The Big Island and LA

The Big Island and LA

So after Maui we took a plane to the big island of Hawaii.

While on the big island we stayed at this house that had a pool out the back door that overlooked the ocean.  Pretty over the top for this Dayton born, Ohio boy.  It had lots of interesting plants and trees around it, as does the whole island. At night, feral pigs would come out, if I was 12 I would have been out there with a spear!

Pololu Valley, Western side.

The above shots are from different sides of a big valley/park. The one directly above is  the Waipi'o Valley and it was on the Eastern side. The cliffs and the valley were used during the filming of Jurassic park.  The pictures really don't do it justice, it was truly a place that the word, "grandeur" would be appropriate. I just 'kinda stood there muttering , "wow" a lot.  

 Close to the house was a beach where you could swim out and look at the fishes.  Between swimming and snorkeling I did not get very many good pictures. All those nature shows make it look pretty easy.  I bought a refurbished underwater Fuji camera, and generally I'm pretty happy with it, considering the price was about $60.00.   Suffice to say the colors of the fishes are incredibly brilliant and the above photos do not really show that.  I put a quick vid that shows the shoreline of the place where I took the pics. I really need to go back to Hawaii and practice my underwater photography skills.

It's hard to see here but the little round/oval like red markings to the left are where a fish bit me and the cut to the right is where I scraped my leg during my cowardly like retreat. I guess the fish didn't like my obnoxious, in-your-face, method of taking pictures.  While taking pics a fish bit me twice, not breaking the skin. After the two bites and cutting my leg on the rocks, I rolled over onto my back, tried to start breathing normal, and started kicking my way back to the shore. My niece Sarah got bit too! One of the locals told me it was a trigger fish just saying hello!  Still...I saw the movie Jaws....and beat a hasty retreat to the safety of the beach!

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So after hanging out on the big island for a week plus we headed to LA to hang out for 3-4 days.  If you've never been to LA, you really should.  Same goes for the entire state of California-it's got just about everything, deserts, high mountains, beaches, Hollywood, highway 1, San Joaquin valley, redwoods, Sonoma, San Francisco Bay area, and that's just a few of things I remember having seen on previous trips. 

While in LA we took a day and went to the Getty Art Museum. This is a view from one of the outside balconies looking down through the Hollywood hills at LA.  It's mostly a personal collection(a lot of intarsia in one building) and since the museum is well funded, it has purchased work. One lucky purchase and probably the most the most expensive and for me the most moving is one of Van Gogh's Irises. 

I've read a bit of Van Gogh's letters, some bio stuff and most people are aware of his story.  Looking at his body of work it's hard not to at least appreciate it on some level. Personally, I find all of his work interesting and pretty much, point blank amazing. From the early stuff, to the reed pen stuff, the letters to his brother, and to the final paintings.  Standing in front of this was a moving experience that sincerely gave me goosebumps and caused my eyes to tear up.  When you look at the speed this was done, the way the paint was applied with brushes, smeared with his fingers, brush handles, palette knives, and generally the way it was pushed into existence, it's truly awe inspiring. He was on a deadline. Maybe it's because I know something of his tortured life and that brings the painting to life for me or maybe it communicates it by itself, I really don't know.  I cant divest myself of one method of understanding to examine it objectively.  I've seen other Van Gogh pieces, but none has ever affected me like this. For what it's worth, I had a pretty bad head cold/sinus infection going at the time, and was under the influence of pseudophedrine, which I've always felt increases my sense of empathy. 

This pic is from the Santa Monica Pier, which is a bunch of carnival rides, various stores, and restaurants all placed upon a great big pier sticking out into the ocean.  This is looking up to the north, towards the Hollywood hills.  The beach is truly a one of a kind: gymnasts performing, muscle builders, music performance, etc.  Everyone should walk it if their in LA.  When I was standing on the pier, looking for my family, I turned around and noticed a young lady standing by an entry and I inquired as to the possibility of how long it would take to get a beer and she said about a minute and I tacked on how long for some fries, and she said about 5 minutes. I said please make all of the above happen.  This was done as promised and I sat there for bit looking at the ocean, the hills and mountains in the background, watching the people walk by, and drinking a nice IPA and having some french fries.  A pretty perfect day for the Tayse, on the Santa Monica pier. I sat there figuring my family would have to eventually walk by here, due to the place being a pier and this section was  the only way off.  My family eventually found me and a good time was had by all on the Santa Monica Pier!

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Funny story. So I have to go back to the car to put money in the meter and did not bring enough quarters to accomplish the time I needed.  I'm looking up and trying to figure my next step and this guy is cleaning up the small garden in front of his house.  He's vocally complaining about people littering and I agree and say, something to the effect of, "what can you do with people who litter?" "you can't reason with them and you can't shoot them because you'll get in trouble."  He agrees and we both slide easily into complaining about people who make the world worse. We finish that conversation and I ask him about where I could get some quarters or if he knows how the credit card works with the meter.  He says, "wait a minute" and goes into the house and gets a twist tie, some tape and a quarter.  He tapes the quarter onto the twist tie and proceeds to move the quarter up and down in the coin slot of the meter until it register 2+ hours and then he tells me that should be fine because at 6:00 all the parking is free, meter or no.  I said thanks and waved bye and headed down to the pier for my rendezvous with a beer and fries.  Everyone I met in LA was nice and helpful.