Super Bowl o' pics

Here are some pictures of what's happening in my yard. I've heard December and January called winter here, so does that make February spring?  These plants seem to think so.  Certainly, they have benefited from the rain that January brought. 

Plumeria, a popular lei flower.  Some smell wonderful, some not at all.  I can't really remember the smell right now (lame excuse), but think sweet vanilla.  This is what the kona airport has smelled like every time I've been there.  Totally open air, walk up to the gates without going through security, nice welcome to Hawaii.  But that's a different story.  This small tree is native to tropical America, and called Melia in Hawaiian.

Here be my avacado tree!  I thought it was dying in November, but it turns out its leaves brown and shrivel on the branches before new growth pushes them off.  Like an oak, I guess.

Not-So-Prickly-Pear? This spineless cactus is cool because it is very two-dimensional.  This picture focuses on the flower, but if you could see it, you would see that new lobes sprout in the plane of the older lobes, making a plant that looks very susceptible to blowing over. This one is about 8 feet tall, though.





Beth and I are traveling to O'ahu in two weeks to play in one of the most famous (for being so much fun) frisbee tournaments in the ultimate world, Kaimana Klassic.  She's about to get off work, and I'm going to pick her up to go for a run.  I'm feeling pretty good.  After my first ever professional massage this week, I've been icing my chronically sore back.  This would seem to have been a no-brainer for someone who has had ice on his shinsplints for a cumulative total of about 3 years, but it didn't occur to me.  My back is getting better, and if I can get and hold myself reasonably together in the next two weeks, it should be a good tourney.  I just hope the improvement keeps up, and wish I had thought of the ice earlier!  Thanks to Beth for the massage birthday present.

Second Job

Deli worker at Island Naturals Market and Deli.  I just finished training here, and will be spending weekends as a soda jerk? behind the juice machine and smoothie blender.  Today I opened, with another deli worker.  The bakers were already there when we got in, just me and five women(!).  Needless to say, this is a big departure from the carpentry jobsite.  But so far so good.  We got along great, and had some fun.   Did you know that I wanted to be a chef when I was little?  I made a salad for the salad bar today, and it felt really good.  Just me, realizing my dreams, one at a time.

This job is a great way to meet people and work in a team environment. Most of my coworkers grew up on, or have been living on the Big Island for a while.  I'm glad to get some local perspective. And I can walk to work! The food's good, too.

Primary Occupation

Howdy Howdy,
So it's been a while.  I plead the fifth.  It has been a little busy around here, though, and there is certainly a lot to update you about.  I am the proud holder of not one, but two new jobs.

Typical scene near the snorkel spot.

Primary occupation:  Kayak guide in Kealakekua Bay.   Beth and I kayaked here once before I got the job, and I made a rather unimpressive post here (though if you look at the page, you can link to a sic pic of me and Beth chillin in the bay with some brahs).  Since then, I've gotten a wetsuit, and Pu'uhonua O Honaunau is one of my favorite places on the Big Island. A post on that later, I promise.

Drama! Deceit! Intrigue!

Kealakekua Bay is a beautiful spot with a lot of cool history, one of the best dive/snorkel spots on the Big Island, and even some intersting geology.  I get to lead small groups of guests on a kayak trip across the bay, talk with them about the bay's history, then go snorkeling.  We pack awesome (and generous) lunches, which we ravage after snorkeling.  The lunches are from the store at the Kona Pacific Farmer's Cooperative, a local coffee roaster serving small Kona farmers. http://www.kpfc.com/index.html

Your trusty guide, proudly sporting his freshly-shined Minnesota hide.

My boss helped to write a very informative pamphlet about the bay.  Click on the text to download a PDF.  I've memorized this, and I pretty much just recite it to the guests (no, not really).  But it is a good pamphlet.  To get me to tell you the whole story you have to pay my boss, Betsy Morrigan at Hawaii Pack and Paddle.  She's great.  Very personable and knowledgeable, and even lent me a bunch of books, for as to get me more learned.
So far, this has been a great job.  The only problem is that it is only about one or two days a week.  So that don't fly, though I've somehow convinced Beth that this is an acceptable amount of income.  Thank you Cellana.  Betsy thinks that we can get business to pick up, and she is working on getting guest referrals from Backroads Bicycle Tours and The Four Seasons Hualalai. Needless to say, that would keep me busy (and probably well tipped).  Tell me if I'm revealing more than is appropriate here.  Bottom line: this is a good job, and I would love to have more trips.
Beth is joining me on a trip this coming Tuesday, and I will get her to photo-document so that I can make a better post about the bay.
This job also promises longer Widji-esque trips with school kids this summer.  That is exciting.  This is proving to be a great way to learn more about the island.

parent's visit

So, one of the intentions of this blog is to help keep a record of interesting (to me) things I do and see (You, dear reader, are in large part a motivational tool for me to actually keep this record). This record is really a necessity, given the impressive fallibility of my memory.
It's been about a week since my folks left Hawaii, and of course, I got busy with other things immediately after their departure, like more adventures, but we did a lot of fun stuff. I'm trying to think of highlights 'n such to write about here, but while I continue to process their visit, here is a link to Beth's Picassa album of some photo highlights.
Check it out!
Here's on of my favorite photos from the visit. That's all of us, Beth is the shadow there on the right side. We're up near the visitor center on Mauna Kea, getting ready to watch a spectacular sunset. The light was amazing. Check out Beth's album.
It was chilly, even for the Minnesotans.

