Promises of a good weekend ahead

Seattle is supposed to have a nice weekend coming up. In most places, considering that Memorial Day is the opening of the summer season, this wouldn't be much to talk about.

In SeaTown, however, the fact that we have any sunny days, let alone a weekend and never mind a HOLIDAY WEEKEND, is newsworthy indeed.

Generally, around here, we are nearly guaranteed to have clouds and rain as a matter of course - especially on holiday weekends.

Blue tarp camping originated here, and for good reason - it rains... ALOT!

So, for this upcoming weekend, we are anticipating sunny days. Warm, sunny days fit for BBQ's and family gatherings.

We'll see...keeping my fingers crossed!

Headaches and Black Licorice

I have a headache.

Have had for two or three days now.

I'm wondering if it's brought on by the black licorice I bought the other day and have been snacking on from time to time? It's somewhat coincidental that the headache and the licorice arrived at nearly the same time. I'm thinking it is coincidental and anecdotal rather than specifically pointing toward symptomatic. At least that's what I'm telling myself at the moment.

Hrrmmmmm.

A Sunny Seattle Weekend!

We had something of an anomaly here this weekend...SeaTown had sunshine! And on the weekend! It was lovely.

Around here, sunny weekends mean working outside. While Goofy used the pressure washer to get the patio ready for the summer bbq season, I tackled the lawns. They are all mowed (YAY). And the best news is, there's a new gardener being interviewed this evening, so there may be a chance that I'll be fighting the lawn less in the future (it's nasty, and despite all my efforts, it usually beats me ;).

After that, I sanded the deck stairs and got them sealed with water seal.

(i'm sore today...lol)

The weather was beautiful...and since COPPER RIVER SALMON arrived in Seattle this past Friday, we got the bbq's fired up and planked some fish! Invited some of the family over, and had a lovely time in the beautiful outdoors...sigh...it's really what it's all about in Seattle...we live for the sunny days....and then we go crazy like we've never seen one... lololol.

It was wonderful...and relaxing...and felt great to get some things done outside...ahhhhhhhhh! It's all relaxed and contented around here...sigh...

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Mother's Day

This isn't the greatest picture ever taken of my mom and me...but when I look at it now, I can feel the comfort and safety of being held in her arms. Feeling her breathe, and laugh and just casually kissing me on the head. The absolute and utter love of a mother.

For a brief moment, I'm three again. No troubles, no worries beyond dodging bedtime to be able to stay for a few more minutes just like this. If I'd only known then how precious those moments really were...but, ahhhh...who does really?

I'm very fortunate to have known her for as long as I did. She was amazing as a person and a friend and a mother. But most of you already know that about her from my other musings on the subject.

Today, I'm reminded about my mother for obvious reasons. It's mother's day.

It's also the 13th anniversary of the day she left this earth for adventures that I will hear about someday when it's my turn to leave.

On the face of it, you might say it's extremely painful for me to recall this day. And in some ways I am right there again in that nondescript room holding her hand and praying that her brother and grandmother were there to help her through.

But in ways that matter, it's less about the day that she died than it is to reflect on how very much she impacted not only my life, but the lives of so many others around her. I"ve talked about that before here too. She was so fortunate to actually have people she cared about tell her how much she meant to them. She really had no idea how much her thoughtful insight mattered to people. But she didn't leave not knowing. And she didn't leave without knowing how very very much goofy and I loved and appreciated her.

And, this is also about the strong women in my life (and likely in yours if you think about it) that have - at one point or another - have been there when they were needed over the years. In huge ways and in little ways that made a huge difference..

They are not my mothers by blood or birth, but they have had impact on my life nonetheless. They are my friends and my family by choice. They are older than me, my age and younger. They are precious.

So, for the sake of the day, I salute all the women in this world who support not only the children they give birth to, but the people that cross through their lives that needed them for that minute or day or year. Some of those people stay with us forever, some are here and gone. But they made huge differences for their being in that place in that time.

Happy Mother's Day. To my mother, and yours and all the women that support us all.

I love you Mom...I still hear you...and I miss you every single day.

Catching up a bit

So, Aloha and Good Day, Eh?!

I've been a bit remiss in my blogging the last few days..guess it's too much sun, fun and good company.

At our last posting, I believe we'd been out to Molokini to "feed the fish", and spent a day at Ka'anapali Beach soaking up the sunshine.

