Ron and I live on Maui, so we’ve been preparing for Hurricane Lane since the beginning of the week when we returned from San Jose.

Earlier in the week, Lane was a category five hurricane. This morning it’s a category two — definitely an improvement but still dangerous — and it’s moving with excruciating slowness. We originally expected the worst effects Thursday, then Friday, now Saturday. The predicted track shows it taking a westward turn before making landfall. We are hoping it turns sooner than expected! Unfortunately, it could also continue farther north than the track shows and if so, that could be a big problem for us.

So far, we’re fine. Here in Kula we’ve had intermittent rain and periods of very strong winds. Trees have been dropping dead branches, and this year’s paltry avocado crop is mostly on the ground. Other parts of the island have seen much worse, and a large brush fire was burning on the Lahaina side last night. A hearty thank you to Maui’s fire and police for all their hard work, and thanks also to Maui Electric and Spectrum cable for keeping the grid going.

Here’s hoping things get better, not worse!

Anyway, that’s how the surf was being described ahead of its arrival, so I decided to head down to Maui’s north shore to take a look–and there were certainly some big waves coming in, but I don’t think they came anywhere close to the predicted fifty feet. No doubt they showed up larger on Oahu, where the really big surf is to be found.

Here are a few photos–nothing wonderful, but at least I have something to show for the day. 🙂

This couple is standing on a bluff well above the beach. You can see from their size that the surf is not tiny, but it’s not gigantic either.
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On the edge of Kahului, Maui’s main town, is a wetland wildlife refuge known as Kanaha Pond. There are always birds to be seen there, but today and yesterday there were a lot of birds–more than I’ve seen before. Many were Hawaiian stilts, ae`o in Hawaiian, an endangered species. The others that were flocking were (I think) ruddy turnstone (akeke) I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures this evening, despite the failing light.

Hawaiian Stilt or ae`o

Hawaiian Stilt feeding in the evening

Ruddy turnstones (akeke)

This is a shot of one peak of the West Maui Mountains…snapped from the car window while looking for parking at Costco. How mundane is that? But Costco is just a couple hundred yards from Kanaha Pond.

It’s Christmas Eve here on Maui. Our upcountry district of Kula has enjoyed a brilliant, sunny day, but this being an island, the weather can vary a lot over a short distance. We drove a few miles around the mountain to Makawao, and it was pouring. We went down to the coast, and from the condition of the streets, it was easy to see we’d just missed a downpour there. And now we’re back home in Kula and the sun is still shining…of course, we could use the rain!

Looking toward Kahului, on the northshore of Maui. Rain clouds are hugging the coast.

An amazing number of surfers were in the water at Ho`okipa, despite the weather.

A rainbow over Makawao, photographed from sunny Kula Highway.

In the category of “odd regional habits” I’ve taken to giving the driveway a quick glance to make sure it’s clear of chameleons before backing the car out. I think we’ve only ever run over one in the driveway, but one was more than enough.

Photo by Ron Nagata

These are Jackson’s chameleons. Like most everything else commonly seen in Hawaii, they’re not native to the islands, but were brought in as pets and then escaped or were released. They started showing up in our neighborhood maybe fifteen years ago and they’re quite common now.

Male Jackson's chamelon; photo by Ron Nagataq

Usually they’re in the shrubbery or up in the trees, but now and then they come down and stagger across the driveway with a rather comical gait. Once, we even found a confused looking individual clinging to the back tire of the car.

Female Jackson's chameleon

The males are like mini-Triceratops, with three horns. Females are horns-free. They’re fascinating animals to watch, with their prehensile tales and their long sticky tongues. They’re mostly green as adults, but they’ll sometimes turn a darker color when feeling stressed. The babies are a brown color, like the little one in the photo below:

Baby Jackson's chameleon

They get to be four to six inches long, not counting the tail. That’s big for us. Our other reptiles are little skinks, geckos, and anoles, all quite small.

According to Wikipedia…

Obon (お盆?) or just Bon (盆?) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one’s ancestors.

On Maui the season of “Bon Dances” runs from late June through the first week of August. As the weeks pass, the festival moves from church to church, ending at the Buddhist church in my district of Kula. It’s a community festival, fun and upbeat, open and welcoming to everyone. We like to check in most years.

Services are held early. The cemetery is decorated with lanterns, and incense is provided at the shrines. The dance begins at nightfall, and there’s always a packed audience and lots of participants, some in full traditional dress, and some in street clothes. The music is recorded, but the taiko drumming is live, which makes all the difference.

Oh yes, the food is good too. It’s sold as a fundraiser, so we generally come home with a full bag of chow fun and extras.

Photos were taken tonight, August 6, and the weather was perfect.