Delirious.....Not!

I've been battling a flu-bug for the past five days, three of which I was pretty much out for the count.  I didn't set foot out of my house for the first two days, and on the third, I only ventured out to the mail box and even that tuckered me out. You know, the stuffy nose, headache, fever, and chills kind of flu, where you're best off just going to bed, which I had to.  What was kind of strange, it seemed, is that the weather kind of reflected the way I felt.  Cold and shivery, gray, gloomy, thunder, torrential rain at times, and hail!  It was quite violent at times, raging, just like my fever, at 102.2!

This morning, day five, I stumbled out of bed, bleary-eyed, and made my way into the bathroom.  Imagine my delight as I squinted, yes, squinted out the window and saw the bright, brilliant sunlight, blue sky, and SNOW on the hills behind our little coastal town.   No, I wasn't delirious....Wow!  What a sight.

Husband Rey had already been up for a while and had a fresh pot of coffee waiting.  After I finished running around and gawking out every window that faced the hills, I settled down to enjoy a cup, and we decided that, yes, we were both feeling well enough (he'd also been a victim of that flu-bug) to take the dogs out for a much needed walk. 

We got ourselves ready and there was no way I was going to leave the house without my camera.  I changed out my usual lens for my zoom lens and polarizing filter.  The dogs were so excited to be going, and my poor Hannah kept having to wait for me to capture one shot after another..... 

We headed out for the walk we call our Short Loop, heading down our main street here in town, past the local State Park, toward the beach, go several blocks over, then back up another, cross the railroad tracks, then home.  We varied a bit from that today, we were so drawn to the beauty of it all.

Every time we get a good storm, there is a little drainage area that fills up and flows through the park, and the birds usually all flock to it, hungry for all that it offers them.

The ocean is just over that sand berm.  They build these up to protect the apartments and nearby housing from the high surf this time of year.  Lessons learned from the past...

Hannah, Blue, and Rey were very patient with me today......♥

As we walked the beach toward the point, I found this unexpected treasure, just waiting to be photographed.  I don't usually see them on the beach like this unbroken.  I left it there, for the next person who would hopefully enjoy it's beauty.

The water just sparkled with all the beautiful sun light!

It was a beautiful walk, but we both realized it was probably too far too soon.  We are both still recovering after all..... but it was just so rejuvenating, making me feel much more alive than I'd felt in days, maybe even weeks!  Before I got sick, I had been using the treadmill instead of getting outside to enjoy it all.

Heading home, we noticed even the dogs were panting and tired, but had that fulfilled look on their faces.

There is nothing like a walk in all this beauty to remind me of all I have to be thankful for. And now that I am on the mend, perhaps I can get out there that much more! 

I like nothing about being sick, but I do love a good storm, providing it doesn't wear out it's welcome!  This one left a nice, beautiful reason to get out and enjoy nature at it's best.

♥

Fleur-de-lis

Thought this was a cute little pattern I found in Glass Patterns Quarterly, so I looked through my glass and found a shade of blue/green I thought would look good, then found the perfect colored glass nugget to go in the center. 

I then got curious as to the origin of this widely used symbol.  In a nut-shell, it's French, fleur-de-lis literally means "lily flower." It is widely thought to be a stylized version of the species Iris Pseudacorus, but many groups and organizations have taken a form of it and used it as their symbol, from the Boy Scounts, to the New Orleans Saints, and many others as well.

 

Regardless, I liked the design and will probably make a couple of others in different colors. 

A Whole New World...

Never have I had the pleasure of visiting any of the Hawaiian islands, until recently!  We explored the Big Island of Hawaii.  We were invited by friends to share a condo with them while they visited their daughter, who'd been living there for 3 years.  It was an offer we could not refuse, and I am so glad we didn't!

My hubby and I arrived around noon, and our friends weren't due in until 9:00 that night, so we took another friend's advice and headed toward Kona from the Kona airport.  He insisted we go to the Harbor House Bar and Restaurant and have a cold Steinlager beer and an order of Poke.  Well, we thought, why not?  When in Rome, you know?  By far it was the coldest beer we had the entire time, and the Poke was actually very good! 

Poke at the Harbor House Restaurant

Poke is cubed, raw, Ahi tuna served on a bed of cabbage with green onions and splashed with some sort of Teriyaki/Soy sauce.  To begin with, I can hardly do some types of sushi, so raw tuna did not sound appealing, but it had absolutely no fish taste to it at all.  The texture was nice and it kind of had a buttery, mild taste to it.  Along with that ice cold "Steiny" we drank, it was great!  So glad we had that tip from our friend to give it a try.  Thanks, Rene!

As we headed north to where we were staying, we were surprised at first by how desert-like it appeared, with all the lava rock covering so much of the area.  Not at all like we had pictured Hawaii!  But after a while, the unique beauty of it all grew on us. 



A Plumeria tree, growing out of the lava rock.


It almost felt like we were where it all began! You know, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." As the volcano's erupt and flow, the lava hardens, and eventually forms new land by spilling into the ocean. Eventually, life springs back from the lava, in the forms of grasses and other vegetation. Pretty amazing stuff.

We  ventured up to the 9000 ft. level of Mauna Kea, a currently inactive volcano.  They have an observatory up there (and at the top too, which is 14,000-ft.) with high-powered telescopes for viewing the night sky and constellations.  I've never been so close to heaven before!  Breathtaking!  I really had no idea how cool that all was, nor did my hubby.  The technician up there was naming stars and nebula's the scopes were dialed in on, but honestly, I think we had a glimpse of God's face.

(Sorry, I have no photos of my own that could possibly do the heavens justice -- to get a good idea, just do a search for heavens & constellations -- Orion was one of the constellations we zero'd in on!)

From one world to the next, we found ourselves swimming with the ocean creatures a couple of days later. Just snorkeling on the surface, but having your face in the water with a good mask and the ability to cruise along and see such beauty beneath the sea, (while breathing!) was so cool. My hubby got to experience a "Honu world," they told him. Honu is the Hawaiian word for sea turtle, apparently, lol. I didn't get to see a Honu while snorkeling, but I did get to see a "squadron" of squid, just kind of hovering over a reef area, protective like. I was told they are not seen very often. I think snorkeling ranks right up there at the top of my "favorites" list! We had the benefit of having our own personal tour guides, with our friends' daughter and her boyfriend knowing all the best places to visit. The cove they chose to take us to for snorkeling was so beautiful. Mahalo, Sara and Will, AND to our friends Terri and Tim for the invite!

Of course, we also hiked to some waterfalls and through lava tubes (scary and NOT for me!) and saw some incredibly beautiful areas of the island.  Lush, green, brilliantly colored flowers and foliage that I had always imagined Hawaii would be like and it did not disappoint!  The Plumeria and Hibiscus flowers were amazing.  We shopped, drank exotic drinks, and saw some amazing sunsets.

  



The most delicious pina colada....



Our last sunset before flying home....

Will we go back?  Absolutely!  However, we may just find ourselves visiting some of the other islands as well!  I have always wanted to see the magnificent waves on the North Shore of Oahu,  the garden isle of Kauai, and OMG, we actually have family on Maui that we really must go visit!  And soon, lol!

I'm so glad I left our suitcases handy...  Aloha!