In this view of the coast at Lapakahi State Historical Park, the large rock in the foreground was believed to be the home of Ku’ula, the fishing god. Local fishermen would leave a portion of their catch for him and, in return, would catch many fish next time they went out.
This juvenile Yellow-billed Cardinal took full advantage this popular pool of water being temporarily unoccupied to have a thorough bath.
They will come back for me, won’t they? I miss my twin brother!
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Waiting for Peace.’ See more responses here.
This peaceful scene was taken at Pelekane Beach in Kawaihae. It’s a favorite spot of mine for an early morning walk, when it’s very quiet and calm. But it hasn’t always been that way.
In the late 1700s, King Kamehameha I ruled the north and west parts of Hawaii Island, but was engaged in a war with his cousin who ruled in the east. Kamehameha was advised to build a sacrificial temple for Kūkaʻilimoku, the war god. So Kamehameha had Puʻukoholā Heiau built. That’s the structure silhouetted on the hill to the left of the photo.
Kamehameha invited his cousin to the site, ostensibly to talk peace, but when his cousin arrived, he and his entourage were duly captured and became the first sacrifices to dedicate the temple. So not so peaceful after all. But this action ultimately led to Kamehameha being able to bring all the islands under his rule, ending many years of fighting and bringing stability and peace to Hawaii.
That situation largely lasted until the late 1800s when the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown in a coup d’état by a group seeking annexation to the United States. This duly happened, though the aftershocks of this event continue to disturb the peace in the islands to this day.
A view of the light tower between Lapakahi and Mahukona on a day when the swells were rolling in.
A look down onto the canopy of ferns along the trail to Thurston lava tube in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
I visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park recently, with friends from the mainland, and towards the end of our visit we stopped by Thurston Lava Tube. These days the tube is known as Nāhuku, which means “the protuberances” in Hawaiian. There aren’t any protuberances in the tube these days, but it’s still fun to walk the dimly lit tube, imagining magma rushing through it, until the eruption stopped and the tube drained.
On my last visit to Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, I was taking photos at Lily Lake, which features an island in the center, planted with palms and ti plants. I like the reflections the plants make in the calm water.
This photo started out as a vertical, with the plants as well as the reflections. But when I looked at it, I liked the reflections better than the plants, so I cut it in half and made it horizontal!
Graham's Island 