales swimming around and under the three watercraft.  While on the top deck I looked down and saw a left fluke followed by half a whale tail swimming stern to bow directly beneath us.  Cool.

The pictures are old and taken with a film camera (a what?) but the memories seem like yesterday. I have other pictures from this trip to Newfoundland that I may post later.  I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Zazu

Star light, star bright

When I was a little girl I spent many summer nights laying on a blanket on our front lawn looking up at the night sky over Spokane, Washington.  I'd look for constellations, shooting stars, watch satellites pass overhead and listen to the quiet evenings of summer.

Now I live in Alaska where stars aren't visible during summer because it's always daylight.  Stars are plentiful during our winter nights, however, bundling up like the Michelin Man and possibly becoming a human Popsicle to watch stars just isn't fun.

So for the last couple nights when I get home from work around midnight, I make a cup of hot tea and curl up on the couch with a cozy blanket and gaze out my window at the night sky.  It's peaceful and serene.  The moon is full and beams ethereal light onto the frozen tundra.  The stars twinkle in varied colors of light like pinholes in a blanket back-lit by the heavens.  The ice fog floats above the river down in the valley.  The hoarfrost clings to the trees making it look like they've been sprayed with Christmas tree flocking. I love the peace and quiet of night.  My mind wanders back to childhood memories.

I used to wonder what it'd be like to be on a ship navigating a sailboat by the stars, listening to the waves lap up against the keel.  I used to wonder how those three wise men found their way around the desert using the North Star.  I wondered if Lewis and Clark used the stars to find their way across the continent.  I wondered what "ancient people" thought the stars were in the first place.  Silly thoughts of a little girl who wanted to explore the world but had no desire to go into space where the stars reside.
  
I've always watched for shooting stars just knowing I'd be lucky enough to see one......maybe.  And when I did see one it was exciting because I was lucky enough to have seen something that lasts only for a split second in time.  Just think about it.  There are a trillion stars up there, the sky is a huge canvas and you're looking at the precise speck of sky where a shooting star appears.  I think that's pretty cool.  Some people never see a shooting star in their lifetime and I've been lucky enough to see several.   In fact, I saw one just two nights ago!  True to form I still blurted out loud "look, a shooting star" even though I was home alone.

I'll always watch the night sky and never lose my fascination with it partly because it reminds me what a small part of the world we each are.  There are shooting stars and constant stars up there; we have the same here on Earth.  Each person is a one-in-a-million and can make a lasting impression with just a split-second of contact, like a shooting star.  I'm sure you can think of someone who's been like that in your life.  I know I can.  The constant "stars" who regularly shine in your life make the most impact though.  I can think of many of them in my life......the family and friends who I love dearly and who love me in return.  You know who you are and I'm thankful for every one of you.