Standing Into Danger

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Escaping from Winter!

Time is flying by. We arrived in Honolulu, turned around, and ten days had passed.

We've been busy visiting good friends and favorite places.

It's wonderful to have escaped the bone-chilling cold

that has hit Colorado and much of the Mainland.

Waikiki never gets old.

Here are some photos I've taken since we arrived:

A Timeless Sight

Diamond Head from Fort DeRussy Beach

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 16, 2025

Ubiquitous Pigeons

by Pickleball Courts at Fort DeRussy Beach

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 16, 2025

Terry and I

Fort DeRussy Beach

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 16, 2025

Bougainvillea spectabilis

Along Lewers Street

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 16, 2025

Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop

Bronze Statue by Sean K.L. Browne

Royal Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 17, 2025

Princess Bernice Pauahi Pākī Bishop, was a Hawaiian philanthropist, ali'i,

and the great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha I and last surviving heir.

"Kamehameha Landing"

by Sean K.L. Browne

Royal Hawaiian, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 17, 2025

Herb Kane was working on this painting shortly before he died.

It shows King Kamehameha I and his warriors in canoes preparing to land on the shores of Waikiki.

Traditional Chinese Lanterns

Royal Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 17, 2025

Mallard Ducklings

Royal Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 17, 2025

Fireworks ~ As Seen from Our Lanai

Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 17, 2025

Terry waits for the bus after stocking up on groceries at Walmart.

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 18, 2025

Laki eyes Lulu in her comfortable perch.

Cat Cafe MOFF, International Market Place

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 18, 2025

Wave Erosion Undercutting #1

by Barefoot Beach Cafe

Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 22, 2025

Wave Erosion Undercutting #2

by Barefoot Beach Cafe

Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 22, 2025

One, Two, Three ~ Can You See?

On Queen's Walkway into the Ocean

Queen's Surf Beach, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 22, 2025

Crabs

Military Jets

‎⁨Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Beach Park

Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

A Man and His Birds Delight Passersby

‎⁨Hawaiian Hilton Village

Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

Banyan Trees near the Waikiki Aquarium

Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 22, 2025

Painting on the Back of a Truck

Ala Wai Boat Harbour

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

A Very Skinny Guy

Ala Wai Boat Harbour

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

Māmala Bay and Fort DeRussy Beach

from the rock jetty by the Outrigger Hotel

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

Māmala Bay is the near-shore area of the Pacific Ocean

between Barbers Point and Diamond Head.

The bay contains the entrance to Pearl Harbor and Honolulu Harbor.

A Peaceful Sunset from Our Lanai

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

A Mother and Chicks

‎⁨Kapiʻolani Park

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

Makua and Kila by Holly Young

My Favorite Sculpture

Kuhio Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 23, 2025

The sculpture portrays the characters in a children's story by Fred Van Dyke

and a young boy's friendship with a Monk seal.

Starburst Bush at the Honolulu Zoo

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 24 2025

Enjoying the Honolulu Zoo

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 24 2025

Giraffes at the Honolulu Zoo

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 24 2025

Aaron, One of the Great Bartenders at My Favorite Bar and Restaurant

The Hideout at the Laylow

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 24 2025

We've been coming here for years, and because there is little turnover in the staff,

we know the Hideout's people. They always welcome us back.

Great people. Great food. Delicious Mai Tais. Great music.

I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date, Tom's Aloha Friday, and Nicole's Friday Face Off.

For Rain: Pyjamas ~ One of my favorite photos ever, and I'm not sure who took it ~ likely my youngest sister Bertie. My sister Donnie is reading to her three children and Bertie's two children (over 25 years ago).

Krista, Sara, Lisa, Donnie, Natalie, and Gavin

Baker's Creek, Alberta, Canada

circa 2000

For Tom: Aloha Spirit ~ A display of children's art greets arriving passengers at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.

Aloha Spirit by Daniel Latu, Kindergarten, Queen Ka'ahumanu Elementary

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 15, 20

For Nicole: Quite a Face ~ I was literally face to face with this hippo at the Honolulu Zoo today.

A Hippo Up Close and Personal

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

January 24 2025

I haven't settled into a routine yet. I'll get there!

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be

Friday, January 31st. 🤞

On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

IWSG: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 ~ A Childhood Plan

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.

To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are

Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and Natalie @ Literary Rambles

Stop by their posts and thank them for hosting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.

This month's featured question is:

Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I was ready to change the page on 2024 for sure.

I am happy to have this bright shiny new year to move forward into.

I hope 2025 is a year of peace and happiness for us all!

Happy New Year!

Wikimedia

I grew up in Canada in an extended family that revered the Royal Family.

If you entered a relative's home on either side of my family,

you would likely see one or more photos of members of the Royal Family.

Usually the photos included the young Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philip,

and their young children Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

The Royal Family ~ 1956

Google Arts & Culture

I decided when I was about four that I would marry Prince Charles when I grew up.

I admired him as a real prince who lived in a real castle,

someone who had stepped out of the pages of my fairy tale books

and into modern London, Windsor, and Balmoral.

