Sunset on February 21st was lovely. Lucky I had the camera with me as we sat watching whales from the beach at the end of the driveway. I had been hoping to capture the momentary legendary green flash at the moment the sun drops below the horizon. I’ve seen much better ones than the weak one I caught here, even so, I think you’ll enjoy it!

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Here’s the male cardinal who asked me to put some sunflower seeds out. He visits several times a day and chirps while he eats. The female comes too, but she is more skittish. Like many females I know, she does not like her picture taken — especially when she is eating! She also talks a lot while she eats. We can tell their voices apart and know who is visiting without even looking. But of course, it is more fun to watch them! (I’m pretty sure if we would take each one of their cheeps and slow it down enough we would hear “thaaaannnnkkkkssss!”)

The more I observe this male Cardinal the more impressed I am with him. I have lived here for 14+ years and never put food out for the birds. Then, a few weeks ago this male Cardinal started visiting this bush and calling to us as we sat whale watching over morning tea. It took about 3 days for me to get the idea to put food out for him. As soon as I did, he would visit several times a day, serenading us with joyful song. When he left he usually took an unopened seed with him. Why??

At first, the cautious female would stay at a distance and the male would fly seeds over to her, sometimes more than once during a feeding session. Eventually, the female would come on her own. It definitely appeared as if he was patiently teaching her how to be an adult.

He seems to be a good mate. Surprisingly often he will show up bringing her some treat. At the end of this clip we see her spit out a sunflower seed to make room for one. She opens her mouth for it like a young bird. Hopefully they will show up one day with some little ones!

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My bonding time was with Quentin. I took care of him for almost three weeks in January and another week the end of February. The reason is Quentin’s grandmother, Marjorie, was diagnosed with a brain tumor late in 2011. Her major surgery took place in mid January on Oahu. I am happy to say that the doctor feels he got out the majority of disease and Marjorie is stable and happy at home again. Vajra accompanies her mother to Oahu as caregiver. Vajra also look the Certified Nursing Assistant course on Oahu in January while her mother was recovering from the surgery.

I spent the nights with Quentin in his Kula home and would drop him at school in the morning, come to Kihei for the day, then pick him up at end of day, and we would have evening time together before his bedtime. On weekends, we would would spend a night or two in Kihei with Neil. For the sunsets, we went to Kalama park where Neil and I enjoyed the shore walk and the sunset colors while Quentin got to ride his new bike! Being new to bike riding it was a bit scary at first but soon he was going faster than the wind!

After the surgery Vajra and Quentin moved from Kula back to Paia to share the house with Marjorie. Quentin remains at the same school and is very happy about that. I helped with packing and cleaning the Kula home, then spent another week with Quentin in Paia when Marjorie needed an emergency surgery. All successful.

Our friend Sue is off to Egypt and Ireland for 3 to 4 months of exploring plus energy and spiritual work. We are so excited for her. Those are countries I haven’t yet visited so I’m living vicariously through her emails and blog. She introduced us to a new friend, Brigitte, from the big island. Brigitte was spending a few months visiting Maui. We enjoyed a few afternoon teas, went for a beautiful hike in Iao Valley together, and another day Neil and Brigitte drove around East Maui to hike and explore. Neil continued to work with the new camera and has processed a few more High Dynamic Range composite photos that are at the end of the gallery below.

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Neil has continued to explore the cool features of our new camera (Sony Cybershot HX9V) including the HD video features. He shot several segments and has edited a three and a half minute video of whale activity viewed from our lanai. [Clicking on the link will open a window in youtube. You can click on the gear looking icon in lower right of the play screen to choose HD 1080p (high definition) if you have fast bandwidth downloading and then  expand to full screen.]

We took an excursion on a whale watch boat the end of February in hopes of getting up close viewing. Sometimes it feels like it is really a whale search excursion because even though there are lots of whales around the Hawaiian Islands in the winter months, they aren’t active at the surface in the area we’re cruising. An unusual highlight on our trip was having a Booby bird land on the railing and hang out with us for nearly 10 minutes. It wasn’t in the least concerned by all the people getting close and photographing it. The species appears to be a female or subadult Red Footed Booby.

Another camera feature Neil has been experimenting with is the high dynamic range settings, some are automatic in the camera and some require manual processing. For manual processing, it saves three shots when you take one photo: one under exposed, one normal light, and one over exposed. Then the three can be merged in Photoshop which brings out the colors in what would normally look too dark or too light in a standard photograph. This photo of the West Maui Mountains with the windmills is a high dynamic range to bring out the clouds above and the shoreline below. That one was an extra challenge because the boat was moving and the water was rippling and the camera was unsteady, so combining the three shots seems to have given it more visual depth than usual.

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Sophie and Quentin came bearing gifts of homemade Christmas cookies and live fish to add to our fresh water tank! They bought us a pair of Rosy Barbs which they named Dasher and Aqua. They are the only ones of our 16 fish that have official names. We sometimes call the Spotted Green Puffer “Lil’ Piglet” or “Jo Jo” depending on what he’s doing. The namesake Jo Jo is a parrot belonging to Neil’s aunt who is content to playfully amuse himself for long periods of time. And the Spotted Pictus Catfish is sometimes “Mr. Snuffle-up-aguss” when he’s frantically sucking up all the food he can lay his whiskers on. Aqua is currently pregnant (so full of eggs her sides bulge out) and Dasher follows her around attentively ready to fertilize the eggs when she is ready. He seems to want her to hurry up with that, by the way. We don’t have any hope of little fish babies because there is no nursery section in the tank which could protect the eggs or hatchlings from the other fish.

While Quentin and Sophie were here, they got to open their Christmas gifts from us, Quentin’s dad, grandparents, and great-grandparents. There was much more excitement about that than watching how the fish settled into their new home! Imagine!

