Photographs
Nature is an amazing thing. I’m seeing more of these fungi growing out of the mulch in our garden. Some searching online revealed that they are Aseroe rubra, more commonly known as Anemone Stinkhorn or Starfish Fungus.
They omit a foul smell that attracts flies through the black, sticky, spore bearing substance that can be seen at the base of each arm. The flies injest and trample the spores which they subsequently distribute further afield, thus spreading and helping to propagate the fungi.
This was not a large puzzle, both in physical size and in terms of number of pieces - one hundred - and subsequently did not take long to finish. The puzzle was not a big challenge. No, what drew me to it was the striking depiction of a Japanese Macaque. 🧩
The Sahara’s presence was still felt here in Porto today at the Cemitério do Prado do Repouo.
The Carmelite Church in Vitória, Porto.
And a side wall of that same church.
This evening a fierce red sunset over the Atlantic ocean courtesy of a dance between the sun, Sahara and the atmosphere!
The still orange sky. The bell towers are from the Igreja Matriz de Massarelos. Construction on this church began in 1776.
And finally, night by the Douro River on a walk to dinner.
A friend sent this video taken from her house in a remote part of West Maui. The house is on a cliff that surrounds a bay and at this time of year whales come into the bay with their young. The sound like a fog horn that can be heard in the video, is from the whales. You can also make out where some of the whales are by the white water in the middle of the beautifully blue ocean.
This morning’s new arrival, an iPhone 13 Mini (PRODUCT)RED. This will be my first new phone for 5½ years. I’ll be saying goodbye to my trusted iPhone 7 Plus. The battery on the 7 is not holding its charge as well, and the charging cable is not connecting reliably to the phone. In getting a new phone, I decided that I wanted to go with a physically smaller device, and so the Mini.
Earthy smells of mushroom dashi and Japanese curry roux fill the kitchen.
I wrote this on Monday evening but was then distracted and did not have time to finish my writing. I was cooking dinner for Valentines Day, a Japanese curry ramen. According to the cookery book Vegan Japaneasy this is not a traditional Japanese dish. I have enjoyed cooking recipes from this book, and while I don’t normally reach for cookery books, this one repeatedly calls me back and, even if I say so myself, I have had good amount of success in what I have created.
I enjoy making the bases that make up many of the dishes. In this case the mushroom dashi and the curry roux. Monday evening’s dish meant mixing the two bases and the result was richer than I expected. I was also not successful in getting all of the roux to dissolve into the dashi, (note to self, less roux next time). However, overall I found the resulting curry taste was just right. An exciting mixture of textures and tastes.
Here’s a photo of the finished dish.
I love the smell of freshly picked lemons, and am grateful that I have them growing in my back yard.
A Sunday adventure to the South East side of Maui
The south east side of Maui is a place of the elements. Wind, sun and ocean meet in strong presence at that place where the vast flanks of Haleakala descend from its 10,000 feet summit to meet the Pacific Ocean at the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel, meaning aptly “great billows smashing.” A 30 mile channel of ocean lying between the Islands of Hawai’i and Maui, wind and water are funneled between the two land masses. Back in the day fire could have been added to the elements at play as the volcanoes erupted. With their huge dormant presence, Mauna Kea on Hawai’i can be seen on a clear day from Maui, fire is never far away.
Yesterday we took a little adventure and drove out there. There was no particular destination in mind, though it ended up being a favorite place of ours - Huialoha Church in Kaupo, a simple church in design that sits on a promontory where the elements feel at their strongest. Haleakala looks down from the Kaupo Gap, a gash in the side of the mountain’s crater. It’s a place where I feel as though the physical and other worldly origins of this world can be felt. Here I feel humbled in the presence of nature.
Below are some photographs from the drive out there.
While there is no ‘starting point’ for the road out to the south east side, I always bookmark this view as where the terrain changes.
The wind at this spot was as strong as I had felt it for a long while, almost blowing my phone (camera) out of my hand and allowing me to lean into it.
Looking up towards the Kaupo Gap, a ‘gash’ in the side of Haleakala’s crater. It’s possible to hike up there and then through the crater, staying over night in a cabin within the crater. That adventure is on the aspiration list for 2022.
St. Joseph Church, built in 1862 in the Kaupo region.
The rocky shoreline just below Huialoha Church.
The roof top of Huialoha Church with the Kaupo gap in the background. There was an event going on outside the church, and so I did not want to take a picture around the building. Instead we sat and watched while a couple of spear fisherman jumped into the rough ocean to see if they could catch anything around the rocks, and a young boy, obviously quite at home in those waters, went boogie boarding.
Now this 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle was a challenge. Satisfying to finish, to put in that last piece, but a challenge. 🧩
The rain and resultant humid weather that we have had over the last few days appears to have resulted in some interesting flowers growing amongst the mulch.
I just completed this jigsaw puzzle of Sea Anemones. My first for a long time. It was difficult because the puzzle was not made up of regular shapes. Even some of the edges were not clear. But it was fun to do. 🧩
