A Whale of a Week....

Stacy, my former legal assistant, has come to visit, but only for five days. So we are packing a lot in. The theme for the visit is whales, which we can see breaching and splashing from our lanai. but we have to fit in a few other vistas, so on Day One we went first to Haleakala crater, then stopped for a terrific lunch at Haliimaile General Store.

The tiny video here is unsteady with a weird sound-track, both due to the wind.

The theme for the visit is whales, so we left just enough time after to get to Ma'alaea for a whale watching cruise. At the end of the two hour cruise we were delayed about a half hour. A group of male whales was fighting over a female, and they kept approaching the boat. Since they were too close for the captain to start the engines, we were kept captive while they fought. It turns out that while this behavior is not unusual, catching them at it so close to a boat is, so we are lucky to have experienced it.





On Day Two Stacy started with a trip with the Kihei Canoe Club, which I declined since my arm is still bothering me from the Italy episode entitled "Wrestling with Luggage." No whales were spotted up close, but there was a turtle-spotting.


The main activity of the day was we took a ride around west Maui, stopping first in Lahaina for lunch at waterfront Kimo's, then near Honolua Bay where we stopped to check out the surfing.


Day Three we started with snorkeling at Ulua beach just down the street, which was an almost-first for Stacy, and the first time in well over three years for us, since the distractions of home ownership/improvement have kept us from the water. We had a pretty good day fish-wise, and spotted three excellent turtles. It was an excellent snorkel whale-wise -- we could hear the whales singing under the water, a first for all of us.

Snorkeling was followed by lunch and another whale tour -- not nearly as interesting, in part because the wild winds kept the boat from going along the Kihei coast where the whales seemed to be quite active, and instead out of the wind toward Olowalu, where the whales were not so numerous or active. One behavior we saw was "sailing", where the female lefts her tail above the water for an extended period, thought to enable her to nurse her calf.


Day Four -- more snorkeling, this time at the Ahihi preserve. Then Stacy headed back for yet more whale watching, while Tom and I sit listening to the winds whipping through the trees, suspecting that the whale watching will not be the best out on the white-capped water.


Tomorrow -- perhaps more snorkeling, a spate of shopping, packing, and then off to the airport to deliver Stacy to her red-eye home.... And we will be red-eyed, too.

Remembering Bertrand

We miss him so very much.

Catching up

A photo of Jean at her pre-birthday lunch back in California 10 days ago, with thanks to Laura for taking time to join us. I'm not sure which photo I like best, so here are both!

In the yard...

...a leaf of a giant bird of paradise, a dry taro flower. And the new stairs in progress!

Another day, another dawn....

Pretty cool....

When we returned to Maui from California we found a large, important envelope in our mail. An invitation to the inaugural! Since hanging around in sub-freezing temperatures with 2 million of our nearest and dearest is not really our cup of tea, we would not have gone, but it is nice to have been invited!

Pretty cool? No, way cool!

Ahhhhhh....home again

Drought in California, drought in Maui. But Maui has whales we can see from our windows and lanai. It seems cool at about 80, and the breeze makes it seem cooler, so we have on our long pants and sweaters (not kidding). Work on our new stairs started while we were gone, so it has been a shock to see them looming....now our job is to make them attractive and welcoming. I am concentrating my time on learning the new camera, the rebel xsi, and I'm hoping to take an extension class on Elements. I'm also working at making time for more reading, which always seems to get shoved to the bottom of the list.

Sigh.

Margie's Italian Sausage Soup -- Updated!

My mother has served us a terrific soup twice now, and I finally decided to give it a try. Of course, I made this decision after putting the recipe someplace safe where it will never be found, so I have done my best to re-create it. Several people have tried it and liked it a lot, and it is a good dish to have in the fridge or freezer in case unexpected guests appear around dinner time. So here goes:

1/2 onion, roughly chopped, sweated over medium heat in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes

1 1/2 lbs mild Italian sausage, cut out of the casing, broken into little bits, added to the onion

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped, added to sausage/onion mixture

Cook all of this over medium heat until the sausage is cooked through, adding about 1/2 t rosemary and 1/2 t thyme

Add a bunch of cut carrots, in this case about 2 1/2 cups, continue to cook for 3-5 minutes (the object being to cook them so they are just tender but not mushy when the rest of the soup is finished)

Add two cans of diced tomatoes with juice, and 3 or 4 cans of chicken broth

Heat to simmering, then add about 1 1/2 cups pasta shells, and cook until al dente, about 12 minutes. About 5 minutes into the 12 minutes, add

2 cans cannellini beans, drained.

Season to taste (be careful of adding pepper -- the sausage continues to add a pepper flavor and will get quite strong as the soup ages).

Now here's the updated part: 2 T basil leaves and a bunch of spinach -- swirl them into the heated soup just before serving, then grate a heap o' Parmesan on the top!

Enjoy!

Quote of the day: Behold the Woman

"Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit."

(Thanks, Nonie -- this was too good to pass by!)

(Thanks, Nonie -- this was too good to pass by!)

SF's Academy of Sciences

The entry to the right, the central atrium cafe space to the left.

The view across the entry to the park.

Hilde and Robert invited us to join them for an inaugural visit to the renovated Academy of Sciences Friday. And what a visit it was. We arrived about 10, and found it uncrowded and no lines. The theme of the museum is everything green, from the space itself, to the literally green roof. Inside there are two huge spheres on either side. One is the planetarium, the other a rainforest, featuring an open aviary of birds and butterflies, and numerous displays of reptiles, insects, and other critters. In the basement level are dozens of fish tanks and displays, including at least two large aquariums (aquaria?). Many features of the past were preserved -- the giant stuffed giraffes stand next to the planetarium, and the African animal dioramas have their own hall, along with the live penguins. The Hall of Man has been sacrificed, with nothing left except a display of skulls in the library and another in the African Hall.The rainforest sphere above, two of the residents below.

The penguin exhibit.

Outside we found the grass roof, which is really various native plants, with hills over the interior rainforest and planetarium spheres, complete with skylights that open and close to help ventilate, heat and cool the interior.

Old friends.

We counted at least three restaurants. Hilde had done her research before we left, and knew that we should head immediately to the white-tablecloth restaurant, the Moss Room, to make a reservation, and got passes for the planetarium. While waiting for our planetarium show time, we went to the lower level to visit the fishes. After the planetarium it was back to the restaurant for a long, luxurious and thoroughly delicious lunch. Everything we ordered was excellent -- i loved the crab salad with a citrus dressing, ricotta ravioli with squash and mushrooms, and a vacherin with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. And the iced tea was a lovely chrysanthemum/lychee fruit black tea....I'm already trying to find it online. This could be a destination restaurant, not just a spot to stop while visiting the museum.

Loved those raviolis!

One of the two or three large fish tanks.

After lunch we went to the rainforest sphere, the refurbished African Hall, then up and out to see the roof. I'm not sure any of us expected that we would be heading home after 4 PM, but there we were. Mahalo, Hilde and Robert, it was a terrific day!

Up on the roof.
If all discard receptacles were labeled this way, would we toss so much?