Snap, Crackle, Pop ! Its A Great Day in Kona !

     Yesterday was a full and delightful day.   It began at 0630, loading the car with monstera.  If you're not a

With Golden Fins, Mr. Stripe Belly is a Real Show Horse!

tropical gardener, Monstera deliciosa is the plant that looks like giant philodendron, with leaves two feet wide and two and a half feet long.  The creeping fibrous stem can reach two inches in diameter.  From a gardener's standpoint, it really is a monster.

    Once loaded, I was off to the yard debris depository.  Luckily, it wasn't yet 8 AM.  The yard debris drop off faces the ocean.  Between about 4 and 8:30 Kona enjoys a land breeze which blows your leaves and stems into the bin.  If you come after 9:30, there is a strong sea breeze which blows the debris back in your face.  Earlier is better, but then you can't combine it with a trip to Costco. Decisions, decisions.

    My intention, apres monstera,  was to bop on down to the pier for a swim.  But as the fish don't really wake up until 10 AM (Jeffrey Hill, unpublished data) I motored back to Casa Ono, where the Redoubtable SKG and I chilled for a while before heading down to Kahalu'u.

Spotfin Scorpiofish,  Free Swimming Eclipse

     It was low tide at K Bay.  Sandra hates going in there at the ebb, but Sandra wasn't swimming yesterday.  She was still recovering from a gardening accident.  Which is to say, gardening in our yard is not for wimps.  Anyway, I made my way past the Reef  Teachers (who deliberately clog the entry thereby captivating their audience) and made the usual turn toward the sea.  Twenty yards along I was greeted by the loveliest Stripe Belly Puffer ever.  This is a fish that is rarely called lovely, but aren't those yellow and black fins the coolest thing ever?  Its also a fish that we hardly ever see anymore, so this cutie was a double delight.

    Following my efforts to photograph the Golden Fin Puffer, who was remarkably stand-offish for one of his clan, I made the clockwise circuit.  On the way I saw a fine Yellow Margin Moray, who posed cooperatively.  I always make a last run to the breakwater.  This time I was rewarded with the same Yellow Stripe Coris we saw a month ago.  The golden headed imature hogfish is long gone, but this guy seems to have made K Bay his home.  I could detect just a trace of of yellow towards the caudal peduncle.  Maybe he'll be turning into an adult pattern soon!

Spotfin Scorpionfish, Scorpaenodes balllieui,   Kahalu'u  October 2013

      Heading for home, among the rocks, I saw a small, dark and vertically striped fish.  I had observed this guy the week before.  That time, he swam under a rock and vanished.  This time I watched him as he swam to a rock and underwent as remarkable a metamorphosis as any fish I have ever seen.  This beauty sat still and allowed several photos at close range.  A couple were in perfect focus and the amazing result is here for your enjoyment.  After he left his hideaway, he donned an even more prosaic coat, which I am including for comparison. The only animal to which I can compare this Kafkaesque transformation is the Day Octopus.  And that is quite a compliment to the fish from the land of Snap, Crackle and Pop. 

     Authors Alert!     Resorting to the books we identified the fish as Kellogg's Scorpionfish.  When I submitted it to Dr Randall and John Hoover they both got back to me in less than 24 hours with the news that it was Spotfin Scorpionfish, S. ballieui.   Also a small unobtrusive fish.

     Back up on the slopes of Hualalai, the day was young.  After down loading the fish pictures it was time to get ready for the Parade of Nations; each year in the week prior to the Ironman World Championships, the participating athletes parade through the village.  Somehow, Sandra and I had never attended the parade, which is Kona's answer to Olympic Opening Ceremonies.  .

Marine Photographer Joshua Lambus

 This day we got in the car at 4 (the parade started at 5 PM) and were in gridlock on the Kuakini Hwy by 4:10.  We dodged into the large parking lot behind Coconut Grove  and found one of the few remaining parking spots.  (Its worth noting that when an event is held in Kailua, public parking is woefully inadequate.)

    Kailu's Finest had secured Alii Drive, so we strolled down the middle of the street on our way into the village.  Across from the market, we caught the tail end of the Keiki Dip and Dash.  This is an event in which Iron Children swim and then run the length of the village, about two hundred yards.  This is roughly the degree of exertion with which I would personally feel comfortable.  A little further on we ran into an IronFamily of five, the kids still in their dip and dash regalia, that consented to walk onto our blog.

