My Hawaii Nature Journal ~ Day 5 ~ 12/22/2007

Hawai'i is on the Tropic of Cancer, which means that at this time of year the sun sets around 6:30pm, which leaves nice long evenings in which to catch up on journaling and sketching. So while I was traveling, I got into the habit of picking up interesting things to sketch or glue into my journal. Seedpods, sea shells, postcards, leaves, etc., all make interesting additions to a page, as you may have noticed.
And there's time to write in the evenings, too, and catch up on the day's events.

For this page in the journal (with the jacaranda seed pod), I lightly pencil-outlined an interesting shape inside which I wrote, then later erased the lines. My plan was to draw a gecko into the empty space, but that didn't happen, so I left it blank. Later I will use one of my photos (I took lots!) for reference and draw/paint the gecko in. This is a good solution for "missed opportunities" and "sloth" ;^} The seedpod is from Shirley's yard.

The first morning, I took some time to explore Shirley's landscaping, and discovered all kinds of things: a banana tree in FLOWER, f'rinstance! The huge fruit-like flower was fascinating -- I couldn't figure out what it was at first. Ants were crawling all over the little stamens, which kind of clued me in that they might be pollinating it.

Fascinating spiky spiders spun orb webs between the lanai (covered deck) and the trees. A breadfruit tree stood beside the driveway, and there was beauty and lush foliage all around. I'm in love.

After my foliage inspection I took Shirley's advice and visited the nearby cloud forest, where I discovered colorful Java sparrows and saffron finches, red tree ferns and a lovely, 3" wide pink flower on a vine (at right) which I can't identify. If you know what it is, could you drop me a comment?

Then I drove a little further up the highway to Anaeho'omalu (Anna-ayho-oh-muh-loo -- I'm not sure where the accent is) Beach Park where lava tongues reach down to the sea. There I discovered and sketched sea turtles napping in a cove.

I wonder if it's possible that one of those turtles (the one in the picture) was a hawksbill turtle? I'm still not sure, even after studying my field guide....

Here I also found some lovely seashells to draw, and this is the only page in the journal where I used pencil instead of ballpoint pen in order to get the shells to look smooth and shiny. I didn't see a lot of sea shells on this visit. They may get picked over pretty thoroughly by people like me.

The beach sand at Anaeho'omalu is described as "salt-and-pepper" and it really does look like it. I taped on a sand sample.

I knew I should visit the galleries in Holualoa and seek an artists' group that might want to sponsor one of my workshops, but hey, being a tourist is exhausting. Besides, I had my seashells to sketch, and besides, I didn't get back until almost dark..... Isn't it amazing how easy it is to put off important things? Well, maybe tomorrow.....