Daily Dose of... Paradise

Volcano National Park is a unique and wonderous place.  It truly varies from being a normal mountainside national park to a completely alien landscape.  Located on the big island of Hawaii (an island which houses the two biggest volcanos and another, the most active, volcano on the planet... FYI) - this park is truly a gem in the national park system.

Our guided tour began at the steam vents.  These are fissures in the earth which produce - you guessed it - steam!  The steam is really steam - its hot and makes you sweat.  It is slightly stinkier than regular steam, however.

You can see that they have the vents railed off so no one falls in.  This didn't stop at least all of us from sticking limbs and whatnot right into the steam and remembering that yes, steam is, in fact, hot.  This whole area was surrounded by similar steam vents.  It was kind of cool, and yet very weird all at the same time.

The next stop on our tour was to go see the caldera at the top of Mount Kilauea.  This is the "most active" volcano I was speaking of, and the star of the national park.  The caldera is the fancy word for the crater... although within this giant crater are other craters, which I guess is why they call the giant crater a caldera instead.  Kilauea has exhibited some sort of volcanic activity non-stop since January of 1983, and has had some sort of activity occuring frequently since 1952, including 34 eruptions.

It's also the home of Pele, the volcano Goddess, just so you know.

In March of 2008, the large crater in the caldera re-opened in an explosive manner and blew the observation overlook to smitherines.  The park had to close the road which drove around the caldera, and evacuate a section of the island, due to poison gases.  Today, the poison gasses (sulfur dioxide) continue to spout from the crater and a rate of 80 tons per day.  Obviously, the road is still closed, and geologists who have flown over the fissure say there is a large lava lake flowing under the crater!

Needless to say, all we saw was a plume of toxic gas.  Impressive, but not the lava show we were hoping for.  I guess its the safest thing to see on the volcano!  Tomorrow we explore more alien landscapes from Volcano National Park.

Daily Dose of... Paradise

It's like I always say, "Why not get into a teeny tiny plane and fly from Maui to the Big Island?"  The flight was low, bumpy, a little bit nausiating, and did I mention the plane was teeny tiny?  But the views were remarkable!  We hugged the northern coast of Maui and then I'm not sure which coast of Hawaii.  Our headsets shown above served two purposes - to help eliminate some of the propeller noise, and they were also attached to iPods which spouted facts about the islands (and some really bad music).  I'm not sure what the photos I'm posting show, but I know they are of the Big Island of Hawaii from the air.  I suspect there are waterfalls and Macadamia Nut farms, in addition to many many other beautiful oddities.  Enjoy!

Daily Dose of... Paradise

Our Own Private Hawaii

On our first full day in Maui, we set out to go hiking.  We had a Hidden Maui book which told us of an isolated tidal pool, not too far north of the hotel encampment.  With hiking being the main activity we wanted to accomplish, we set out to find this "private hawaii" for ourselves.  And find it we did (see the tidal pool above)!  Hiking from the highway to the coast got a little steep and somewhat tricky,.  At first, we found ourselves on a windy ridge about a quarter mile north of where we wanted to be.  The rolling rocks and high winds made me want to fly!  A steep drop off told us to retrace our steps a bit, which we did and headed south a bit.

Eventually, we found our way down to a spot with no beach, where there were two tidal pools, one above the sea level, and one below.

The ocean here was angry, and the impossibly blue water seemed even more beautiful against the black lava rocks which formed the walls of the pool.  It was amazing, and gorgeous, and looking around in all directions, we found it completely and utterly isolated.  So we did what any self-respecting Austinites would do, we stripped down naked and went for a swim! 

The water was much warmer than the ocean and the sealife was abundant.  We saw black crabs and too many tropical fish to even count.  The ocean fed into this pool, so at one end, we had fun riding the tide as it pushed and pulled its way in and out of the pool.

The ocean just on the other side of the peaceful, tranquil, and amazingly clear tidal pool raged and thundered. At times, the waves went over the wall, creating a waterfall show. It was truly amazing. The photo below shows the ocean-side of the tidal pool.

All in all, a good day... actually - one of the best days I've ever had.

