Kauai Wildlife

One of my favorite things about traveling is discovering new kinds of plants and animals.  Or just seeing some wildlife I don't see in my normal day to day life.  It never ceases to amaze me all of the beautiful and wonderful creatures God has made.

The following are some wildlife pictures from my recent visit to the island Kauai in Hawaii.  I'm not going to mention the fish or sea turtles, because I wrote all about that in my post about snorkeling so check that out if you're interested in sea life. 

Farm Animals

The most common animals I tend to see are farm animals.  Kauai was no except and had, cow, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, and chickens. 

One of the cool things about the horses was that often times they were tied up to the outside of the fence along the road.  I guess that way they could eat all the tall grass along the road. 

Chickens and roosters were not only kept in pens by the locals, but also roamed the entire island free.  They liked to congregate at the tourist attractions looking for handouts no doubt, but they could even be heard or spotted when back in remote forest trails.  

One thing I learned about roosters is that they crow all throughout the day not just in the morning.

Parking Lot Chickens

Jungle Rooster

Reptiles & Amphibians

The most common reptile I saw in Kauai were lizards.  There were several different varieties.  Some were green and some were brown.

Some did a cool neck thing where their neck expanded which had red on it.

In addition to lizards there were geckos.  I didn't see them as much as the lizards though.  

Lastly in the amphibian department I saw one lovely forest toad.  There we some other toads, but sadly they were smashed on the road.  

Mammals

The most common mammal as far as I could tell was the elusive... feral cat! LOL

But the island also had deer, wild pigs, and wild goats.  I saw three wild pigs, two brown ones and one gray one.  However, I didn't get a picture of them cause they were too fast!  My sister got one though!

Taken by my sister not me.

I also got to see one of the highly endangered Hawaii Monk Seals! 

According to a sign posted they estimate there are only about 1,500 left in the wild. Because of that, its a crime to harm them and they post these warning signs around them when ever one shows up on the beach.

Birds

Apart from the chickens which were by far the most common bird on the island, there were many different kinds of beautiful little song birds.

There were also the Hawaii State bird the Hawaiian Goose or Nene.

The interesting thing about Nene is that they build their nests in holes in the ground under bushes and they guard the entrances.  They sounded like angry cats growling when you got near them!  At first we thought they were just more feral cats, but then realized it was the geese! 

One of the most beautiful birds on the island were these white birds with long tails called koa'e kea.  I didn't get any good pictures of them but here is a mountain side covered with them.

All the the little white specks on the mountain are these birds! They looked very Jurassic to me with their long tails.  They also just seemed to love to fly in very picturesque areas such as a water fall we visited which made them appear even more beautiful!  

One of the funniest bird to watch was this Sandpiper type bird.

This little fella was doing an excellent job of snatching small crabs from the rocks for dinner, but having a hard time keeping out of the waves!  Twice he almost few right at me trying to avoid the waves.  It's kind of hard to see but I caught him in action here.

Insects

So one of the most common insects on the island was the mosquito unfortunately!  At least I assume so because of the bug bites! LOL! However, there were some other cool sighting as well.  Including this interesting looking spider!  We found this guy hanging out in our back yard!

There were also bees.  Regular honey bees and some big black carpenter bees.

I saw this random weird little bug on this lovely flower.  I don't know what it is though.

Lastly my favorite insect were these gigantic snails!  I thought we had big snails in California, but these ones were much larger! 

Top view to show off the whole twisty shell

Snails close up

Crustacean

Lastly I just want to point out that there were some really cool crabs that I really enjoyed watching too.  There were big black ones and tiny sand colored ones.  They were all enjoyable to watch as they tried to eat while waves were crashing down on them every few seconds.  The tiny sand ones made holes in the sand and would pop out all paranoid every few seconds then hide again!

Farewell for now!

