A Little Island Hopping

Last week we did a little scouting for business opportunities. We started on Lana'i and ended up on Oahu. We got some good ideas, and some rest and saw some beautiful places.




View of the Fourseasons at Manele Bay from the beach. There are great rates available for kama'aina (locals). It's off season, and a still a bit slow.





Maui on the left, and Kaho'olawe on the right. On a clear day, you can see Hawaii Island behind Kaho'olawe.






View from the sitting room.

























The sitting room. The entire resort has a Chinese theme.






One of the many murals depicting a traditional Chinese wedding.






Up country at Kolele






Up country again.







Fourseasons at Kolele





Lana'i City. Sounds, looks and smells like a little Colorado town.





We had forgotten how much croquet sucks. Apparently others had not, as the courts were all vacant. I almost scored a sextuple peel, but when I missed I went back to taking pictures.






Growing on a Banyon Tree.











An aircraft hanger on Ford Island abandoned after the December 7, 1941 attack and showing damage caused by the explosion of the USS Arizona (blown out windows).





The original control tower on Ford Island.






That'll carry a lot of Twinkies...

Post Ironman workout

I spent the 2009 Ironman World Championships standing on the sidelines with my camera (for about an hour) waiting for a Pullet Surprise moment. Didn't get a one, even with over 200 shots taken. The next day at our local gym, I thought about racism and politics.

Our gym has a bank of tv's with the sound off, but CC on, in front of the elliptical machines, stationary bikes and stare-masters. This particular day, I was watching Fox News because that was on one of the monitors. The other monitors had Oprah, and a "Secret lives of women" episode about prostitution that I really wanted to watch, but didn't because...well, I didn't. On Fox news, BTW, I don't watch news channels anymore. They all seem like my Ma's opera when I was young: Lots of screeching, so you know there must be something important going on, but it's too much trouble to figure it all out. Ditto with internet news sources which seem to be all blogs.

Anyway, these three white guys, and one white woman were talking about how some people think that criticism of Obama is racist. At least twice, the talking heads said "I don't care if he's green, or purple..." another said "I don't care if he is mauve or puse..." They also said, repeatedly, "I don't have a racist bone in my body..." Was it Shakespeare that said "Methinks he doth protest too much?"

I was struck that none said: "I don't care if he's black or brown..." they just used Barney colors. Does that mean they DO care if he's black or brown? And further, I do have a racist bone in my body. I have my guard up when I meet an older white male...the difference is, I recognize my prejudices and don't let them get in the way of personal interactions...they just warn me a little...

Dunno where I'm going with all this.

Kona Ironman 2009, Part 1

It's that time of year again; the Ironman World Championship. This is the week when the village and most of Ali'i Drive slows to a crawl or shuts down completely due to bicycles riding three abreast and runners swerving into traffic to avoid a stick or pebble on the shoulder.

I enjoy this race. I like all the hoopla and the hype, enjoy seeing the elite athletes training on the roads, and I'm a runner and cyclist myself. But even I find myself growing increasingly annoyed by the slow pace on Ali'i Drive.

Yesterday evening while returning from my walk with Jack and Saylor at End of the World, I heard a horn blare (a rarity here) and screeching tires. Ahead of me an athlete had suddenly swerved her bike into the street, nearly getting hit. As I passed her, I slowed and told her how close she came to dying, not so much because of the car and the serve, but because she did that in front of ME. (My reader will remember that I seem to attract fatal accidents).

Maybe I'll try to post some photos, it's fun to see the transformation of Kailua from a sleepy village to the host of an international event. On the other hand, it's dang hot, and who needs traffic and crowds?