A Sketch of Kapa'a Beach Park

A small park on the northwest coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Another stop along our drive. My wife and I left the car to check the snorkling conditions. A few people braved the strong waves, and kicked around in the rough current, but those conditions weren't for us.

My wife took her painting kit to a picnic table. I opted for my comfortable seat, and added color to my sketch of Richardson Beach. Gradually, the clouds moved, exposing the front seat to full sun. 

Even with the windows down, I grew hot. The sketch paper reflected the sunlight into my eyes. I left the car, and walked around to stretch my legs.

More cars arrived, filling the parking lot. I didn't feel like drawing cars. My wife was immersed in her painting. What could I do?

I sat at the picnic table across from her, enjoying the cool shade. The relaxed spirit of the place called to me. I got out my pencil and sketch pad, and attempted to capture it.

I combined the elements that I most liked into my composition. When my wife finished her watercolor, I had completed the penciling and begun coloring the grass. Then we continued our tour of the northwest corner of Hawaii.

Later, I studied my sketch, and frowned. Had I not begun coloring it, I could have erased it, or added something to the foreground. Instead, I had just strewn a few objects in a horizontal slash across the page. What had I been thinking?

During our stay on Hawaii, we returned to Richardson Beach several times. While my wife did other paintings, I added color and detail to my initial sketch. When we returned home, I continued working on the Richardson sketch until I completed it. 

After that, I went on to other projects. My remaining sketches from Hawaii, including the sketch of Kapa'a Beach Park, languished in my book, forgotten, unloved.

Recently, I took out my sketchbook, and reconsidered the sketch of Kapa'a Beach Park. So what if it was just a horizontal line of items? So what if I had too much grass? 

Perhaps it could not evoke as much interest as the Richardson sketch. But I should not try to compare the two. Nor, I thought, should I attempt to forecast the result. I would never know what it could become until I finished working on it.

I got out my colored pencils, and tried to breathe life into it.

The result surprised me. The picture calls to me. I'm glad I finished it.

Someday, I may have to return to Kapa'a Beach Park.

Dragon Dave

A Sketch from Richardson Beach

Since I started sketching, I take fewer photographs. Instead of trying to capture every interesting camera angle, I spend more time looking for something interesting to draw. 

When visiting new places, I sketch as often as I can. While my wife captures her watercolor visions relatively quickly, it takes awhile for me to complete the linework on a sketch. The process of building up color takes infinitely longer. 

Last year, on our trip to Colorado, I started lots of sketches. While I completed the linework on all of them, I only started coloring a few, and completed just one. So on our latest trip to Hawaii, I decided I just wanted to do one or two sketches, and make sure I completed them.

We returned several times to this little parking lot. We sat in the car, and I gradually added to my sketch. I found it helpful to inhabit the same place, to see the trees, rocks, and sea before me. When we returned home, I used the above photo on my computer as a reference. After several more coloring sessions, I completed it.

It may not be exactly what I saw, but it's what I could draw.

As it turned out, I started three sketches in Hawaii. There's another one I really want to work on, of the nearby Japanese Gardens. I'm not sure when, or if, I'll get around to the third. But if all I ever finish is this one sketch from our recent visit, I'll be happy. 

Dragon Dave

The Problem With Indulgences: Part 2

The news media, and the medical community, continually say that if you experience chest and arm pain simultaneously, you should go to see your doctor immediately. So when I experienced these, along with the other symptoms I described in the previous post, I went to see a doctor. Based on the symptoms I described, he didn't think I was in danger of having a heart attack. But he ran a few tests, just to make sure.

One of the questions he asked was: Had I felt bloated with gas? Another was: Had I noticed any acid reflux? While I had noticed a little gas, I had not suffered from the acid reflux. But then, in the weeks that followed the doctor's visit, acid started backing up into my throat, bringing with it a bad taste, but even making it difficult to talk.

Researching the causes of acid reflux can be worrying. Many of the foods and drinks I enjoy can provoke the condition. But two lifestyle factors can also contribute: eating large meals, and lying down soon after eating. If you think about it, the one can lead to the other. Eating large meals leaves me feeling weighed down and lethargic, which makes me want to lay down and rest until the food digests. How about you? Do you ever feel like you need to take a nap after a meal? 

Thankfully, I've found I haven't needed to cut down on any of the food or drinks I enjoy. Instead, I've concentrated on portion sizes. So in the last few weeks, while I've eaten smaller meals, the gas and acid have, in large part, gone away. 

