Tag Archives: Beckys Squares

Signs: No parking

A No Parking sign on the Kohala Coast, Hawaii

The coast road between North Kohala and Kawaihae is dotted with these no parking signs. There are virtually no houses along this road, so why the signs? Well, the views are lovely and in the winter, humpback whales frolic just off the coast. Who wouldn’t want to pull over.

Consequently, a 40 mph minimum speed limit is in place along this highway together with these signs. The net result is that people still crawl along taking in the view and pull over to watch whales wherever they please.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Circles and Squares.’ See more responses here.

Balloon plant

A prickly balloon plant

I’ve seen balloon plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in local pastures before, but not up close like this. The balloons are the fruit of the plants. The long hairy spines become stiffer and spiky-looking when the balloons inflate prior to releasing their seeds.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.

Abstracts: Rock-boring urchin art

Channels made by rock-boring urchins in Hawaii

Yesterday I posted a photo of a crown-of-thorns star, with a few rock-boring urchins in it. Today’s post shows one example of the channels left by these urchins. This image initially looked like a brain to me, but then I began to see more of a tree in it.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky/Lines.’ See more responses here.

Crown-of-Thorns star

A crown-of-thorns star and rock borer urchins

I saw this crown-of-thorns star working its way across the rocks in shallow water. Those spiky spines are venomous so this is not something to handle. Also visible in this photo are some equally spiky, though not poisonous, rock-boring urchins

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.

Parrot bench

A bench at Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens in Hilo, Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Indoor/Outdoor Decor.’ See more responses here.

I don’t have a lot of ‘decor’ photos, but I think this sort of fits the bill. It’s one of several fun benches at Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo. Probably less fun to sit in, but you can’t have everything!

Also posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Blue/Bright.’ See more responses here.

Early morning lights

Early morning lights at the port of Kawaihae, Hawaii
Early morning lights at the port of Kawaihae, Hawaii

I took these photos one early morning at Kawaihae Harbor. I was experimenting with settings and came up with a couple of different looks of the same scene. Not sure which I like best. Any thoughts?

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Light.’ See more responses here.