A Few More Days in Hawaii

It's my last work week at Fort Shafter. I am closing out things and slowly saying my goodbyes. When I drive the fabulous daily commute through tropical jungles and volcanic cliffs that are suspended above white sand beaches and crystal blue ocean water, I have to smile at what God has put before me. I hope I have served well.

It's just a job, but I must admit it's been a compelling situation here: temporary enough to not get too involved, but long enough to make good friends. Like the military folks I have been serving, I am getting ready for my next assignment.

I am excited about the things to come, but right now, I am nostalgic about this fascinating past year and a half. Hawaii has been a great place to discover the work at which I excel. While many may think I'm talking about scuba diving and exploring, I actually mean working with people and discovering new possibilities in making their jobs easier and more efficient.

I'll miss these people as much as I will miss this place but as I look back with fond admiration, I have a sense of anticipation at another new place to explore, people to meet and a new home to build. There is no doubt: I am positively blessed!

Last Weekend in Hawaii - Saturday 2

After diving, I went home and laid everything out to dry. I have been cleaning out stuff and I thought it would be a nice thing to take all the dried leas that our visitors have left behind and toss them to the ocean. I gathered them up as well as all the rocks I've collected this past year and a half, and headed out.
I decided to toss them at Spitting Cave.

This is the same place that my best friend Kevin, DeAnna and I were swept into the ocean at Spitting Cave last year. Kevin almost died and DeAnna and I both were struck at how fragile life can be. We visited Spitting Cave a few times since, but have never gone back down to the water like we did. When I arrived, the water was completely calm.

I paced out to the edge of the cliff and knelt down to toss the stuff into the water. I was struck by how blessed I was and how God had not only saved my life that day, but had changed my life in so many ways... I am awakened by the future that He lays before me.

I tossed each lei and they floated on the wind away from the cliff before eventually falling into the water. I thought of the kids, the parents and friends that graced our home while we were here. A lot of wonderful memories... Then I took the rocks and tossed them one by one recalling the time and place where I picked them up - Maui, Mauna Kea, Makapu'u, Kaneohe and more.

Then, as if God was telling me, "Enough, already!" a group of crazy immortals arrived and gathered around the cliff sides as a few guys prepared to jump into the water in front of the cave. I raised my camera and watched in disbelief as a guy jumped in.

Others followed and I watched for a few more minutes, but I honestly didn't want to see any more, so I left and went to hike one of my favorite locations, Makapu'u Point.

Makapu'u is where the Dragon's Nostrils are located. I did not hike to them today. DeAnna and I first hiked here with flipflops and no sunscreen or water. It gives fabulous views of the windward side of the island and always has a nice breeze. When I need to get away from the computer, this is a great place to come, walk and drink in some of the most beautiful scenery in Hawaii.

Up at the top are great views of the lighthouse. You can see Maui and Lanai and Molokai from the tallest platform. Of course, it's sometimes hard to get everything like that in the shot, so I just take satisfaction in getting a good shot to say, "I was here".

On the way down, the sun was starting to go behind the Ko'olau Mountains and the wind was getting cool. A last spot of sunshine afforded one more picture and my last Saturday activities were over. I went to a favorite local restaurant before heading home to get prepped for Sunday Diving activities and go to bed.

I am enjoying my last few days in Hawaii. Sure, I'm taking the same pictures I've taken over and over again, but it's a good way to cement in a memory.

Last Weekend in Hawaii - Saturday 1

I'm trying to make the most of the time I have left! Even as I get more and more excited about returning home, I'm not sitting still! So I got up early and - SURPRISE - went diving with the Sea Lancers dive club! After that, I went hiking on the Windward side.

Our first dive was to the Pinnacles. I was the first person down and got to see a lone spotted eagle ray. It was a deep dive and I bottomed out at 91 feet. When I first started diving, I thought deep dives would be different, but they are all pretty much the same if you don't think about the depth.

The pinnacles are a series of rock formations that rise 30 feet from from a sandy bottom, causing the current to flow in different directions. You can see how big they are in the picture. Unfortunately, it is deep and I couldn't stay down as long as I wanted. That's me swimming away from the camera...

I took many pictures and had a great time swimming around with our rather large group. One of them even offered to take my picture. They hadn't seen my nifty camera rig nor seen me goofing around using it, but it was nice and I got a good picture!


After the Pinnacles, we went to the "Diner". The current was very strong and we all had to constantly swim just to stay in place. There were tons of fish and they all seemed to want to mug for the camera. I tried to take a picture of me behind a large coral formation and the fish kept getting in the way!

Finally, I got the picture I wanted, but the current was taking a toll just trying to stay in place.A fish even got int he way of my one picture of a large shark later! The dive was 60 feet, but I was only able to stay down about 30 minutes because I used so much air. Was it fun? Of course! Everyone is planning to show up and do it again tomorrow, so I'll dry the stuff and be on the dock early Sunday morning! I'm planning to spend the afternoon somewhere else on Oahu like I did today. See the next post for my Saturday afternoon...

120 feet down!

Yes folks, I took my deepest dive to date and broke through 100 feet deep! I know you're tired of all these scuba pictures, but rest assured, it will stop soon when I return to Virginia next week. When that happens, I will probably post bike rides and hikes. Until then, here are a few more diving pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Last weekend was absolutely the most perfect Hawaiian weekend weather I have seen in my entire time on Oahu. Virtually windless, flat glassy ocean, clear blue water, late season humpback whales, spinner dolphins and really great friends.

