This old thermometer is still firmly affixed to the concrete block wall of a farm building on the side of Pu’u Wa’awa’a. I like how the rusting metal seems almost to be part of the texture of the wall.
Author Archives: Graham
Awkward landing
I always tend to think of animals and birds as being supremely graceful, swooping through the air, leaping from tree to tree, twisting and turning at high speed. So, while I don’t wish them any harm, I get a secret pleasure when I see one of nature’s creatures looking a bit clumsy. I’ve seen turtles bumping into rocks, birds landing with an ungainly stumble, geckos leaping and missing their target.
I saw this grasshopper jumping from one branch to another but, alas, it did not quite stick the landing. Mind you, if I was a grasshopper and tried the same stunt, I’d probably impale myself on that nasty-looking thorn.
Here’s looking at you
I was swimming one day when I realized I was being watched. Peeking up from a crevasse in the reef, was this giant porcupinefish. These fish do seem to be quite curious and this is a look I’ve seen before. The difference here was that the water was quite shallow, so the fish was not as deep as they usually are. If I got too close, the fish would dip deeper into the crevasse. If I moved away, it would pop up again.
Porcupinefish are not to be messed with. They have strong beaks (fused teeth), which they use to break mollusc and crustacean shells, and which have been known to sever fingers, too. In addition, like pufferfish, they can inflate themselves with water into a large, round ball when threatened. Unlike pufferfish, porcupinefish have sharp spines which normally lie flat, but which become erect when inflated. Finally, they’re extremely poisonous.
The other fish, in the second photo, are a goldring surgeonfish and, above it, a small blackfin chromis.
Ironman 70.3
Last Saturday was the Ironman 70.3 race on the island. Unlike the Ironman world championship, held here in October, the 70.3 series covers half the distance. That means there’s a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run. However, as with the longer race, Hawi is the turnaround point on the bike leg, so I ambled down to take a look.
Top: Racers heading in opposite directions shortly before/after the turnaround.
Middle: Slowing to make the turn.
Below: Bottles and trash can only be dropped in certain areas, where volunteers quickly pick them up for disposal or recycling.
I figure that if they’re doing a half distance race, it can’t be longer before they offer other shorter versions. I’m waiting until they get down to a one sixty-fourth Ironman and then I’m racing. Still a little worried about the run though.
Jacaranda flowers
A final response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’
I headed back to Pu’u Wa’awa’a last week, because this is the time of year when several kinds of trees are in bloom. One of those trees is the jacaranda, which blooms from April to June, and produces masses of blue to lavender flowers. Jacarandas prefer cooler elevations so the lower areas of Pu’u Wa’awa’a are right in their zone.
I wasn’t disappointed. Several trees were covered with these delicate flowers, which somewhat made up for the fact that the entire hill was shrouded in thick vog, exacerbated by the ongoing eruption down in Puna.
Abstracts: A turtle painting
Another response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’
I never get tired of watching turtles and I like photographing them in the water, which can produce all kinds of effects. This photo looks like it’s had some kind of filter applied, but it hasn’t.
Smithsonian Submillimeter Array
Another response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’
I post this for two reasons. The first is that recently I had an exchange on this blog with the wife of the Director of the Submillimeter Array (SMA). The second is that Mauna Kea is a favorite place of mine to visit.
So here are a couple of photos of the SMA taken a few years back. The dishes are mounted on those little round pads in the photos, and they can be moved to different pads to produce different configurations. In my ignorance of most things scientific, I marvel at the idea of moving a dish a few meters makes a big difference in observations of things way the heck out there in space. That’s not an official measurement there.
The top photo shows seven of the eight dishes that make up the array.
The other photos, of three dishes and what immediately popped into my head when I saw them, show why I never made it as a scientist.
For more information about the Submillimeter Array, go to https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sma/.
The eyes have it
Another response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’
After a recent hike, I was returning to my truck and saw a small flock of sheep ahead on the track. These two caught my attention. The smaller one on the right was, I assume, the other’s lamb. Just before I took this photo, I saw it going for milk with that pneumatic drill approach that lambs have.
Before and after that, the ewe stood still, unwaveringly fixing me with those intense eyes. Then the two of them ran off to follow the rest of the flock that had already moved on.
Graham's Island 