Last Whale Watch

The whale watching scene in Maui is growing a little thin since most of the whales that were swimming through are on their way back to Alaska.

I went on a whale watch last Monday and got a few good tail shots and one huge breach right in front of the boat (alas, no photo), but no crazy awesome action like my past few times on the Spirit of Lahaina.

I decided to give it one last shot, and went back out yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to run into a pretty fierce competition pod. I also got some gorgeous shots of the island!

A shot of Maui from the bow of the Spirit of Lahaina

Our first whale sighting of the day!

Curious!

A humpback whale is heading over to check out some whale watchers.

This competition pod we ran into started getting a little rowdy. The male whales were ramming into each other.

Another gorgeous shot of my home island, Maui.

This pod had about 6 or 7 whales at the surface.

It was really amazing running into this pod. This is the most whales I have seen all at one time in one place. They are so massive on their own as individuals that it's really insane to see them all massed together in a pod of six or seven whales.

The wind was pretty much nonexistent on the ocean yesterday so I could really hear the whales as they breathed at the surface. There would be a small puff of air as they exhaled, and then a strained, short whistle as they breathed in. Sometimes, they even trumpeted at the surface. It sounded a lot like the conch shell they carry on the boat.

The last whale tale of the season.

A view on Lanai from the stern.

Heading back to Maui

I love the guys and gals aboard the Spirit of Lahaina. The best boat crew in Lahaina harbor!

Gorgeous skies!

More Maui. You can see that it's raining in the valleys.

Another shot of Lanai.

A hotel on the Lahaina shore. I sometimes camp out on the beach in front.

505 Beach in front of Betty's Cafe. This is my #1 Beach in town.

Front Street from the water.

The Stack

Lahaina Harbor

Shipwreck! The owner of this boat couldn't afford to haul the boat off the reef, so he left it here.

Lahaina Harbor

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Kehau

This is my buddy Kehau, the African Grey parrot that lives at my new favorite deli Take Home Maui.

He recognizes my voice so when he hears me coming up to the store he walks to the edge of his cage, lowers his head and waits for a neck rub.

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Rainbow

Just a spot of color across the street from my house.

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Obsessed.

A few things that I've been mulling over and obsessing about lately:

• Decorating small spaces: I have big plans on moving into a tiny shoebox apartment sometime next month (my fingers and YOUR fingers are crossed that this is actually going to happen), and I've been having a blast researching on how best to decorate teeny, tiny spaces.
• Steve Martin: he's a great writer, outstanding comedian and a charmingly talented banjo player. This man can do no wrong.

• Neil Gaiman: I've been voraciously reading everything this man has written, including his online blog that he has maintained for ten years.

• Billy Collins: My favorite poet. Well, him and Shel Silverstein often duke it out in my imagination to make the number one spot in my heart reserved for poets.

• Zombies: Always, always, always thinking about zombies. It's hard not to. They are EVERYWHERE now! They were even on "House"

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Simple

I was surprised tonight by how good simple food can taste.

After wringing gallons of sweat out of my body in a Bikram Yoga class tonight, I made a post workout snack from some of the only food contents in my kitchen: fresh spinach, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I removed the stems from about two servings of fresh spinach, drizzled it extra virgin olive oil and finished it off with a splash of balsamic vinegar. It was delicious and surprisingly satisfying. It staved off my hunger until after I got out of the shower and my hair had dried enough for me to go out and purchase something more substantial.

Tomorrow I plan on returning to my poached egg experiment and eating two with sauteed spinach cooked with garlic, onion flakes (I don't have an actual real onion in my kitchen at the moment) and diced tomatoes from a can. And then I will probably go buy some real groceries.

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Buzz

Every time I wear my bumblebee necklace (shown above) or my bumblebee drop earrings from Fossil, generously given to me by my friend Ann, I always, always, always get compliments on them. One of my guests at the restaurant last night made me bend over the table so she could get a better look at the earrings. Another diner last month told me her husband had been admiring them all through lunch because he is a bee keeper. If I hadn't been so busy, I would love to have picked his brain about that.

I think bee keeping is amazing and mysterious! The more I hear about it, the more I would love to try it...except that I never, ever want to be stung by a bee again. I've been stung only once, and it wasn't a big deal, but I have a feeling that bee keeping involves getting stung--maybe not often, but enough to scare off most people like myself from taking up the hobby.

I have always loved the phrase "go tell the bees" but never knew what it really meant. Google to the rescue! "Bees were believed to be the souls of the dead returning to earth or on their way to the next world. This probably led to the widespread custom of "telling the bees" when the owner died. If the bees were not asked to stay with their new master or mistress, it was believed they would die or abscond" (Brain P. Dennis).

Some more bee folklore: If a bee flies into your house, it means that someone is coming to visit. If you kill the bee, the visitor will bring you bad news.

Through the writer Neil Gaiman's blog, I found this cool post with photos about a bee keeper who had his bees make a hive in a bell jar.

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Airport Beach

After work, my friend A. met me at the restaurant for drinks and dinner. We were joined by another friend and decided to watch the sunset and swim at Airport Beach.

The water was cold but the view was lovely, and even though it felt a little chilly to go plunging into the ocean, I had to get in. It seems wrong to go to the beach and not get wet.

I snapped on my swimming goggles, slowly walked in until the water was up to my calves and then dived in.

It was cold, but I swam hard and fast to shake the chill off. Even in the low light, there was a lot to see on the shallow reef. I saw a fish I had never seen before, and I wonder if it only comes out a little later in the day to feed.

I also swam into a small turtle. He startled me at first because from a distance, I couldn't figure out what it was, and my slightly paranoid brain instantly rang out "shark!" When it got closer, I realized it was only a small sea turtle, and we swam together for a little while and when he was close enough to touch, I reached out and brushed my fingers across his shell. Please, Turtle Police, don't find me and put me in jail!

I left the turtle and continued my swim parallel to the beach in the shallows--once again, it was near dark, and although I have never seen a shark in the open ocean out here, I know they are out there. I don't want to push my luck with the Man in the Grey Suit (what surfers call sharks--apparently it's bad juju to say "shark" when you are paddling out).

I only swam along the beach for a little ways before I turned and looped back. On my return, I swam into the same turtle. I watched him for a little while before hitting my spot on the beach. I quickly ran out of the water and wrapped myself up in a big towel and continued to watch the sun go down.

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