This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Emerging.’ See more responses here.
A while ago I posted a photo of Plumeria buds (here). I returned to that tree several times over the next few weeks and took photos of the same cluster of buds and then flowers to see how they developed. Plumerias aren’t one-bloom-and-done trees. Instead, there’s a continual production of buds, which bloom and die.
I like the swirls and colors of the buds and the different stages of the flowers emerging. I’m not the only one. All kinds of insects can be seen on both the buds and the flowers.
Giant Laulau (Syzygium megacarpa) is widespread across the Pacific. These red fruits apparently taste similar to apples though I haven’t yet tried one. This one was at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.
For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.
At Spencer Beach Park, there are several trees providing shade for beach goers. This picnic table sits beneath a False Kamani tree growing in the sandy beach.
I saw this Wandering Tattler at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park and realized that I’d never seen one in a tree before. Usually I see them wandering over the rocks in search of food. I’m not sure what this one was up to, but it took off not long after I saw it, probably heading for the shoreline.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Meaningful Memories.’ See more responses here.
This seemed like an opportune time to revisit my first visit to Hawaii, back in 2010. My wife and I stayed in a vacation rental near Captain Cook, overlooking Kealakekua Bay. The sky was hazy with vog from Kilauea Volcano, but the place was awash with colorful flowers. Just down the road was the Painted Church and at the foot of the hill, Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park celebrates Hawaiian culture and history with its wooden ki’i and towering palms.
We traveled the whole island from the black sand beach at Pololu (even if we had to pass the carcass of a dead whale twice) to the black sand beach at Punalu’u, dotted with resting green turtles, and rocky surrounds. There were waterfalls big and small, and roads lined with tropical foliage leading to the active lava flow at that time.
There, signs warned that flowing lava is dangerous (who knew?), but we were still able to get within 10 feet of oozing tongues of red, and saw small fires still burning in nearby brush.
There was even a house for sale: ‘Buy now before it burns!’ We didn’t, though that house still stands while others, much farther from that scene, have since been consumed by subsequent flows.
It was this visit that prompted us to return permanently two years later. Hawaii isn’t paradise – it has its pros and cons like any place – but we haven’t regretted the move and are looking forward to the next 10 years.
