Kauai: Miscellaneous Scenes

Ornamental chickens!  By the hundreds!  They run all over the entire island.  There are countless roosters, hens, and chicks.  We saw them everywhere except at the top of a sheer cliff.  They are in the parking lot of the rental cars, at scenic outlooks, on the beach, near restaurants,  and in the parks.  They stroll down the sidewalks and have no trouble crossing the road (except when they inadvertently become road kill).  A few chickens got loose during a hurricane not all that long ago, and they have no natural predators, it seems.  There is much clucking and crowing and  merrymaking from the poultry population.  I’ve always had a big heart for chickens.  When we went to the boat company that ran our raft ride, we met a “pet” chicken that hung around the boatyard because the tour guides gave it lots of potato chips and nursed it back from the brink of death.   Chickens bring out affection in people, I’m positive of it.  Well, maybe not people who are afraid of feathers, but for the average populations, chickens make a nice addition.  They fertilize the ground, eat pests, and are a natural alarm clock.  Also, they are just plain fun to watch.  I thought these trees on the beach were so interesting.  The waves had washed away the sand under the roots, which gave them a magical and mysterious sense.  One of my favorite times was a long walk on the beach with Dr. Peds on our first evening in Hawaii.  That particular beach was so interesting, set in by tall cliffs and mountain peaks.  I made Dr. Peds stop the little blue rental car next to this soccer field so I could capture the beautiful mountain peaks in the golden light.  This is part of the resort where our friends stayed.  Somehow I missed taking a picture of the house we stayed in.  We were a bit rushed before leaving the rental house on the last day because we were headed toward an appointment for a helicopter ride that ended up getting canceled because of cloudy and rainy weather that morning.  We spent quite a bit of time at this resort our friends were staying at because of the beautiful sand beaches right there.  We also did a lot of together-meals in their abode, which was equipped with a kitchen.  Our place also had a kitchen, but it was a little easier to get everyone together at their place.  I loved the view from this overlook at a valley stretching down to the ocean.  It was fun to watch the clouds roll in and swirl around.