Pics from the Hills to the West of Wailua

a sensitive plant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa_pudica)

some wild pigs down the street from the apt

One of the rudraksha seeds from which sacred Hindu beads are made

In the sacred forest, the only rudraksha grove in the US (more info)

The Moroccan tofu at the Blossoming Lotus

Geckos in Obscure Light

Here's a poem from the New Yorker I cut out and put on the fridge. It's pretty fitting for the place I'm staying where the geckos run all over the place, inside and out, and you can hear them chirping loudly at night.

Geckos in Obscure Light
by William Logan
April 23, 2007

Tentative, greedy, by night they came,
drawn to the insects drawn to the light.

Their shadow organs pulsed
beneath bellies distended as Falstaff’s,

backs a tarnished armor studded
with the rosettes of some obscure disease.

What of their victims, the cannon fodder,
Welsh soldiery thrown each night

against the muzzle flare? Ragged, high-strung moths,
green lacewings streamlined like F-16s—

the geckos, like great officers and kings,
took them into their mouths, more or less

at leisure, with a gratifying snap.
Silently, of course, through the pane of glass,

where death comes only on a smaller scale.

(copied from http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2007/04/23/070423po_poem_logan)

The best rope swing ever, and a sea turtle

Sea turtle at Ke'e beach

Pete and I swinging off the best rope swing ever, at Kipu Falls

Kauai pics through 6/23

Hanakapi'ai Beach on the Kalalau Trail

Pete hiking on the Na Pali coast trail

Gia Bombilla's Enchilada Casserole w/ carob mole at the Blossoming Lotus

A rope swing/trapeze artist at Kipu fallsPete from the rope swing

First few days in Kauai

The green arrow's where I'm at (more detailed map of Kauai)

the view from my backyard
(that's Mts. Wai'ale'ale and Kawaikini, the highest points in Kauai at about 5,200 ft)

Gecko hanging out on my screen door

the raw lasagna from The Blossoming Lotus, made from macadamia nut ricotta, rainbow chard, and some other delicious stuff

sunrise at Lydgate beach

one of the billions of roosters on the island that make lots of noise at 5am (click here for historical info and a recipe for them)

These 2 are from a hike up Mt. Kahili, which was only about a mile and a half, but got to about 3,000 feet and was one of the most precarious hikes I've been on. The goat-trail looking ribbon on the ridgeline in the picture below is the trail. 9 people started, only 4 made it to the top (the others turned around, they didn't fall).

Weeks 2 + 3 in PDX

Just pics this time 'cause I'm feelin lazy

at an art gallery in North Portland

at silver falls, state park, an hour SE of portland

Greg, before biking to a job interview