West Shore Campus

Our home church, New Hope Leeward, opened its fourth campus this past Sunday as the West Shore Campus! Focussing on the Wai‘anae side of O‘ahu, the West Shore Campus will set up their 11am worship service at beach parks on the Wai‘anae Coast. Led by Campus Pastor Milton Bradley, the fourth campus will minister to those farther out from the other three New Hope Leeward campuses, and as an outreach for the homeless on that part of the island.

The homelessness on the west side has seen a spike in growth, especially among families with children, with the downturn in the economy, and theCity & County's push to get the homeless out of metro Honolulu.

Today's photo was taken during the praise and worship part of the service.

Paddleboard Sunset

A stand-up paddleboarder gets some time on the water at Ala Moana Beach Park as the sun goes down. I got this during rehearsals of the 2010 Lantern Floating from my camera position, and during a part in the show where my camera wasn't a factor.

White & Green Orchids

Recent blooms of my white and green orchids.

Aloha Vision

Aloha Stadium recently had a new video board installed that replaced the Matrix scoreboard and Sony JumboTron. The new Aloha Vision screen is an LED screen that can be split (as seen above) or shown full-screen. We got to debut the screen on Saturday with the first high school football games of the 2010 season beginning with the ‘Iolani School Father Bray Classic. The first game featured Pac-Five Wolfpack downing the Kaiser Cougars, 7-3. The feature game had the ‘Iolani Raiders overpowering the Waialua Bulldogs, 37-7.

Double Duck

A duck and its reflection in a pond at Moanalua Gardens.

Family Photo

The wedding couple's family jumps in to take a family photo after their wedding at the Ko ‘Olina Resort. Couples married at Ko ‘Olina are taken to one of the four lagoons to have beachside photos taken.

Hawaiian Blessing

Anytime a new aircraft type is brought into a Hawai‘i-based entity, it usually undergoes a Hawaiian blessing. It even applies for the military units based here. Recently, the Hawai‘i Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron received the first two (of 20) F-22A Raptors. These two fighters were blessed by Kahu Kordell Kekoa, the chaplain for Kamehameha Schools, with Hawaiian water and sea salt. The customary blessing is preceded with a Christian prayer in Hawaiian and English. The salt and water are poured into a koa wood bowl, and sprinkled with ti leaves.

Today's photo shows Kahu Kekoa blessing the tail section of aircraft 03-4045, which has the "Hawai‘i" tail flash.

Blast Off!

On the beach fronting the Elks Lodge, there are these cement bowls. It's not known what they are for, though it looks like they could be bases for over-water decks. Anyway, these bowls are a favorite for kids to play in. This boy was playing in it during high tide, and was caught by a crashing wave.

Mā‘alaea Lookout

A bit northwest outside of Mā‘alaea on the Honoapi‘ilani Highway on the way to Lahaina, is a scenic point which overlooks Mā‘alaea Bay, and has Haleakalā in the background.

Fireman's Helmet

A firefighter's helmet from Honolulu Fire Department's Engine Company 6 (Kalihi) lays on the ground as the firefighter tends to a car crash victim.

Queen Anne's Revenge

Hawai‘i is the location being used to film "The Pirates Of The Caribbean 4: On Starnger Tides", the fourth volume in the "The Pirates Of The Caribbean" movie series, starring Johnny Depp. The Queen Anne's Revenge is the ship used by Jack Sparrow's nemesis Blackbeard. The sailing ship was towed to Hawai‘i from the US mainland for the filming, and is seen above moored at the He‘eia Kea Boat Harbor in Kāne‘ohe. The film is due for release in May 2011.

Queen Anne's Revenge is seen above from a shot I got from the He‘eia Kea State Park.

Red Plumeria

One of the rarer types of plumeria, are the deep red variety. Kat & I came across a red plumeria tree in bloom at the Waipahu Plantation Village visitor center.

Raptor Sunset

A few weeks ago, the Hawai‘i Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron received their first two Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptors. To show the fighter's capabilities, the 199th held a demonstration practice on the west side of O‘ahu a day before the blessing ceremony. Show center was a mile off-shore, and abeam the ‘Ihilani Resort.