Welcoming the Stranger

St. Catherine's in Kauai - not my picture

I recently visited the Hawaiian island of Kauai.  I am a Catholic so naturally I wanted to attend a Catholic Mass when the weekend rolled around.  I was delighted to find quite a lot of Catholic parishes on the island and my sisters and I settled on the 5pm Saturday night Mass at St. Catherine's.

We found our way to a nice discreet middle pew.  Or so I thought.  A few minutes after settling into our pew a nice gentlemen sat down beside us and mentions how he hasn't seen us before.  I quickly explained how we were visitors.  He welcomed us and asked if we would be willing to bring up the gifts!  "Sure," I said without even hesitating.  He pointed them out and explained what we should do then headed off to one of the pews in the front.  My sister excitedly whispered to us how the priest at her parish said you should always accept to bring up the gifts if you ever get the chance because it is a great honor.  What a great honor to bestow on guests visiting the parish for the fist time! 

As we sat waiting for Mass to start we noticed some women going around distributing sea shell lei.  One of the women made her way to us and welcomed us and gave us each a lei as well.  We soon realized the lei were for all of the visitors!  I suppose it may just be a Hawaii thing, because we received a lei for going into one of the stores as well, but I felt so welcomed at that parish.  I felt as if the people were genuinely happy to have us and all of the visitors at their Mass.

It was a beautiful Mass with the doors left wide open and the wind freely blew through the Church during the whole ceremony.  I have not felt that welcome at a parish at Mass in years. 

I have visited around seven different parishes since moving to Orange County California and more often than not I feel like I'm inside an invisible box the entire time except for the peace be with you part.  Sometimes I will get a kind word from a stranger, but usually only after attending several Masses.  The way every guest and visitor was welcomed in their pew at St. Catherine's was not something I've ever seen before and I've been to Churches all over America.  It made me feel like I really belonged and the greater Catholic family was happy to have so many brothers and sisters join in the celebration.

To welcome the stranger is a work of mercy.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if every Catholic Church took this work of mercy to heart and welcomed the strangers like those kind souls at St. Catherine's did?  We are all part of the Body of Christ and are truly brothers and sisters in Christ.  If an unbaptized  stranger walks into a Catholic Church for the first time ever and received a smile or kind word that could start them on a path to unity with Christ.

I find this very difficult to live out because I feel that I am often the one who is the stranger.  But at the same time I do feel at home in any Catholic Church because my Lord dwells there.  Let us strive together to welcome each other into our parishes because when we go there we are truly all welcomed guests.

Guardians of the Galaxy and Chastity? [Spoilers]

When considering a pure chaste movie to watch Guardians of the Galaxy is most likely not your first pick.  However, I found there to be quite a good message about chastity hidden among these galaxies.

The movie starts off with Peter Quill aka Star Lord as an adult soon after showing him as a child being abducted by aliens right after his mother's death.  After a very entertaining introduction escapade, we find Star Lord escaping in his ship with a young pink girl.  The joke is he doesn't remember her name, although she is wearing an old comfy pj looking tee-shirt indicating she slept on the ship the night before.

Throughout the movie there are several other mentions of other women whom Star Lord has had one night stands with.  So we get a very clear picture that he uses woman and either forgets them or is never satisfied and thus is always seeking but never finding a woman he actually loves.

Having lost his mother at a very young age, never known his father, and been raised by aliens criminals, it is not really surprising that he does not have the best moral character.

Gamora, the leading lady shows up early on in the movie.  Beautiful, likes to fight, has green skin, what's not to love?  Of course Star Lord has a weak spot for her just like he has for every single women he has ever met in his adult life as far as we can tell. 

It doesn't take long before Peter attempts to kiss her.  Her response is, "I know who you are, Peter Quill, and I am not some starry-eyed waif here to succumb to your... your pelvic sorcery!"  I love this response because it's funny, but more importantly because Gamora stands up for her dignity as a woman.  Yes, it was only a kiss, but she has only known him a few days at most, which is far too soon to be kissing.  Also, she obviously knows about his playboy reputation and she doesn't want to be a part of it.

