California Poppy Hoppin'

...with a little wingman. Did you happen to notice his/her little wingman in the upper left hand part of the photo?

Yes, the California Poppy, the State Flower, also known as Eschscholzia California. Wow, and who came up with that and what were they smoking', brah? A lot of people consider it to be a nuisance and a weed as it seems to pop up just about anywhere and everywhere. 

I never really paid much attention to them until recently. When we moved into our new home up in the hills, I saw quite a few along the roadside and thought they looked rather beautiful with their pretty yellow flower which, as you can see attracts bees. It was then that I was 'schooled' in the fact that it is "illegal' to pick them, cut them, or remove them! It was also then that I learned that they were the state flower of California. Crap! And I wanted to plant some in our new backyard that we were designing. 

So, what's the next step? Easy, because I was to find out that they sell them at the local nursery and we could easily pick them up there and put them in the yard. Score! On out next trip to the our local nursery, picked up a few of the one gallon California Poppy plants and spread them out on our hill. Just enough so have a smattering of pretty yellow flowers in the back amongst the many others flowers and bulbs that we have throughout the back. Yeah, not so fast, Batman. This Spring, we had a huge amount of plants come up from the dirt that was brought in for the planting that we did and, at first it all looked like carrots when it started to sprout, but later on, when they all began to bloom, we found out that we had a huge amount of, yes, California Poppies, that were brought in with the soil. Yeah, good purchase on those three one gallon plants, huh?

Oh, we have Poppies now.

Mahalo for Pollinating with Captain Bobby Mitchel

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Sunset Honu

Ahhhhh, sunset on Maui…can anything be more peaceful and beautiful? Wind gently blowing through the coconut trees, small waves breaking on the shore, a gentle breeze blowing by, soft sand beginning to cool between the toes, and the sky turning a brilliant orange as the sun begins to set over the distant shoreline of Lanai.

Yes, in the calm, blue, beautiful, and warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, up pops a Honu (Hawaiian Sea Turtle) to take a breath and snap, I get 'em, brah!

Perfect timing! The little guy was cruzin' along the shoreline and I guess wanted to check out the sunset too and grab a quick breath of fresh air. Now, if I can just get these tourists to scatter and quit screeching it would be nice ~ Talk about ruining a moment! Jeez!


Mahalo for Sunsetting with Captain Bobby Mitchel



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Honu Free Diving

So there we were, hanging on the beach in Maui just chillaxin and unwinding. My dive buddy was down for the count as she's growing a human in her belly so it was just chill time for the 2 ½ of us. We had Mai Tai's (for me, that is) on the beach, music playing, and many whales in the distance. I took the opportunity to do a little free diving and testing of my new Go Pro Hero 3 camera too.

While out in the crystal clear blue waters, I came across a very large Honu (Hawaiian Sea Turtle) just cruzin' along so I decided to cruz along with her. She did not care one bit and for like a ¼ mile or more I hung just behind her and took videos, pictures, went back up for air, went back down, and hung with her some more. It was awesome! She just cruz'd along at a nice pace and didn't dart off or pick up the pace. I could have stopped off for a Zip Pac or Shave Ice for the two of us and come back down for shares, if I wanted. (Some of you, or most of you, may not have got that reference, so check the link).

I was behind her, moved from one side to the other and she didn't mind one bit. It was like we were formation flying for awhile, except I had to go up for air a lot more often than she did!

Here she is:

No tank required and no navigation, etc. It was such a delight just to once again, hang with my Honu friends and enjoy. They are such peaceful and beautiful creatures of the ocean, gracefully flying along with their soulful eyes.

I'll update this later with more photos and videos of her once I get caught up. I just wanted to share her with you now.  When I was finally done, I just stopped in the water and literally said and waved goodbye. I was kind of bummed… A hui ho, my friend

Mahalo for Free Diving with Captain Bobby Mitchel