Click HERE for more photos from today's swim.
Summer is definitely here! The water was warm, very warm, and people were in the mood to play. After an hour in the ocean I usually want to get moving to warm up - not today. Stay a little longer? Sure, why not?
Turtles were everywhere. We were warned about sharks in the area, but fortunately did not see any. Even though we did go out of our way looking for them (we're not too bright).
Pixar has done it again! How do they produce great movie after great movie?
I have to give their new film, UP, an enthusiastic two thumbs up. Like their previous winner, WALL*E, this mixes strong pathos (I was sobbing at one point early on), powerful visuals harkening back to the silent film era, and very clever writing.
Go see UP.
My buddies, the Spinner Dolphins came to play around me during my ocean swim this morning. One of the zodiac tour boats zoomed over and dropped all of their snorkeling passengers into the middle of the pod, but the dolphins didn't seem to mind. The tourists were thrilled. One woman could not stop laughing with delight, her snorkel was emitting a constant stream of giggles. It was strange and very funny to hear.
I guess the dolphins recognize different people after a while. They maintained a small distance from the snorkelers but repeatedly approached very close to me. We swam and we swam, and now I'm exhausted. My head keeps drooping over the computer keyboard and I can barely keep my eyes open. My boss is going to kill me, I still have hours of work to do today and I'm not feeling very productive. (Click HERE or Below for Today's very short Video)
Civilization ends just five miles down my street. Several times each week I make the bumpy ride out for a little quiet time alone beyond the reach of man.
This morning I felt inspired to go the extra mile (or six) across the rough lava field. I am awed by the desolation. Jagged 'a'a lava rocks everywhere and not a plant leaf to be seen. Black, brown and gray are the only colors left under the glaring sun. I am always shocked when the green oasis cove appears out of nowhere, then disappears as I continue the treacherous trek. Finally below me appears a grove of scrub trees along the shore with a substantial swinging log seat. Ah, a shady rest spot!
Okay, now the only real option is to trudge all the way back to my car. This time the barren rocks with no shade anywhere are less impressive and my feet ache from slipping and stumbling over loose rocks. Now I remember why I don't hike the King's Highway more often.
I got to meet several friendly people during my walk this morning.
An orthopedic surgeon stopped me to tell me that I was walking all wrong. All wrong?! I'm just walking. You know, one foot in front of the other.
She says that I'm overpronating which will cause knee damage which will lead to hip damage and then death, I guess. She asked for my phone number so that she could call me to recommend a foot doctor. I'm hoping that I'm really walking just fine but that she needed a way to ask me on a date without her husband finding out.
Then there was this sculptor working beachside. I asked what kind of wood he was using and he said, "Rainshower tree."
I asked, "You must mean Rainbow Shower tree?"
"No," he said "Rainshower. Some people call it Monkeypod, but its real name is Rainshower (which sounds nicer, I think)."
His name is Dale Zarrella and you can Click HERE to check out his web site.
Finally, I spoke briefly with a guy who was working Nunchucks while standing in the surf. He says there are weapons competitions and also martial arts competitions with padded nunchucks. He laughed when he mentioned padded nunchucks, I guess he prefers getting hit with the real thing. Click HERE (or Below) for a brief Video.
Just weeds, right?
Well... many of Maui's roadside weeds are edible. Easily found along many rural roads are Bamboo Shoots, Fennel, Basil and, of course, Tomatoes. I'm feeling inspired to make a salad.
A group of twenty-two dolphins came by to check me out on my ocean swim this morning. Shortly after I saw them a guy calling himself Dolphin Dave also joined the fun. Dolphin Dave seemed to get along very nicely with the spinner dolphins, and they with him. He was an interesting guy, click HERE for his web site.
He spoke to me at length about a movie with which he was involved called Whaledreamers. I've put it on my Netflix queue and will let you know what I think after I've seen it.
He also had a knack for blowing bubble rings. Two of the rings in this photo actually connected then merged into one ring. Amazing stuff.
Oh, the dolphins. Dolphin Dave's persona did not completely eclipse their presence. They were playful but rather fast moving. They swam by closely time after time, but each encounter was brief. Click HERE for more photos from today.