Daily Dose of... Paradise

Oh my goodness, has it been that long since I've blogged?  Okay, I've learned two things - I don't blog daily when I'm on deadline for the magazine, and I don't blog daily when I'm travelling.  I need to figure out how to hook my camera into my phone (it takes better photos than the phone - sorry Steve Jobs, but Kodak is still king) and then how to get my phone to post my blog... if anyone has any pointers for me on this, just let me know - I AM over 30 after all (really almost VERY over 30) so these things aren't just innate knowledge to me...  back to paradise:

Our first day in Maui was exciting.  We flew from Houston and had good seats on the plane (not the best, but really not bad).  Then we got our car and drove from Kahului to Ka'anapali, where the Hyatt Regency anchors the south end of the posh hotels on the West, sunny side of the island.  The drive was fun - seeing all this really tropical and alien landscaping, and listening to NPR, just like we were in any normal American city.

The hotel lobby is open-air - which amazed us, being Texans... but the air actually felt air-conditioned, a perfect 72 degrees and a breeze.  Our balcony over-looked the pool, one of the terraced restaurants, and more importantly, the sunset.  We hung out and got our bearings - then headed down for sushi, an umbrella drink, sunset, and a dark stroll down the beach... we hit bed slightly early, as the jet lag mildly kicked our asses.

Here is the view from our balcony the next morning, when we awoke at 6:30 am, Maui time (11:30 am Austin time) - enjoy:

Daily Dose of... Green

I was thinking about the California Academy of Sciences today.  We visited there in June with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Shauna.  Within are wonders of both land and sea - including but not limited to: a working rainforest FILLED with butterflies and its river, teeming with fish; a more vast aquarium with interactive exhibits and - yes - penguins; and an amazing rooftop, blooming with life.

Shauna was most excited about showing me the rooftop - she knew I'd love it - and what's not to love?  Grass-filled and sloping to showcase the city beyond, I could have spent the day just on the roof.  Two-acres of pleasant beauty - this green wonderland also gives great views of the De Young museum nearby.

So this is your daily dose today - the roof of the California Academy of Sciences.  You tell me, does it remind you even a little bit of the Telly Tubbies?

Daily Dose of... Zooey

I've now been a Mom for ten years... but Zooey has made it easy.

In the first hour of her life, she screamed and cried, until once again, I could embrace her and soothe her.  Seems that did the trick and, knock on wood, got all the anxiety and stress out of her. 

Zooey's been easy, a silly old soul who makes our lives worth living.

So today, on her tenth birthday (my gosh that's weird to say!), I confess that I'm a good mom only because I have good kids - starting with the first one: Zooey, who sets the tone and pace for the boy (who doesn't always follow).

So here is your daily dose of my ten-year-old...

Daily Dose of... Irritation

No matter how tangled...

No matter how twisted...

It will all get sorted out, reconnected and working again...

I promise.

Daily Dose of... Rain

Sometimes rain falls.  Dark clouds gather... they swirl and build... the bright blue sky turns darker blue, then gray, and then eventually the skies become a dark heather nothingness with no horizon.

And you hold your breath in anticipation of what comes next.

Sometimes rain falls.  Sometimes instead, there is a big noisy show of thunder, lightning and funnels.  Sometimes... it doesn't rain at all.  Always, though, the storm finally passes.

Sometimes rain falls.  But at my house, where its usually sunny - deluges like this one are delightful and not gray or dark - even if they are.

Your daily dose of rain... sometimes rain falls.

Daily Dose of... Paris

It's a sunny afternoon in Paris.  You've spent the morning strolling through the crowded corridors of the vast art palace that is the Louvre Museum.  You've stopped to admire the Winged Victory at Samothrace, you've deciphered several saints in the Italian hall on your way to see Mona Lisa.  You've felt all of humanity smashed against you as the mob stares unquietly at the masterpiece.  This made you think. 

"That's a good painting."

You elbowed your way out of the front of the human blob to witness artisans with their gear all set up next to Mary nursing her baby Messiah.  And finally, you found the armless goddess, the Venus de Milo herself, beckoning you to go outside and get some fresh air.

And now you sit by a man-made pond - in a courtyard of humanity - worshipping the sun.  A duck quacks to you in French... and now you understand the Louvre.

Daily Dose of... Thunder

I grew up in West Texas. Thunderstorms are like comfort food to me. Yeah, they can be scary, but I like roller-coasters too! I get a kick out of the dark gray tones playing against the silver linings of clouds... in a sort of sinister way. So here is a daily dose of clouds for you - a thunderstorm's a-brewin'!

