We escaped to Kaaawa again last night, and awoke early this morning to walk the beach as we did for most of the past 20 years. We count ourselves incredibly fortunate to have friends who put up with our overnight visits.
This morning wasn’t one of those mornings with dramatic colors at dawn, but Kaaawa is a special place nonetheless.
We were lucky enough to be greeted by quite a few of our canine friends, and I managed to get pictures of a few of them.
I sent much of Saturday, camera in hand, documenting the wedding of one of the many grandchildren/nieces/cousins/etc in an extended family who were nearby neighbors in Kaaawa. The wedding was at Kualoa Regional Park, the party at the family home in Kaaawa. Today I’ll be spending several more hours doing the first cut on Saturday’s pictures, selecting the best and giving them some basic edits. With perhaps 500 photos taken, that will take me a bit of time.
I’m not sure how I got started doing this. I think I just brought a camera when we were invited to one of their family parties years ago, and shared the resulting pictures, guaranteeing that they would then call me for those graduation parties, weddings, first birthdays, etc. I try to explain that I’m not a pro and they should explore their options. But they keep coming back. I guess the price (free) is right.
Even with all my disclaimers, the pressure is on once things are in motion and I’m trying to make all the small decisions that go with taking these candid photos. Not complaining, but…
Anyway, here are a few samples from Saturday.
Top: Just married!
Center: On stage at the party!
Bottom: The next generation .
(I tried this last one in color, but decided the B&W just has ore character)
I’ll be back after digging myself out of this hole….
I vividly remember getting an unusual early morning telephone call on September 11, 2001.
The call broke the stillness in our Kaaawa home in advance of our usual early wakeup. It must have been somewhere around 4 or 4:30 a.m. When the phone rings at that time, you of course are immediately wondering who in your family might have a sudden illness or accident. I answered.
It was a friend who I worked with back during my days with Common Cause, more than 15 hears earlier.
I don’t remember her exact words, but her message was to the point. Turn on your television. Now! It’s unbelievable.
She was right. It was unbelievable.
I blogged that morning.
No entry today, just a moment of silence as we watch events unfold a half world away
We went out walking early, not knowing what else to do. Another of our regular morning characters, who lives across from the beach, was sitting just feet from the water in a folding chair with fishing poles on either side of him.
He said he didn’t know what else to do either.
“I guess I should say a prayer for all those people….”, he said in a fading voice. As should we all.
This morning, 15 years later, we were back in Kaaawa. We spent the night with good friends after an afternoon and evening doing a favor of photographs at the wedding of Lilinoe Rezentes-Kaohu, whose extended family were nearby neighbors in Kaaawa. I’ve carried my camera through many of their family parties over the years which offered my wonderful photo opps! This was another in a long string.
This morning was quiet. We did our early walk along the beach, although there wasn’t much beach at the high tide. Then we sat with our coffee and a light breakfast.
With my iPad, I captured this photo with the elements of the morning. Visible out the window, the lush foliage of Kaaawa. Under the window, our friends’ surfboards, reminding you that the ocean is just a short distance down the hill. It was quite a peaceful. It seemed like a world away from that long ago morning in 2001.
In any case, I hope to be back with some of Saturday’s photos, which tell their own story of island life.
We were vey lucky yesterday. Hurricane Lester stayed just far enough away to have only minimal effects. Only some scattered rain in Kaaawa, despite fears that it could be wet on the windward side. Not windy at all. Dodged the bullet again.
So here are a few pictures from today’s early morning. I don’t know the story behind the sign, but I’m sure it’s a nice one.
Our one problem is that we forget our usual supply of dog biscuits, so our regular dogs were a bit miffed. I did scrounge up a single small Milk Bone treat, which we saved for Buddy and Scarlett, the little Pomeranian-Papillon duo that we run into towards the end our the walk.
