A mix of sea life off Maui

Warm waters!!! I can barely even dream about it with all of the snow still on the ground. Now where'd I leave my mai tai?

Two points to ponder.

Above is a beautiful deserted beach with Lahilahi Point in the background and below is the natural arch at Kanellio Point. Both of these Points are at Waianae on the leaward side of Oahu where tourists seldom venture.

What I wouldn't give.......

I see your snow men and raise you a warm, sunny beach with clear blue water.

This was taken on Ka'anapali Beach, Maui looking towards the west. You can barely see the western edge of lana'i in the background.

Seasonal Aloha Pictures

Sorry to do this to you... Here are a couple of pictures from Oahu from a couple of years ago. The guy driving the Trolley looks like he's having fun and the Snow men just plain out of place, but it sure looks warm there!

A Winter Wonderland

We didn't get it as bad as some but for me, it was bad enough. The day before Christmas we got several hours of ice pellets and then almost eight inches of snow on top of that, all during 30 mph winds. I had to go dig my dogs out of their dog house when it was all over because the snow drifts were so high they couldn't get out.

At least the water in the creek was still running.

A bad day fishing

I've always heard that a bad day of fishing was always better than a good day at work. I'm not sure that saying would apply to this day of fishing! The really bad part is, the farmer now has to wait for spring when the pond thaws out to get his boat.

Merry Christmas!!

We would like to wish everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas!

Between a rock and a hard place

I had an opportunity to do a little spelunking last weekend. It was wet and as you can see from the icecycle hanging in the cave, cold. But it was fun!! I'm not sure if the guys topside were laughing because they thought I was funny or because I didn't have a rope.

A couple of eagle shots

There hasn't been allot to take pictures of around here lately, either that or I am particularly uninspired these days when it comes to taking pictures... Guess I better get motivated! Never the less here are a couple of eagle pictures taken this last week.

Caught this fellow just as he was launching into the air from the top of a piling.

If you have ever seen one of these city street lights up close you will appreciate just how big a Bald Eagle really is!

A pair of nice sunsets

Took both pictures on my way back to Coal Harbour from Quatsino. The only way in and out of the Settlement of Quatsino is by boat or floatplane. Most people who live there own a boat as floatplanes are too expensive.

Bubbles

Mother Natures own fish eye lenses.

Cold and clear... Burr!

December 01 the weather changed from Monsoon Season to Ice Box! No complaints on my part though, I'll take sunshine over rain anyday. The first picture is of some of the boats tied at the Government Wharf in Coal Harbour and the other picture is of the fish pond and fountain in my front yard.

Daydreaming

It has been very cold here the last week and I just needed something to warm me up. What I wouldn't give to be seeing this in person while sipping a mai tai!

November Blaahhhs

November proved to be especially wet on the West Coast this year... Then on the first day of Decmber the Sun came out, hope it stays awhile!

A couple of pictures from November

The Stare Down

The buffalo in Oklahoma aren't as skittish as the elk are. They also seem to be a little more scarey just because they are so big and they don't scare easily.

Why did the elk cross the road?

Apparantly because they didn't want their picture taken! I came across these elk while in some mountians in southwest Oklahoma. They were moving pretty fast and didn;t give me a lot of time to compose the shot.

Thank you PhotoShop

While rumaging through pictures from our trip to Oahu in 2006 I came across a poorly exposed picture of something... Out of curousity I opened the picture in PhotoShop and lightened it up enough to see just what it was. "Hum a fowering plant of some sort, maybe I can bring this picture to life" I thought to myself. About 20 mnutes later the once unrecognizable picture turns out to be quite presentable after all. Thank you PhotoShop!

Murder of Crows

Groups of birds are refered to in differn't ways depending on what kind they are. Geese are a "Gaggle" when on the ground and a "Skein" when in flight. Magpies, A "Tiding", "Gulp" or"Charm". Nightingales, A "Watch"... the list goes on and on Crows are for whatever reason refered to as a "Murder" when in groups. Who would have known?

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

Power to the people!

These pictures are quite dark as the repairs to the power lines up to Quatse Lake were in poor light.

I have a new respect for the fellows who keep the electricity working. These fellows were out at first light in the snow. Also keep in mind that the fellow in the bucket with the chainsaw has no place to run or hide if things get out of hand... Long and short of it is that within an hour or so the trees were cut off the line. Two poles were straightned up, wires were tied back to insulators and power was restored. Then off they went to the fix another problem area next town over.

Smoke but no hotdogs.

