31/365 Project 2010 Dinner with da ohana Choi

Teo, Kalani, & Emma Choi.  Teo fell asleep in my arms after dinner - a very sweet family.  (The oldest girl, Hailey is unfortunately not in this frame). 

30/365 Project 2010 Whale of a time @ Hapuna Beach, Hawaii

In front of this catamaran is a humpback whale - I barely caught this glimpse of it on camera but there were several out there today breaching & slapping.  The whale watchers on the boats were getting quite a show - but it was a neat treat to watch them from the beach.  They came the closest to the beach we've ever seen at Hapuna (closer than in this picture).  Pretty special!!!

29/365 PROject 2010 My New Outfit for France

Bought a new scarf today & was thinking about my upcoming Europe trip & how best to get strip-searched at the airport. 

28/365 Project 2010 HiBiscus Flower Power

 

Psychedelics:  because it's already Friday somewhere.

27/365 Project 2010 Orange you glad for small town police?

My gift from the Laupahoehoe Police tonight at about 9pm. The nice guys there gave me a big (much bigger than this picture looks) bag of tangerines. Tangerines are falling from the trees all over the place - tangerine SEASON hits here in a big way.

Anyway, in the past 2 days I've worked 25 hours. AND I AM TIRED. The hot tub is ready - so I'm blogging off. Aloha!

26/365 Project 2010 My Green Star

Thanks Holly!

25/365 Project 2010 Pinakbet for Monday

Pinay Night at the Gloor household.  Watch out Canadians!

24/365 Project 2010 Tahitian Gardenia Balls

A visit to Pat & Ferol's Hāmākua Coast Farm brought me this shot of Tahitian Gardenia seeds.  We came home with eggs, lemons, limes, ti leaves, star fruit, and some plumeria flowers.   We meandered around the coffee plants, visited the sheep, & checked out the various exotic fruit in their vast orchard.   Like to eat?  Hug a farmer!

23/365 Project 2010 Nani & Isaac

Never too old for picture books! 

22/365 Project 2010 Canadian Invasion

The Canadians have arrived in full force & taken over my house & yard.  

21/365 Project 2010

Flowers for Joa, Shauna, & Holly's Visit

20/365 Project 2010 Aloha Luigi's - Downtown Hilo Keeps Getting Brighter!

Seen Around:  here's something I love about the little quaint town of Hilo - the attitude!  Here's a recent remodel that shows off the eclectic side of downtown.  Just a few years back this building was set to be torn down, but Luigi invested some TLC & a lot of personality and now the eatery seems to be a permanent feature.  Hooray for downtown!

19/365 Project 2010 Taming the Tiger

Meet Bhindi Bhaji - our resident tigress who of late has been pretty ticked off & on strike about the Labrador addition to the family.  Today I decided to work on being a better pet owner, and I succeeded in seducing the tigress from her hiding spot and give her some much-needed attention.  The poor thing has lost weight since her strike started, she's got more fur balls than ever, and she's decidedly standoffish - even for a cat.  But her purrs revealed her true feelings & I have hope that she'll come around...in her own time.

18/365 Project 2010 Macho Burrito Grande

This is a "macho burrito" (recipe c/o Holly H.) - we rediscovered this burrito after a mysteriously long hiatus & we can't for the life of us remember why it's been so long since we made them!  Viva los burritos muchachos!
Inside - are refried beans, black beans, pepper jack cheese, brown rice, lettuce, (supposed to be red bell peppers but I forgot them! For shame!), and covered in the special home made "macho" sauce, cotija cheese, and cilantro.   Yum Yum.

17/365 Project 2010 Hijole! A Vine "Ripened" Reaming!

Here's what moved me today.  These are "vine-ripened" tomatoes from Mexico at our local Safeway.  Notice the price per pound - which equates to about $2 a tomato, notice their orangish hue (a few of them apparently are the new, improved  "green-ripe" variety).  BTW - the local milk was $8.99 a gallon.  Needless to say, Safeway is not where I primarily shop - the high price of paradise is a little TOO HIGH there - but the beer was on sale so c'est la vie.   [yes, shopping at Safeway makes me utter some French - in so many ways!)