We managed to find many things to do while waiting for the dive weather to be a bit better. Beach was one, shopping (ugh) another, visiting with friends while eating and drinking fancy tropical drinks yet another. Sigh...it's a tough life, but you know, someone's gotta live it. :)

Saturday morning we headed south to Ulua Beach. Goofy did some shore diving there with Richard and Phillip and got some great photos from the turtle cleaning station and along the reef. Magic stayed topside and was beachmaster and camera hauler. Brother Tom and his wife Kristie joined us a bit later in the day and they had fun snorkeling and hanging with Magic (i'm thinking so, anyway ;)

Here are a few pics from Goofy's first and second dives at Ulua.


Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle at the Cleaning Station - Ulua Reef





Moorish Idol's along Ulua Reef.





Juvenile Frogfish - Ulua Reef





Humuhumunukunukuapuaa - aka Hawaiian Reef Triggerfish, Ulua Reef






And, finally, the rare and somewhat elusive Tommyfish. Adorable and yet a bit contrary at times, this one is reliable and fun to have around. :)

I'll continue with Sunday's diving adventures in the next blog.

More Catching Up

So, Aloha and Good Day - Again - Eh?!

Sunday morning we went out diving to Lana'i. It was a fantastic day to dive - calm winds, clear skies, calm seas....idyllic really. We sailed on Dominion with Capt John, Gwen, Jarett and Rebecca - one of our favorite crews evah! It was like diving with your buddies and we had a great time.

Our first dive was at "No Name" aptly named because no one has named the dive site yet. Shrugs. :D

We had a great dive there, water was clear, very little surge...lots of swim-throughs (arches and caves/lava tubes). We saw a bunch of fish and stuff.

On the second dive, we were actually able to get into First Cathedral because the water was still very calm and the swell was small. First Cathedral is one of the more famous dive sites in Hawai'i. It's lava tubes and fingers have formed in ways that create beautiful big caves and swim throughs where all sorts of sea life flourishes (and hides under shelves - pesky sharks).

Goofy had pretty much recovered from her "bug" day out to Molokini, and was having more of a windshield kinda experience this day. Magic apparently decided that was kinda boring, so decided a little head injury might be a fun and interesting way to spice things up a bit.

Being exceeding graceful (not, LOL), I took a step off the starboard side of the deck, failing to calculate in the angle of the corner. Suffice it to say, deck hit tank, jamming tank/reg first stage squarely into magic's skull - with a resounding "BONG" (I think it was the emptiness of the skull making the noise, others insist it was the tank ringing...shrugs...idk).

Neither loss of consciousness nor excessive bleeding happened, so I signaled OK and submerged - a bit bleary headed, but whatever.... ;) Got a hell of a knot on my skull, and a little concussion, but I'm a diver, so I went diving... :P

The dive itself was really nice - pretty good viz and Goofy got some good pics (Magic couldn't focus so Goofy took over photog duties).

Here are a few of the pics from out there...


Raccoon Butterfly Fish





Magic Beams Up





The Endemic and somewhat rare Bandit Angelfish





That about gets you up to date...have a great time wherever you are!

Magic and Goofy

A Beautiful Day at the Beach

Yesterday, we spent a wonderful, relaxing, sunny day on the beautiful white sands of Ka'anapali Beach.

We rented beach cabanas and settled in for the long haul.



We watched people build sandcastles,







and people learn to surf.



We watched sail boats sail by.



We waded in the surf and went in for swims
We people watched



We napped

We had a fantastic day.

Aloha....

Now...where was I?

Ah...Olawalu.



So, we made it to Olawalu and finally found a good dive site with little wind, no current to speak of, and fun stuff to find in the lava fingers that come into the water here.

Goofy and I decided to go on our own adventure here, and the crew knew we were able to navigate on our own, so we geared up and got ready to splash.

At about that time, a loud hissing sound started coming from Goofy's gear. Seems like her BC was deciding to inflate on it's own, and her low pressure hose was wonky. Captain Dan had a new reg for her to use so we went in and gave it a try. Goofy decided to leave her camera on-board the boat while she tested the new rig, she didn't add extra weight to account for that, though, so we had one more trip back to the boat for more lead. LOL.

We descended and toured around a bit saw some neat fish and turtles, but you know it just wasn't a day to dive.



