Fresh Malasadas

We hadn't been to the Maui County Fair in years - until last night.

I had always assumed that the Fair games were fixed making it impossible to win the prizes. But there sure were a lot of people carrying large stuffed toy animals around with them yesterday, so I guess I was wrong.

And, of course, the fresh Malasadas were great. Maybe we'll be back next year too.

Bubble Play

Seven Spotted Eagle Rays swarmed all around me in shallow water this morning. If I didn't know them better I might have panicked, they kept swimming at me from all directions. But I do know them, and know that they have no desire to do me any harm.

At first I thought I had run into my buddy, Lynne, because I saw a dark shape emerge out of the bubbles from a breaking wave - and Lynne loves to play in bubbles. But no, it was the group of Rays that was playing in the bubbles. I joined them and had a great play time myself.

ID Help

Help me out here. I see these fish sitting on the coral every day, but I don't have a clue as to what they are. They are about six to eight inches long. They usually hold their ground until I get within three feet, this one today did not budge while I took its photograph.

Does anybody know what kind of fish this is?

Hurricane Swim

Cheryl and Laura had their first swim with the Maui Pink Cap Swimmers this morning. They were visiting from California where they often swim in the ocean.

So color me surprised when they described our flat, calm water day as being rather rough. It is a good thing the water wasn't mildly choppy or I would have been reading on facebook about "the hurricane" they swam through.

Click HERE for more photos from today's swim.

Beach Activities

I see a little bit of everything on Maui beaches, lucky me.

Many weddings are held on the public beaches every day, and photographers and beach goers are mostly cordial toward each other. It gets a little tricky when two or three weddings are taking place on the same little stretch of beach, but even then fisticuffs are only a matter of last resort.

In the photo below a company was holding team building exercises this morning, while a young beach goer was looking on and wishing he could be part of the fun. I love living here.

Ahihi-Kinau

I decided to mix it up a bit this morning and swam in the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve.

Because the land part of the reserve is closed, I began my swim a hundred yards away where there are almost no fish at all. Once I entered the reserve waters, I was surrounded by tropical fish. It is amazing what a difference it makes to prohibit fishing in an area.

I also love how unafraid of people these fish are. What a joy.

Series Shots

Today I got another shot for my Beach Walkers series. This time as a watercolor.

And another for my Sitting Under a Tree Watching the World Go By series as well.

MRI on the Beach

 I saw lots of interesting critters on my ocean swim this morning - but the real show was on shore.

Cheryl, the turtle lady, was visited by a pair from the Colorado School of Mines who were scanning a Turtle Nest with electromagnetic radiation. Cheryl is hoping this test will be successful and will allow better future monitoring of the endangered Hawksbill Turtle population. And who knows, maybe our visiting specialists from Colorado may even get a little bit of a tan.

Today's Offer

I only have a couple of flower photos to offer today. I wasn't crazy about any of the other photos I took on my walk this morning, so you're stuck with these.

No Playing Allowed

The ocean was not quite as clear as last week, and it was definitely cooler, so today was a day for serious swimming. No playing allowed.

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

It Has Grown

For the past couple of months I kept hearing tales of four baby sharks hanging out in an area of shallow water. Today the water was finally calm enough (and my sanity was conveniently out to lunch enough) for me to go looking for them. And lucky me, I found one of them. It had obviously grown from the first stories I had heard, but it was still small and kept running away from me (a very good trait - unless you're trying to take photos). Maybe next time I'll get luckier and find all four together.

Life's Little Pleasures

I must be getting old. I never used to be able to do this.

I now take great pleasure sitting in the shade of a palm tree, watching the waves roll in and the world pass by. Ahhhh...

Tritons Coming Soon

I often feel like I live in an aquarium surrounded by lots of beautiful tropical underwater creatures.

Today I spotted a new Hawksbill Turtle which must have just moved into the neighborhood. I hope she decides to hang around for a while.

Also, I've been noticing more and more Crowns of Thorns (photo below) which are killing more and more coral. Fortunately, this means that Tritons will begin proliferating (they eat Crown of Thorns) and we will be seeing lots of beautiful large shells.

Bathing Beauties

These were just a few of the bathing beauties I saw on my walk along the ocean shore this morning. This is my favorite time of year because the water is at its warmest and I love to lay back and float.

The photo below is yet another example of the kind of extreme tree trimming which abounds on Maui. And yet, in this case, I would have to say it works.

Pink Caps Rule!

 The ocean was clear and calm and perfect for open water swimming this morning.

We even had a visiting swimmer from a Pink Cap swim group in Australia. Pink Caps rule!

But my favorite part of the day was the brunch after the swim celebrating my recent marriage. Thank you all so very much, I was deeply touched.

Click HERE for more photos from today's swim.

Wave Watching

My, oh, my. It certainly does feel great to be back home on Maui.

Especially nice is sitting in the shade of a tree watching the ocean waves roll in.

Like Royalty

I don't know how my in-laws did it. Somehow, coming from extremely modest means, they have ended up in glorious mansions. We are visiting Doug's aunt and uncle in Detroit in their home, built in 1905 by the first mass producer of electric cars in America. Doug's mom lives in a beautiful former plantation home built in 1880. Like us and our future home in Florida, they scrimped and saved to purchase their residences during difficult times. And now they live like royalty. Except without the money or the strange relatives.

Fatz

Our farewell to South Carolina luncheon was at Fatz. Appetizer was Fried Green Tomatoes, Entree was Fried Chicken, and Dessert was Fried Oreos (pictured here). They even deep fried the bill.

A Different Rain Forest

And here I thought that Maui's rain forests were impressive, this part of South Carolina is almost completely buried in plants. And it is lovely. I could almost live here.

Beat the Heat

Here in South Carolina we rush out the door early every day to beat the Southern heat and walk the menagerie of dogs (the others are off the side of the road looking for smelly things to roll in).

Southern Sunday

It is Sunday morning in the rural South, which means everything revolves around church. In fact preparations began yesterday with churchyard mowing, turning on the church's A/C, etc. After all the work done to get ready it seems a shame that we're not going, but apparently the new minister isn't very popular so nobody actually goes to church. Things are done differently in the South.

Yee Haa

We must be in South Carolina. We reserved an economy compact vehicle from the car rental company, and this is what they gave us. Four wheel drive, too.