Monday, July 30, 2018

Amendment to last post

The link I provided for my Hawaii slide show may not work for those using an iPad.  If you are trying to access the slide show with an iPad or an iPhone use this link georgeswebpage.com/hawaiiipad

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Pictures of Hawaii & San Francisco

I prepared a 30 picture slide show of our recent trip.  Click below to see it. Wait for it to load and then press the play button.  We took literally hundreds and hundreds of pictures but that would be too many to post on my website so these are a representative sampling.

georgeswebpage.com/hawaii

Monday, July 23, 2018

More observations about Hawaii

There are a couple of other things about Hawaii that have recently come to mind.  They have nothing to do with the beautiful flora and geography of the state. Rather they have to do with the states attitude toward energy conservation, recycling and its general approach to the environment.

Consider:
1. Solar panels in abundance.  Both residential and commercial buildings are covered with them.
2. No plastic containers.  In fact when you go into a store you are not given a bag.  You have to bring your own reusable container for your purchases.
3. Luggage is screened at airports separately from TSA screening the purpose of which is to make sure no harmful plants or foods are brought in or taken out.
4. They are very fussy about leaving wildlife undisturbed both on land and in the sea. For example it's illegal to touch any of the many large turtles that will be within reach when you snorkel.
5. You may not remove chunks of lava however small from the beach.  Look at it but leave it alone.
6. Littering fines are very high.  Well into the hundreds of dollars.
7. Admiring the flora is of course fine.  Picking wild flowers is not.  Leave them be.

On an unrelated note-even though you often see signs saying Private Beach, they are in fact all public.  The signs are put there by locals who don't want tourists tramping all over.  Also, there are cautionary signs posted at all overlooks and beaches.  None of the beaches has lifeguards. So you're on your own.  As far as the overlooks go, proceed with caution.  Use common sense. Get too close and you're in trouble. 

There are probably a few I have missed but as you can see Hawaii is determined to protect itself from the damage that some tourists can cause and from themselves.


Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Back to the world

We're back and here's what the past 16 days  looked like:
July 2-Pick up and drop off at hotel at JFK. One night.
July 3-6:30 A.M. flight to San Francisco.  One night.
July 4-Flight from San Francisco to Maui.
July 9-Flight to Kauai. Late arrival. Two days there.
July 12-Back to Maui
July 15-Back to San Francisco. Two days there.
July 17- Return to JFK and home. 
July 18-Arrive home 3 A.M. after weather related 3 hr delay.

It was an amazing trip.  Hawaii was a geographic marvel.  It had everything.  Snorkeling, swimming, hiking, mountains, waterfalls, lava flows, etc.  We even went on a helicopter ride in Kauai.

San Francisco was also an interesting place.  Fisherman's wharf, Muir Woods and a ferry boat ride across the bay with a close pass to Alcatraz.  One downside to SF was the high number of homeless people. 

So now back to the world-mowing, yard clean up from the microburst a month ago, and deck painting.  Always something. 

Next trip: a short one to some friends in PA in late August and another short one to our condo in FL in early September.

I'll be posting a slide show of numerous pictures of our trip on my website.  I'll tell you when it's ready.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Welcome July and other odds and ends....

Welcome July-the start of those summer "dog days".  Do you know how "dog days of summer" originated? Here's a hint. It has nothing to do with dogs roaming around panting.

To learn more about the month of July, click here georgeswebpage.com/almanac

Next: a few odds and ends
I'll be taking a break from the political scene for a while both here and on Facebook (I'm sure you're thinking, "Good, it's about time")  It's too depressing to dwell on so best to simply ignore it and hope for the best. Grumbling and griping aren't helping.

On that note I am reading a book now called "The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen".  Hendrik Groen is an 83 year old inhabitant of a nursing home in the Netherlands.  He set out to keep a daily journal of various thoughts and events.  It's a great book and being only 8 years away from his age and I can fully relate to much of what it says.  Pick up a copy and read it. 

I've been busy getting the yard in shape because I won't be getting back to it for the next couple of weeks. Nor will I be posting here until the middle or so of July.  We're going on a trip with my daughter's family so I'll be busy doing other things.  When we do get back, however, I'll have tons of great pictures to show you which you'll be able to get on my web site (see above-just remove the 'almanac' suffix).

That's it for now.  Don't forget to check out the July almanac page.