Snorkel Day.

Things have quieted down a bit so Karen and I were able to begin our daily morning walk routine. It felt really good to stretch our legs and see all our familiar sites. The highlight was a stop (along with many other people) to watch the commotion out at sea: probably several male whales fighting for a female’s attention.

After our walk, Cal and Susan picked me up to go snorkeling at Kapalua Beach, one of our favorite spots. It’s close to our condo, the beach is gorgeous, the fish are beautiful, and it’s easy getting in and out of the ocean. Today the sea was very calm and the sun just pleasantly warm. Most impressive was one of my fellow snorkelers: an above-knee amputee who used a walker to get around. The woman with him scouted out the easiest place for him to get in. He then hopped with his walker down to the ocean, sat down on the shore, and scooted himself into the ocean. Several of us asked if we could help but he just smiled and said he was fine. Wow, what determination!

 

Hawaii’s annual whale count hasn’t been done yet, but judging from our lanai there are far less whales than even last year, when the counts turned out to be dramatically lower. What is going on?

 

Brief but stunning sunset this evening.

 

Now a post script to yesterday’s post. Here’s a much better photo of the keawe blossoms from which our honey came. Wikipedia reports that this invasive tree can live for over 1,000 years; the hard wood is a source of long-burning firewood and charcoal; the keawe pods can be ground into flour, turned into molasses, or used to make beer. And the light yellow flowers attract bees that produce from them a sought-after white honey. Indeed! The honey tastes like it has butter in it.