A friend had told me about the flight demo, and Kat & I had ventured down to Ko 'Olina's Lagoon 4 to watch the performance. We were amazed with the jet's capabilities. The F-22A can be seen below the top center cloud.

Playing In The Sand

While Kat & I waited for a flight demonstration by a Hawai‘i Air National Guard Lockheed-Martin F-22A Raptor over the west side of O‘ahu, we saw this boy playing in the sand.

Sandy Sisters

Our nieces Ellie and Kisa at Mokulē‘ia Army Beach on New Year's Day. This was Ellie after she got buried in the sand. We had awesome weather to begin 2010, and decided to take our nieces and nephew to the beach for the afternoon.

River Surfing

A bodyboarder takes on the muddy current of the Waimea River as it meets Waimea Bay.

Gone Fishin' 4

A group of fishermen line the beach of the Sand Island Marine Recreational Park.

Reading At The Beach

On a trek to Kailua Beach last year, I came across the woman who seemed more interested in the novel she's reading than the beach.

Pahipahialua Beach

Welcome to August! Being that this is the middle of summer, our theme week will be "Beach Shots", a variety of photos I've taken around beaches that Kat & I have been to.

Leading off our theme week is fisheye shot of Pahipahialua Beach on O‘ahu's North Shore. On the left side of the photo is Kukaimanini Islet.

Overturned

A Honda Civic (background) driven by a lone female, crashed and flipped over on the southbound lanes of the Likelike Highway on the Kalihi Valley side of the Wilson Tunnels. According to other witnesses, she managed to crawl out of her car. Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) firefighters administered first aid, and placed her on a backboard. Fortunately, she was responsive, as firefighters treating her asked her the typical head injury questions.

One northbound lane was closed by Honolulu Police Department (HPD) and HFD on the initial response. One southbound lane was closed as well. At one point the both southbound lanes were closed to allow a City & County ambulance unit to arrive quicker escorted by a few more HPD vehicles.

After exiting the southbound tunnel myself, I noticed an HFD engine, and HPD cruisers responding to a call on the northbound lanes. Little did I know, that they would be responding to the same accident. Those units had to go up to the tunnels, then turn around, where there is an over-height exit.

I came across the accident scene as passers-by had stopped to render aid. One theory is that she may have been speeding, and lost control of her car, then flipped it. There is a dip in the Likelike, a couple of hundred yards before the accident scene, and has been known to cause high-speed crashes. Earlier in the day, HPD was running speed enforcement on the southbound lanes, on the Kalihi Valley side of the Wilson Tunnels.

I submitted this photo to a couple of local news outlets.

Delivery Crew

The delivery crew of this China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 mingles around the aircraft after it arrived at HNL. Normally, the crew and aircraft gets to overnight in Honolulu, before continuing onto Shanghai via Majuro and Saipan.

The group huddled together is looking at photos they took at the base of the stairs. The guy in the green shirt takes video of Kamaka Air's Super DC-3 parked several yards away, while eating an ice cream bar supplied by the ground handling company.

Droplets

Dew droplets on our windshield one early morning.

Diamond Head Road

Diamond Head Road is a popular thoroughfare that circumnavigates Honolulu's most recognizable landmark.

Beamers

Hawaiian music artists Moanalani and Keola Beamer rehearse their songs at the 2010 Lantern Floating Hawai‘i.

Sandbar

Spectators watch the river surfers from the sandbar that's part of a berm that normally separates the Waimea RIver and Waimea Bay. When there are heavy rains, the berm is broken to relieve the river from flooding.

Sun Through Plumeria

The sun shines through a plumeria tree.

"You May Kiss The Bride"

I had ventured into the St. Andrew's Cathedral to photograph its massive stained glass window, only to find a Japanese tourist wedding that was doing its rehearsal.

Bird Attacks 747?

