Category Archives: Scenes

Going up

Pumping concrete at a construction site at Hilo Benioff Medical Center in Hawaii
A pumper funnels concrete to the new building.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Things under Construction.’ See more responses here.

Last Friday, I had cause to visit the hospital in Hilo (Don’t worry, they say the leg will grow back!). The hospital is now called the the Hilo Benioff Medical Center. That’s because Marc Benioff, the CEO and co-founder of Salesforce, donated a chunk of the money to build the addition to the hospital seen in these photos. The addition will greatly expand the Intensive Care Unit and add additional hospital beds.

Pumping concrete at a construction site at Hilo Benioff Medical Center in Hawaii
Got to get it in the right place.
A crane at a construction site at Hilo Benioff Medical Center in Hawaii
There’s heavy lifting to be done.
New construction at Hilo Benioff Medical Center in Hawaii
Putting the building together is like assembling a puzzle.
Moving materials at a construction site at Hilo Benioff Medical Center in Hawaii
Got to have supplies for all this activity.

Trouble boiling?

A sign at Boiling Pots in Hilo, Hawaii

I was in Hilo yesterday, and I visited a few places I hadn’t been to in a while. One was Boiling Pots, part of Hilo’s Wailuku River State Park. It’s a beautiful spot, but the river can be dangerous when it’s roaring, so it’s plastered with warning signs.

As you can see, the signs don’t impress everyone. In truth, this group was probably perfectly safe. The river was as low as I’ve seen it. It’s been dry all over the island and the forecast for the day was more of the same. But it’s not the rain in Hilo that causes the river to run, it’s what’s happening on the slopes of Mauna Kea. And while the forecast was good, forecasts can be wrong, as I think we’ve all experienced. But people will be people.

Frankly, the signs at Boiling Pots are something of an eyesore, but the county has to try and cover itself. If those folks did get swept away, their next of kin would likely lawyer up and hold responsible anyone and everyone, except for those who should have known better.

The Numbers Game #87

A Nutmeg Mannikin snacking on cane grass seeds.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 209. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A very small flowery flounder
A very young Flowery Flounder, just a couple of inches long.
A pueo or Hawaiian short-eared owl sits on a post
A wide-eyed Pueo.
Yellow boat on blue water.
A green anole on a ti plant
A Green Anole looking down.
A red ginger curving up.
A showy yellow hibiscus.

Timber

A view of Pololu Valley in Hawaii
Layers of trees fill Pololu Valley.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Trees.’ See more responses here.

A Rainbow shower tree in Hawaii
Flowers of a Rainbow Shower tree.
Jacaranda flowers in Hawaii
Jacarandas put on a show every year.
Avocados growing in Hawaii
With Avocado trees it’s the fruit that everyone likes.
Palm trees at Lapakahi in Hawaii
It’s Hawaii. Of course there are palm trees!

Another Sonoran Carpenter Bee

A male Sonoran Carpenter bee in Hawaii

I recently posted (here) phone photos of a female carpenter bee heading for home. Last week, I returned with my camera to see what they were up to, and I was very happy to see this male bee visiting the same home as the one in the previous post.

Male bees are a lovely orange/brown and are smaller than the females, but still pretty big. Another way they differ is that, while female bees have a stinger but rarely use them, male bees don’t have a stinger at all.

I’ve seen a few male bees before, but this is the first time I’ve been able to get photos.

A male Sonoran Carpenter bee in Hawaii