Aisle Markers

Rose petals line the aisle for Kirk & Merilyn's wedding ceremony.

Fisherman On Rock

This fisherman found his spot on some concrete scraps on the beach at Malaekahana State Park, while some inquisitive kids stop by.

Columbia River

Departing from Portland International Airport's Runway 28L, our west-bound flight path takes us over the Columbia River, which runs parallel to PDX.

Sunset Clouds

Clouds all over shroud a beautiful sunset, yet become canvas for the sunlight's color temperature as it continually changes as the sun sinks toward the horizon.

This is this blog's 500th post!

Reflecting Birds

Reflections of birds in a water puddle, with a couple of other birds watching from the edge.

Leahi Moonrise

A vert shot of a moonrise over Leahi (Diamond Head) from last summer.

Today is also Boys Day in Japan, and Cinco de Mayo in Mexico.

Cool Colours

This month's theme week is vertically framed photos, or as I call them "Verts". Why? Why not ... :-P

Today's photo is from the Kahala Hotel & Resort's orchid wall. For as long as I have gone to this hotel ... from the Kahala Hilton days in the early 70s, through the Kahala Mandarin Hotel days, to the recent name & ownership change, there has always been a rock wall with many types of orchids on them. The rock wall is next to the staircase that leads from the lobby to the lower lobby. I got this photo while making my way to videotape a wedding at the hotel, and had my trusty L3 point-and-shoot with me to get some orchid shots.

Back in the day, the Maile Room was one of the most upscale restaurants on O‘ahu, and the food was awesome. We used to go to the Sunday dinner buffet every so often, for family dinners, all dressed up. It's too bad the Maile Room was converted into a ballroom ... but the food's still quite good.

Two Falls

Two of the waterfalls at the front of Harbor Court.

Aloha ‘Oe

This Sydney-bound Qantas 747 departs from HNL's "Reef Runway" with Diamond Head in the background. It will soon make a sweeping 75° right turn to begin its journey Down Under.

When Qantas used 747s for their SYD-HNL runs, their pilots would always make long take-off runs then make the right turn as they overflew Ke‘ehi Lagoon, past the end of the runway. Pilots from other airlines that fly 747s out of HNL normally have a shorter take-off run, and will make their turn as soon as they gain a bit of altitude

Lei Day

May Day is Lei Day in Hawai‘i!

These are lei that Kathy got from her students for the school's May Day festivities last Friday.

Parasail

One of the ocean-based tourist activities we have here in Hawai‘i, is parasailing. Basically, a person sits in a sled with a parachute attached to it, and tethered to a speedboat. The rider of this catches some air as a wave breaks in the foreground.

I have seen photos of this activity in other parts of the country as well.

Rusty Chains

This rusty chain is part of the slack that holds a tire to the side of a pier to prevent boats from colliding with the pier.

Voggy Drive

With the eruption of Kīlauea, one of the Big Island's volcanoes, southerly winds bring up the volcanic haze, we call vog, up north to O‘ahu. It wreaks havoc on those with respiratory ailments, or sinus allergies. On the Big Island, it's a health risk when the winds are calm and the sulfur dioxide levels are high.

I took this photo while driving home Friday afternoon, west-bound on the H1. You can see the haze shrouding the buildings in the background, which are less than a few miles away. This vog is unlike the smog in L.A., where one can see the the smog layer, but this vog was everywhere. One thing that the vog does ... it creates some really red sunsets.

The Honolulu Advertiser's article link about the current phase

Playtime

These two kids play amongst the boulders that line the shore of Kaka‘ako Park in the late afternoon.

West Side Sunset

Framed by the rocks outside the JW Marriott Ihilani Hotel & Resort, the sun sets on O‘ahu's west side.

Touch And Go

This US Coast Guard HH-65 "Dauphin" rescue helicopter was practicing its landings, called "touch & go's", on the Queen's Medical Center's helipad. The HH-65 landed on the pad, held for a few seconds, then took off to cycle around several more times.

It's seen here making its turn after departing the helipad for another landing attempt.

The Queen's Medical Center is the main trauma center on O‘ahu, and the entire Hawaiian Island chain. The helipad will receive medevac flights 24-7 by the US Army (who does the O‘ahu medevac from outlying areas), the US Coast Guard, and even the US Navy.

The first night I slept in my apartment, I was awakend by the sound of a US Army UH-60 "BlackHawk" medevac flight at 5:30am. Now, it's to the point where I have grown immune to the sound of a "BlackHawk" arriving and departing the Queen's helipad.

Orchid Path

One of dozens of orchids line the ground for a couple to walk through after their wedding ceremony.

I was thinking it looked nice, but what a waste of these beauties of God's creation, many of them were trampled under foot.

Old Ford

This Ford looks like the same car, though different colors, as the one that appeared in the ZZ Top music videos back in the '80s.

Afternoon At Nordstrom's

How I spent my afternoon at Nordstrom's while Kathy went shopping ... and I had company too!

Outside the Gelato Bar, Kathy and I had actually seen a guy sitting in this chair while his other half was shopping for lingerié. At one point, he had a hand on the sitting mannequin's shoulder. Rather than trying to snipe a shot of the guy, I had Kathy take a shot of me waiting in the chair amongst the scantily-clad mannequins, after the guy and his girl left. We both got a good laugh over this shot.

Waiting For The Finishers

I was patiently waiting for the first finishers of the 2008 Great Aloha Run when I got this shot of our hand-held camera at the mouth of Aloha Stadium's north tunnel, which was several yards from the finish line.

The black granules on the ground are from Aloha Stadium's Field Turf® playing surface. The granules are designed to simulate dirt, and to hold down the millions of "grass" fibers.

After every event I work on the field, I have to empty the granules out of my hiking boots, which usually contain a couple of dozen between my shoes and socks. The one thing I love about Field Turf is that it's quite soft to run on, unlike the previous artificial turf that Aloha Stadium has.