A Moco Loco (Rice, Beef, Egg, & Gravy)
from the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue in Kauai.

Tasty, but BIG ENOUGH TO SHARE!!

I imagine that everyone should periodically assess what they eat, as well as how much they eat at any particular time. As for myself, I'm trying to cut back on the situations that will encourage me to consume a large amount of calories at one sitting. I need to remember that not-filling-my-plate led to a slimmer figure, and never left me bloated or regurgitating acid. 

Also, when I got full, such as in the cases I've mentioned previously, those big meals left me feeling lethargic. Meals should recharge our batteries, and leave us ready to pursue out next adventure. Not leave us feeling like we need to crawl into a cave and hibernate for a few hours.

Great dining experiences should help us lead better lives, not bog us down and limit our activity.

Dragon Dave

On Indulgences: Part 4

Back in April, my wife and I vacationed in Hawaii. We stayed on the west coast of Maui. One of the places we dined was the Hula Grill. It's located in a shopping center next to a hotel, and the open air dining area looks out over the ocean. In fact, a boat dropped off a large number of snorkelers while we ate.

As we've been there before, we opted for some old favorites. In my case, it was a chicken sandwich, with thick pieces of focaccia bread, and seasoned fries. I only ate half my sandwich, and gave some to my wife (and took a few back to the hotel to enjoy later with my other half-sandwich). Then we selected a dessert to share.

Our choice was another old favorite. It's called the Ice Cream Sandwich. They take a layer of chocolate cake, place a thick slice of dense, rich vanilla ice cream on top, then cap it with another slice of cake. They drizzle caramel sauce on top of that, and surround it with some raspberry sauce. A dollop of whip cream finishes off the dessert.

Had we left after eating only half our meals, we would have been satisfied. But after sharing the Ice Cream Sandwich, we were stuffed. We wandered around the shopping mall for awhile, then headed back to our hotel. I don't think we did much the rest of the day. But then, I suppose one of the reasons one goes to Maui is to do nothing much, at least part of the time.

Dragon Dave

Teen Ministry & Doctor Who Snorkeling

The Doctor snorkels at Ke'e Beach

Recently, my mother and a friend visited us. They planned to attend a conference nearby, and as they were unfamiliar with San Diego, I agreed to drive them. It was held at the local Dave & Buster's, a restaurant/games center that makes Chuck E Cheese look like a garden shed next to a mansion. In the banquet room, we enjoyed a nice buffet lunch, and meeting other Christian leaders who wanted to improve the teen ministries at their churches. Then the selected speaker took the podium, and instantly I knew I was in trouble.

Suffering as I do from Tinnitus, I not only hear persistent ringing in my ears, but find loud noises bothersome. The speaker was a man with a powerful voice, who spoke with commitment and passion, so of course he decided to pick up a microphone and place it directly before his mouth. As his words blasted out of the speakers, they felt like bullets launched from machine guns pounding away at my fragile flesh. Or, in a word: Ouch.

When someone sets you at unease, you're liable to find fault with anything they do or so. So if I hadn't found his loud speaking bothersome, perhaps it wouldn't have bothered me that he began by saying, "Now, I apologize in advance to all you anal-rententive folks who want to get onto the program, but first we're going to talk about the character of a youth leader." He went on to describe how, early on in his ministry, he constantly fought with his wife. On their honeymoon, he even had to stop the car on the freeway, get out, and kick a peacock standing in a field. Now, everyone can understand that, when you're young and full of passion, you may also have anger issues. His point was that you needed to be rooted and grounded in your ideals and life before you could ably lead others. It's a good point, one I agree with. 

My annoyance derived from his use of the adjective "anal-rententive" in addressing Christian leaders who had given up several hours, if not the entire day, to hear him speak. I find the term, if not offensive, at least highly disrespectful to others. For me, his usage abrogates the Golden Rule, a maxim embraced by most (if not all) religions, that urges people to treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated. In Christianity, Jesus tells his followers this is the essence of the Law of Moses and the Teachings of the Prophets. The fact that anyone would find this term acceptable in polite society...well, let's just say I found it a poor choice of words. It seems even more unfortunate when you consider that this man regularly places himself regularly before teens. If they find value in what he tells them, they may emulate him, and not just in the ways he intends.

