Painting Greens

I could say painting blues, but that wouldn't be accurate. Doug is alarmed that the walls have taken on a day-glo hue which does not match the original paint swatch of drab olive green.

I'm simply grateful to be allowed back in the house by the painters. My youth comes flashing back, a time when my parents would kick me out of the house, telling me to "go play outside." I would sit dejectedly on the doorstep for a couple of hours until they let me back in where I could climb back into whatever book I was reading. In this case the computers are still disconnected, so the photo shoot I did today will have to wait for a couple of days to be processed.

We were forced by circumstances (disconnected television) to try the Netflix Watch Instantly option for the first time. Definitely not as good as Blu-Ray on a 50 inch plasma screen, but for instant gratification it was Great! I will be using it again in the near future. And again and again.

I was lucky to have a photo shoot today. Tomorrow, if you are out driving and you see a pathetic person sitting on their doorstep, it is probably me.

Happy Birthday Doug

Happy Birthday Doug. Thank you for all of the life, energy and youth which you bring to our Sunday swims. Not to mention the valuable oral traditions (Ted's Point) which you single-handedly keep vibrantly alive. See you in the water again next week (Click HERE or on the Photo to see more photos of today's swim).

Click HERE (or below) for the Video of today's open water ocean swim.

Eating Out

We enjoy eating lunch at the golf course restaurants because of the spectacular views and good food, but not so much for the prices. Sometimes it is worth paying extra, just to get out of the house; especially now that we are packing everything up getting ready for the painters.

How could we have acquired so much junk over the past few years? Today we disposed of our entire VHS film library and were wondering how long until our massive DVD collection becomes obsolete as well?

I'm feeling totally overwhelmed by how very very much still waits to be packed. At least the stunning sunset helped me get out and I am already anticipating tomorrow's brunch with the swimmers.

Pumping Up

We always groan when the national news runs a story about the high price of gasoline. Filling up the tank in our cars has cost us at least $50 for quite some time now. It would be nice to pay the prices that others are complaining about.

Fortunately Maui offers plenty to do for free. Outdoor activities are best early in the morning before the trade winds kick in and the Makena cloud builds. So I am up by dawn every day and seldom out after dark - kind of a reverse vampire.

Seeing buildings with their lights on came as a shock to my system as we emerged from the movie "In Bruges" this evening. This was a perfect film for people like us who see lots and lots and lots of movies; it was clever and absurdly funny. Definitely not your standard Hollywood script. I would liken it to "Pulp Fiction," although no one tries to rob the customers of the diner. Then again, the main characters took public transportation and did not live on Maui, so they weren't desperate for gas money.

Wild and Wooley

Wild and wooley conditions met me on my swim this morning with gusty winds and nasty choppy waves. And there was the current. I swam in place for quite a while before breaking through the worst spot. Usually the swim back is fast and fun, but today waves kept crashing over my head from behind. As one of the pink cap swimmers said Sunday "I must have swallowed half the ocean!" At least there was enough water left so that the fish, whales and turtles were not left stranded.

Mixing Things Up

The new a/c unit has been installed and now the trauma of packing begins in anticipation of the painters taking over next week. I'm almost afraid of the monsters which might lurk in the dark recesses of my closets and bookshelves. Perhaps I could get an injunction by archaeologists interested in digging through layers of time...

Today my exercise walk took me through new territory which is why you are being exposed to photos of rocks and flowers. Sorry. (At the time they struck me as quite beautiful)



To make up for boring "pretty photos" I also managed to take a double-exposure of a whale breaching not far off shore.

Whales Ahoy!

This is the obvious day for an Aprils Fool post, but this really happened to me this morning.

I saw dolphins out in the water this morning, so I decided to go for a swim. I hit a patch of terribly murky water but swam through it to the clearer water on the deeper side. Which is when this mother humpback whale swam up to me. And I mean, right up to me so that she could look me directly in the eye. Her calf was above her and it checked me out too. The escort swam underneath me.

This was my closest encounter ever, and she had to maneuver her fluke (side fin) out of the way to keep from hitting me with it. These photos were all taken zoomed all the way out so, yes, I was that close.

I heard the dolphins chirping and clicking but did not see them while in the water. I saw them again once I got on shore.

Clicking on any of these photos will take you to my whale photos web page where you can see larger versions. The top nine photographs on that page were taken in sequence this morning, the rest were taken on other days.