(Note: all pictures are linked to a larger version. Click on the picture to see…)
Well, as usual, I’ve been inconsistent and lazy when it comes to updating this blog (well, and with respect to just about everything in my life) but that hasn’t stopped me from taking pictures.
Lots of pictures.
Actually, that makes it worse. If I only took a dozen or so pictures a week, it’d be easy to sift through them, pick the best, crop & clean them, and write a few words to make it look like I am somewhat literate. When I take over a thousand pictures in one week, the task becomes overwhelming. Until I can "deal" with that one week, how can I post anything else?
Since Heidi (my sister) and Eric (my brother) both live in Hawai’i on the island of O’ahu, we decided to have Thanksgiving in the islands. (I used frequent flier miles to fly my parents out as well as Kel, the kids, and me.)
(It was rough on me, though, because of business travel immediately before Thanksgiving. I spent five nights in Panama, two nights in Manzanillo (Mexico), two nights in Los Angeles, (one night in the plane), two nights in Hong Kong (although the first didn’t really count since I checked in around 1 a.m.), two nights at home, then the trip to Hawai’i. By the time I got to Hawai’i, I had no clue what time zone it was, but I knew I needed sleep.) (I can’t sleep much on airplanes - at least in coach. I’m willing to try international first class, but my company seems reluctant…)
Heidi and her husband, Luis, live very close to the water (100 yards?). The neighborhood has a tiny beach (in the middle of a bunch of heavy duty rocks and 12′ cliffs) which is too rough for kids, but perfect for a snorkeling entry point.
Heidi was showing Kel & I around and we saw quite a few turtles grazing along the shoreline. Like this one:
At that point, I was itching to get into the water. With camera, of course…
Since Heidi & Kel were not terribly interested, I had to wait until Luis got in a day or two after Dyson & I arrived (Kel & Keira arrived a day before the boy & I because of frequent flier availability, etc.)
Luis was ready, though…
At first, it seemed challenging to find the turtles (chelonia mydas, AKA green sea turtles, by the way). After a bit, we started to get the hang of it…
Luis was kind enough to take a picture of me swimming close to one of our reptilian friends. (No, I didn’t touch it…)
The rest are displayed in the order in which I snapped the photo. I tried to ensure that I only showed each turtle once. (I saw a few of the turtles on two or three different days.) Some of the angles make identification difficult, but I also have at least half a dozen pictures for each that I’ve included. I think I have at least 17 unique turtles…
I found that the zoom didn’t work very well under water. Too much sediment.
My best pictures come from swimming within a couple feet of the turtle…
This guy was just trying to take an afternoon nap, when I stick my face in his business…
I know that most people don’t enjoy turtles as much as I do (my common map turtle, Goofy, has been in my possession for almost 22 years…). Anyway, hopefully some of y’all at least enjoyed the photos…
If I can avoid paralysis of choice, I will post some more underwater pix from Hawai’i. I also plan (hope) to put together posts for "scenic shots" and "family fun" from O’ahu…