At any rate, his voice was just too loud for my ears. I tried using ear plugs, but there's just no way you can block out a repeating, percussive sound like that, where you're constantly transitioning from silence to a series of explosive consonants. So after awhile I went out and sat down in the dining area of the restaurant. To pass the time, I drew this picture with a pen on the back of the the program brochure. The background music mixed with the sounds from all the machines in the gaming area, and the overall noise was probably louder than in the banquet room. But the sounds were more harmonious, and set me at ease after the constant percussive blasting of the man's voice through the speakers. 

By some lapse of my normal brilliance, I hadn't brought a book along to read, or my sketching materials. So I tried something new: sketching with a pen, just one color, and no hope of erasing if I made a mark I later regretted. With such limited resources, I doubted my ability to achieve a respectable result. But I'm rather pleased with drawing, and my wife said she liked it too. I've already used it as the starting point for another drawing, this one with color pencils on sketching paper. All of which goes to show that good can come from any situation, if you look for an opportunity to turn it in your favor. 

Oh, and one last thing: please don't kick the peacocks.

Dragon Dave

An Excursion to Salt Pond Beach

Pocket: Did you hear where we're going today?
Denim: Master & Mistress said something about Salt Pond Beach.
Pocket: I hope this weather clears up then. 

Denim: According to my information sources, it's not supposed to rain so much on the southern and western sides of Kauai.
Pocket: You want to tell the weather gods that, or should I?
Denim: There's no need to be sarcastic. 
Pocket: I just wish I could EXTERMINATE this rain! The fierce downpour has already forced Mistress off the road. She'll probably just turn around now and head back.
Denim: Have faith in the Mistress, and in my information sources. Optimism may not banish the clouds, but it will help you accept what you cannot change.

Denim: Hooray! The weather cleared up, and we made it to Salt Pond Beach, on the westernmost coast of the United States!
Pocket: Thanks for helping me adopt a more optimistic viewpoint so I could EXTERMINATE my blues. 
Denim: No problem. Even Daleks have moods.

Pocket: I suggest we reduce the reception on our visual sensors. 
Denim: An astute suggestion, sir. With the clouds clearing, the colors might overload our systems.

Denim: Master's sketching, the Mistress is taking photographs and collecting shells, and the locals use this beach to make natural sea salt. What shall we do?
Pocket: Let's just sit here awhile. There's so much to see.

Pocket & Denim Dalek

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Pocket: Where are we going today?
Denim: Master & Mistress mentioned something about trying Waimea Canyon again.
Pocket: What? After last time?
Denim: I know, sir. But the weather's supposed to be better today.

Pocket: It is as I feared. Look at those dark clouds! And after all the time it took us to get up here!

Pocket: Say, a break in the clouds. Maybe today won't be as bad as I feared.

Denim: Ooh, look sir! A waterfall!

Denim: 

Down in the valley, 

The Waimea Valley so vibrant and green, 

I lost my dear sweetheart,

Her Dalekanium housing had such a lovely sheen.

Pocket: Poetry alert! Poetry alert!! POETRY ALERT!!!
Oh, let him have his moment.

Denim: So sir, were Master & Mistress right to attempt a second assault on Waimea Canyon?
Pocket: According to my analysis of the situation, the odds favored a day at the beach. Still, you can't argue with a triumph.

Pocket & Denim Dalek

The Invasion of Poipu Burgers

Denim: What? Twenty-Five Miles Per Hour? It's Lunch Time! Order Mistress to put her foot down!
Pocket: I'd better not. Poipu is a notorious speed trap, and the Police track vehicles by lasers.
Denim: You mean by radar?
Pocket: No, the sign said by lasers.
Denim: The Police on Kauai sure are high-tech. I'd applaud such inventiveness if it wasn't delaying our lunch!

Denim: Say, this place looks promising.
Pocket: Yeah, we might even find authentic Hawaiian cuisine here.

Denim: Mistress' Teriyaki Chicken Burger looks good.

Pocket: I'm sure Master will enjoy his Kalua Pork Burger. Since I've removed the raw onions, it's even safe for him to eat it.
Denim: You know, we should dip into our savings, and surprise Master & Mistress with a special dessert.
Pocket: Yeah, we should be completely selfless in our generosity.

