Monthly Archives: October 2016

46. Hanauma Bay

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hanauma-bay46.  Hanauma Bay

Our favorite place to snorkel was Hanauma Bay with its reef-protected area.  The Bay is apparently an old crater filled with water, and a reef formed across to make a nice place to swim.  There is a sand beach curving around the inside of the crater.  During WWII, Navy Seabees blasted a channel through the reef to lay sewer pipes out from a latrine on the beach.

Hanauma Bay is officially a park; no fishing allowed.  The fish seemed to know they were safe, and many small brightly colored fish swam inside the reef.  Snorkelers, (we included) took bread crumbs to feed them.

As Betty took a bread crumb out of a plastic bag, a Parrot fish was right there and grabbed it.  Betty couldn’t figure out how he got there so fast – but I could see – he swam right under Betty, and was close to grab the bread when she opened the bag.

A few times we swam through the channel to outside the protecting reef, and saw massive colorful coral heads, and schools of small fish.  A giant Manta Ray, with a wingspan more than my spread arms, “flew” beneath us.  It was a magnificent graceful creature, but closer to us than I liked.

Then, the swim back to shore was not easy.  If the tide was going out, the water funneled through the channel with considerable force, and one time we were unable to make it through, and had to climb over the reef — not a fun end for the swim.

Most of the time when we went to Hanauma Bay, we sat on the beach in the shade of a palm tree, then snorkeled in the calm water inside the reef to enjoy seeing all the fish.

Hawaii no ka oi — there is no place like Hawaii.

45. Waikiki Scene

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waikiki-beach45. Waikiki Scene

Continuing our adventures in Hawaii – the Waikiki Scene.

I was having lunch at the Surfrider Hotel on Waikiki Beach.  I looked past the palms at Diamond Head crater rising majestically at the far end of the beach.  The sea was flat with a trail of diamond sparkles leading out beyond an ever-present band of surfers waiting on their boards to catch a white haired wave to the shore.

A single sailboat came into sight and crossed my view with a big red and white spinnaker flying ahead of her white triangle, like a toy being pulled across the horizon of a beautiful painting.  I pictured myself out there looking back at the shiny beach and seeing the rainclouds hovering over the mountains with a magnificent rainbow we saw recently–an intense crown of color cutting through the peaks and leaping valleys until we thought the whole island would be engulfed in the entire spectrum–a beautiful halo for Hawaii.

Man has dumped cement for roads and hotels, but the water is crystal clear, and the air is soft.  The old magic of Waikiki is still there luring tourists and satiating the soul with the beauty that God created and creates.

waikiki-hiltonOn Sunday, we would park at the Hilton Lagoon end of the beach, and snorkel in shallow water past the Hilton Rainbow Tower and Fort DeRussy, the military hotel, almost to The Royal Hawaiian hotel, and then back.

If we saw a sea urchin, we took it in an onion sack to prevent the creature from hurting someone walking in the water with its venomous spines.  We would take it home and clean it to reveal a beautiful purple shell we added to our sea shell collection.

One day we chose to snorkel at Ala Moana Beach Park and swam out to the reef.  On the way back I was dismayed to see the water ahead was full of man-o-war jellyfish.  Oh Oh!  There was no one on the beach to warn or to help.  I told Betty to grab the tail of my wetsuit, and I swept the water ahead to make a path for us. Perhaps providentially, we made it to shore without getting stung!

Danny the Dragon

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DannyDanny the Dragon

There once was a little dragon.
Danny was his name.
Danny wasn’t like the other dragons,
He didn’t make a flame.

Dragons in mythology always had flames, but Danny chooses not to scare people, and keeps a low profile. BUT, when the bad guys show up, Danny rises to the occasion and becomes a hero by saving the kingdom.

Danny the Dragon is about a hero.

I have added Questions and Answers to test comprehension of young readers, and bring out the moral lesson about heroes.

Every illustration by Ashley Otis is a work of art. I feel blessed to have found such a gifted young artist!

Our campaign to market Danny begins now. Gaby Harris has created a new website for Danny – www.dannythedragon.info for people to order my current books, Mouse in the Manger and Tommie Turtles 
Secret, to help fund the publication.

We are asking friends to spread the word by social networks and media,

When the book is ready, there will be special promotions.

Thank you for your responses to “Where Did the Blogger Go”. I am blessed to have caring family and friends.

Blogger Back Again

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 Climbing the MountainBlogger Back Again

Where did I go this time?  Betty went in the hospital with pneumonia, so Hospice whisked me off to their inland palace for a 5 day “respite.”  Beautiful place with huge rooms with big windows looking out in the woods, and excellent custom meals brought to my bed.

Then on to another place, an assisted living facility for another 18 days in a small “cozy” room with caring people forcing me to get up in a wheelchair to go to the dining room to eat good repetitive meals for my vegetarian diet.

Pushing the chair around helped me gain strength, so now home again, I can get up unassisted – hurrah, we are both home, and enjoying Betty’s great cooking — better than the “palace!”

We are climbing the mountain again with expectation of a wonderful view from the top.

Next, news of “Danny the Dragon,” my next rhyming story picture book for children, and then we’ll get back to our adventures in Hawaii, so stand by.