    As we entered the village proper, we stopped into the JLambus Art Gallery.  Joshua is a local photographer of sea life.  We meet on the beach sometimes and compare notes.  I showed him the killer
picture of Kellogg's Scorpionfish. (Joshua is a killer fish identifier and he did not correct my erroneous identification.) In turn, he told that on a recent dive below 100 feet he had seen a  Decoy Scorpionfish.  Joshua is the real deal and he's got the killer hairdo.  You can look for his blog, as well.

Tiare with Judy and John Collins 

   We finally found a seat on sea wall and were soon joined by a lady of a certain age from New Zealand.  Tiari has run several Ironmans and was running again this year.  She had decided to rest with us and join the Kiwi contingent when they reached that point on the parade route.  Soon the parade began and Tiare leaped up to embrace a gentleman and his wife who were wearing the leis of honored guests.  She told us the man was John Collins, who as an officer in the  US Navy stationed in Honolulu, invented the Ironman on in 1978.  I guess Tiare is the real deal, too.

    The teams marched by alphabetically and all were greeted warmly by the crowd.  The French team sang the Marseilles (They had Sandra and I looking for Victor Laslow and Richard Blaine.) and the Germans sang that olay olay song heard at soccer matches.  The team from Brazil marched to a couple humongous bongo drums.  It seemed to me that Joshua Lambus, with his

The Ironman Timing Director with the Ultimate Ajudicator.

 outstanding dreadlocks should have been made an honorary member of the team (There was no one marching from Jamaica.)

     Finally, the team from the USA appeared.  Hines Ward rode by in a car with his posse throwing small nerf footballs to lucky kids.  Hines has lots of credentials:  NFL receiver, Korean rights advocate, Dancing With the Stars and, now, the Ironman.   He qualified by winning the the Kansas 70.3 (which is exactly half a true Ironman).  That's pretty impressive, but its not clear that he's ever run a full Ironman Triathlon.  He seems like a great guy.  Good luck to Hines.

    At last it was time for for Ironman Jeopardy for 1000.  Alex Trebec: "She is pushing her bike in the middle of the USA contingent and is hands down the cutest girl in the Ironman."   To which I shout out, "Who is Kelly Miyahara?"   Yes, it was!  She was looking hot in a red tank top and long, black bike pants (I'm talking a seriously high temperature on this breathless Hawaiian afternoon)  In any event, she made me so proud to be an American that I yelled her

Kelly Can Represent My Country Any Day!

name.  She turned, smiled, shook my hand and asked, "Do I know you?"  To which I replied, "Only through the internet."  This apparently is a pretty good answer in the age of Twitter, for she shook my hand again and gave me a dazzling smile.  I felt like Ned Niederlander after he met Dorothy Gish.  I bid her good luck in the race and she returned to the parade.

    Kelly qualified for the World Championships by competing in Kona Inspired with a touching story about the passing of one of her triathlon teammates.  She didn't win anything on the road.  However, unlike Hines Ward, she has actually completed a full Ironman Triathlon.  Her time at the Ironman Canada 2012, competed at Whistler, was such that we predict she will finish between 7 and 8 PM.  Four hours before the ultimate adjudicator closes the course.   Hopefully we will see neither Kelly or Hines in the medical tent, but just thinking about those 141 miles under the blazing sun are enough to give me a stroke!

    Well, U is near the end of the alphabet, so we started walking back to the car, passing many of the contingents along the slow moving parade route.  Just as we broke free, we reached one of the celebrities who you've never heard

 Natascha Badmann is the Real Deal.  And a Good Sport.

of.  Natascha Badmann of Switzerland was riding in the rumble seat of a shiny old car replica.  She was the women's champion six times between 1998 and 2005.  And she's running again this year.  Not be outdone by the minions of Alex Trebec, Natascha smiled and signed our program.  She is likely to finish between 5 and 6 PM.

    Its really unlikely that Natascha will end up in the medical tent, so it was a good thing we met her at the parade. And there's nothing fishy about her or the Ironman World Championships. 

jeff

While you're at the Ironman,  won't you please drop in for a bite at K Bay.

My Father Would Disown Me if I Didn't Include the Canadians!