Denim: Well, there it is: the Kilohana Crater. I suppose we had better taste it, to make sure it is worthy of their sophisticated palate.
Pocket: You know, I thought Master explained us well to the waitress.
Denim: Except for the fact that she kept calling us Darleks.
Pocket: And she said we looked like mice! Can you believe it?
Denim: Sir, can we discuss this later? The ice cream's melting!
Pocket: All right, I'll grab the spoons.

Pocket & Denim Dalek

Assault on Waimea Canyon

Denim: Where are we going?
Pocket: Master & Mistress spoke about heading for the hills.
Denim: Ooh, I bet we're heading up into Waimea Canyon. Mark Twain supposedly called it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific!

Denim: They say you just have to be patient, but we've been here forever, and the fog refuses to clear.

Pocket: Great, I'm getting raindrops on my visual sensors! I'm heading back to the car!
Denim: Sir, come back, please! I'm sure it's just a quick shower!

Denim: This looks like a nice park. I'll steer Master & Mistress toward the covered eating area. That earlier shower might signify rain.

Denim: I'm glad we could stretch these bread slices back into shape.* Master & Mistress love their Peanut Butter sandwiches with Pineapple Papaya jam.

Denim: The rooster's coming inside. I wonder if he senses something.

Denim: Oh no, now it's starting to rain. I guess Pocket was right to stay in the car. Still, I was hoping we could go on a hike.

Denim: I want Kauai to stay so lush and green, but why did it have to rain during our assault on Waimea Canyon?

Pocket & Denim Dalek

*See Hulk Smash Bread

The Perfect Hawaiian Breakfast

Denim: Thanks for inviting me to come see the sunrise.
Pocket: I'm glad you enjoyed it, but we'd better head back to the room. We need to get breakfast started.

Denim: You know, the ancient Polynesians speared fish, and Hawaiians still catch them and eat them. Do you think Master & Mistress would like fish for breakfast?
Pocket: If you want to catch one and clean it, I'll fry it up.
Denim: Sure, let me just grab a stick, and I'll pop one out of the water. Then I'll give it a good scrub down with soap and water.
Pocket: No, by cleaning the fish, I mean prepare it for cooking. You'll want to cut it in half, scoop out the guts, pick out all the bones, and--
Denim: Uh, now that I think of it, we've got eggs for an omelet.

Denim: Say, weren't the ancient Polynesians related to the French?
Pocket: Don't even make the suggestion!

Denim: According to Master's book of Hawaiian Myth and Legend, the ancient Polynesians used to cut giant papayas in half. Then they'd scoop out the middle, use the seeds for ammunition in their blowguns, and use the papaya halves as canoes.
Pocket: I thought they made their canoes out of wood?
Denim: They did later on, but only after they ran out of giant papayas. 
Pocket: That's too bad. A papaya canoe would be easier to make, and provide food for long sea journeys.

Denim: I read that when they were real hungry, the ancient Hawaiians also caught butterflies and ate them.
Pocket: I suppose their favorite butterflies were chocolate-covered ones with colored sprinkles.
Denim: How did you guess?

Denim: There you have it. An omelette using eggs from Kauai's wild chickens, half a papaya, a chocolate-and-cream-filled butterfly, and tea brewed from tea bags brought to Hawaii by the world famous Captain Cook. The perfect traditional Hawaiian breakfast.
Pocket: I'm going to have to read Master's book on Hawaiian myth and legend. It sounds real interesting.

Denim & Pocket Dalek

Flying With Indiana Jones

Denim: Okay, the cargo's loaded. Order the pilot to take-off!

Pocket: We have to wait. People are still taking their seats.

Denim: But we're flying Economy Plus. We should be calling the shots!
Pocket: I don't think it works like that.

Pocket: See, we're underway.
Denim: Hooray! We're off to Kauai!

Denim: Are we there yet?
Pocket: No.
Denim: Are we there yet?
Pocket: What part of the word No do you not comprehend?
Denim: Well, how long until we get there?
Pocket: I don't know. A few hours, anyway.
Denim: Hey, we're flying Economy Plus! Order the pilot to speed up!
Pocket: I don't think it works like that. Would you like to see a movie?
Denim: Yes! Yes!! YES!!!
Pocket: What would you like to watch?
Denim: Raiders of the Lost Ark! Raiders of the Lost Ark!! RAIDERS--
Pocket: Okay, I get the idea.

Denim: Boy, Indy's sure having trouble Exterminating that Nazi so he can drive that beat-up old truck!
Pocket: Yeah, he should have flown Economy Plus.

Denim & Pocket Dalek