I was fortunate not to have my derriere handed to me!

Since the virus restrictions are somewhat lessened, I have had 2 opportunities to swim.

Today God was looking out for me (as He always does!), so that I didn't get into trouble in the water:

It was halfway between high and low tide. I was in a part of Waikiki beach that I was unfamiliar with. The visibility was poor. And the waves were crashing! Oy vey. 

A couple of times the incoming waves mashed me, almost against the rocks. I understood a little more what surfers go through. After all, they don't even have masks on so they could see what's underneath the water's surface.

I did, and it is one of the reasons that I wasn't mashed into the rocks. 

The rocks come up at you and if you're not ready, you can really get into trouble. Especially if you're unfamiliar with the area. Which I was.

Luckily, I was able to swim to the left and to the right to go around big rocks in my way. BUT, I wasn't able to spot many of the cool animals. I should say, I was able to spot them, but the vis was so poor, that the photos didn't turn out. I'll show you what I mean:

Can you tell it's a Black Durgon fish?! I could, but the human eye is a bit more discerning than the camera eye, apparently. 

I got out after going out beyond the mashing waves. So about a 25 minute swim. Most of that time was spent in staying out of the way of the waves.

I was glad I was able to get wet, but not happy with the issues and the lack of octopuses! Of course, there could have been 45 octopuses, and I just couldn't see them. (Now THAT would have been something to write about.)

So, I wended my way carefully back in and walked to the car. Amid people who are not clear on the concept of social distancing and how important masks are. So I walked out and around them. All the while, my slippers were squeaking, because they were wet.

You might wonder how I managed to have slippers and not leave anything on the beach: here's how. I have some dive packs which go around my waist. So I put the spare camera in there. And my drivers license. And the $10 I planned to spend afterward. And the straps that keep the packs on are able to be loose enough that I can put the slippers hooked on. Then I turn the pack around, so the slippers are in the back. I'm sure anyone seeing me swim thinks I'm a weirdo! But it is a good way not to get your slippers stolen from the beach (which happened 2 times on Kauai.) I actually saw a young surfer bury his slippers in a hole in the sand. Smart!!! Of course, as strange as it looks for me to have slippers hooked behind me as I'm snorkeling, I'm sure it would look really strange to have a little pack and slippers hooked to your waist if you were surfing! But the mental image did make me smile.

In any case, glad I got wet. Also thankful to God that I didn't get my important parts handed to me. And I emerged from the water with no bangs, scrapes or bleeding areas. It's all good. God is good.

Oh! Before I move on to the week's neighborhood sights, I must show you the surprise birds:

 Not great photos, but I really love these birds because they fly and swoop in great turns (ha), flying close to each other and not bumping into each other. Kinda like the Blue Angels. I said ha above because they are called....wait for it.....Fairy TERNS!

I don't know if they are still tracking them, but at one time, we were supposed to report seeing them, as I guess that they are somewhat rare. Anyway, glad to have spotted them. There were at least 5 of them. Never did get to see them up close, however.  

So, what I spent my $10 on after swimming: a $1 cup from 7-11, a big Diet Coke (a no-no, but I was weak at the time) and a bag of Sun Chips. Which I told myself were more "good for me" than potato chips. I'll have to check into that. 

But this was the first time in a 7-11 in a couple of months. We all had our masks on. The "new normal".

So since the swim was pretty much a bust photo-wise, following are a few sights recently spotted around on my walks:

 Nice sunrise rays on the way to the grocery store.

 The Moon and tech (cell tower?) If only we didn't have to have wires and towers. But then, perhaps there'd be nothing to compare the moon to...

 Except trees.

Nice purple flowers.

 Somebody kept their mask at the ready.

God was so creative when designing flowers. These pretty ones had all kinds of neat strings hanging around. I don't know if they are part of the pollination process. Seems like they'd be too bend-y for bees to get on them.

 Same flowers in front of the Mattson truck.

More sunrise. I like the cloud bank, too.

A surprising richness of Saffron Finches! I rarely see them in a group of more than 2.

 Rainbow in the clouds. Thank you, God!

The light and the dark also intrigues me.

 A little bit of pale pink.

Below, one of my faves of recent times. The dark, and light and the combo on the cloud on the left. Also God's rays. The sun was behind these clouds. I put this photo on my wallpaper. It is amazing when really big.

 God's rays more obvious:

 The Saffron Finches have figured out that we're not tall, so they jump into the trees to protect themselves from our encroachment.

 It's like the bird is thinking: I KNOW she'll leave soon. Then I can go back to my breakfast.

Puffball in the green stage. 

 And the white stage.

More cloud rainbows:

Purple pretties.

Yellow pretties with water droplets. 

And on another day: Bird of Paradise

This is what the finches do when they are flying away from busybody walkers: they perch on the fence and await my departure. 

 Pink always catches my eye.

As do God's rays!

 I love this image of the lone tree and the clouds in back.

 Sometimes I just can't decide which shot is better.

I do love this flower. I saw them first in the Wandering Jew plants on an earlier walk day, thinking they were part of that plant. But upon closer examination, I noted that it's part of a vine that was interwoven in the Wandering Jew.

 I have no clue what these rather odd flowers are.

 Maybe seed pods as yet unopened?

 Forgive me if I've posted some of these shots before.  My downloading of the camera got a bit confused last week.

But these are the most gorgeous flowers in recent memory.

Clouds

A bit of pink

And purple.

 Seeds of many kinds.

 Succulents seem to be popular in some gardens.

That's it for this week. I'm hoping for better underwater sightings next time. Haven't decided yet where and when, but I did ask God for suggestions. I'll see if I can hear His suggestions.

And if you want video, go to youtube and search for octopigirl7. I plan to, just to refresh myself on what's out there.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe.