Category Archives: Weather

Not moving forward

Cars wait on the road into Kawaihae Hawaii as a traffic accident is cleared

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Groups of Any Kind.’ See more responses here.

One day last week, late in the afternoon, the driver of a dump truck carrying asphalt, lost control of his vehicle on the road into Kawaihae. He careened across the road, into a guard rail, and overturned, spilling the asphalt onto the highway.

No one was hurt, but the highway was closed in both directions. This is the highway I take to go to and from work. I’d heard about the accident before I set off for home, but there were conflicting versions about whether one lane was closed or both.

It wasn’t long before I was in a line of backed up traffic, but even then it wasn’t clear whether the highway was closed or not, since a fair number of vehicles kept coming from the opposite direction. However, the longer I was in the line, the more clear it became that these vehicles were driven by people turning around and getting out of the jam. Some of these were likely people who were headed to Kawaihae for some reason that wasn’t urgent. Others were surely those who lived up where I do who figured it would be quicker to take the long way home. I’ve done that before (here) for a brush fire, and once stuck it out for an overturned semi (here).

This time, I decided to wait it out with my group of fellow delayed travelers. It was interesting to watch what people did. Some got out of their cars and chatted. Others took the exit to Spencer Beach Park for a more relaxing wait. Still others waited, gave up, and turned around to seek alternatives. A few cars did just that only a few minutes before a retrieval vehicle with the damaged dump truck aboard, passed by. Shortly thereafter, traffic started moving through from the other side of the holdup. Then it was our turn.

The backups were quickly cleared and I got home two hours after I left work. Had I turned around as soon as I saw the backup, I might have been home in 90 minutes. My normal commute is about 30 minutes. But I wasn’t too put out. Back home, I was still able to relax with a nice glass of wine. The dump truck driver, who caused the delay, probably wishes he’d done that too. He was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant!

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #19

A Helicopter taking off from a ranch on Kohala Mountain, Hawaii — The photo number isn’t 140, but this still works. Watch out for that tub!

A Striped Lynx spider in Hawaii — An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Striped Lynx Spider.

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 140. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

An endangered Palila, a bird found only on the Big Island, Hawaii.

Rainbow off North Kohala — Rainbow over North Kohala.

Little fish and Padina japonica seaweed in a tide pool in Hawaii — Rainbow over North Kohala.

Tiki torches at twilight

Tiki torches burn against a backdrop of palm trees in Hawaii

These were at Mauna Kea Resort when I went down there for an evening snorkel.

Europa 2

Visiting Kailua Kona, it’s never hard to know if a cruise ship is in. They invariably are the largest thing in view, dwarfing any and all of the downtown buildings. On a recent visit, I got this photo from the Walmart parking lot (a solid contender for the Walmart with the best view in the world!).

It used to be that Wednesday was cruise ship day, but currently there are three or four ships a week stopping by. This one is the Europa 2, which is operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. It carries up to 516 passengers, which means it is less crowded than most cruise ships.

The Numbers Game #18

Strong winds create whitecaps in Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii — Strong winds whip up whitecaps in Kawaihae harbor.

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 139. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Black-crowned Night Heron snaffles a Tilapia. Original post here.

A beekeeper removes a swarm of bees nesting in a wall — Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.

A firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii — Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.

A pair of Northern Pintails on a pond in Hawaii — There’s always one who’s got to get your attention, as evidenced by these Northern Pintails.

Just warming up

I drive past the port facility in Kawaihae all the time. Sometimes, in the early morning, I’m there when a second bank of lights are turned on. These lights start out red, but quickly warm up to their normal yellow.

This is a feature of low-pressure sodium lights, which I assumed these are. However, the manufacturer stopped making those lamps five years ago, so I’m not sure. Not that it would be unusual for Hawaii to several years behind the times!

The Numbers Game #17

A Pallid Ghost crab blends int o the beach in Hawaii — A Pallid Ghost Crab on the beach.

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. The top photo was one of these and I thought, I must have run this before, but I hadn’t. It turned out to be a photo I’d processed, but neglected to move from my originals folder. Without The Numbers Game, I would never have found this!

This week’s number is 138. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.