A nice cloudy day

Living in Hawaii, especially when getting in the water is frowned upon, is difficult at times. We depend on shipping to get supplies (can we ignore toilet paper?!), prices are higher, and sometimes traffic is a bear. Not to mention the price of gas.

However, we are NOT in New Mexico, which is currently sporting 34 degrees. Thank you, God! 

When that temp popped up on my phone, I noted we are at 80 degrees. So of course I texted my brother to rub it in. Both of us are quarantining, so we are not enjoying the usual outdoor sports we normally would.

I should add that the beach parks are closed, but they can't stop us from getting in the water! Unless of course the water is behind a locked gate, as is currently the case with Hanauma Bay. Sigh.....

But that doesn't keep me from my morning walk. This morning I started early before it was too hot. And found many cool clouds, moon shots (that doesn't sound quite right) and flower pix. Here you go:

 Bird of paradise. It's the only bird photo I got today!

 And I assume a nice child made this art work. Love the heart!

Here we go with clouds and moon

 Isn't light amazing? And how the clouds nestle the moon.

Layers! How does that work? Layers of different types of clouds. And of course Palm Trees for my sweetheart.

 Wispy clouds around the moon.

Moon trying to hide.

 How hard, I ask you, did this plant want to live?! All coming out of a crack in the rock.

 Moon just below the clouds.

 And then above 'em.

 Pink Plumeria. C'mon! If I had the time to look up the real name, I wouldn't be walking..

I had to laugh. I have been reading 1 Samuel, which reminds me of the Exodus, which reminds me of this plant: The Wandering Jew.

 Have I mentioned I think clouds are super cool?

 Yellow Plumeria.

And the only octopus was in the print of the new face mask I made....

Yes, there really is an octopus in the print. Trust me! And stay safe. Perhaps soon we'll be able to see octopuses again in the ocean.

New Post, New Normal!

If you had told me a month ago that I would be walking at 6 a.m. around the neighborhood, wearing a mask, I would have thought you were crazy!

I once had the ease of working out at a 24 Hour Fitness. On a treadmill.

These days, my treadmill is the hills around where we live. The benefits are lovely birds, clouds and the Moon!!

 If you've been reading my blog for very long, you know I love clouds.! In all their shapes, and colors and sizes. I'm still amazed at how creative God is. I couldn't think all these lovelies up!

 We had a "pink" moon recently. I guess my timing was wrong, as I never saw it pink, but I did see it full. And mostly, when it was daylight. As much as I like the planets, and stars, etc., it is very hard to get this tired body up in the middle of the night.

 And me, the female half of the duo: we had a first date during the Comet Hyakutake! (And I guess I've been retired long enough to lose some of my spelling jam: I had to look that spelling up.)

 And my main man finally figured out what I was up to, when we were in the dark. Heh, heh. (I had designs on his frame.)

 And the nice policeman who stopped by our car, wondering what we were doing, didn't arrest us. But he did tell us to move along! Which we did. 

That was over 22 years ago, so I guess comets, planets and the moon will always be near and dear to my heart.

I like the photos above. Something round and white can look quite different, depending on the surroundings. I think the bird in the one just above was a Common Mynah bird. Like anything that can fly should be called Common!

 I think it's a brand of daisy and until I got the photo home, didn't know about all the cool little round balls in the middle. Seeds perhaps?

 And one of my favorite birds, the Kolea. AKA Golden Plover. They are quite flighty (no pun intended) and zoom off if one approaches. So I was happy to get these shots.

 This one is in its breeding colors, so I assume it's a male. Perhaps on my next walk, I'll be able to get video of one walking. Quick strides and then it flies off.

 I have been using my time indoors wisely, with adult coloring books. I was at first afraid of this concept, thinking "adult" might mean something else! But while there probably are those types of coloring books, I'm happy with the ones I found. After all, if I can't get into the water to see the octopuses in real life, at least I can think about 'em.

