Rachel, well thank you very much for the compliment! I've been writing off and on since high school...back when dirt was young. I've had a few things published, but nothing to write home to Mom about. I enjoy writing for my friends and family now, and that's about it. My Mom saved all the letters I wrote while we lived in Saudi Arabia and keeps threatening to put them into a book, but I plead with her not to since I may want to go back some day...(NOT!!) I think I get much too descriptive which leads to eyeball fatique.
Big smiles!
Yokwe,
Shari
How many members here from Hawaii?
RachelLF, First time I printed one of Shari's articles (she declines to be one of our writers right now, maybe you can bring her out of retirement, I certainly can't) Mike went nuts. Who is this lady? Is she a professional writer? Is she an English teacher? Love at first word. Of course, I only shared with him because I was already in awe.
Christi
Nuff said...silly dear.
Yokwe,
Shari
aloha from the island of Kauai
Maybe you could help me convince her to go back to the articles. I sooo love this lady.
Aloha d_Thomcat, welcome to the TZG forum.
You will find lots of nice folks and plenty of good advice here - we are so glad you joined us. Do tell us all about your life on the "Garden Isle", and we LOVE pictures!
Jen
How's it Thomcat! Show us some photos from the "Garden Island".
Aloha, Dave
Would definately love to see pictures of Kapaa and surrounding areas! Please?!
Yokwe,
Shari
Aloha.
Oh, I remember Kauai and the Waimea Canyon. What a wonderful day we spent there. Pictures, please Thomcat
Mahalo,
Pu'ole, A.K.A. Sylvain.
about Kaua`i
Where to start. ,,,geez... It is beautiful no doubt a land of dreams. But you better like rain especially if you live on the windward side. Kaua`i is the rainiest island on earth, Kaua`i is aprox 30X30 miles across length and width. It is basically an old dead volcano sticking out of the ocean.
Kaua`i has no freeways. When i first moved here 30 years ago Kauai had 2 stop lights. Now my guess is 20. The population has doubled in the time i lived here from 30,000 to 60,000. Because there is basically only one road, with many offshoots, we have traffic problems.
Real estate is expensive. Local folks feel pressured because foreign outsiders have driven property values so high, It is the most insular and culturally local of the larger islands, though, some Big Islanders might want to debate this. Kauai is very much like its own little country.
One of the things that makes Kauai Kauai is it is hard to get to. We had a big to-do recently when they tried to bring a fast super ferry to Kauai. It was really a sight to behold watching swimmers, surfers and paddle canoes blockade the harbor.
There is crime on Kaua`i like everyplace else. However, I never shut my doors. I don't even have locks on my doors. Many times the front page news is Orchid shows.
They do not call it the garden island for nothing. The island is basically a riotous tropical garden. Oh and one more thing. Kaua`i has thousands, yes i said thousands of feral chickens. They are everywhere and i mean everywhere.. In the Walmart parking lot, the county and state building grounds. and in my back yard. Kauai also has lots of dogs.
Ok i will try to drum up some photos
In the mean time i am off to take a swim in the ocean and play with the fish
Aloha from kauai
Aloha! I have loved Kauai since I spent a few glorious weeks there about 15 years ago. We did everything! Helicopter over the canyon, riverboat up to the waterfalls, cruises along the Napali coast...had to see it all. Such a beautiful place. Really looking forward to any pics you can post Thomcat! So glad you have joined our little band of cyber mauraders. We have fun.
Yokwe,
Shari
You forgot to mention that they are unusually beautiful chickens - like everything else on Kauai. I watched a mother hen with 9 babies cross the highway. Cars were zipping past but but everyone swerved to avoid the family and they all made it safely to the other side. Chickens are truly a way of life there.
Oops, wrong picture.....
This message was edited Jun 27, 2009 8:05 PM
Cool beaches too!
Kauai wildflowers along the roadside.
This is the chicken picture I meant to post.
I have to say, I toured both the Big Island and Kauai and loved them both. Each island has several very distinct sections and it was so much fun to see how the topography and the ocean change as you circumvent the islands.
We were there in April 2007. Here is the breakwater that guards the entrance to Nawiliwili harbour. There are rainbows just about everywhere in Hawai'i. Can't see a rainbow? Wait a few minutes.
Someone once corrected me after I had said Kaua'i, pointing out that it is pronounced Hawai'i. She had never even set foot anywhere the islands. With one look, Gail silenced me before things got ugly. She is a saint. She saves me on a regular basis: SuperWife!