This response undoubtedly comes as a surprise to Peter because the movie implies women just give into him all the time.  Turning him down did not quench his desire for her, in fact it did something much better; shortly after this scene comes Peter's life changing moment, when he decides to risk saving Gamora's life at the potential cost of his own.  His lust for her is transformed into real love.  Real love is characterized by desiring what is best for the other with no regard for one's self. 

These two moments, Gamora's rejection of Peter's lust and Peter showing real love is a very condensed over dramatic version of what occurs in real life.  It is the women who knows her own worth, and dignity and who stands for chastity who is capable of wining a man's heart.  Men are happy to "fool around" with the "easy" girl, but he would not likely ever considering marring her because he doesn't truly love her.  If she doesn't respect herself how can he respect her? 

You may wondering if men don't love these "easy" women, then why do they often initiate these one night stands in the first place?  Well, just like Peter Quill, many men have been deceived into believing that is just what men do.  It's expected and in some circles it "makes you man."  This is evident even by this movie.  After Gamora see's Peter's ship for the first time she insults it saying how filthy it is.  Peter's response is, "She has no idea. If I had a black light, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting."  The theater I was in erupted into loud cheers, primarily if not exclusively from the men, in response to this joke.  Which indicates that many of the men present agreed that Peter's promiscuous behavior was acceptable and every praise worthy.

So what exactly does Guardians of the Galaxy teach us about Chastity?

Women: Respect yourself, you are a princess by adoption. (God's princess, the movie didn't say that explicitly but it's true.)  Your sexuality is a gift only to be given to one worthy of you, who proves his love to you by vowing his life to you in marriage.

Men: Using women to attempt to gain pride or pleasure will not satisfy you and not gain you the real respect you desire.  Rather it is self sacrifice that with allow your true potential to shine forth.  You have a great calling (from God) in the battle of against sin and darkness, you can help lead the way by practicing real love.    

All should take note: When Gamora rejected Peter's affections, she only had to tell him no once and he respected her dignity the rest of the movie.  Ladies if you have to tell your man no over and over, he may not be a man worth catching.  Men if you can strive to live by chastity and not make your ladies ever have to tell you no, you will be man truly desired by woman and man who is free to live out his true calling to greatness.

I am Groot

Snorkeling in Hawaii

Last week I visited Hawaii, the island of Kauai.  I went with my two sisters for a week.  I will probably write more about the trip, but I want to start with the snorkeling.  This was my first time ever snorkeling, we went three times to three different beaches.  Kauai has a ton of beaches, below is a map of all the major swimming ones.

We visited a few not listed on this map but didn't swim in them including Donkey Beach on the east side, which was an awesome small beach with some great little tide pools, and Queens Pond, I believe it was called, on the west side that had a 5 mile dirt road to get to it. There where quite a few kite surfers at that one. 

Donkey Beach - East side Kauai

Near Queen's Pond kite surfers - West side Kauai

Poipu Beach

Poipu Beach was the first beach we ventured to snorkel at because it was newbie friendly and since I had never snorkeled before I wanted to try it out there first.  This beach is located on the south side of the island.  It had a "kiddy pool" behind a rock barrier on the left that blocked the waves and a "reef" side on the right that had a bit rougher water.  We went in on the reef side.  I was awe struck right away.  As a fish enthusiast who enjoys viewing fish in aquariums I was very enthralled to be in their natural habit as I felt as if I was swimming in an aquarium.  Most of the fish were very small, and the "reef" consisted mostly of scattered rocks.  However, I saw the most beautiful fish, that quickly became my favorite. They were christmas wrasses.