wintery mix in Kona

Wintery mix? OK, not sleet and blowing snow. But it is cloudy and cool this morning. Sweatpants weather around the house. And my parents left last night after their weeklong stay! It made me a little melancholy this morning. We had a full week of good big island adventures. It was nice to spend time with them, nice to hear impressions of the big island from commentators I know so well, nice to experience again all the peculiarities that make my folks so great-- good things, like my dad sitting at the kitchen table mounting centipedes and cockroaches onto cardboard with dress pins to satisfy his recent interest in insects... or my mom's masterful deployment of a couple pidgin phrases after only a few days on the island...
It was a good week. I'll post some pictures soon. Now, though, I've got some laundry and other cleanup to do. In the meantime, have a look at this great graphical wave height forecaster. I'm going to be leading some kayaking and snorkeling trips here, as means of making the big bucks, and my new boss sent me the link.



We've got some big waves coming in later this week! High surf is not so good for a novice surfer or kayakers. It does make for a mesmerizing shoreline and good wave sounds at our house. Also, good surfer watching. My folks and I had a great time at Kiholo Bay yesterday, spent in large part watching surfers. The bay must be just the right depth to make these big waves break, because the surf was abundant and gentle looking for such (locally) uncommonly large waves. The shore was packed, but there was so much surf, I think all of kona could have been out in the water with room to spare.
Google "Kiholo Bay" to see just another boring old hawaii blue lagoon with palm trees, black sand, lava cliffs and mansions...
I'll put some photos up soon.

keepin on...

Hello cyberspace!
No news is good news from kona? Beth and I are pluggin along out here. I, job searching, she, working hard. We filled our after work hours tonight with Bikram Yoga.We've been three times now, and I like it. It makes my back feel good. Kind of like streaching in a sauna for 90 minutes. A little pricey though, especially on my budget.
I have some appreciated, but financially unrewarding work building up bikes for the local shop here. I am happy to go in and work, but I'm not a very fast bike assembler, so it doesn't make much dough for me. However, I have a good time, and I'm happy to do it. And I build up a good bike, no matter what they pay me. It's a good shop and I like the employees.
Currently, I'm hoping to get some work down in the National Energy Lab area, as it's called, the industrial park where Beth's company is. The companies down there utilize a huge volume of sea water pumped up from 3000' under the ocean surface. At one point, someone thought the difference in temperature between the deep sea water and surface sea water could be used to drive turbines to produce electricity. It didn't work as well as they had hoped, and I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but now that the infrastructure is there, they keep the pumps on and distribute the water to a variety of users. Most of them use the mineral-rich water to grow algae, then feed it to some type of shellfish they are raising for food. So I guess I'm hoping I can follow in Beth's footsteps and become and algae farmer! I like that I would learn a bit about marine science, and that it would be a making something. We'll see. If I spent as much time applying for jobs as I do talking about applying, I'd have a job by now!

Excitement on the horizon: my folks are arriving on Saturday! We are looking forward to exploring Hawaii with them, and their visit will certainly provide some more exciting pictures for the blog! Have you checked out the Picassa album yet? There is some good stuff from December in there.


Here are some favorites:
They are all from our trip to Volcanoes National Park. The top two are at Kilauea Iki crater, reshaped by an eruption in 1959. Beth is standing on rocks younger than her parents!

The bottom two photos are looking at Kilauea Caldera from the Jagger Museum visitor's center. You can see a big plume of gas billowing out in the daytime, and the reflection of lava in the crater onto the plume at night!

Happy New Year!

Hey Hey!
I'm back up and running! A computer problem kept me out of the internet for most of December.  But it has been running without a hitch for the last few days, so it is high time to get some material back on the blog.  So much happened in December!  I figure the best way to share the highlights with you is through the photos we took.  Here is a link to my brand-new Picassa album, with about 50 pictures from December.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bevisma/DecemberPhotos#
I think Beth also has an album up from November, in addition to all the photos I've posted here.

Most of the photos are from a weekend we spent in Volcanoes National Park and vicinity.
We also had Christmas, which was great.  Thanks to everyone who sent us the great presents.
It was my birthday just yesterday!  Also the end of 2010.  Hawaii loves fireworks.  For two days, we've been hearing random fireworks explosions all over the city.  One common firework sounds a lot like someone ripping a hole in their pants, amplified.  So that's kind of funny. 
 
I went surfing on my birthday!  It was awesome.  I used this huge 9' foam board that practically caught the waves for me.  It was super fun.  I had four or five nice long rides in Kahalu'u bay, a nice gentle beginner spot.  I'll be out there again.  Watch out!
Have you written the date today?  I wrote 1.1.11-- and was excited about the simplicity of the statement.
OK, check back again, I'll getcha satisfied!