Shoot and Run

People in the art museums are very funny. They run from famous painting to famous painting. They get directly in front of the painting, they take a photograph, and then they're off to the next one. They never even look at the art with their own eyes, they just view it through the camera or iPad while lining up the shot. Hilarious - and so very sad.

I was surprised today when I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to discover that my entry fee also got me into one of my favorite spots in New York, The Cloisters. Lucky me.

I'm Getting Married in the Morning

What a magnificent wedding day!

A great ceremony, romantic boating in Central Park, an amazing lunch (why can't any Maui restaurants serve food like we're finding here?), the best musical theater we've seen in many years ("Once"), an outdoor performance of "Salome" at the Met, and finally back to our hotel room on Times Square. Yes, this was the day of days - never to be forgotten.

Park Side

Over and over, I keep being drawn to New York's city parks. They provide a welcome relief from the city's noise and summer heat. Even the smallest squares are cool and refreshing.

Most of the street performers are impressively talented, and the sidewalk food vendors offer a large variety of tasty treats. I haven't tried all of them yet, but I still have a couple more days here...

People at an Exhibition

 I love the Museum of Modern Art here in Manhattan.

Almost as interesting as the art today, were the people. What a fascinating crowd.

And beyond that, was the way the visitors interacted with the architecture of the building. Check out the lady standing on the stairs in the photo to the left. No that is not a painting, that is a staircase (well, as taken by my magic camera).

Summer in the City

Summer in the City. Ain't it grand?

For us this was a run of the mill, average Maui weather day. For gazillions of jubilant New Yorkers this was a Sunday to celebrate the outdoors. We joined them by walking down the street to tour the Space Shuttle, Enterprise, and the Aircraft Carrier, Intrepid, upon which it sat. Then we wandered the streets of Greenwich Village and enjoyed many street performers and residents in Washington Square Park. One jazz combo had a trumpet player who was playing two trumpets simultaneously. Amazing. And so far we have had one innovative meal after another. None of that "playing it safe for the Maui tourists" kind of food. Nothing outrageous either, just really creative, delicious cuisine. Yum.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Birds of Paradise

How great it is to live someplace where exotic flowers like ginger, plumeria and birds of paradise are commonplace and often grow wild. I love living on Maui.

Voracious Turtles

Turtles today were voracious.

Usually during the day I see them sleeping or slowly swimming along, but today every turtle I saw was madly gobbling seaweed. Maybe the warmer water has triggered growth in a delicious kind of seaweed and they just can't get enough. Now I'm getting hungry...

Contorted

Maui trees are twisted, bent, contorted: anything but straight. Ain't it great.

Snowflakes

This Snowflake eel stood his ground this morning. It never lashed out at me, thank goodness, but it didn't swim away either.

This small Green Sea Turtle was also not afraid of me and kept swimming around me to check me out. What a great morning.

Happy Birthday Pedro

Pedro brings a huge spirit of joy to our group. The Maui Pink Cap Swimmers are always disappointed when he does not show up.

Today we celebrated Pedro's upcoming birthday with lots of fun in the ocean.

We are also sad that Mallory is leaving us, but she'll be back.

Click HERE for more photos from this morning's swim.

Mysterious and Wonderful

Hiking through Maui's redwood forest is always weird because of the deafening silence. There is a total lack of sound: no birds, no wind, no nothing.

Then just below the redwoods are the deciduous trees which are loaded with birds and which sough in the breeze. And my favorite part, the dilapidated ranger's cabin and nearby bunkhouse. The ranger's cabin is surrounded by a sea of hydrangea which has taken over the entire clearing. Both buildings are falling apart but still contain remnants of their past, like a pie safe and rusted-through bunk bed springs hanging from wooden bed frames. They are both mysterious and wonderful.

Where Is the Water

I ran into my buddy, Nancy, at Polipoli State Park this morning. She asked me why it was called Polipoli Springs when she never saw any flowing water. Then she looked at me like I was crazy when I explained that the spring was used for a flush toilet. It's true. The spring is funneled into a pipe that leads to this unusual outhouse. Out in the wilderness in the woods stands an outhouse with a flush toilet. And here's my proof...

Iconic

 Here are a few more waterfalls from my photo safari this week. All three of these cascades can be found in Haleakala National Park at Kipahulu right here on Maui.

The bottom photo is probably the most iconic because these are the falls that all visitors see, known as the Seven Pools. The entrance to the park is over the bridge at the top of the photo.

Rainforest Intensity

My photo safari was a big success.

I got home an hour ago and have only glanced at the pile of photos, but there are definitely some keepers.

I was shocked at all the greenery and flowing water on the other side of the island. I mean, I know it is there, but I forget how intense the rainforest can be. I live on the desert side during a drought; everything over here is a shade of gray and even the cacti are drooping. But not over there. It is hard to believe that both areas are on the same island.

Still, I'm glad to be home.

Flowing

Excellent news! The waterfalls are flowing very nicely for my photo safari today.

Convict Tangs

The ocean was perfect for swimming this morning: flat, clear and warm. Convict Tangs were in abundance and I even saw quite a few Parrotfish. 

Wailea Banyon

As you can see, I am still having a lot of fun playing with my new camera which takes paintings instead of photographs. This morning I re-encountered a Banyon tree in Wailea. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Banyon trees, this is the single trunk of one huge tree.

Pitter Patter of Little Fins

I love Maui's summer waters. And so did the Maui Pink Cap Swimmers this morning.

The ocean was clear, calm and warm. Even the sharks were out enjoying a nice morning swim. One of them was unusually chubby; I think we'll soon be hearing the pitter patter of tiny shark fins.

Click HERE for more photos from today's swim.

Painted People

I had been wondering how my new "painting" camera would do with portraits, so a group of my friends this morning insisted that I try it on them. What do you think?

Also, a couple more snapshots taken on my walk back from the polls. Today are the primaries in Hawaii. Have you voted yet today?

Pure Yellowness

My favorite reef fish are Yellow Tang. I find their pure yellowness appealing and I hope you do too.

Billion and Billions

Boy oh boy, were the stars out last night!

Many thanks to the amazing Mike Neal for inspiring me to take photographs of the Milky Way from the top of Haleakala.  Wow!

The upper two photos are pretty accurate representations of just what I experienced. For the lower image I stitched several photos together to show 3/4 of the sky, so instead of the Milky Way stretching above from horizon to horizon, it appears as a star-bow.