Talk about jet lag!

This little birdie is a Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva). It is a handsome bird but more notable is its migration behavior. This plover probably flew to Hawaii from his summer nesting place in Alaska and may have made the 2000 mile trip in a single non-stop flight. Take that United! I had to fly to Hawaii via Los Angeles. The good news is this bird is no longer endangered and was not introduced to Hawaii by mankind. It got there on its own two wings.

Hanging Potato Tree

OK, it isn't really a hanging potato. But it sure looks like one. Anyone know what it actually is called? Posted below are some pictures of the flowers.
Actually after much ado I am adding to this post with the identification of the tree in question. I must have spent nearly an hour on Google searching images of trees from Hawaii.
Courtesy of the University of Hawaii website, I have discovered the following:
The tree is Kigelia africana, or the sausage tree. It comes from west Africa. Somehow it doesn't surprise me the tree is introduced. The island of Oahu seems to have trouble taking care of its native species. Most of the birds I saw were also introduced but that is for another post.
I am so relieved that mystery is solved.





This post is being submitted to Festival of the Trees. Check them out and consider submitting your own tree thoughts.

Now and Then

My initial fascination with old postcards was to see how my city changed over time. Now I just like them.
Here is a 1906 view of the building that is now the Museum of Science and Industry.
Below is my 2007 photo of the same building although from a rather different perspective. It hasn't changed much in the past 100 years.



Too visit Postcard Friendship Friday click on this link.

Amazing

I'm taking a break from processing my Hawaii photos to share a project I just completed. It is a lot of fun to do and takes maybe two hours to complete. Plus you get rid of waste plastic bags. What could be better.
Basically you cut up plastic bags--the kind that we shouldn't be using anyway--layer them, and iron them into a heavier material. It takes round 4 bags per layer. The resulting material feels a bit like Tyvek (the stuff used for mailing envelopes) and sews well. I've seen a couple of patterns to turn them into tote bags.
I made the first one a few months ago and it really works, so I made a second of slightly different dimensions. It was fun picking out the bags that would make for an interesting end product.



I read somewhere that maybe the fumes of the fusing plastic bags are bad for you. I don't know although they don't smell much and I figure that in the grand scheme of the toxins we are exposed to (after all I've stripped paint) it can't be all that bad.
I'm listing one craft book that gives instructions for this bag but I think things can be found on the internet as well. If you try it, have fun.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Seen fishing at hotel in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii.

Surfing

My last full day in Hawaii, I made a circle tour of the island of Oahu. There is a bit of the coast which is not completely accessible by car--beats me why they didn't finish off the road, for some reason it reminds me of the bridge to nowhere--but I felt a sense of accomplishment for having circled an entire island. The total distance was around 120 miles. The hardest part of the trip was resisting stopping at every beach I passed.



At the tail end of my tour I passed the famous surfing area. I couldn't resist pulling off to see what all the fuss was about. I'm not a big fan of surfing but, man, those were some big waves. It was great fun to watch with a bit of that morbid curiosity that makes people secretly hope for a wreck at a car race. I'm not an ocean wimp since I lived half my life near the Pacific Ocean but let me tell you, that surf was scary. I wouldn't have even gotten my feet wet in water that wild.
Almost as cool as the surfers were the camera-men. There was some amazing glass there. I had only my 100mm lens so my pictures leave a bit to be desired but it was a great challenge to see what I could do. Here are some of my pictures.

I should be learning about autism. . . .

But I decided to download and post a few photos. I hope this doesn't bring me bad karma. I've been running around like crazy here in Hawaii. Meetings from 6-3 and then a bit of wandering around Honolulu, dinner and collapse into bed. With the 5 hour time change I don't know whether I am coming or going half the time. My legs and back hurt from walking miles in bad shoes and carrying my conference materials, purse and cameras over my shoulders. It is hard to wear sensible shoes in 86 degree weather. But the Crocs are hard on my feet over time. My hotel is around a mile from the conference center. It makes for a lot of walking but it saved me a small fortune!
I can't wait until Sunday. My plan is to get out of the city then and see a bit of Oahu. Waikiki, although warm and sunny, isn't great for photography.
Here are a few of my limited number of photos: