Wednesday, February 11, 2009

game of tag

Ages (like several months) ago I was tagged by the delightful and witty Elissa over at Spandex Pony to post a few of the reasons I love my state. Regardless of the impression given by my beyond tardy response, Hawaii is not a hard place to love. It was actually quite a chore whittling down my original list to a manageable size. So, without further ado, here are just a few of the things I'm loving about Hawaii right now:

1. smell: Oftentimes while walking around the middle of the city I catch a strong whiff of sea air. It smells salty, and beachy, and...well...like the sea. For me, this is the smell of a vacation. So, my home smells like a vacation.

2. rainbows: There are an awful lot of these about.

3. malasadas & bubble tea: Delicious.
photo found here

4. mystery bagpipes: The acoustic makeup of our surroundings is such that even soft noises made at ground level can be heard almost perfectly from our windows eighteen stories up. A couple times a week a bagpipe band gets together somewhere in our neighborhood to practice. We can hear their playing perfectly (and a bit eerily) from home, but can't tell exactly where the sound is coming from. We've thought of trying to search them out, but once outside their sound is covered by all the other city noises. I really enjoy listening to the music, but I've come to enjoy it even more thanks to the mystery surrounding its origins.

5. hiking trails & waterfalls: There are so many beautiful hikes through lush terrain and rainforest here on the island, a great many of which end with a waterfall. It's our favorite day off activity.

6. fisherman's wharff: My favorite busted down abandoned restaurant right near the water by the marina is one of the best places to take photos.

7. thrift shops: The thrift stores here are rife with racks of muu'muus ripe for the plucking (and shortening).
Oct11 - is a saturday

8. lunch wagons: I've never seen so many restaurants on wheels in my life.
photo found here

9. pineapple with li hing mui powder: The most delicious snack ever created is pineapple chunks covered in a spicy/salty/sweet powder which I originally found at the Aloha Swap Meet but is supposedly also available online. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

10. vintage signage: There are plenty vintage signs left in tact on the buildings around town. This makes me happy.

11. stating the obvious: I live on a tropical island, and can't drive more than an hour in any direction without running into a beach. Could there possibly be anything better than that?

I'll tag:
freckle farm
i swan
dreamecho

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More recently (as in at least a couple weeks ago) I was also tagged by Afton, the brains behind my new favorite inspirational and insightful blog, freckle farm. The rules for this one: go to your fourth photo file, find the fourth photo, post it and describe it. No cheating.

The results:
Anyone who's met my wee one knows she's not the type to sit still for long. I was mighty impressed when, after finding a collection of these little people at a local thrift shop last September, she continued to play contentedly on her own for the remainder of the afternoon.

I'll tag:
thrift candy
its ok to sweat
hearblack

9 comments:

Unknown said...

great blog post .. love the last pic ... she looks so intent on playing with those wee dolls

ELM said...

Wowee you've done a great job with this; half way through I was like, "That's it, we gotta move to Hawaii." Love your blue muu muu outfit and what is that delightful black swan thing? PS I wonder what malasadas are but in my imagination it's like an empanada. lol

Caroline said...

REread: I know! I love her expression most as well.

Spandexpony: That delightful black swan thing is in fact a delightful black swan (quite lovely but a bit of a dud as earlier we watched he/she cowering and running from a tiny duck). Malasadas are sort of like a sugar donut sans the hole, but they are always served warm - and they are 100% amazing.

Missa said...

I can see how it would be hard to narrow down what you like about living in PARADISE.

We used to live by a bike trail along a creek in Marin and there was a guy who would often walk along the trail playing his bagpipes. I love that sound too :) The other day I was walking downtown and heard them coming out of a big concrete parking garage.

I must find some of these little people for Clover! I remember loving the old wood and plastic fisher price ones as a kid.

Good to see I'm not the only one who stores away tags for months ;)

Grace said...

I love that picture of Ava as well as the one of her washing her feet!

triangle eyes said...

YAY!! Thanks for tagging me, fun times indeed. Your list of reasons why you love your state makes me want to move to Hawaii, pronto.

Julie said...

Oh man. I will try to muster up a few good things to say about my state. Right now all I am getting dished out is coldness and snow, but I am sure I can find a few redeeming things. And yes, I want to move to Hawaii post haste!

Afton said...

muuuu muuuus! love it. nice work.

(tagged! it's on my to do list...)

Rachel said...

I miss malasadas.