Sophie loves the water. Vajra set up an above ground pool in the yard for the Christmas break which they played in several times a day she said. There was also lots of beach and ocean time. As a special treat, Vajra arranged a night at the Wailea Marriott so the kids could play on the water slides and in the adventure kids pools. We visited them for an afternoon so we could play on the water slides too. We all had a ball.

For a fun outing I took them to the Maui Golf and Water Park which has two Hawaiian themed 18 hole miniature golf courses and water bumper boats with spray blasters. Guess what was the hit! We made it through about half a golf course before Sophie lost interest. The bumper boats are in a large pool with two waterfalls pouring into it. We all got some good spray blasts at each other and Vajra caught on film the kids giving me a real soaking.

Sophie specifically requested to visit the aquarium. Quentin has been there “a thousand times (he says with a dramatic sigh)” and has no interest in going anymore, but of course he wanted to come too when he found out I was going to take Sophie on one of her last days here. We all had a great time exploring and moving from exhibit to exhibit. What a fun visit!

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We find it hard to find surprise gifts for each other so we wrapped some little things for the stockings and also wrapped some of the things we already knew we were getting.

Later, we went to our friends Roger and Wanda’s for a Christmas feast and enjoyed time with their family, watching college football, and playing a game of cards.

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My mom, Audrey, and Bill just visited us on Maui for two weeks and we had a wonderful time together. It is a very restful and rejuvenating time when they are here. They are in good health and still love traveling. My dad, Bob, and Jane are also in good health in Ohio and enjoy car travel. I expect I will visit in the spring.

We are fortunate to have Neil’s mom, Jean, and her husband Morley living in the house right next to us. They enjoy the Maui climate and we can share sunsets together.

We were able to visit both of Neil’s daughters this past year. We visited Ari in Tucson in February where she was working on her nursing degree and she and her friend Eric showed us around the area. Ari completed her degree in August and is now an RN. After a difficult job search in a competitive market (they all want someone with at least a year of experience) she took a job at a hospital in Santa Maria, California in the telemetry department. After one year there she hopes to transfer into labor and delivery which is where she really wants to be. I previously posted photos of our visit with Mailea and Greg in June.

We look forward to sharing the holidays with our local family and friends, feasting and celebrating. And we will think of all of you in your own celebrations and sharing the joy of this time of year.

On the website, click on any photo in the gallery to view them larger and with commentary. Use the arrow keys to move through the rest of the gallery. Photos by Neil.

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At the beginning of the month, Neil asked “How would you like an aquarium for your birthday?” I was leery but a few hours later he found a fully operational 55 gallon fresh water aquarium from someone moving to the mainland and by the end of that same day it is was sitting on the lanai! It is perched up so we can see both the aquarium as well as the ocean from our computer desks. We sit outside on the couch each morning with our tea and watch the fish enjoy their breakfast. The real gift is that he does all the maintenance! (That’s no small thing since it sits outside and gets a few hours of direct sunshine each day.) Neil posted some videos of the fish at different times of the day on youtube. New Aquarium 05 – Evening Feeding is link to one of them and you can view any of the others from there.

Tuesday, we drove up country to Ulupalakua for the winery tour, wine tasting, and picnic lunch. My great nephew, Quentin, turned 11 that day, so on the way home we visited him at his after-school boys and girls club to have him open his presents. Neil and I sat with him outside with the present pile from the grand and great-grandparents plus his dad and ours. Soon there was a whole group gathered around him to watch him and wish him happy birthday. He was loving being the center of attention as well as getting all the gifts. He had a cake Saturday night at his birthday sleepover and was getting another cake birthday night with mom and Grandma Marjorie, so I just brought some birthday cookies thinking he could share with some friends. I had to break them in half so make enough to go around for the whole group!

Since I don’t really need things, Neil has spent the month pampering me with delicious dinners and special chores. On my birthday, he beautifully detailed the inside and out of our convertible. He said he did it on my actual day because that was the only way he could make sure I didn’t come out to help   It really shines! Well speaking of things, we have gotten a few new technology items this month that are taking time to learn. We needed a new camera in time for birthday photos and got a new Sony Cyber-shot to replace our old broken one. Plus our phone contract was up, so now we both have new phones to learn. And my real treat was getting a new Android tablet. It arrived the day before my birthday and I only had it on twice. I can now spend the rest of my birthday month playing with it.

My birthday morning, Neil put a candle in my scone and we had our tea on the lanai with the fishes. We drove south for the day visiting several beaches and just enjoying our Maui home. We shared another picnic on Makena Beach and played in the sand. For dinner we went to one of our favorites, Monsoon India, and enjoyed the sunset as well as the food. Oh, and the day wasn’t complete until we made a stop at Ono Gelato for birthday ice cream!

Thank you for all your love and wishes. What a special birthday!

Sophie, his sister, is now living in Oregon with her dad and came to Maui for a month visit this summer. Mother Vajra and brother Quentin were so excited about her being here with them for a month. They Skype with her a few times a week but not that same as having her here. Sophie turned 8 years old July 19 right after she arrived and they had a big party for her. Neil and I were able to attend to enjoy pizza and archery and watch the kids loving the pool. I also enjoyed spending every Friday with Quentin and Sophie while she was here. Even got to see the Smurf movie

Every year, the elementary schools in Hawaii celebrate May Day with a Hawaiian pageant and production including dances from all the classes. Quentin’s being in the 5^th grade and the highest grade in the school performed with his class for the finale dance. He did a great job. He also had a graduation banquet and dance the last day of school! Parents got to come at the beginning to take photos but then left to allow the kids to have their party time supervised by the teachers. Quentin reported to me that he is a great dancer and had a good time!

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