Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Beach pod

The Big Island has a distinct weather divide: the eastern, windward side is rainy, the western, leeward side is sunny. The weather divide cuts in half the town of Waimea: there is Waimea and Waimea dry side. We went to Hapuna Beach, on the northwestern coast, on Sunday. Driving back from Hapuna in the late afternoon you always get the most fantastic rainbow over Waimea, as the setting sun shines into the wet side.

We don't surf, and my husband prefers not to even swim (I suspect he worries about whales peeing in the ocean). The children and I are teaching ourselves to bodyboard (lie on your tummy on a cut-down surfboard), though, as well as bodysurf (lie on your tummy in the waves without any board whatsoever). The lads are of course considerably better at it than their chubby middle-aged mother. I worry a little about the sharks, but Hapuna is (I am told) safe as it is relatively shallow for quite a distance, and pretty much all sand, which doesn't support a great deal of ocean life, unlike the reefs which teem with it right up to the shoreline.

I have always loved going to the beach wherever I am, not so much for the suntanning or chucking a frisbee, but because I love collecting odd stones and bits of shell and other sea treasure. I can sit and sift through sand for hours, much to the embarrassment of my offspring. In Hawai'i, though, it is considered bad form to take home anything from the beach – on the black sand beaches, they actually have signs telling you not to take sand home! I try to respect this and just contend myself with finding things to leave behind when I go. (Although, here's my confession: we hadn't been here long when we went to the Volcano National Park. The a'a lava is really beautiful, porous and sharp-pointed and oil slick-coloured – you know what I mean, the shifting rainbow colours. I couldn't resist it, and I did take a lump of lava home. This is a *real* no-no, everything in the volcano is sacred, it belongs to Pele the volcano goddess. I was a stupid haole who knew nothing then, but I am a stupid haole who knows a little better now, and intend to take the lump back when we next visit the volcano.)

Anyway. This time I on the beach, I found something that I did bring home, as it seems to be of plant origin rather than original beach material. It is the Beach Pod. I think I might plant it and grow my own beach.

© 2006 Anna MR

8 comments:

nmj said...

hey anna mr, the lava sounds very beautiful, but what does haoli mean (i'm guessing outsider, foreigner? . . . that goddess will be chasing you! i love to collect stones & shells too, but they kind of irk me once i get them home, they never look quite as nice - i think the enjoyment is often more in the actual act of gathering, though i have a beautifully eroded lump of blue & white tile i found in madeira which i use as paper weight.

Michelle said...

Thank goodness that is plant life. I thought at first it was some living creature.

Anna MR said...

Hei nmj, you guess right, more or less. Haoli means Caucasian, any Caucasian, but in the context I was using it, it isn't a nice term: dumb white outsider who doesn't know a thing about the islands...Pele is a terribly unpredictable and vengeful goddess, I am rather surprised she hasn't struck me down yet! I have quite a good size collection of beach glass and bits of old porcelain from the beaches here, although none big enough to use as a paper weight (envy!). I have thought I might attempt a mosaic something with them.

And Naive - yes, it is on my garden wall currently, and it makes me jump every time I see it!

nmj said...

hey again, must admit i too thought it was a big slug at first, but the adrenalin calmed down as i slowly realised it was a pod, & pele goddess won't mind about that, i'm sure, it's not her territory! . . . how can your boys be embarrassed by a beachcombing mother who is in hilo hep cats, that is just cool!

Anne said...

Anna
You may have noticed that I added you to my Blog Roll.

http://360.yahoo.com/hannia1

Also copied the link into a May 23 message. :)
Yup I thought you were holding a wormie dude ! they look like that when they "expire" on my driveway after heavy rains.

Anne

Anna MR said...

Hei Anne, um, that was a little technical for my wee brain I am afraid, although I managed to nip over to have a look at the 360 yahoo site...but I don't know what to do about it...? Sorry but I really am a techno dumbo! But it's great having you over here, and I love your photos! Perhaps you can enlighten me a little about this blog roll thing?

And dear nmj, my boys find me so utterly embarrassing the younger one will rather not go see X-Men 3 at all, although he was very much looking forward to it, than have me take him (it's come out rated R, so he can't go on his own with his mate as he was planning to). I told him I'd take them and sit separately but no, no way, he'd rather wait till it's out on dvd...

Anne said...

oh ..the 360 yahoo has more options
for me it is a step up
and a change of routine
with more things on the menu

it sucks up my time but it is a way for me to escape reality

the format is a little different
easier to navigate with more links
and feeds which means of course that other blogs and sites pop in automatically

the pictures on the 360 yahoo dont load as large as the Blogger

So ... the Blog Roll is a list of URLs

I called your link
Interesting Blog :)

Anna MR said...

Ooh, thank you Anne...