Survival of the Fittest

I must tell you about a few moments from our trip to Hawaii. This is not in any way a summary or recap of our entire trip. I might get to that later.

Like maybe tonight or tomorrow night when I still can't get to bed at a decent hour.

Thank you, jet lag.

Our second full day in Hawaii we overheard a woman going on our boat snorkeling trip say something that would put our entire trip in perspective. No matter how bad things might get on our vacation (which they never did...not even close), we could be thankful we were not members of her party.

"Well, if they don't get out of jail tonight, we'd better cancel two spots on the parasailing trip."

Not sure what landed those two people in jail...something about drinking and a bar and raucous. I didn't feel it appropriate to ask.

Those two people sure missed some awesome snorkeling at Captain Cook Monument in Kealakekua Bay.


Our trip was off to an AMAZING start! Snorkeling in the best location in the state, maybe the country, followed the next day by some perfect timing.

On our way to what turned out to be a delicious seafood dinner sitting right next to the ocean, we passed by the lagoon at our resort. The lagoon was closed for guests at that time, but there were a few people standing on the sandy shore so we went right over to see...


A monk seal! They're endangered. And it was right there on the shore. Barking at us.


There were two employees from the dolphin experience area there telling people to keep a safe distance back and obviously wondering what in the heck they should be doing. The guy finally asks the girl, "Did somebody call security?" To which the girl responds, "Yeah. He's right over there."


Standing there with the rest of us. Staring at the seal. I'm pretty sure he had no earthly idea what to do with a monk seal in the lagoon.

Turns out the monk seal was dining on puffer fish that evening. Apparently this spiny, toxic fish is not the recommended diet for monk seals.

I say, "survival of the fittest."

And finally, I hesitate to share this with the world for fear of offending someone, but we got a real kick out of it and are still bringing it up in conversation.



Every time John says he "loves" something I think of this plaque. (My husband is nothing if not a bit dramatic, so he "loves" and "hates" a lot of things.)

(He has not, however, admitted his "love" for bamboo. Not that I recall, anyway.)

I sincerely hope this 95 year-old woman loved other things in her long life. If I live to be 95 I want to be remembered for loving a lot of things (or more appropriately people...and my God), but not for my love of a tall, hollow, Asian plant that pandas also love.

Nice, but I don't love it.

I could love this:


Mauna Kea Beach. Perfect.