A wai malama (A water month)

I ka wai kau a Kāne me Kanaloa, he wai puna, he wai e inu, he wai e mana, he wai e ola, e ola nō.

(Water given by Kāne and Kanaloa, spring water, water to drink, water for power, water for life, may there be life )

As you can probably imagine, water is central to our everyday living here on the island. From a brisk ocean swim every Sunday (the water is a cool 77d this time of year), to the invariable morning showers on our bike rides to work, we see and feel our fair share of water. Every day in January, and I mean every morning and every afternoon, I saw a rainbow. No pots of gold so far, but I intend to keep on looking anyway...

Water, and particularly the ocean itself, were at the center of our lives this month (and I am stretching the month a bit to include Christmas), so I thought I would pay a special tribute to 71% of our world. Today, I realized just how much I am going to miss it when I am gone from Hawaii. What a wonderful place to have lived, in the center of the Pacific, out on a big rock in the middle of it all.

Without further ado:

Water for fun: Christmas eve road biking trip to the top of Makapu'u; a storm blows in



Water for viewing only: K's dad in town: North Shore Waves >20ft (1/9/08)


Water is power: Near-death experience, Shark's Cove. Just after this picture was taken, an enormous swell came in and all of us almost floated out to sea:


Water is beauty: A North-shore sunset:



Water for research: Zooplankton collection on the R/V Klaus Wyrtki , Captain Tom (1/23/08):


Water for life: Some of my friends from and near the sea:

Hawaii hermit crab, unauna

Euphausiid sp. (12x ~ 4mm in length)

Candacia aethiopica

Gaffers wilsonae
Bellows Beach on the windiest day of the year (1/25/08).
We slept in our car that night because the wind knocked the tent over.

Water for birth: The age of Aquarius:

The happy water-bearer eating a marshmallow on his birthday camping trip.

Water is for drinking: Unfortunately, we did not take pictures yesterday on the sailing trip with Kyle's former student. We saw at least 4 whales, stood at the bow of the boat and took on 8 foot swells, and drank enough water in the form of Miller Lite to have to run to the bathroom as soon as we docked.

Water finale: And who can resist some water (and marine invertebrate) humor:

“Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.”
Stephen Wright