A few days ago, I posted here an image from a recent walk along the coast to Hapuna beach. I thought I’d post more photos from that walk for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme of ‘Paths and Trails’ (more responses here), and for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (more responses here).
The trail crosses beaches large and small.
Of course, besides the views I was on the alert for anything moving on the beach or in the air.
Other parts pass through trees and other vegetation.
Pololu Beach is a popular spot for visitors and locals. The trail down to the beach can be bustling with people and the beach itself is often well-populated. But behind the beach, this trail through the trees always seems quiet. It leads to a gully that, in turn, guides the few who venture up there, to a bench overlooking Honokane Nui Valley. (Read about that here.)
Posted for Becky’s Squares with a theme of “Walking.” See more responses here.
Becky’s Squares is back this month with a theme of “Walking.” See more responses here.
A walk I try to do two or three times each year is at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. It’s not a long walk, but it winds through the garden where on each visit I find something new and interesting.
Osmoxylon Lineare comes from the Philippines and is also known as Miagos Bush or Green Aralia. At the garden, the sign calls it Eyelash Bush and the bottom photo gives a clue as to why that might be. To my mind though, the top photo suggest Eyeball Bush might be a better name.
For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.
My final post in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
The stilts are odd enough in themselves, with their pink legs and long beaks, but it was the lighting in this image that got my attention. The sun was sinking and the shadows lengthening. But the distinctive lighting in this photo was due to the reflection from a cream-colored trailer parked beside the pond!
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Fresh.’ See more responses here.
Here’s a weekly ritual of mine these days. There are two tangerine trees on the property and they constantly churn out fruit. I rarely see the flowers, though I did eventually notice that they do exist (here).
Each week, I pick a small bucket of ripe fruit. Often I can just reach up an pick enough for my needs. Sometimes I use a ladder and rake to snag the higher fruits. Then I take my bounty inside and juice it. I use a hand juicer; I tried a powered one, but it didn’t really work for me. It doesn’t take long to fill my jar. This time I used 29 tangerines, but the number varies from week to week depending on how ripe they are and how juicy.
I could juice them daily for truly fresh juice, but this still tastes pretty good to me.
Also posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
My house has been surrounded by spiders and their webs for most of the winter. One female Hawaiian Garden Spider has a web which angles across the living room window. I can follow the activities there from the comfort of the couch.
One morning, I raised the window blind and found this scene. The large, yellow-backed spider is the female. The much smaller drab, brown spider above her is the male, and when a male is seen on a female’s web there’s only one reason – he’s looking to mate with her. I’m not sure what the third character in this scene is. It might be a mango beetle, but it was securely trussed to the web.
What happened can be seen in the gallery. The male tried his mating moves, the female remained largely unmoved. Much of the time the male stayed on the relatively safe opposite side of the web to the female, but to mate he must venture to the other side. When he did, sometimes the female swung into action. Mostly, she seemed responsive, but one time the male disappeared in an instant. Then I saw him climbing back up the thread he’d dropped on. Something must have gone awry, but no harm done. Through all this activity, the beetle looked on, waving its little legs and antennae.
The presence of the beetle seemed to affect the delicate negotiations going on between the spiders. Sometimes, the male went over to the beetle and sort of prodded at it, but nothing more. In the early evening, the female lost patience. She straddled the beetle, shot out strands of threads, and rebound the beetle as she spun it with her legs. It turned like a rotisserie chicken in overdrive. I didn’t get photos of this as the light was fading.
Next morning, nothing much had changed. The female was still the central figure, the male still holding his position. The only difference is that the beetle had managed to push its legs and head through the engulfing threads and it was back to waving its little legs and antennae. Later that day, the male appeared to successfully mate with the female and escape alive. I last saw him wandering over to the next web along where he positioned himself carefully on the opposite side of the web spun by another large female.
The next day, there was still a female on the web but I think it was a different, smaller one than the one in these photos. The beetle was still there, still waving its little legs and antennae. That evening, the new female did the rotisserie chicken move on the beetle and retrussed it. Next morning, the beetle had freed its legs and head again and was waving its legs and antennae again.
The following day, only the new female spider could be seen!
Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
I’ve posted about this sign before (here), but recently I was walking along the coast, noticed this view, and it struck me how odd this must look to anyone coming from this direction for the first time.
Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
And finally, a heads up for those of a sensitive nature. Tomorrow’s post features spiders and an unfortunate beetle!
Another view from Upolu, this time of a portion of the airport. But why is there an area of long grass, blowing in the wind, with the letters B I G mowed into it?
The reason is that this is where Big Island Gravity, a local skydiving operation, is based. This area is where the skydivers touch down after their jumps. A couple of days later, and the grass had been mowed again. The letters were still visible, but the long grass was gone.
For more information about Big Island Gravity, go to http://skydivebig.com/.
Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
Graham's Island 