Waimea, Big Island

Cattle country in the most unlikely of places. Grassy plains, rolling hills, perfect climate, yuppy township. Not surprising that it is sadly lacking in cheap real estate, I guess. Does dangerouspaniolo have a nice ring to it?

Hardworking Honu

At Turtle Beach we saw several Hawaiian green sea turtles (known as honu) bouncing in the waves and basking on the shore. They are lovely to watch, especially because the revival of this species has been such a big success story in environmental conservation. As we were watching the turtles in the water I wondered aloud whether they simply allowed themselves to wash up on the beach now and then, or whether they plan their rest periods. My answer came moments later when a youngster made its first very deliberate attempt at coming ashore. It missed, tried again, missed again, tried again and finally succeeded. Between attempts it would stick it's head out of the water to reorient itself, and it started each attempt from slightly south of the previous one. Fascinating stuff!

The Horses of Hawaii

Today was all about touring around the Oahu beaches with our friends. We passed two or three riding facilities en route and I was amazed and amused to note that a box stall in Hawaii can consist of 8 posts, 21 2X6X8 boards and a gate (does Klein live in such housing, I wonder?). Just one of the many many things there is to love about this place.

Good News and Better News

Good news: David and I are off to Hawaii tomorrow for a week. We'll spend four days in Honolulu with some friends and three days in Hilo to do some volcano watching. It will be more expensive than we originally expected (the Canadian dollar was at par with the US dollar when we booked the tickets) but it won't be any less fun.

Better news: Kerstin can't see any smoking guns on Raven's x-rays. After walking and trotting her up and down the driveway Kerstin feels that Raven's moderate suspensory desmitis (a post for another day) is responsible for her unexpectedly slow recovery. Because Raven has always been sound on the hind fetlocks/pasterns I never worry much about those dropped tendons, but it makes sense that they would be bothering her now. Melissa will give her a gram of bute each day while we're gone, and we'll see where things stand in a week.