Smoky Night 2010

This was the scene at 12:15am on New Year's Day, in a neighborhood in Kane‘ohe, where Kat's mom lives. The smoke was from all of the fireworks that people were setting off at the stroke of midnight to ring in the new year. With the light winds that night, the smoke hung in the air until the early morning hours.

There were a lot more fireworks set off this year than last year, as evidenced by comparing the photos.

Accident Scene

On Christmas Day, we came across this unfortunate four-car accident on the Interstate H3 East near the Tetsuo Harano Tunnels. We had seen the white police SUV (far right with hatch open) race past us as we were getting onto the H3. It didn't look like there were any major injuries, but cars were damaged.

Table Reflection

A reflection of the street scene off of the table top at a shave ice shop near St. Louis Heights.

Fearless Foursome

Four of the pastors at New Hope Leeward are hosting a new message series called "Fearless", which officially begins this week. Senior Pastor Mike Lwin (center top), along with Pastors Mike McGuire, Art Larson, and Alec Shimizu (left to right) contributed to the eight-week series.

I took this photo after we were done recording the small group discussion DVD that I had the privilege of directing. We had scheduled to shoot the eight chapters over two days, but thank God, we shot everything in a day! I think that the project pushed all of us who worked on it further into faith, and away from fear. It was only through Christ that we made it through. It's my prayer that we all grow in our faith and live it.

Open Market

The Kapi‘olani Community College hosts an open farmer's market every Saturday. Fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, and hot food stands line the college's parking lot.

Today's photo shows the crowd on the Saturday before the Honolulu Marathon.

Closing Up

After arriving at HNL, the Xiamen Airlines delivery flight crew fits covers over the pitot tube sensors on the nose of their new Boeing 737-800, B-5488. Once the aircraft is closed up, the crew and aircraft will spend the night in Honolulu, and continue across the Pacific the next morning. The sensors measure airspeed and other flight dynamics, and need to be covered if an aircraft is to be kept overnight.

Peck

Okay ... I posted a short version of this story on my Facebook page, and had requests to show the photo ...

Here's what happened ... a couple of days ago, I got home from running errands about 1pm. After backing my car into my parking stall, I saw this kolea (golden plover) pecking at the bumper of this car that parks on the opposite side of a median strip in our parking area. At first, I wondered why the bird was pecking the bumper ... it was pecking at its reflection!

Well, of course, I had to get a shot of this. I've tried to get a decent shot of a kolea for a while, but they are rather skiddish. Not this day, it so focused on attacking its reflection, it did not care that I was creeping closer. I got about six feet from the kolea, before I got the shot I wanted (above).

To top things off, ten minutes later, I looked from our lanai, and the bird was still at it! When Kat & I had gone out three hours later, it was still at the same spot of the bumper! Kat got a chuckle out of it. It led me to think, how long was this bird really at this? When we came home an hour later, it was eating bugs in the grass.

North Shore Traffic

On New Year's Eve day, we went to Hale‘iwa to meet up with relatives for lunch. This was the traffic along Kamehameha Highway, it was heavy due to the high waves on the north shore.

Ace!

Our nephew Cobe celebrated his 12th birthday this past weekend ... he's striking a pose after an ace on the Bayview Mini-golf Course.

Bright Magentas

A bunch magenta-colored orchids that Kat's mom had given me a while back. This is the first set of flowers from this plant that I thought it would be a while before it would bear any orchids. Patience and TLC paid off ...

In an experiment, I used the on board flash to give the flowers an extra boost, since the sunlight was too harsh ...

Happy 7th Birthday!

New Hope Leeward celebrates its seventh birthday this month. The hip-hop and hula ministries put on special performances during last weekend's services.

Ko Olina Sunset

The sun sets behind the Ko ‘Olina's Lagoon 4 ...

Sparkling Lagoon

The late afternoon sunlight sparkles off of the water's surface, while a family lounges in the lagoon.

Beach Bound

Shifting over to the west side of O‘ahu, Kat & I ventured to the Lagoons at Ko ‘Olina. On this particular day, we went to Lagoon 4, which is near the Ko ‘Olina Marina, and Kalaeloa Harbor.

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A330 makes a sweeping right turn to line up for final approach for Runway 8L. It's bringing in passengers from Atlanta, GA.

Kualoa Beach

Today's photo is a part of the beach that separates Kualoa Beach Park and Mokoli‘i Island ("Chinaman's Hat"), with Kāne‘ohe Bay and the Ko‘olau Mountains in the background.

Kāne‘ohe Bay

Looking toward the south side of Kualoa Park, which is the uppermost part of Kāne‘ohe Bay, with the Ko‘olau Mountains in the background ...

Lanikai Point

An outrigger canoe traverses across Kailua Bay, behind Lanikai Point. Moku Nui, the islet in the background is one of two that make up Na Mokulua.

Kiteboarders

During the summer, Kathy & I took a week off and spent it driving to various beaches around O‘ahu. Some of the photos I took are the subject of this month's theme week ... "Beach Week".

Kiteboarders take advantage of the tradewinds at Kailua Beach Park on O‘ahu's Windward side.

Local Style Table Favor

This was the table favor from Todd & Dyann's wedding. It was a gift box made from palm fronds, that contained cookies. On the top of the favor was a miniature ‘ukulele. Only in Hawai‘i!

A New Decade!

Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou! & Hau‘oli Kekeke Hou!

Happy New Year & Happy New Decade!

May you all have a blessed and prosperous 2010!