The lead in Goofy's suit (which she'd just stuffed in the top of her wetsuit) decided to migrate (lmao at this point), and the longer we were under, the farther down it went...by the time we went back to the boat, it was at her knees (rotflol).

Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.

Definitely a bug day. :)

The ride home was happily short, since we'd come nearly all the way back to Lahaina Harbor to find a good site.

We went into the shop and got our buddy Ron to fix the gear.

Then...we headed home where Goofy took a nap! LOL.

Bug day for sure...

Wednesday was another day...

Just sayin'

Diving on the HIGH Seas

Today's adventure in diving started out simply enough. Head down to Lahaina, see our old friends, get on the boat, head out to Molokini.

We've done it a dozen times or more. Good weather, great weather, rainy weather. Thought we'd seen it all.

Until today.

Today, as we climbed aboard good ol' Dauntless, a foul wind began to blow (only we hadn't noticed it yet). Captain Dan and our Dive Masters Shannon and Jaret. We set course for the crater and settled in for the hour cruise down past the south end of Maui. As we went, the winds picked up, but we didn't care, we were headed to one of the richest dive sites in the world.

Onward, onward we went.

Along the way we noticed dive boats and snorkel boats turning back and heading for more sheltered sites. Well, all of them actually.

Bah! We are not afraid! We will head onward to our moorage in the crater Molokini.

As we passed the end of the island and crossed into the unprotected wind of the channel, our spirits sagged a bit, but still we pressed on toward the object of our diving day, the crater Molokini.



Humpback whales breached in the channel...once, twice, three times. And still we pressed on toward our destination. The seas churned and the boat tossed and turned, but we were so close we could feel it, the crater Molokini.

No one else was sailor enough to brave the channel seas, but we had a stout hearted captain and crew, and were a hearty group set on diving. All around us turned back toward calmer, more protected waters, but we pressed on....toward the crater Molokini.




At last we arrived at the object of our quest. We were alone in the crater and for good reason - even inside it's protected walls, the waves were three to four footers. There was not going to be a descent here today, no going over the stern into the crystal blue water, no fishes, or turtles or sharks for us this day in the crater Molokini.

And, as rough as the trip out to Molokini was, the trip back toward Maui was worse, as by now the winds had picked up in earnest and we were heading into them.



The boat pitched and yawed, the passengers erped and gagged, and the water came over the starboard bow with a vengeance, soaking crew and hearty diver - but not the captain as he was in the wheelhouse behind the windshield (lol). We held on for dear life and rode the waves back toward the calmer protected spots along the shoreline. Where the diving was called on account of strong currents.

Finally, on the third attempt, we found a calm spot along the reefs of Olawalu.

(to be continued - tropical drinks are calling)

Amazing For Many Reasons

I'm fairly certain that most of you reading this have heard of this amazing performance by Susan Boyle on the first night of the British show "Britain's Got Talent" that aired on Saturday (April 11).

But for those who haven't any idea of what I'm talking about, or more importantly, haven't actually HEARD her sing, here's a link:

Click Here If You Please

This woman is amazing on so many levels. She's got a voice that sounds like an angel. She's got a personality that is fun and sincere, and an overall sense of innocence and caring that is refreshing.

She isn't much to look at, she's 47 years old, and she doesn't seem particularly jaded or in tune with the world - which is why everyone is so damned amazed at the voice that fairly bursts forth in joy from this woman.

And, there, my friends is where I get kinda pissed off.

It is so shallow and childish that we still are so quick to judge by looks alone. And it's obvious from the looks on the faces of those "adults" in the audience there in Britain that they were doing just that. We were doing that. We often think ourselves above it. We pass it off as a childhood behavior (but who teaches them that it's OK?). We are all still capable of amazing depths of cruelty and judgement. How very childish indeed.

And when we are confronted with someone like Susan Boyle, whose innocent demeanor, happy disposition and talent far outweigh anything anyone thought about her - we all cover our shameful behavior by suddenly rooting for her to succeed. And now, every media outlet in the world is picking up on it - the biggest hypocrites of the lot.

I get it, I just don't like it. We should have been rooting for her to succeed all along. You know it's true.

So, shame on us...

And good for you, Susan Boyle. You go...and show us how stupid we all were to doubt and judge to begin with.

Just Sayin'