*Not my picture* - Christmas Wrasse

These fish were very shimmery and had a lot of colors so I really enjoyed seeing them the most.  I also spotted a fish that camouflages really well like part of the rocks, it may have been some sort of stonefish, but I'm not sure.  I was super exited to see that because they extremely hard to spot.  The orange edges of it's fins gave it away, and I saw it swim to confirm. 

Lastly I saw what I believe was a baby snowflake moray eel being pestered by a larger fish as it was trying to make it way under a rock, but was having a very difficult time finding one it could fit all the way under.  This little eel was adorable and I had a very good time watching him.

*Not my picture* - Snowflake Moray Eel

The water at this beach was odd because it had warm pockets and very cold pockets.  My sisters and I enjoyed the warm pockets more of course! 

Ke'e Beach

Ke'e Beach is last beach on the north side of the island accessible by car. The Napali coast is only accessible by a two day hike or by boat/helicopter.  This beach had a splendid coast line as it's leading into the Napali coast. I didn't get a picture of the beach itself cause I didn't want to get my camera sandy, but here is a shot from the parking lot.

View from parking lot Ke'e Beach - North side Kauai

This beach was basically like a cove with rocks along the left going up to a mountain and reef circling around all the way to the shore almost on the right.  We started out on the left side per a tip from the lifeguard.  There we found a really cool school of medium sized fish against the rocks. 

I did have an cheap underwater digital camera so the pictures came out very bad, but if anyone can identify these fish please let me know.

School of fish at Ke'e Beach

Once we got tired of the left side we swam over to the right where we found a legitimate reef.  The entire ground was made up of the reef and there were some cool cracks in it that fish liked to dodge in and out of.  To me it felt rather eerie to swim above the reef because it seemed like it went on forever. I saw some pretty cool fish though and they were much bigger than at Poipu Beach.  The tourist info said Ke'e was a good place to spot sea turtles, but we did not find any which was rather disappointing. 

Tunnels Beach

The last beach we swam at was Tunnels Beach, which is also on the North side of island with a great coastal view.  I got some pictures this time.  This was the only beach we swam at that did not have a lifeguard there full time.  One came by on a four wheeler every once and awhile.

Tunnels Beach - North side Kauai

This beach had a very shallow reef that went all the way up to the beach, and it went out to very deep water.  I started out on the shallow side and kind of freaked out because it seemed like it was so shallow I would scrape against the coral.  So I made my way to deeper water and found amazing very deep looking fissures in the reef, which may be where they got the name Tunnels Beach.  These cracks were so deep they where completely dark.  I swam over them, but it was a little eerie because I could just imagine a gigantic eel or something emerging from the depths.

This reef dropped off into really deep water abruptly.  I swam to the edge and it was way too freaky to swim over the edge because it felt like the edge of the world.  I did swim over a tiny bit later, but quickly returned to swimming over the reef.  I believe I saw a sea lion or seal out there, a big group of snorkelers swam toward it, but I hung back, it's a wild animal you never know what it will do!  I also saw a scuba diver out there.

I swam around a long time, the fish here were bigger than both of the previous beaches the biggest I saw was at least a foot long maybe a little bigger!  

I also saw what I think was an Aha Needlefish.

*Not my picture* - Aha Needlefish

By this time my sister found me and informed me they had found a sea turtle and she would lead me to it.  I swam behind her and the water kept getting more and more shallow and the reef closer and closer to my face.  The water got so shallow I thought maybe they had found a baby turtle.  But when I got there it was a full size green sea turtle I believe. Unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of it.  We were all very happy to see a sea turtle it was hanging out in the shallow reef grazing.  It was really cool to see how it was not disturbed by the waves at all.  Where as I was being tumbled around it was completely chill.  Finding Nemo got their personalities down perfectly! LOL

Here is the best underwater picture I got.  I believe it's a saddle wrasse.  These were also very pretty fish.

Saddle Wrasse

I saw many different types of fish I don't remember them all. I know I saw some yellow tangs, some kind of parrot fish, possibly a baby puffer, and some kind of brown sea slug, I'm not sure what else.   This beach had the strongest currents so by the time we were done swimming were pretty tired out. 

