But Will you Love Me Tomorrow....

We saw a ruckus out on the water, maybe 300 yards away.  Could it be dolphins at play?  Could it be some hapless surfer being systematically devoured by a shark?  Heck... let's paddle our outrigger on over there & check it out.

Upon closer inspection, the seasoned mariners who were my co-paddlers knew right away what it was.  But I couldn't make sense of what we were approaching.  All the commotion we saw from the distance had stopped, and now it was as still as a buoy floating on the surface.  I couldn't figure out what I was looking at... a rock bobbing around in the ocean?  That didn't make any sense....

Oh!  Turtles mating!  A little early morning Honu love.

Not my picture....nor the angle of my view.... but you get the idea.

Apparently the giant male turtle mounts the female after a little tussle and splashing about (the kerfluffle that caught our eye in the first place), and then they float and drift in conjoined coitus, taking turns raising their heads above water for a deep gasp of air. (I wanted to add "connubial" for a good triple alliteration, but that suggests marriage.  Apparently, turtles are more opportunistic in their mating behavior - think of the '80's with random hook-ups and one night stands.)

We voyeuristically sat and watched them for 10-15 minutes, periodically making off color, but fitting, remarks, humming porn-like music.  There is no movement, no agitation seen in the water.  It just looks like he's fallen asleep on top of her.  Until, that is, they come up for air.  Then you get the sense that there is some kind of hard work going on somewhere.

As we decided to bid our adieus, they, too, appeared to be satiated.  We all kind of wanted a cigarette....

I have since added another notch of information on my growing list of marine facts:  What do you call it when turtles make love?

A Slow Poke.

Home Improvement Progresses....

Roof tear off - check. 

Took Michael & Roofer Bill all day.  A hot and dirty day.  I even got up there at the end of the day to help pull nails (admittedly, only for about 45 mins).  Michael's part done - thankfully.  Rest is up to Roofer Bill.

Felt paper down - check.  And PV track bolts set, ready for flashing - check.

This was over day 2 and 3.

Shingles & bolt flashing installed - check.


This (with, as you may well imagine, lots of banging around right over our heads) continued day 4, 5 and 6.  (Hey, things (a) take longer in Hawaii; (b) take longer with a one-man crew; and (c) take longer when the sun is out and it's something like 600 degrees upon the roof.)

Day7:  New roof finally done.  Amen!  We have these passive roof vents at each interval and an end gable so the hot air can flow out.  Ahhhhh.

Now just waitng for Maui Electric to approve our permit for the PV Solar.  As you can imagine,they are in no hurry to allow us to stop paying them a fair chunk of money monthly.... But, it's in process.

And the good news is, that pounding over head has stopped!

Geckos Are Our Friends....

... and we have them everywhere.  They eat bugs (yay!!).  They chirp charmingly.  With their little sucker-like fingers & toes they travel horizontally, vertically, sideways, upside down, every direction there is.  And I've seen them jump from the deck railing out onto a plant.  It's kind of a slow motion Rocky-like flight (as in Rocky & Bullwinkle, not "Yo, Adrienne").  And they are amazing colors.

Michael even has a gecko buddy who hangs out in his office with him.  He comes up on the top of the futon and sits there contentedly for hours at a time, overseeing Michael's daily work. 

Then one day... I saw this side-walker on the lanai'i.  Definitely not a gecko.  Something from Gulliver's Travels' version of the island in Lost...

Sure, he may look like your run-of-the-mill lizard thing here.  But I'm telling you... his locomotion was very disturbing.  He hitched and giddy-upped in a sideways, zombie-like step & drag.  Creepy.

The question is - are Side-Walkers our friends?

Horticulturists R Us....

Hey whaddaya know, it seems maybe I can keep something green alive and growing afterall!
Planted these back in late Feb... and look at them now!

Then...

....Now!

Honestly, its astounding how much things grow around here.  We think you could probably sit and actually see leaves bud, branches lengthen and flowers bloom in real time, before your very eyes.

Just because they are so beautiful, here's couple more views of the third (or fourth?) bloom explosion on the Angel Trumpet trees. 

If only we had Smello-Blogging...

The newest addition to our little patch of heaven here is a night blooming jasmine bush, just off the lanai'i.  If it really lives up to its sales pitch, we may have aroma wars in the evening air.

Oh, and one of the other best things - the dirt here is... well, real DIRT.  Loamy, non-sticky, rich, shovelable dirt.  Not that awful adobe glue that permeates all Petaluma gardens.  Gardening here is actually something of a joy, not a battle of wills.  (Well, except for, you know, the abundant and sometimes prehistoric tropical bugs....)