Polka Dots and Honolulu Blues, Part 2

Dear Readers,

I tried to bring you back photos of polka dots from Hawaii, I really did. But almost every pattern there is floral. (Can you blame them?)

I was on Polka-Dot Prowl for five days, and here's what I found:

Beach towel

Varied sizes of dots

Polka-dotted and beswirled car

Little dots

The hands-down best place to find polka dots in Honolulu is the aquarium. No kidding! There was this scary guy:

And this adorable one, who gets bonus points for being polka dotted AND blue:

This shot below is a little fuzzy, for which I apologize. But this guy was a zippy swimmer, and it was hard to catch him in a good pose. Every bit of his body was neon colored--a hot-pink dorsal fin, screechy-yellow tail, a glow-in-the-dark pink body, and these amazing indigo polka dots like little laser points on his back half. Fantastic!

Here is my only shot of two different types of polka dots in one photo:

I had lots of fun capturing lots of other stuff, however. Here are some more Honolulu blues for you:

Toes and tiles

Kukui-nut necklaces

Blue descending a staircase (apologies to Marcel Duchamp)

Stretching class on the lawn

Mural, student apartment housing

Okay, I threw Leopard Boy in here just to keep you awake...

Beach mats for sale

Imported French liqueur

Cursive graffiti

Broken millefiore glass bead

Jetty on the public beach area of Waikiki

Bronze statue, Waikiki

A closeup of that cute seal, showing his head all rubbed shiny

Olivia (the girl) and Samantha (the doll)

Sky and surfboards

Granite facade, high-end jewelry store

Palm trees at night

Koi pond and rocking chairs, Sheraton Waikiki

Lotsa bling, Sheraton Waikiki gift shop

The bay of Waikiki (the small pink hotel is the Royal Hawaiian)

The view from atop Diamond Head

Dawn over the ocean

Honolulu Blues, Part 1

Dear T&P readers,

As I promised, I've brought you some photos from my trip to Hawaii.

Here are some images featuring my favorite color, blue. All these pictures were taken in and around Honolulu:

Entrance arch, The War Memorial Natatorium

Koi pond, Sheraton Waikiki

A winning hand?

Zoo sign

Two sisters

Two conduits

Awesome jams

Dumpster steps

Not quite sure what this was....

Window frame

Say cheese!

Honolulu's answer to Hollywood's Walk of Fame?

Five pounds of rice

Dawn over Diamond Head

The view straight down from our hotel room's lanai

Traditional quilt

Folded pieces of paper, I have no idea why, in front of a "buy an oyster, guaranteed pearl inside" booth

Two bikes

Pay phone booth

Hand-painted kukui nut necklace on taxi driver (who insisted I take the photo to include his face, and not just focus on his necklace)

Blue urn on balcony of Royal Hawaiian Hotel

On the beach, early in the morning

"Leis"made of plastic flowers and miniature booze bottles

Hula feet

Squeaky toys

Moon Jellies at the Honolulu Aquarium

Some adorable blue-eyed fish, Honolulu Aquarium

Jelllyfish, Honolulu Aquarium

Ceramic sculpture outside the aquarium

Designer bag for sale

This series, below, may be my favorite memory of my whole trip.

It was morning, before the crowds were out, when I came across this man. He was deeply tanned, clearly a senior citizen but still with the jet-black hair of a Hawaiian native, and he was softly gesturing as he faced out to sea.

Intrigued, I came a little closer and realized he was singing. Eyes closed, at water's edge, he was crooning in Hawaiian and lifting his arms to the ocean. I couldn't make out the melody, or even detect a clear beat, but it seemed like he was singing to the ocean. Praying, even.

I didn't want to get too close, so I stood at a distance and captured theese shots. Behind him, an overbuilt, overly commercial city was bustling to life and bracing itself for a very busy week (the Pro Bowl and the Chinese New Year).

Around him, nothing and nobody. In front of him, the endless blue ocean.

And he was singing an ancient song to it. It was utterly timeless. Utterly enchanting.

Mahalo. Thank you.

I was privileged to be a silent witness to the moment.