On a side note - my grandparents made a good portion of their living on tomato farming.  I am proud to say I attended the Tomato Festival a few times in SoCal.  So I wonder what grandma would say to $7.29/lg tomatoes!

Oh - and to you locavores out there - I only buy local tomatoes & I grow my own so there's no need for lectures - this was just to demonstrate some sticker shock!  For all you out there that think life in Hawai`i is a breeze - just realize that milk can be $9 gallon, eggs are $5/dozen, tomatoes can cost you 2 bucks a piece, and gasoline is nearly $3.50.  Mahalo!

16/365 Project 365 Keiki Times

What moved me today?  My kids - not so little anymore(!) at Hakalau River Park.  Swimming, kayaking, and playing fetch with the labrador - a good evening end to a good day!

15/365 Project 2010 Macro World

Grasshopper on Chinese Ginger

14/365 Project 2010 Honoli`i Shines

A calm day at Honoli`i!  No wave surfers in sight - only some wind surfers braving the gusty conditions.  Several kite surfers were catching air in Hilo Bay today - a fairly new sport for the area.

13/365 Project 2010 - Gloor Boys in Action

The boys playing B-ball with our new basketball hoop! Finally our family is discovering sports!

12/365 Project 2010 Blue Jade

Alone on the stem, all his compatriots already fallen on the ground at my feet - this jade flower hangs by itself in hues of blueish purplish glory.

As I type this, there is grief, pain, chaos, and death in Haiti. I pray for the relief efforts, the survivors, and the recovery of what is recoverable.

11/365 Project 2010

A whole year of Labrador pictures? Just you wait! Notice his sitting posture - wood floors are so hard for dogs. Have a great Monday night folks!

10/365 Project 2010

Tonight was a barbecue, game of "sardines" in the dark, and a bonfire. Great times, great people, great food & drinks. Mahalo to the night sky for the great lighting & the shooting stars. Best of what's around!

9/365 Project 2010

What moved me today? This fine pizza from Big Island Pizza. This is their namesake pizza. And after watching Ter work all afternoon - I really had an appetite!

8/365 Life on Kaupakuea is OH SO SWEET!!!

Livestock love. Bento & Bantay chomping on the sweet grass! It took that steer 6 months to figure out there was sugar in the grass - it took my Labrador one try. So clearly the dog is smarter than the steer - which isn't saying much. 46 more days counting down for Bento...

Day 7 Project 365/2010

My Chinese Lantern tree (technically probably a shrub) reminds me of this place we ate at in Beijing. It was a former residence of a relative of an emperor but now treats tourists and businesspeople to a supposedly authentic emperial (sic!) experience, complete with soft-footed shuffling concubines wearing ear pieces, shimmering koi ponds, acres of embroidered silk wrapping everything from the servers to the buildings themselves, and of course, a coquettish queen in Imperial yellow. The food was mediocre, but the setting was splendorous.

Project 365 (-5) 2010 Day 6 (but my first day!)

Here is my attempt to start, keep, and struggle with a daily photo journal/diary type thingy for 2010. Course, I didn't get inspired to do this until today - technically the 6th day of 2010 - but the other 5 days - they were just primers for this fantastic beginning. I will start w/ the object of my compassion, the dog I found the day of the Samoan tsunami in the fall of 2009. He was adopted out of compassion, but he's cherished out of sheer stubbornness. He teaches me the zen of the Labrador. He teaches me that nothing is all that bad as long as there is food in the belly (or the promise of food to come) and that touching a human being is sublime. He reminds me to laugh when I want to scream, and he reminds me that every day, several times - I should leave my computer and WALK OUTSIDE - no better, RUN OUTSIDE. He is incorrigible as a student but excels at showing me how to live in the moment.