Every morning my two dogs run up the gravel road to Quatse Lake with me following in my pickup truck. Several mornings ago we rounded a corner in the road to find this! Already the dogs were half way between me and the downed lines! While honking the horn I put the truck in reverse and got the heck out of there. Fortunately the dogs followed as they hate to get left behind. Kinda leaves the prickley little hairs on your neck sticking straight out...

Santa has a new ride

I came across these two yesterday in a little town a few miles from me. It was pretty cool outside so I think Mrs. Clause was probably a little colder than Santa since she was in a short skirt!

Lazy or Smart?

I came across this in a town in Missouri. The city had widened the intersection and put in new power poles at the same time. Instead of reconnecting the lines from the old pole to the new they simply took a chain saw to the old pole and then made an extra connection from the new pole to the left over piece of the old pole.

This looks like something I would do and not something that should have actually been done!

From the "Big City"

There are definitely things in the big city you don't see out in the country. The architecture is one of those. This is the top of a building on the "Plaza" in Kansas City, MO. It looks like a big fancy lightning rod to me!

Modern day vagabond

Found this interesting fellow with his moterized bicycle and trailer on the streets of Vancouver. I'll bet you could get from one side of the country to the other on less than 10 gallons of gas with this rig! Always interesting going to the city... Never know what you're going to see.

A Slow Ride

Taking a slow ride down the Mississippi River, trying to get all of the tourist dollars possible.

Next street over.

Some times when you least expect it a potential picture presents its self. Quickly you scramble for your camera, and start shooting. This was one of those moments. Took this during last trip to Vancouver.

60,000 people!

Here's a picture of my Wife and I at the U2 concert. We're on the right side about a third of the way up... We're both waving... LOL

Dog Day Afternoon

I ran across these three in the park the other afternoon enjoying a romp in the water while it was warm. The St. Bernard might not have cared if it was warm but I'm sure the little black dog thought twice before heading into the water.

Hanging out...

Found this big fellow hanging out at the local grocery store parking lot, likely waiting for his people... Couldn't resist, had to take a picture or three. Look at the size of him! That's a full size truck he's in not a half sized Japinese pickup. After I took the picture I went over and scritched him around the ears, he loved it!

A Corny photo

We finally had a dry spell of about a week and the farmers have been frantically trying to get the crops in. I had to shoot from the top of a hill looking through a tree to be able to see into the trailer and the corn. It's not the greatest shot in the world but I thought it had a good context to it.

Back to normal...

All good things must come to an end... Our long hot beautiful summer is now a distant memory and things are back to normal. I guess that's what is to be expected when you live in a rainforest! One consolation is at least you don't have to shovel rain...LOL

Fossels in sandstone

Went for a hike yesterday on a favorite beach. Found these clam? fossels in a big chunk of sandstone. Kind of leaves me wondering what this place would have been like when the critters living in these fosselized shells were actually alive.

Big Bird

Speaking of gold, I ran across this huge bird head setting on the side of a mountain in Arizona. The boulder has been shaped into the bird head and he overlooks a spot where an old Spanish gold mine is located. There is supposed to be a treasure hidden inside or very near the mine. One of these days........

Pot of Gold!

Except for resizing this picture no other changes have been made to it. Found this very bright rainbow yesterday while out to Quatsino by boat. Usually when I take a rainbow picture the rainbow is difficult to see... Not this time though!
Have to get a metal detector and poke around behind the cabin in this picture, who knows may find my pot of gold yet! LOL

Layers of sun

I was outside last night enjoying the unseasonably warm temperatures and this was my view of the sunset. Normally I would try to get to the top of a hill or a lake to catch the colors but there was something about the bare trees being silhouetted against the color that made me want to take a photo.

English Bay

View of English Bay from Stanley Park. The Port of Vancouver deals with ships from all over the Pacific Ocean. It is not unusual to see 6 to 10 of these large vessels anchored in English bay waiting their turn to deliver or take on a load at the port facilitys in Burrard Inlet.

Looking for lunch

Here's a couple of more from my hike in Oklahoma. I came across this critter scrounging for something to eat. He was so busy looking he didn't even hear me coming.

Jake and a Humboldt Squid

Normally the Humboldt squid only range as far North as California, recently however a number of these squid have been found in Hardy Bay on Northern Vancouver Island. Several theorys for this exist. One theory would suggest that golbal warming and envirnomental changes play a part in this while another theory speculates that the squid were chasing "Pilchard" a small species of fish recently returned to the West Coast.