It appears this bird is going for this departing Air New Zealand 747-400, but not. I did not realize the bird had crossed into my shot as I photographed the 747. It wasn't until I downloaded the memory card that I saw the bird in the foreground.

White Flowers

A few white flowers from a potted plant outside a shopping mall ...

Rainy Dusk

I found this photo I took of an rainy early evening from my old apartment.

Catching A Wave

Our niece Ellie paddles to catch a wave on her body board.

Guard Tower

On the other side of the fence that separates our subdivision from state owned land, stands an old guard tower. The derelict structure is a remnant from the former US Navy munitions storage depot that was built into the walls of Kipapa Gulch down below during World War II. After the facility was decommissioned, some of the bunkers are being used by a storage company that constructed storage lockers in the bunkers.

Just Maui'd

Kat & I got this Christmas ornament during one of our trips to Maui. We put it on our Christmas tree last year.

Feeding The Ducks

Wrapping July's theme week, is this woman feeding a few of the mallard ducks that live in the park area of Lake Wilson.

Playing The Odds

This angler has a few poles set out to better his odds at catching fish.

Quiet Lake

Today's photo is a quiet view of Lake Wilson, with a duck swimming out toward the middle.

This is also Blue Wave Pix's 1,300th post!

Boat On A Lake

Another fisherman parked his boat lakeside while parked his truck & trailer. He later set out to another part of the lake.

Reeling In

This shoreline angler reels in his catch, while a father and sons motor out to fish on the lake.

Secret Spot

This angler found a secluded spot ...

Lake Wilson Reflection

The theme week for July is "Lake Wilson". I spent an hour on a day off taking pictures from the park, where the State of Hawai‘i has a park and boat ramp for very small boats to go fishing.

Lake Wilson, or the Wahiawa State Freshwater Park, at 360 acres, is the largest freshwater body on O‘ahu. Located in the town of Wahiawa. It's a popular fishing spot among local anglers.

Today's photo is a reflection shot of the trees that line the lake.

Green On Blue

My green orchids against the blue sky.

Con Air

Not necessarily like the movie starring Nicholas Cage ...

The Hawai‘i Department of Corrections has inmates housed in prisons on the mainland. Occasionally, as inmates are brought back, and other inmates are rotated out, the DoC charters flights to transport the inmates. Hawai‘i Sheriff's Department deputies surround this Sun Country Airlines 737 with their cruisers, as inmates de-plane to waiting buses.

Top Gun Scarecrow

At Pearl City's Urban Garden Center, one of the plots has this scarecrow that wears a military flight suit with a motocross helmet.

Glass Tile View

Looking across the street through a glass tile block at my brother-in-law's place.

Mermaid

In one of the pools in the atrium of the Grand Wailea in Wailea, Maui, is this sculpture of a mermaid.

First Hawaiian Bank Tower

The First Hawaiian Bank Tower is the tallest building in Honolulu. It's seen above, through an ultra wide-angle lens.

Happy Independence Day

Wishing you all a Happy Independence Day!

Celebrating the USA's 234th birthday!

Rain On Pavement

Heavy raindrops hit the pavement during a recent downpour.

Aloha ‘Oe Mom

Yesterday, we bid a fond farewell to my mom who passed away two weeks ago. At our local Elks Lodge, we held a short celebration of her life, and scattered her ashes at the end. Mom's ashes were wrapped in a pu‘olo. Two members of the Elks' Kumulokahi Canoe Club, took mom's pu‘olo and a basket of loose flowers, and paddled out to a spot where the flowers were scattered, and mom's pu‘olo was set in the ocean.

Inside, the ti leaf bundle was a biodegradable plastic bag that contained her ashes, the bag dissolved upon contact with the water, and the ashes were released to the sea, with the ti leaves untying itself, as it sank.

It may be a farewell from this life, but through our faith in Jesus Christ, we look forward to seeing mom in heaven when its our turn for the Lord to call us home.

Happy 80th Anniversary!

This month, my grandparents, Ivan & Doris, celebrate their 80th wedding anniversary! They'll also celebrate their 98th birthdays later in the year!