Link

Seems like I did not put that last link in correctly. Trying it again. If this doesn't work, well I copied and pasted it and it worked fine. Is it just me??

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/scenes_from_antarctica.html

What happened to the coffee farmers??

Now, I just bet all of you are wondering that aren't you?? But it has been awhile since my last blog. I keep telling myself to come here and write and then it finally occured to me that I can save what I write and come back to it later to finish. So this may be a very unconnected bit of ramblings. And where do I start. Guess I'll just go back to the end of last month when Natalie was here. Natalie is a friend of a friend who seemed to become one of my daughters while she was here. We enjoyed her short stay so much and hope she comes back someday. We did a whirlwind trip of the island in 3 days, visiting 2-step snorkel area, walking on the lava coast and writing her name with coral on the black lava cliffs. (This is a local custom.) Then we took a trip across the saddle road to Hilo, 2 sets of waterfalls and of course the mighty volcano. See what you can do in a weekend and still do the market. A couple days later friends from Michigan arrived. In fact they are still here. We've shared island trips with them and they have picked coffee for us and it has worked out great. (Just so you know, coffee picking season is from Aug-Nov.) We'll be sharing Thanksgiving with our outrigger paddle club on the bay and then they are off to the cold mainland. They actually have taken trips out and saw most of the island. Luckily one of the day trips we took with them was to the green sand beach. It is definitely on our list to recommend everyone go to. It's just so unusual and the sand is totally green. Olivine is the mineral, I believe, that makes it happen. It's down at South Point, a pretty desolate, windy but dramatically striking area. One of the most facinating things we did was to swim with the dolphins. Locals tell me that we are more likely to have dolphins in Kealakekua Bay during time of full moon. The morning we were down there was the day after and the dolphins where jumping and spinning in the bay so we decided to go in, swim out to where they were and watch. They were quite comfortable with us there, bringing there babies right up near us. Let me tell you, if you can't tell already, that it is a mighty awesome experience. One sight I have to tell is watching three dolphins circle around, dive down, and come up perpendicular and parallel to each other. Then they start rolling. Suddenly I realized that I was witnessing them prepare for their spin. I got to see the whole technique from beginning to end as when they reached the top I quickly looked up and watched as they spun out of the water, something most people only see from shore.

Okay, where am I now? Yes, it's whale whatching time and tomorrow Dorothy & I are taking the 'Body Glove' snorkel trip. I've never snorkeled on the island north of Kailua-Kona and this boat takes us north. Well, north is where our wintering humpback whales have already been spotted this season. We have our fingers crossed that the captain knows where they are and after snorkeling he'll take us on a mission to spot them before returning back to the pier.

Time to post this, getting a bit long but before I go I have a wonderful friend here who is a professional photographer. And of course he knows many other photographers and I just have to share this site of pics he sent me. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/scenes_from_antarctica.html Another awsesome place.


Then May you always have Love to Share, Health to Spare, And Friends Who Care.