Kaiwi, the female monk seal, who, for the previous two weeks, spent her days at Kaimana Beach near our condo, has now taken up residence on the beach right below our condo. This is the beach used by Outrigger Canoe Club to put their canoes in the water and take them out. The paddlers carry the long, six person canoes, up and down those steps behind Kaiwi. Some of the canoes in their red covers can be seen atop the steps. Outrigger is one of the premier, best funded, canoe clubs in Hawai’i, maybe the world, but they are stymied by Kaiwi. By law, monk seals cannot be disturbed because they are endangered. Whenever one shows up at a beach, as Kaiwi does, animal welfare folks mark off an area around her, in which people are not allowed to enter. The orange cones define the protected area. Right up to the Outrigger steps. There is no way they can get canoes up or down while Kaiwi is sunning herself.
As you can see in the photo above, hauling a canoe onto the beach takes all of the crew.
I never get tired of looking at the canoes and boats in the water near Diamond Head.
Another thing I never get tired of is seeing Diamond Head in the morning. Since we have been in Hawai’i, I’ve made it a point to photograph the view from our condo at sunrise and again at sunset. We have not always been in a position to see sunrise, but I gat what I can. While in Waikiki, for example, the sun comes up behind Diamond Head, which is always dramatic. At our location, we see gorgeous sunsets over the Waianae Mountains (actually setting over Ewa.) Here’s sunrise this morning over Diamond Head.
High surf advisories were out this morning. When I went up Diamond Head, I found a lot of surfers checking out the waves. Some were saying the conditions were dangerous and might require some rescues. Not being a surfer, I can’t say, but these are the waves this morning. they do appear larger than on previous days. The guy in the photo is about 300 feet above the ocean.
Waikiki, Diamond Head Beach, 8/17/21
I’ve been taking Uke lessons with an instructor in Kaimuki, only a few miles from where we are. When we lived here, we did not get to Kaimuki often because we lived in another section of town. We’re sorry. that we didn’t. Kaimuki is an older area, homes from about the 1930s, and a downtown area with small shops. and restaurants. We had had lunch at Noods, which I mentioned last week. On another day, we went to a great Chinese Dim Sum restaurant called Happy Day.. Nearby, we found a great place for poke—Tamura’s. They are actually a wine and liquor store, but they have a poke counter with a dozen varieties of poke. Really good!
Took the bus deep into the end of Manoa Valley, yesterday, and walked to Lyon Arboretum. It’s a beautiful tropical forest with sections devoted to ethnobotany.
What I’m Reading:
Two Tamales, One Tokarev, and a Lifetime of Broken Promises by Stacy Woodson
In episode 14 of the Guns + Tacos series, we meet Viv, a former street hustler who got religion in prison and became a minister to serve the people who, like herself, made a wrong turn in life and need someone to point them to the way back. It was devotion to her brother that caused Viv to take the wrong turn in the first place, and, now that she’s found her own way back, she wants to make sure her brother does, too. Brother, however, can’t help but stray. Inevitably, he strays so far that he is beyond the reach of prayer. Viv, in order to save him, must turn to something more powerful than prayer—something that only a certain taco truck can provide. After a lifetime of broken promises, Viv takes steps to make sure there will be no more. Woodson delivers one unbroken promise in this story; that of a compelling, fast-paced tale of desperation and sisterly devotion with an ending that, for all the twists and turns, this reader didn’t see coming.
Hawaiian Noir 