Overall I really enjoyed snorkeling it was quite amazing to see all the fish and sea life.  I highly recommend it if you love fish. 

Avengers Age of Ultron - Review [Spoilers]

The Good 

Overall I liked the movie and found it entertaining and fun enough to recommend it, as long as you've seen the other movies including Guardians of the Galaxy if you want it to make the most sense.  I've seen them all expect Thor: The Dark world oops my bad.

My favorite thing about Avengers Age of Ultron was how well they portrayed a traditional family. Hawk Eye's wife and kids were amazing and he was clearly a good father despite having to be away from home due to... saving the world and all that... for a living.  So many movies today feature broken families or worse promote homosexual families, I thought it was very refreshing to see a traditional loving family taking a central role in the film.  It was also very nice to see that none of the family members were used by Ultron to gain the upper hand like so many other Super Hero movies do.  (Louis Lane, Mary Jane/Gwen Stacy, Rachel Dawes etc)

I also liked Black Widow showing her true colors of caring for a good man (with a large green disability LOL) rather than attempting to flaunt herself toward men in order to control them as she has done in the previous Avengers/Captain America movies. It seemed she really respected Bruce rather than attempting to use or deceive him like she normally tends to do. Aside from forcing him to transform into the Hulk when in a life threatening situation which is understandable.

Of course this movie also had some great action scenes. I thought the Hulk vs. Hulkbuster rampage was the best action scene in the movie.  That fight was amazingly well done because it was funny and suspenseful at the same time. 

The Bad

There were quite a few religious references in the movie, particularly Catholic references and I was very unclear what kind of statement they were trying to make, if they were trying to make any kind of statement at all.  

First of all there was a joke about Catholic rabbits, I thought the joke was hilarious, but at least one of my Catholic friends found it offensive so it probably offended others as well.  

Next there was the fact that Ultron preferred to do his dirty work in a Church.  The denomination of the Church was not mentioned, however, Ultron quotes Jesus, (Matt 16:18) "....upon this rock I will build my Church..."  This is very significant verse particularly to the Catholic religion.  The reason for this quote escaped me. The only thing I could come up with is they may have been trying to imply that Ultron was and anti-Christ character.  However, that still seems very odd to me considering he came into being via a computer program so was really an AI program. 

Lastly when Vision comes into being they ask him who he is and he say "I am" which is the name God uses to describes himself to Moses (Exodus 3:14) The only knowledge I have about the Avengers story is from the movies, so maybe this is explained better in the comic books, but without knowledge of where the infinity stones came from, this seemed very odd to me because from my perspective Vision is an AI infused with an infinity stone.  So it seems odd that he may have a god complex considering artificial intelligence is an and even lower life form than human beings.  Humans are made in God's image, but AI are made in man's image, so they are two steps removed from God rather than one.  

The Meh

I thought the visions the Scarlet Witch gave the various characters were confusing and I did not understand how her power worked.  Did she direct what they saw?  Or was it based off of their emotions?  Or was she simply a telepath?  Iron Man's vision seemed to be his worst fear, but Ultron's seemed to be his desire.  Captain America's vision could have been his doubts or secret desires I wasn't sure what to make of that one, and I had no idea what was going on in Thor's vision, but I assume it's because I failed to watch Thor: The Dark World first.  Anyway the movie did not do a good job explaining how her powers work and I felt that she and Quicksilver should have had their own movie like most of the other characters did so we could understand them better.




Lastly I felt the end fight was too drawn out and was not as impressed by Iron Man's heroics because it felt like it was a copy cat of the first Avengers movie.  I would have preferred to see one of the other characters take the lead role.  Although Scarlet Witch's little break down was dang impressive it left me a little confused as to why she doubted herself earlier during the dialog between herself and Hawk Eye.