Daily Dose of... Sadey Cat

Sadey is Zooey's cat, but she is the family baby. She is fat and funny. She chirps instead of mewing. She is a treat addict. She is convinced she is one of the kids and not, in fact, a cat. She adores Zooey and Ike, and follows them around like a puppy. She is afraid of heights and jumping. She likes shoes - make that loves - she LOVES shoes... especially if you've been out sweating in them and have just taken them off - that's when she sticks her whole head inside the shoes and takes a nap! And she love-love-LOVES boxes. She often goes into Jon's office and removes a box top for herself to nap in. Imagine her delight when I unpacked the kit for my new desk!

We love this silly little big baby cat of ours.

Daily Dose of... Austin

The deck at HEB's Central Market is wonderful. Full of folks: parents with children, singletons taking a quick lunch whilst reading how-to get ahead books, high schoolers eating quickly to get back, college students trying to relax while cramming physics into their heads, me waiting for a meeting to begin... and Grackles.

These brown and black birds are Austin's version of the pigeon. We have pigeons too, but there's just something so much cooler about a grackle. They are LOUD, they screech and warble and make sirens. They are bold - I swear they will come right to the table and take a french fry off your plate while you are sitting there! And they are ours - I don't ever notice grackles in other places - they just mean Austin to me.

So here is your Daily Dose of Austin's grackles and Central Market's deck. Enjoy!

Daily Dose of... Gardening

We like gardening. This doesn't mean we are good at it, on the contrary - we've failed repeatedly. Yet we carry on, year after year.

Rose bushes are something we are good at - well, I am anyway. Flowers in general tend to stay alive under our care... not just stay alive but almost flourish, I would say. We have giant sunflowers that the finches have really loved, but sunflowers pretty much do their own thing so I hesitate to take credit.

We don't bother with house plants, not because we are not good at keeping them alive but we have cats who love to eat and dig in house plants, so we've just never gone there.

Every Spring, we plant our vegetable garden. The first year, we had a bumper crop of tomatos - man they were delicious! The next year, we grew a zucchini bigger than Jon's forearm - amazing and tasty!

Getting cocky, we increased the size of the garden and added okra, bell peppers, jalapenos, carrots, corn, spinach and onions to our usual zucchini and tomatoes. Needless to say - this year, we were thwarted.

The okra was gang busters - which made us realize that we don't really know how to cook okra - beyond gumbo, and really how much gumbo do you want to eat when its 103 degrees outside? The spinach was a truly amazing jungle of green... and great food for the caterpillars. But the peppers, while impressive looking plants, haven't produced much fruit, and the onions have pretty much shriveled up to nothing. The corn? Well, I feel strongly the corn could have survived if the house sitter had watered the corn - at least once - during our two week absence.

Look, I hesitate to take the blame. I watered and tended the vegetables every morning... when I was here. We traveled more than three weeks this Summer, hired the wrong house sitter, and have had the record-breaking hottest Summer of recorded history in Austin.

Now the lake has dipped to a dire state, and we're all rationing our water usage so I shouldn't water as much as I want to. We've lost all but one tomato plant. The okra still grows tall, but it has stopped making okra. The pepper plants look truly miserable to be standing.

But there is a saving grace... hiding under the shade of the okra and peppers grow the carrots. The carrots are a puzzle to us. When should we pick them? We pick one at a time and find truly wonderful teeny tiny treasures! Its exciting and reminds us WHY we like gardening - there is something living and growing there!

So I give yo this daily dose of gardening - a teeny, tiny treasure for you to ponder. Out of your line of vision, not in your daily routine, completely off of your radar - something is growing, living, surviving down there. And all it needs is nice soil, sunlight, and some water.

Daily Dose of... Inspiration

Home is full of distractions. When I need a break from all the things (to do list items, garden and cats, mostly) that scream at me daily, I head to It's a Grind. This locally-owned coffee shop is full of familiar faces and comfy chairs - who could ask for more? They know my drink, so all I need to do is find a place to be... pull out my spiral, and start writing (or pull out my phone and start tossing virtual wadded paper balls at a virtual trash can, blown by a virtual fan, in a virtual office).

This 20 oz. cup of inspiration is their Blended Triple Chocolate Mocha, all-toddy/no whip.

Daily Dose of... Chocolate Crepe

It's mid-afternoon in Paris. It is around 78 degrees, with a cool breeze, especially in the shade, where you are sitting. The cafe you've found is located exactly in the middle of a park looking onto the front face of the Louvre Museum. Birds twitter in excitement about what's on your table. You've got a double espresso and a large chocolate crepe - still hot from the griddle.

Dig in!