The moon lead sea...

There was a full moon shining on Waikiki last night. The waves were rolling on the shore with that wonderful sussuring sound as the broke and receded. The small black crabs that had remained hidden all day were scrabbling about the breakwater, visible only by their movements across the lava rock. They were much more prominent in the water as the moonlight reflected back off the golden sand lighting up the pale green water.

I was unable to resist the empty cove. Tossing aside my shirt I strolled out into the waves, finally plunging into the water, reveling at the warmth and beauty of it all - moonlight, sand and Waikiki.

My work here is done...

I delivered my paper at the Honolulu International Humanities Conference today. I spoke on the Residential School Apology. I called my paper The Culture of Apology. The response was quite good with a fair amount of discussion after.

So now that I have discharged my duty and I can get back to relaxing and soaking up all of the sunshine and salt water I can handle but I head back to the frozen north. Please feel sorry for me.

Swimming with the sea turtles...

Today I registered for my conference and then hopped the bus to Hanauma Bay to go snorkling. The bay was is formed by a caldera that filled with seawater some 30,000 years ago as the oceans rose higher. The beach on which you sit is surrounded by the upper edge of the volcanic cone. The bay has lots of indigenous fish and best of all sea turtles.

There is something serene about floating in a tropical sea while watching a sea turtle nibble away at the plants growing from a coral reef. Meanwhile, a variety of fish are darting within a few feet of you, blissfully unperturbed by the human intruder. I do have to credit the photo though. I received via email it from the beautiful Kathleen who kindly agreed to share it with me. She was clever enough to bring along one of those disposable underwater cameras.

Somewhere on a beach far far away from winter...

I had my first day at Waikiki Beach today. Piece of advice - be sure to bring wading gear for your feet. There is lots of lava rock sticking up through the sand so your feet will take a beating. But despite that the water is lovely and the sky is so blue even with a few clouds and a smatter of rain.

Tomorrow I am off snorkling and maybe a couple of other beaches.\

I have pix - just need to figure a way of loading them up.