| 1/7 -- After a marvelous week of
kiteboarding, the wind decided we needed to work on other
talents and left town. John purchased a pogo stick at a yard
sale a few weeks ago and put it to good use today. You can
work up quite a sweat using one. |
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Getting some air... |
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smiling for his honey... |
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haming it up for traffic passing past. |
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OOPS!!! |
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| 1/6 -- I decided to post a series
of shots I took of John the other day and make a step by step
of him jumping. Speaking of kiting, it was rocking yesterday.
I had my concerns at first. When we first got there the wind
completely dropped and kites were floating in the water. I
will post a photo of them soon. After the wind picked up,
everyone wondered who the wind dummy would be. I don't like
being the star attraction and decided to wait it out. I
watched a few people, including John, successfully launch
before I decided to go for it. It was very east yesterday. In
the past, yes the past, I have had trouble launching during
light, easterly wind day. But not today, oh no!!!! I brought
my kite up to 12 and rocked it from 11 to 1. It was touch and
go for a minute, but, as you know realize, I made it to the
wind line. I had a darn and I mean DARN good time. |
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| I see my honey
returning to shore. |
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He is looking confident. |
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| He is getting
ready...... |
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| up |
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| up |
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| and away. |
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| He looks like
Superman flying through the air. No! Mary Poppins? |
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Back down he floats. |
| 1/5 -- Overheard in a local health food store.
The cashier was talking to the guy in front of me. It soon
became apparent they had a mutual friend. The cashier paused
and took a moment to contemplate a way to describe the mutual
friend. Finally, he said, "he is very taciturn."
"What?" replied the customer. "Taciturn".
I am not familiar with that word. "Quiet" he said.
Ahh! That is true. If I ever met anyone that was a monk in a
previous life, it would be him. I thought that was an
interesting exchange. I am eagerly awaiting an opportunity to
use taciturn in a conversation also. |
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| 1/4 -- I thought this was funny. Yesterday,
there was a kiter on a blue and yellow kite. You can see him
below and behind John. Obviously, in this first photo, John
will come to shore upwind of me. I THINK the other kiter saw
me taking photos and hoped I worked for a major magazine,
Sports Illustrated possibly. On the next pass, he ends up
smack dab in front of me forcing John downwind. It worked out
well, as it allowed me to photograph John's very cute butt.
That suit frames it nicely. MEOW! By jumping within 10 feet of
shore directly in front of me, it also put the yellow and blue
kite directly in my way, but once again, his kite lines
created an interesting frame. I just wish that image was a
touch sharper. |
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| Two men and a mode of
transportation. It is a race and my honey is winning. |
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| Meow! |
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| If only it were sharper. |
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1/2 – What a way to begin the year.
It was blowing northeast at Kite Beach. Northeast is notorious
for being their best direction. I was eager to get up there. I
wasn’t disappointed. After an hour, I had trouble returning
to land. Glancing at my board, I saw the fin sticking out from
the side. That isn’t how it should look. I was starting to
feel pooped anyway.
Back on land, I struck up a
conversation with Jody. On the 7th she leaves
for New Zealand for one month. She even obtained a gym
membership for herself over there. Wow! People on this island
are always on the move.
John practiced his back roll and
almost landed it. |
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He comes in for the approach. |
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He tucks. |
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He turns... |
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| and turns. |
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Wow! This is a pretty sight. The amazing
thing. It happens frequently. I will be out riding and see a
rainbow on the horizon. I guess this is why the put a rainbow
on Hawaiian drivers licenses. |
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| I pasted two images together. It
needs work but I think it conveys how big and beautiful the
rainbow was. |
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1/1/08
– Happy New Year! I can hear Frosty the Snowman and see him
with his corn cob pipe in his mouth. Frosty wouldn’t like
Maui though. He would be a tiny puddle on the floor.
Yesterday, we had a rocking good time. The wind was blowing on
the south side of the island, so we decided to fire up the
kites. It was wild off shore with some serious gusts, but we
enjoyed ourselves. My transitions are becoming easier
and easier to do. I think I am going to work on a new one
soon, plus continue practicing getting a touch of air off the
waves when riding over them.
We
didn’t do anything exciting for New Years Eve. I managed to
stay up until 8:15 p.m. which is hard when you wake-up at 3
a.m. I did hear some fireworks around midnight so maybe that
will count for ringing in the New Year. One can walk into a
drugs store on this island and pick from a huge selection of
fireworks.
I
was looking over our photos of Wailuku from a bike ride the
other day. The one of John with the tractor is funny. The
second I saw those things, I expected to see him up there
behind the wheel. I guess it was locked.
Speaking of tractors and such, we were talking to this wonderful British
woman on the beach. She lives in the complex behind us and the
discussion went from the recent storm to the watershed area.
She said the complex’s manager decided, not in good judgment
she added, to bulldoze thirty feet of the watershed area
bordering the complex. “But you know men and machines; he
had to bulldoze 60 feet once he got behind the wheel.” For
some reason, I thought that was hysterical.
