First, some pictures I took in mid-January. There's this one flowering plant on campus that I pass all the time on my way to classes, but one day I realized some girls were standing there looking at something - it was full of caterpillars! These guys were everywhere, all in various stages of growth. They were hard at work destroying the host plant, bite by bite; a few adult butterflies flitted around guarding their young (okay, okay, I know that's not how it really works - it just makes me happy!).
Munching
Three on one leaf!
Tiny caterpillar! SQUEE!!!
Probably my best picture of the day. My camera's got a really good close-up function, but it took a few tries before I could snap this particular butterfly when it was sitting still!
Don't they just look like one big happy family? (Remember...I'm happier this way...)
I've looked up butterflies found in Hawai'i and it turns out these are, in fact, Monarchs (the Hawaiian name is Lepe o Hina). The plant I saw them on is called Crown Flower, and apparently it's their favorite :-)
The first time I noticed all the butterflies and caterpillars, I only had my cellphone with me. I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a few pictures - hence returning with my real camera several days later. But at one point on the day when I had my phone, I looked directly overhead and got a bonus - a praying mantis!! It's not the best quality, but I drew a circle so you can see it clearly. It really looks like a leaf!
Now, if you were a random web surfer and you just happened to stumble upon my blog, you might get the impression that all I do here in Hawaii is take pictures of animals, insects and rainbows. Not so! I go to class, write papers, sing in choirs, work in the library, and take care of household chores. It's not all fun and games, people! It's just that I happen to do all of those things in this incredible place where beauty surrounds me constantly and I try to capture it when I can.
Speaking of choirs, I'm now singing in two instead of three. My church job and school commitments were edging out the student-run choir, so the director, assistant director and section leader politely and graciously asked me to step down for the semester. My absences had become a burden on the group, and they all suggested that maybe I had just bitten off more than I could chew (that doesn't sound like me at all, right??) I believe at one point the conversation was jokingly referred to as an "intervention." Anyway, I'm still friends with these folks, and I'm hoping to be able to rejoin next semester.
Spring break was hardly a break this year, but it was my favorite kind of vacation. I had a visit from my mom, my aunt Bobbie and Bobbies's caretaker, Luz, and we explored all over this crazy island!! The very tightly packed agenda (planned by yours truly) included admiring gorgeous Kaneohe Bay from the Pali Lookout, learning about how pineapples came to Hawai'i at the Dole Plantation, sipping tea on the Veranda at the chic Kahala Hotel, visiting the historical sights and museums of Pearl Harbor, and taking in an excellent traditional hula show at Prince Kuhio Beach Park.
Here's Mom, Bobbie and Luz up on the Pali Lookout. It's not called the Windward Coast for nothing!
Bobbie and Luz left on Wednesday and my mom stayed a few extra days during which we hiked, beached and visited a few of the more out-of-the-way places of interest. I didn't have very much time to mope over their departures, however, because I had an extra-special visit from Eamon to look forward to!
I had headed out to Connecticut in February so we could be together for our anniversary, and the plan was that I would return in May after classes had ended. Three months wouldn't be so bad, and it would go quickly. Eamon was set to finish TCNO in mid-March, but not in time to start A-School right away (for those of you playing the home game, TCNO stands for something computer-related, and A-School trains the sailors for their specific job, which in Eamon's case is Navigation). So he was going to be in this kind of holding pattern for about two weeks. I suggested that he try to come visit me here during that time, and it turned out he had earned enough leave days, but he just needed to put in the request, and the request would take five days to go through the chain of command! But the first guy, who mattered the most, gave Eamon reason to think it would be fine, so on that reassurance...I bought him plane tickets! Want to know what's even crazier?? I planned his departure for the day after he would find out!! Man, do we live on the edge. So we both sweated bullets over the weekend, trying not to get our hopes up but who were we kidding, we both wanted it to work out so badly! Whaddaya know, the leave got approved!
Eamon arrived on March 30th, just in time for us to change clothes and head down to the Hale Koa hotel down in Waikiki (which is this huge Navy-run establishment for traveling sailors) for a Passover seder organized by the Reform congregation on the island. That was another thing - I reserved places for both of us even though we didn't know about his leave request yet ;-) It was a huge affair held in the ballroom, and a little disjointed as a result, but very earnest and enjoyable nonetheless.
Those of you who keep up on liturgical calendars will also note that this was during Holy Week, so we were in church almost every day of Eamon's visit! He came with me to the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Saturday vigil services, and then he had to head to the airport that night to be back in Groton for classes on Monday. So it was a short visit, but since it was basically a bonus, we were both very happy with how things worked out.
And now I've gone on long enough. I know there was a lot to cover, but there's only so much you can subject people to - even if they're your friends and family!
Much love until the next post. Here's a teaser - I'm going to Bulgaria this summer!!
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