To you, this may not look like much. But on February 4th, this will be home sweet home.
I am thoroughly amazed. In four days we: found a house, made an offer, accepted the counter offer, got the home inspected, certified and insured, signed the purchase contract, and arranged future maintenance and repairs. In four days in a place we had never visited before! And, so far, no buyer's remorse. Is there an emoticon for crossed fingers?
Besides beat up old cars, I've never owned anything in my life. So today was a huge deal when we made an offer on this home in the Tampa area of Florida. That is Doug in the photo standing on our own floating dock with the Gulf of Mexico only a short swim away. Please let them accept our offer, please...
Ho, Ho, Glub - again. Santa is everywhere right now. Isn't he supposed to be busy at the north pole? At least this time he was busy "making a list." Or maybe he was "checking it twice." Hmmm. When he saw me this morning did that remind him to add me, or to cross me off? The suspense is killing me.
Yes, Santa hats are normal this time of year - but on a scuba diver? In the water? Ho, glub, glub.
It doesn't take much to get the Maui Pink Cap Swimmers laughing, and the two AARP rides along our usual swim course keep us happily entertained. We used to get our thrills in shallow and dangerous conditions, now swirling currents get us giggling.
Congratulations, George, on finally graduating. Today was fun and we are looking forward to seeing you back in the water far more often. Click HERE for more photos from this morning's swim.
I can't believe I only paddled 6.5 miles this morning, but its a good thing, my arm muscles keep seizing up. This is the first time I've been out for fun (escorting swim racers doesn't count) since last whale season. I saw whales in the distance, but nothing up-close yet...
My buddy, Mark, came chasing after me this morning, shouting my name as he swam. I, as usual, was totally oblivious and heard nothing but faint whale singing. He had to tackle me to get my attention. Why was he so persistent? He wanted to give me a Christmas card. Aww.
This guy (below) usually swims up to meet me as I pass by, then dives back to continue foraging for food on the bottom, and today was no exception. No card from him. Maybe next time.
Sorry for not posting, I have been slammed with work and my evil boss hasn't been giving me any free time to play. It is only going to get worse as I get ready to leave for Christmas on the mainland with my in-laws. These two sunset shots are from Monday's photo shoot.
I love the fact that everyone was so busy chatting on the surface they didn't notice the three (yes, three) swimmers lurking below.
Today was Renee's birthday, so she got to be the center of attention. I couldn't think of anyone better to be the main focus. Click HERE for more photos from this morning's swim.
The main reason for this blog is to force myself to take at least one photograph every day which I am not ashamed to have seen by the world.
So why does today's photo resemble one of those photos purporting to have captured a Flying Saucer, or Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Moster? Because today was my first Humpback Whale sighting of the year. Hooray! Yes, I was on shore and the three whales were a mile out to sea, but I still claim that the unidentifiable objects are the fluke of one whale and the back of a whale calf. I'm afraid my excitement has gotten the better of me. Sanity may, or may not, return soon...
The poor scuba diver in the back kept floating to the surface. Then he would swim, swim, swim back down to the others before floating back up again. At least when he was in this cave, the ceiling kept him with the group. However, the noise of metal scraping on rock scared this poor shark out.
Maui skies have been desert-clear. Not a cloud anywhere for two days. Which means cold nights and mornings - we were burning our furniture to keep warm this morning. 65 degrees, brrrrrr.
I HATE computers!
I love taking photographs and sharing them with the world, so I appreciate computers. In fact I think that computers are great and what they allow me to do is amazing. But when they die (like mine did Saturday), getting everything back to normal is a major headache.
I am still at a complete loss about a couple of things - BUT - I was able to get this photo I took this morning up here. Yep, I've been venturing deeper and deeper into caves these days. And, yep, those are both a shark and a turtle (and fish too). The shark kept its distance, but the turtle did not and delayed my desperate search for air by getting in my way. I guess it was just being friendly. Even though I hate my new and old computers, I can't bring myself to hate this turtle which almost killed me. Hmmm.
By the way, I have finally posted the Sunday Maui Pink Cap Swimmers photos from two days ago. You can see them by clicking HERE.
Bags full of tomatoes and zucchini were often brought to gatherings to be given away when I lived in the Midwest. People love sharing the abundance of home-grown fruit and vegetables. Here on Maui it is usually bags of bananas and avocados, sometimes lilikoi and this week for us, Pineapple. I love abundance.
I noticed these fish stacked in a holding pattern as I swam by this morning. They just hung in place like a giant mobile, swinging a little to the left then back to the right, but always keeping in position. I wonder what they were waiting for?
I forget to eat, drink or even use the bathroom when I'm in the middle of a big project. Yesterday, I worked from early morning until after sunset photographing this large home, and kind of neglected to do any of the above. Today was a little better as I spent the entire day in front of my computer beginning to process the images (still less than half-way done). I promise, tomorrow I will take better care of myself.
Dang dolphins won't leave me alone. More than sixty of them swam up to greet me this morning after hanging around my back yard yesterday (I refused to come out and play yesterday so they hung out along the shore in sight of my house looking all forlorn and pathetic). Click HERE for lots and lots more photos from today's swim.
I put together a video from this morning's swim which once again features music by the wonderful Pamela Polland.
www.PamelaPolland.com
Click HERE (or Below) for today's video.
This member of the Maui Pink Cap Swimmers had a GREAT time on Lanai for the Thanksgiving (Lynne's Birthday) weekend. Spinner Dolphins came in to swim with us twice. Fortunately they left us alone the rest of the time so that we could focus on far more adventurous swims (they really aren't very exciting creatures). Click HERE for lots and lots more photos from this weekend.
Or you could always Click HERE (or Below) for a brief video of our weekend swimming.
Another exceptional dolphin encounter today. I walked to the water planning on swimming along the cliffs with Jill and Kalin but got waylaid by at least 42 Spinner Dolphins. They would not leave us alone, so we stuck around until it was time for Kalin to catch his flight. Click HERE for lots more photos from this morning's swim.
Click HERE or below for today's video. Fun, fun, fun.
I love this photo of me taken last week by my buddy, Scott. He still shoots film and used his final frame to get a shot of me. I am honored. Mahalo
They're not bad, they're just drawn that way (or something to that effect). Bluefin Trevally look mean because their mouths turn down, but they are actually nice fish that are curious and smart. Or maybe I'm defending them because my mouth also naturally frowns and I don't want you believing that I'm not a nice person (and if you believe that . . .).
Hooray. Nineteen Spinner Dolphins joined me and my friends on our ocean swim this morning. In fact I was about finished and ready to go ashore when they came zooming up to us. Several of them were in a playful mood as you will see in today's video (Click HERE or below to watch it) and their energetic spirit gave me a second wind. Click HERE for lots more photos from our swim.
I can't believe I let Janet & Patti drag me into the ocean for a swim before the sun was even up. That is hard-core. It was definitely a workout swim, the kind they do every Tuesday and Thursday, and the kind I never do. Fortunately, Patti is easily distracted by the pretty fish (see photo above), so we did get a little rest from time to time.