Aloha,
Pu'ole, a.k.a. Sylvain.
Speaking of rainbows...it was on Kauai that my DH and I and two other friends drove through a rainbow! We were in a convertible, and watched each other change colors and then "WaaaaaaaY COOOOled" it all the way to wherever we were going. It was a rare and truly special experience.
Yokwe,
Shari
To ardesea
I always stop for the baby chickens and their moms. Fortunately they seem to be smart enough to stay out of the middle of the busy main roads. They do occasionally cross the road with is very cute seeing the hen followed by her trail of chicks
I tend to yell at the roosters, who do go into the middle of the roads. They appear not to be so bright and seem to have a death wish. I yell, YOU STUPID THING!!!!!!!!!," as i try to avoid them. Then i generally think, as in every time i think this, their heads are so small they must not have a lot of brains for that big body...hahahaha
I tended to yell at the roosters at 4 am when they were cock-a-doodle-dooing. It was hard enough to get used to the 6 hour time difference without them doing their thing. LOL
They were definitely part of the charm of Kauai however - along with the flowers. I have no idea what this tree is but they were growing all over the place.
Looks like a Poinciana, Delonix regia.
Aloha, everyone.
While we are discussing interesting hawai'ian trees, could someone please tell me what these 2 pictures represent? The top one was seen at the Hawai'i National Botanical Gardens (Papaiku, HI) and the bottom one was seen at the Dole plantation on Oahu.
It has been 2 years and I still couldn't identify them by myself.
Mahalo nui loa
Pu'ole, a.k.a. Sylvain.
Hi Sylvain, was that near Papaiko? World Botanical Gardens? It is a private enterprize.
The top photo is Mendinilla magnifica. The bottom photo looks like an Erythrina. Maybe Erythrina crista-gali.
No. I am sure it was HAWAI'I TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
27-717 Old Mamalahoa Highway
Papaikou, HI 96781
The place is built into a ravine and you walk down the steep incline while looking at all the beautiful tropical specimens. Then you realize you'll need mountain goat DNA to get back here. I seriously considered building a little house down there and remaining there for the rest of my life because I never envisaged I could climb back up there with my heart problem. Luckily, they have golf carts to take you back up. I tipped the driver handsomely; he had certainly saved me a trip to the emergency room. One of my friends decided to show everyone what great physical shape she had. Well guess what: she made it to the top but if the hill had been 20 feet higher, she would have collapsed before she got to the top. Instead, she collapsed onto the first available bench she saw, by the side of the road.
Thank you so much for the ID.
Pu'ole, a.k.a. Sylvain.
Thanks Sylvain, that's along the Scenic Route at Onomea Bay, Dan Lutkenhouse's place.
We live in the Kailua-Kona area just a few miles from Mlassi in Kainaliu. We retired here four and a half years ago and have had no regrets. We came from a beach area of California so the ocean and its activities were important to us. We had a 40' by 100' lot and though after many years of trying we converted much of our sand to soil and grew quite a few things on our little lot, this is a gardener's paradise in comparison. We have closer to 1/2 acre here and grow limes, lemons, papayas, bananas, mangos, figs, and a variety of greens as well as many tropical ornamentals. But living here is not for everyone. Our daughter is grown, our parents are gone, and we go back to California often to see friends and family. Also we can do volunteer jobs instead of getting up at 5 daily to teach in public school as we did all of our working lives. We have good health insurance too, so we are very lucky compared to people with families who are having a hard time staying employed and suffering with the high cost of living. We are used to, and comfortable with a multi-ethnic population and the many customs and values that brings with it. We are never bored, though we are sometimes frustrated with the lack of responsiveness of local government, We have no city government here, only a county that encompasses nearly every climate zone on earth, and is as big as many states. the center of power is on the other side of the island even though something like 65-70% of revenues are generated on this side, mainly through resorts and tourist related business. Most of the people we know who retired here after many visits are here to stay, but we know of many people who returned to the mainland too.
After the big Hurrican Iniko...the chickens were blown around with the wild Kalij(sp?) Pheasants and the crosses made beautiful wild chickens!!!
Anyone with any serious health issues should consider living on Oahu. The outer islands have relatively few doctors, even Kaiser HMO sends anyone with a pimple to Honolulu for treatment. This is NOT an area for the timid, the faint of heart and health nor anyone who is dependent upon others.
I would not live anywhere else in this world! Except maybe New Zealand!