 And then we have the one with Psalms. Sometimes the spaces to color are too tiny and do not help me relax at all. But I do rejoice.

 And of course, there was the waterlife one. I have been mostly applying myself to this book. And just today started on the octopus! Trying to work out in my mind how to make a basically brown animal seem thrilling as in real life. I'll post my progress when there is some.

 I have never see the Blue Discus fish in real life, so after searching online, I took a little artistic license with the colors.

 And of course, I dug out my operculum for more photos. This one is actually stuck to this rocky substance. No idea what it is. I have over 11800 of these babies.

 Some are shiny and some not. The largest one in my collection was 2 mm! and the tiniest, much smaller than that.

 Plumeria on the ground with clover. Pretty.

 This is a Saffron Finch. I think it's quite a lovely bird. Usually, in pairs. One will see me and fly off, swiftly followed by the 2nd one. Today, I was able to snap a few pix before this one too departed. I do wonder what it was looking at. Perhaps a bug?

So my longest trek so far was 4 miles. Which wiped me out being as it was at least half hills going up. But I have noted that while most of my walks are 2 miles or so, the legs are getting stronger. And wearing my contacts helps stop the mask fogging up my glasses. I have been told that putting a Kleenex inside the mask, just below the glasses, helps stop that. I had limited success with that.

I have also noticed that the walking is good prayer/thinking time. 

I never got that at 24 Hour Fitness!

Stay home. Stay safe. Wear a mask.

I AM

For those of you Bible readers out there, you'll remember I AM. The moniker of God. 

I found this on a pair of earrings I bought at Longs:

I thought it intriguing that an earring company would put that on the little paper that holds the earrings. I enjoyed adding some of my operculum collection around the words. 

I was also surprised to wake up in the night and see a bright light coming in through the window. I thought: I didn't realize there was a night light there! But it was God's night light:

The glass of the jalousie is pebbled and I could just see the Moon out there. When I went to the grocery store a few hours later, couldn't see the moon anywhere! Glad I caught it when I did. 

I am hoping and praying there will be an end to the current virus crisis and soon!

Peace over panic; faith over fear

The title thoughts were spoken by a young mother who is living in Milan. I thought they are very good things to keep in mind in the current crisis.

Since I have more time on my hands now, due to all the parks being closed and I can't swim, I am branching out to find other things to do. I have colored sealife pages; watched endless re-runs of NCIS (it is a show that I can color along to); baked bread (yum, yum! Watch out waistline. Challah and potato bread so far. Also cranberry muffins.) I also found Andy Stanley on youtube.com He has great messages that are very real and profound. Check 'em out!

So since my friend also likes Hello Kitty and I think HK is the epitome of "happy", I took some pix of my oh-so-too-many Hello Kitty Pens. Lisa, this is for you!

 These are almost all of my pens, working or not! I am thinking to make a "wind chime" of the empty cartridges of those pens that have died. I really can't justify buying more ink cartridges...with so many pens, why do I need them ALL to work?!

 Big barrels. These pens fit my big hands better. Added bonus is that they often have several colors.

 And just when I thought I had them all, I found more.

And more

 And even more

 And beaucoup. (We say it bow-coo...bow like on a present. Coo like a dove.)

 And one of my faves: HK comes out of a flower. And the thing I love about her is that she has no mouth, so cannot get herself in trouble with it!

I call this one Hello Kitty in Jail...

 Another fave: you blow on it and the whirly thing whirls, round and round.

 Putting them away, I noticed some more in my bin. Gee, what was I thinking?!

 Almost all on the table.

And you can't have a post without an octopus. This is a pottery necklace, resting on the Passion version of the book of Isaiah.

And a word of caution: we were told not to hoard toilet paper; and now no one has any! Fortunately, we do still have several rolls. Here's hoping for the next shipment to come in with more.

Please stay healthy; socially distance yourselves! Be kind. Pray. Don't panic.