A Painted Lady Butterfly rests in the shadows.
Posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.
And rest
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The Numbers Game #84
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 206. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Red Admiral Butterfly
Posted for Becky’s Squares: Simply Red. See more responses here.
The Numbers Game #79
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 200. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Evey day is Earth Day
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Earth Day.’ See more responses here.
I’m never quite sure what’s appropriate for Earth Day, but I figure nature, farming and renewable energy fit the bill, so here are some photos from a recent walk in the neighborhood.
The miracle of birth is hard work
Driving down to Upolu for a walk, I noticed this cow behaving oddly, so I pulled over to take a look. The reason quickly became clear: a pair of hooves sticking out below the tail. She was about to give birth. I thought this would be a good photo op, so settled in to watch.
The poor cow was up, down, walking, lying down. The pair of hooves did not budge. A couple of times I thought the delivery was nigh, but they were false dawns.
I wasn’t the only one watching the action, or lack of it. Other cows looked on from a safe distance, chickens pecked the ground around the struggling cow, and a cattle egret flew in to see if any bugs might be being stirred up by the activity. In the end, I could wait no longer. I went off for my walk. On my return, nothing much had changed so I went home.
I didn’t contact the dairy. Early in my time here, I tried that, but they weren’t interested and soon after, No Trespassing signs went up on the driveway! I grew up on a small farm and, for us, a new calf was an important arrival to be carefully ushered into the world. But this was a bigger operation, and I’ve learned that the cows are left to get on with it. Truth is, she was probably fine. These things take time and, as every mother out there knows, it’s never easy.
Ants on a Noni plant
I discovered this Noni growing as a volunteer among the coffee plants. The ants, as usual, had discovered it first.
Sunrise from Pelekane Beach
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.
Graham's Island 