Category Archives: Places

Hawaii State Capitol

As my blog title notes, it’s about ‘Life on the Big Island of Hawaii.’ Well, one aspect of life here is that, once in a while, one has to go to Oahu. Medical emergencies or serious illnesses often involve trips to Oahu’s bigger facilities with more specialists. In addition, some government agencies only have offices on Oahu. My recent trip was for the latter reason, but since I had time to spare before my return flight, I took the opportunity for a wander around downtown Honolulu.

This photo is a view from the central atrium of the capitol building in Honolulu. I happened to be there during a 5-day recess of the legislature, so the normally crowded space was sparsely populated. In the photo, two indistinct figures lean against a rail on the third floor, appearing dwarfed by one of four kukui nut trees (the state tree) and the mass of the building.

In response to WPC ‘A face in the crowd.’

Kona airport

A couple of photos from a recent too-early foray to Kona airport. Above, passengers ooze out of the crowded toothpaste-tube-with-engines that is the modern passenger jet. The airport is still relatively small and open (though ongoing improvements will likely eradicate much of that charm) and, yes, many of those passengers are wearing shorts and a shirt at 6 a.m..

Below is one of the airport’s boarding areas. Busy during the day, at this hour only a few still-sleepy people mill about waiting for the restaurant to open and the first plane of the day to arrive.

Memo to self: It doesn’t matter how early you get up, it doesn’t matter how fast you drive, and it doesn’t matter what time you get to the airport. Until TSA starts work you’re not going anywhere.

In response to WPC ‘A face in the crowd.’

Resting shark

While out snorkeling one day I came across this scene. It’s not a great photo (though the murkiness adds a little to the menace, I think), but still enough to identify it as a shark, resting on the sandy bottom. Later in the day, it was still there. It was more visible with its head out from under the ledge, but the water was cloudier so I didn’t take photos.

I’m pretty sure this is a whitetip reef shark as I’ve heard about one hanging out in that area. The white tips, that give the shark its name, are on the dorsal and tail fins so aren’t visible in this image.

In response to WPC ‘A face in the crowd.’

Stampede

When I’m out walking I often pass fields of cattle. In general they either stare dolefully or run off when I look at them. Recently though, I was walking alongside one field and, at my appearance, the cattle ran to one side of the field, formed a group and then thundered down the hill toward me. When they got close, they did a U-turn and shot back up the hill.

Next day they did the same thing, but this time instead of the U-turn they stopped just across the hedge from me and stared. All the running about had stirred up the cattle egrets that invariably accompany them and that’s when I took this photo. I particularly like the devilish horns of the one animal peering out from the crowd.

I moved on and the cattle followed. We repeated this a couple of times before they decided they’d had enough.

On the third day, my appearance provoked only dull stares. Obviously the thrill of my presence had gone.

Emergency alert siren

This is one of Hawaii’s emergency alert sirens. There are different styles, but I like how this one, at Kawaihae, emerges from the palm trees. The sirens are intended to warn of impending tsunamis and, these days, nuclear attack.

These sirens did not go off during the recent false missile attack fiasco. That issue concerned messages sent to residents’ phones and to radio and TV. In the aftermath of that incident, I read in a news report that “According to state officials, the watch officer had been a cause for concern to his colleagues for more than a decade and had twice before mistaken drills for real alerts. It was unclear how he had managed to remain in such a sensitive post for so long.” Not in this household. Our ‘joke’ is that a person has to kill three people here before it’s considered serious enough to be fired from a government job. I guess causing widespread panic and embarrassing the state worldwide must be roughly the equivalent.

Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park

The final post on this week’s theme of the WordPress photo challenge, ‘Tour Guide.’

These photos are from Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, otherwise known as Place of Refuge. This National Park showcases important Hawaiian history with it’s royal grounds where the Hawaiian royalty lived, Hale o Keawe where the bones of 23 ali’i were housed, and for the Pu’uhonua where anyone who had broken kapu (sacred laws) could seek shelter and ultimately forgiveness.

Here are views from the ocean side (above), of a hālau (right) which houses canoes, and of a ki’i (below) representing an Hawaiian god.

For more information about Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, visit https://www.nps.gov/puho/index.htm.