I don’t see a lot of mushrooms in the yard here, but this one popped up recently and I liked how it looked in the grass.
Mushroom in the grass
Author Archives: Graham
You’d better watch out
This is where I often get in the water to go snorkeling and this photo illustrates why it’s a good idea to pay attention when getting in or out. The water looks pretty calm, but the whitewater near the top is an indicator of swells coming ashore. When those swells reach the ladder where swimmers get in and out, they can be steep and dangerous.
It’s easy to judge swells before getting in the water, but getting out is more tricky. Trying to gauge what’s happening from water level, it’s easy to misjudge the size and strength of an incoming swell. I wouldn’t have wanted to be getting out when this one rolled in!
Abstracts: Sunrise from the water
When I’m snorkeling, I like to take photos looking back up to the surface. On this occasion, I was hoping to capture bubbles floating on the surface, but got this image instead. To me, it looks like a sunrise shot, possibly after a night on the town!
Spinner Dolphins zipping by
We have had a seemingly endless stream of swells rolling in from the west, west-northwest, northwest, and north. What they all have in common is that they make snorkeling miserable here. The water gets churned up, reducing visibility to near zero, and getting in and out can be an adventure.
A few days ago, there was a gap between the incoming swells, allowing the water to settle a little and visibility to improve. And, luckily, that was a day that a pod of Spinner Dolphins went by.
I had stopped swimming for a moment and popped my head up to look around when I saw fins arching through the water towards me. This pod of 20 or 30 dolphins was just passing through, but I was happy to snap a few photos, of which these were the best two.
The visibility still wasn’t great, but any dolphin encounter is a moment to be treasured.
My morning plunge
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Plunge!’ See more responses here.
My morning plunge is not a dip in the water, but making coffee in a French press. Fresh ground coffee in the carafe, fill with hot water, and let it sit for four minutes. Then push the plunger down, pour the coffee, and add half and half. And another day gets underway!
Java Sparrow juvenile on a bottlebrush
I see Java Sparrows quite often, but I’d never seen a juvenile until I took this top photo. The bird has the look but not much of the coloration, just a bit of pink in the bill and around the eye. The adult, in the second photo, shows the distinctive markings still to come.
Time to weed
This gutter sported a generous amount of greenery, which probably should be removed. I’ve seen trees growing in gutters and neither party benefits from that arrangement.
Storm coming
Our big storm of a couple of weeks ago moved down from the northwest, from Kauai through Oahu and Maui to the Big Island. This view was taken one morning when the storm had enveloped Maui but not yet reached us. It wasn’t until late that same afternoon that the skies changed from blue to gray and black and the deluge began.
Graham's Island 