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| 12/31 -- It was a very rainy day creating a
coolness to the island that is rare. When reviewing the
Calendar of Events in a local rag, I remember seeing a New
Years Eve cruise being advertised. I am glad that never seemed
like a good idea to me. Brrr! Instead, it became an errand
day. I took the first photo on the right after visiting our
local library. It was closed. I should have guessed. When
driving back on Route 31, I pulled over and took a photo with Haleakala
Mountain in the background. It is pretty much covered in
clouds. Later, I decided we should try "A Saigon's
Cafe" in Wailuku. It advertises itself as the restaurant
with no sign, because when you drive up, you will see a sign less
building. Cute! Also, on their business cards they show a woman's
photo with "The President" under her. Darn funny! I
later learned, they cooked well also. In route, I pulled off
of 30 to get the shot below. Later, as John is driving us back
to Kihei on 31 I stuck my camera out the wind into the rainy
weather for the below right image. We see this sight just
about every day as we head home after a session at Kite Beach. |
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| 12/31 -- Happy New Year! I picked up a cd from
the camera store today showing some snorkeling photos I took
three days ago at Makena. We decided to try out an underwater
film camera I bought at a yard sale. Water leaked into the
film area, but after drying it out it started working again. I
think the camera will live to go swimming at least one more
time. They aren't the best shots, but it was fun to practice.
While submerged we saw colorful fish, one adult sea turtle,
plus one baby sea turtle. The baby let me get rather close.
Clumsy and slow on land, turtles are graceful and surprisingly
quick under water. |
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| 12/30 -- When I looked at kitebeachcam.com the
wind was zero. Windguru.com suggest 7 would be the high
today. It looked like a bike riding day for us. We left Kihei
and took Route 310 to 30 and cut through Wailuku. It is a darn
cute town, slightly cooler than Kihei with fields on one side
of it and local businesses on the other. When you head
west on 30 it T's into 310. These cows are at this
intersection on the west side of 30.
The more we pedaled the cloudier the day became. By the
time we got back to Kihei, it began to rain. My left elbow
began to ache as well (getting old bites) and so instead of
riding to grab food, I suggested we go home and grab the
jeep.
Later, I thought I would take some photos of a flower.
Nothing to get excited over. Sadness. |
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| 12/30 -- Arriving at Kite Beach yesterday, we
found a huddle of kiteboarders sitting on the sand having
"service." I think they were trying to commune with
Mother Nature to alter the wind direction. Unfortunately, it
was blowing offshore or away from land. Offshore wind makes it
hard to get back to where you started. John pointed out, if I
rode and ran into trouble, I would come to shore near
Route 340 on the other side of the harbor. I have heard sharks
like to follow the cruise ships into the harbor. It looked
like a Wal-Mart kind of day. After Wal-Mart, we headed back
into Kihei. At first the windmills were perfectly still, so we
looked for yard sales. As we drove, I noticed the Palm trees
started swaying. Looking west, the windmills were making
familiar circles. Maui Sunset here we come.
John blew up the 9 meter and rode for about 15 minutes
before Mother Nature said "see ya'." I did get a
chance to snap a few images though.
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| 12/29 -- I found a website listing marathons,
half-marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks. etc on the island. You can even
join local group runs Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Valley Isle Road Runners |
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1/1/08 – Happy New Year! I can hear
Frosty the Snowman and see him with his corn cob pipe in his
mouth. Frosty wouldn’t like Maui though. He would be a tiny
puddle on the floor. Yesterday, we had a rocking good time.
The wind was blowing on the south side of the island, so we
decided to fire up the kites. It was wild off shore with some
serious gusts, but we enjoyed ourselves. My
transitions are becoming easier and easier to do. I think I am
going to work on a new one soon, plus continue practicing
getting a touch of air off the waves when riding over them.
We didn’t do anything exciting
for New Years Eve. I managed to stay up until 8:15 p.m. which
is hard when you wake-up at 3 a.m. I did hear some fireworks
around midnight so maybe that will count for ringing in the
New Year. One can walk into a drugs store on this island and
pick from a huge selection of fireworks. I was looking over
our photos of Wailuku from a bike ride the other day. The one
of John with the tractor is funny. The second I saw those
things, I expected to see him up there behind the wheel. I
guess it was locked.
Speaking of tractors and such,
we were talking to this wonderful British woman on the beach.
She lives in the complex behind us and the discussion went
from the recent storm to the watershed area. She said the
complex’s manager decided, not in good judgment she added,
to bulldoze thirty feet of the watershed area bordering the
complex. “But you know men and machines; he had to bulldoze
60 feet once he got behind the wheel.” For some reason, I
thought that was hysterical.
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We are also found at:
http://www.johnnyhouse.com/
Favorite Blogs:
http://www.perezhilton.com/
http://amblus-amblus.blogspot.com/
http://www.bitchypoo.com/
http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/
Useful Sites:
http://www.lowestgroceryprices.com/
http://www.givie.com/
My Blogs:
November 2007
December 2007
Kona
Storm 2007 |
