Acai

 I finally had the chance to get a closeup of the berries produced by an Acai Palm. I admit that before I started coming to Hawaii I thought palms only produced coconuts.

The berry is used in different foods, but we have experienced a mash made from these berries in Acai bowls. These have a base of acai, but then covered in other fruits, granola, honey, peanut butter, etc. You can get the frozen acai mash from large grocery stores in the States and we sometimes make the bowls at home. Other partially frozen berries work as well.

Kahua O Kaneiolouma

 There is a tension that exists on Kauai between the native population and the visitors. Those who live here full-time are a very mixed group that includes the original Polynesian people and then generations of immigrants coming to work in the fields or other industries that have come and gone. The beauty of the island brings both tourists and those wanting to purchase land for various reasons. As has been the case in many beautiful recreation areas throughout the country, these two groups of individuals are put into a strange relationship with the "locals" becoming dependent on the money from tourism and development, but at the same time finding it difficult to afford housing and the price of goods (e.g., gas). I think we kind of fit in the middle sometimes annoyed by both the high prices and short-term tourists.

Attempts have been made to bridge this gap with financial concessions to provide lower cost housing and efforts such as kama'aina which provides a break on some goods, services, and fees if you have a Hawaiian driver's license (I think this is how eligibility is demonstrated if necessary). A related effort involves efforts to both demonstrate and maintain the culture of the original Native people and long-term ethnic groups.

I took a couple of photos yesterday of an effort to refurbish the totems at Kahua O Kaneiolouma (also this source). These sites are rustic but efforts to capture the authentic conditions of the past.

Notice the blindfolded which will be removed at the dedication. 

Coffee Blossom Time

 
We visit the Kauai Coffee Company farm several times during each trip to Hawaii. Cindy read that the coffee blossoms were in bloom and bloom for only a short while so we made the trip to see the bloom. I think we imagined a more spectacular show associating the coffee bloom with cherry blossoms or something. Still, it was worth the trip and there is always something to photograph.

There are many interesting facts about this place. It is the largest coffee plantation in the U.S. with 4 million trees each producing one pound of coffee per season. They use drip irrigation because this side of the island is dry - 2,300 miles of tube. I use drip irrigation in my garden too. 

Harvesting is done by machine (converted blueberry pickers). This is different than the hand picking we saw in Kona on the Big Island. I would think there would be a lot of waste, but maybe the cherries ripeness does not matter. 

Never store your coffee in the fridge (unless you drink Folgers). 

Contraflow

 I find contraflow intriguing and have written about it before. Contraflow desccribes the procedure of reversing the flow of a lane of traffic to accommodate a change in the volume of traffic moving in a given direction. I originally thought it might be a cost saving measure, but I have changed my mind.

I have decided they do it here because there is not enough room to expand the road to four lanes. So a team of department of transportation hires each week day gets ut very early to put down traffic cones and then about noon picks them up again.

African Tulip Tree

A weed is pretty much a plant growing where it is not wanted. This is obviously the case with the African Tulip Tree. If you do an online source you will recommendations for how to propagate this plant in California and complaints about invasive species in Kauai. Cindy likes this massive plant because it so colorful and has just started blooming. Ravines near the road filled with this tree are very impressive right now. 

Rainbow Eucalyptus

 We made a trip to the Keahua Arboretum because the description promoted the multiple Rainbow Eucalyptus in the park. These large trees have a very interesting bark that is responsible for their name. I see some of these trees every day when I walk along the border of the golf course I pass on the way back from my coffee shop, but we thought the park may offer something unique.

It turns out the golf course may have more trees, but the views in the park were unique and I got some interesting photos.

Book Club

 Saturday morning has been book club time for me for many months. We read books about history, economics, politics, and writing. Two meet for two hours and often speak of many things other than books. I have never actually met any of these individuals some who live in other countries. The following was from this week with a couple of individuals missing.

I will be missing for the next few weeks. The club meets at 10. That is 6 in Kauai and I have to get up to make coffee and wake up by 5. Today begins daylight savings time. Hawaii does not make a change so that would be 5 hours difference. As much as I enjoy the discussions, I would not be functional and so I will be on break. 

A visit to the farm - almost

 We get some of our vegetables from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) at home. Instead of visiting a farmers' market, we commit to purchasing from a single farm, and then every couple of weeks we drive to a designated location near us to pick up a box of produce. It is not really the most economical way to get produce as COSTCO is probably less expensive and we have a lot of stuff from my garden which is sometimes the same as what shows up in the box. It is sometimes the principle of the thing when buying local.

Again, Cindy learned that you can do something similar here. Instead of a seasonal commitment, you can order individual boxes of 15-20 items depending on what is available. $30. I had hoped that we would get a chance to see the farm and I could take some photos, but when we arrived at the farm the gate was closed and we found a stack of coolers.

One of the challenges we face at the markets is not knowing what is being offered for sale. There, you can ask what it is and if it is interesting how you eat it. This doesn't work with the mystery items left at the gate. 

It was interesting getting away from the roads we drive over and over. Behind all of those trees and Guinea Grass is open space, fancy homes with space for horses, and small farms.

What's in a Name

 Cindy is constantly using her Internet search skills to spot new sights we might see and eating places we might try. She came across Mark's Place that seemed to be highly regarded and suggested we give it a try. Sure enough, the food was great.

Hawaiian Doves

I am familiar with Mourning Doves. I think I always thought they were called Morning Doves, but I learned otherwise and I am guessing their plaintive call is the explanation for their name.

There are plenty of doves in Hawaii and when people feed the birds (not to be recommended), you see hundreds of doves at a time. One landed on the table next to me and I got a good photo.

My iPhone automatically identifies some categories of images and birds are among those identified. This is called a Zebra Dove. The name makes sense because of the stripes. The other dove we see a lot has dots around the neck.

Hawaii has four different doves. This source provided the first time I realized it was a Mourning Dove.