Endangered Species

Trucks are usually meticulously cared after in Maui, and the vehicles certainly serve to project the feelings and personalities of their owners through decals, stickers, and photos.

What does it exactly mean to be local born?  A person born in Hawaii by local parents?  Hawaiian by blood?  Does the sticker insinuate that most residents in Hawaii actually come here from somewhere else?  

I do understand the Hawaiian by blood thing being bred out slowly but surely.  

Night Stars

As the night falls on the North Shore of Maui, the first thing I see is the planet Venus.

To see other night stars in the area, one just needs to head to Charley's in Paia.  Here you will find a healthy dose of North Shore nightlife as well as live bands.  Willy Nelson comes here.  

Ride 'Em Cowboy

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I experienced the 55th Annual Makawao Rodeo - Hawaii's largest.  Competitors and spectators from all over the state converged at the Oskie Rice arena for 4 days of festivities.  It was my first time here, and I was surprised yet again at the diversity present on Maui.

For me, it was an eye-opener to be exposed to real Hawaiian cowboys from working ranches, such as Ulupalakua Ranch and Haleakala Ranch.  I am on Maui right?  Simply surrounded by names such as Circle (insert random letter) or the aroma of fresh farm animal manure made me realize and appreciate the Valley Isle all that much more - so much going on for a 750 square mile volcanic rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

What A Ham

I don't know what my obsession is with cats lately, but here's a series of shots of my sister's cat Francis, named after the musician Francis Black.  He has the most interesting facial expressions I've ever seen on a feline.  Perhaps he drank the stuff out of the brown bottle sitting next to him...

Valley Isle Memorial After Dark

Cemeteries give me the creeps.  You see all the gravestones and read the writing on said gravestones.

Valley Isle Memorial Park located on the Hana Highway just before Haiku is the only graveyard I don't really mind.  Due to the fact that the the tombstones are flush with the grass facing up, the park isn't as ominous, to me at least.

When viewed at night, you see a side of the park rarely glimpsed.  All you see are the little solar powered lights friends and relatives erect next to their departed loved ones.

Pickle Mango

Let's say you have a mango tree in your front yard.  Of course the fruit ripens all at once, and since a fully-grown mango tree can give birth to hundreds of mangoes at the same time, you can't possibly consume them all before the fruit rots.  What to do?

Enter a local tradition that goes hand in hand with  food preservation methods dating back thousands of years - pickling of the mango.

"Pickle mango" is simply sliced mango pickled in a chilled sweet brine solution, usually infused with li-hing powder - a tasty plum-like flavoring common in the Islands.  Locals put li-hing on everything - popcorn at the movies, preserved fruits like cherries, gummy bears, you name it.  Li -hing makes everything a bit sweeter and more savory.

This pickle mango stand was set up on the side of Hana Highway right before Paia town.  You will see this very distinctive pickle mango sign all over the North Shore, so if you're in the area and see this call to mango lovers the world over, why not pull over and have a taste of local Hawaiiana?

Roar!

I love my pets, and this shot was a lucky grab.   His name is Tiger, a.k.a. - "Bah Bah" as he sounds like a sheep.  He's doing what he does best - nothing at all!