Saturday Market in Hilo

Today we went to market in Hilo, and what an experience that was!  The photos do not do it justice, of course! The press of people, colors and sights of the goods for sale, the many languages in conversation, laughter and then there was a band playing country music - "All My Ex's Live in Texas" was going as we walked up.  Contradictions in color and culture and yet it all flowed together.  Here's a few shots from that fun.

Orchid beauty for sale.

Taken from the trees in their yard, no doubt.

Yummy!

Street corner evangelist - the wonder is how his voice didn't give out.

Hiding on a side alleyway.

Blowing bubbles for babies!

A snowman watching for the next Tsunami!

Next a stop at the JODO SHU Buddhist temple - it is an old church that combines both the pews from the Christian service with the Buddhist shrines and attire.  No one was at home, and we wandered through the grounds capturing flowers, old graveyards and dishes stacked on the stairs!

Clear and sunny

A clear night with stars and no rain - the only downside was that the pigs were out and that made the dogs bark for a long, long time!  But they all finally went to bed.

A couple of shots from this morning, the cloud has two 'eyes' like an other-worldy creature looking at us.

North to Honaka'a

The day was sunny and warm - the "morning breaking" shots in the post below heralded a wonderful day. Up the coast, stopping at the various beaches and parks as we felt moved to.  A wonderful surfers park first, with several nice surfer shots; then on to incredible waves and rocks intermingled with people and flowers.  Another day in paradise and beauty surrounded us everywhere!

A couple of different forms of staying on the board!

Rock path through the park.

The little girl sat on the board in front of the guy until close in when he picker her up and put her on his shoulder for the last few yard.

I just love the various lines and shapes and colors that make this.

We believe this is an African Tulip tree - very tall canopy tree on the coast.

View from the road - very young lava and ocean.

The breakwaters are massive, as were the waves today.

Kids fishing out on the lava rocks with massive waves all around.

Young lovers in the shadow of the lava and waves.

Wind and climate shaped these trees.

The sky on the way home.

Morning has broken!

Sunrise to begin a wonderful day today, Mylea and Kai (lab) came along on my morning photo tour.

Volcano and Kurtistown, HI

We are staying in Kurtistown, so this morning I walked around a bit on Luhi Road and, looking back, got a great view of Mauna Loa - all under the auspices of the young bull that was closely watching!

This afternoon, lunch in Volcano, just down the road, then a tour through a rainforest preserve and then the garden at Volcano Garden Arts where the flowers were my main focus.  A grey day but wonderful light so if you don't mind a little drizzle there are some wonderful chances for photos.

Enjoy!

Punaluu Black Sand Beach

We left on a tour Tuesday morning - made it about 2 miles to the Hilo Coffee Mill before time to stop and have coffee and snacks and pet Lele, the resident cat!  It was raining hard and the forecast was for rain, but we were headed over the volcano and down towards Southpoint, the southernmost point in the USA. Sure enough, as we reached the summit the weather changed and it was sunny and dry all the rest of the time over there.  Thank you to Rangerette Carey!
What's up for today is mostly scenic, landscape photos.  The mist, the Vog (Sulfur dioxide fumes from the volcano that are not really great for your health) and the layered landscapes are very seductive for me. Plus the turtles at the beach - they are beings that one can just sit with.
Enjoy - I captured a Brazilian Cardinal and some other neat shots, but too many for the post, so later.

Off the back deck of where we are staying

The hillsides with grass coexist with pure lava with nothing.

Down the hill toward Southpoint and Punaluu.

Wonderful.

An artistic arrangement by nature.

I love the contrasts - lava, palms, sky.

Playing in the lava - the boy had a small creature in his hand when I walked by that he was just observing.

Again, the contrasts, light, dark, soft and hard.

These two photos of the old pier that a tsunami savaged contain lines and action that I enjoy.

The VOG drifting southwesterly and mixing with the cloud bank - it will give you a headache right now!