My family respected the Royal Family, and my parents, grandparents, and other relatives

honored them for their bravery during World War II and other historical events.

I remember my Grandmother MacBeath from my father's family,

and my Great Aunt Nan from my mother's family

practicing their curtsies for events the Queen was attending.

Yes, I would marry Prince Charles, become a princess,

ride a gorgeous horse, and go to garden parties and royal balls!

A mounted trooper of the Life Guards on duty at Horse Guards

London, England, United Kingdom

June 8, 2014

When Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981,

my parents, my brother and his wife, some of my sisters,

and I stayed up most of the night to watch the wedding ceremony.

As the couple walked down the aisle of St Paul's Cathedral,

we toasted the bride and groom with champagne over strawberries in chilled glasses.

I can still hear the Archbishop of Canterbury saying during his sermon,

“Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made—

the prince and princess on their wedding day.”

Princess Diana and Prince Charles

Flickr ~ Joe Haupt ~ License

Sadly, the world soon came to know that their marriage was not the stuff of fairy tales.

Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced on August 28, 1996.

I can also still hear Princess Diana saying in an interview with Martin Bashir of the BBC,

“There were three of us in the marriage. That made it a bit crowded.”

A year and a few days later, Aug. 31, 1997, Princess Diana was dead.

I stayed up the entire night sitting on the edge of the bathtub

and staring at the tv on our bathroom counter, sobbing, unbelieving,

as the horrific and tragic events unfolded.

I Visit The Diana, the Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain

London, England, United Kingdom

June1, 2014

I had long outgrown my girlish plans to marry Prince Charles

by the time he and I were teenagers.

As the years passed I realized there was no way I would want to live a royal life.

I love to be anonymous and free, to live my life on my terms.

I'd rather be the photographer than the photographed!

Prince William and Princess Catherine

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

September 24, 2016

I have followed Prince Charles and other members

of his extended family throughout their lives with interest.

As an adult, I have admired Prince Charles for many things,

beginning with his concerns about plastic pollution

and the environment in the early 1970s

and continuing with his advocacy for sustainable practices,

organic farming, and renewable energy,

not to mention his extensive charitable work

and his support of health, education, and responsible urban development.

I am well aware of the many criticisms of the Royal Family and the Monarchy,

and I'm not going there in this post.

I don't revere the Royal Family as my older relatives once did.

I don't have their photographs displayed in my home.

But there is still much that I value in the family and in the institution.

And there will always be

that little girl inside me who once planned to marry Prince Charles.

Me, Shortly After Turning Eight

Along with My Brother Roy (6) and Sister Donnie (4)

Likely Alymer, Ontario, Canada

April 1958

Wishing each of you a fun IWSG Day,

and a big thank you to our awesome co-hosts.

Have a healthy, happy, and creative January!

Take care!

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be January 17th 🤞

Friday, January 3, 2025

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but two came to mind when I awoke New Year's Day.

I'm going to be kinder to myself and I'm going to sleep more.

I killed two birds with one stone, by immediately rolling over and going back to sleep.

Seriously, in the last 5 years I've averaged about 6 hours and 7 minutes of sleep a night.

Thank you, Fitbit!

And my average falling asleep time over the past 5 years is well past midnight.

I didn't try to calculate it, but "eyeballing" the data showed me the error of my ways.

Since I'm of an age when I'm worried about dementia, I have got to do better.

I'm going to turn this night owl into a morning lark.

Hummm!

Maybe I'll settle for an average of 6 hours and 30 minutes a night

and an average falling asleep time of 11:59 pm.

That would be a big improvement, and that would be kind to me as well.

Definitely, I want to laugh more this year and these two memes tickled my funny bone.

I'm linking to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date, Tom's Aloha Friday, and Nicole's Friday Face Off.

But, I'm not sharing themed photos this week.

It's been one of those weeks,

and I'm opting for more sleep and being kind to myself

(as in not beating myself up because ran out of time).

Anyone else making resolutions?

I'd love to hear.

Take care!

Till next time ~

Fundy Blue

Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

My next post will be

Wednesday, January 8th. 🤞

On the Bay of Fundy

Books Read in 2026

"18 Days in Heaven" by Gale Poirot
"A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Hope, Love, and Overcoming" by Kerrie Rawson
"Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life" by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD.
"Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics Deepest Truths" by Eugenia Cheng
"Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir
"Tell Me Everything" by Elizabeth Strout
"The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese
"The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow
"The Life Impossible" by Matthew Haig
"The Lord go the Rings" by JRR Tolkien
"The Match" by Harlan Corben
"The Night the Path Disappeared" by Terri Bergen
"The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper" by Roland Allen
"Theo of Golden" by Allen Levi
"Think Twice" by Harlan Corben
"Why Christianity Must Change Or Die" by John Shelby Spong

Standing Into Danger

Pages

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Escaping from Winter!

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

IWSG: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 ~ A Childhood Plan

Friday, January 3, 2025

New Year's Resolutions

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