We dove several interesting sites over the weekend, but the most interesting was the Sea Tiger - a shipwreck off of Waikiki at 120 feet deep. Of course, I took my camera rig to take some self portraits and my friends were really kind of impressed with the setup in a geeky sort of way.

The Sea Tiger is a well-visited site. You can swim into the hull if you like. I did not venture inside the vessel myself, but you can see a movie of my swim-over a little bit further down this blog post. This was my first dive where the water was clear, but I was too deep to see the boat on the surface. It was a fascinating dive!

Taking pictures was (as it always is) an effort underwater. I end up breathing heavier and working harder to "get the shot". That's not good because I run out of air faster. However, at this deep, you can't stay at depth for very long or you will have to undergo decompression which forces you to stop several times while surfacing.

Decompression does limit the NEXT dive you want to take, so it's always best to surface before your decompression limit. I came up with 1/2 a tank and only got to spend 20 minutes at the Sea Tiger. Thankfully, I have a nice dive computer that guides me through the process and keeps me safe while I goof around with my camera!

Here is my short movie of my Sea Tiger swim-over. You can see my buddy Vic exploring the hold of the ship. He searches for Hawaiian Lobsters when we dive.


After the Sea Tiger, we dove another beautiful location off of Waikiki. Being so close to the tourists, the pressure was on to look professional and stylish! Here, you can see that the water was more shallow (or maybe it all looks the same by now). I have become much better at getting the picture in different poses... too bad I'm leaving!

The guys I dive with have the boat dive down to a science. Not only can you use the anchor rope as a guide for surfacing, they also drop a dive line directly to the bottom. It has a 5 pound weight (which helps you control your ascent) and a nifty dive flag to mark the spot directly below the boat. This dive was fun because it was only 40 feet deep and I could stay down longer to play around with the camera!

After diving, the weather was so nice, we cleaned off our gear and got back into the boat for an afternoon cruise along the Diamond Head corridor including Waikiki and Honolulu. Vic and his wife Anna were wonderfully gracious to invite me along for a relaxing warm afternoon. We will be going out this next weekend for one more weekend of diving. I'm looking forward to it, but no matter what happens, it will be hard to beat last weekend!

What do I do during the day?

In case you were under the impression that I spent all my time diving and hiking here in Hawaii, I wanted you to see what my office looks like and what I do...

Last year, we installed 4ft by 8ft marker boards on the walls. In late February, I lead a team of innovative thinkers and spent several hours marking ideas all over the wall. When we were done, I took pictures of the diagrams, formulae and words then created electronic documentation of our work so we could continue in the following days.

The boards were erased and used over and over several more times before the team re-assembled three weeks ago. My Accenture boss and VP were here on Oahu and I sent them on their way while I worked with the team writing more and more really great stuff on the walls. Again, I took pictures and documented everything, then erased the boards.

The following week, I began summarizing everything and fleshing out additional concepts. By now, other people in the building began to stop in to see the guys who wrote on the walls. As I began to fill the walls again, my Army boss asked me not to erase anything so he could come in and mull over the ideas for his project work.

Now, I have dragged two more boards into the room, covered the windows and leaned boards against other boards because the ideas don't stop just because we're running out of boards! So this is what my office looks like these days... You can see that I use lots of markers and everything is very colorful!

I know we're making an impression when coworkers bring in strangers to show what we're doing and want me to explain how the concepts work! Now, people are using our ideas in their projects, teaching them to others and even adopting the ideas as their own. It is a wonderful way to close out my work here in Hawaii!

Easter In Hawaii

How do Hawaiians spend Easter? Well, mostly like everywhere else with a bigger emphasis on family get togethers...

First, churches hold sunrise services at the beach where many people are baptized. I watched two of these churches (while attending one) at the beach in joyful celebration as new Christians were being added to the church. I lost count around 25 or so...

It was a beautiful windless, surfless, cloudless day, but it was hard to hear the music or preaching. I must confess it was not a good place for folks with ADD - way too many distractions - but I just enjoyed being there.

Of course, it's a great time to take in a sunrise hike to the nearby Lanikai Ridge. It's one of my favorite places to go for a quick hike. It's always pretty with views of the Ko'olau mountains, Molulea Islands and beautiful Kailua beach!

My nifty camera/tripod provides proof of my presence, but it doesn't give you the feeling of being there. Still, when you end up with a picture like this, you might get a small sense of how much I'll miss this location!

I saw many Easter egg hunts at the beach where large day-long family gatherings at various beaches are the order of the day (you can see the open moving van at the back end of the setup).

Here, a family showed up at sunrise and got BBQ pits, tents, a dance floor and PA system, as well as napping tents, all manner of food and beach toys ready for the rest of the extended family. When I passed by them on the way back from the hike, the kids had already done their Easter egg hunt and were trading basket contents.

I was invited to join a large gathering of friends at a small farm house near Ka'ena point. The "house" was actually a collection of small buildings, so a large table was set under a tree outdoors.


Though I did not know anyone (I'm piggybacked off of Fred & Holly from work), it was like home with Christians from around the world (really) all gathered on Oahu at this tiny place far away from everyone else.

Like I said... it was at a farm...






Even though it was Easter, it was the weekend, so I got in some diving! I'm including a couple of movies instead of more pictures. They are pretty much self-explanatory. I have many, many more pictures and movies... If you want more, just let me know...




It's been a great weekend away from the computer, away from work and away from the phone. It's now three weeks before I return home to Virginia. There's a lot yet to do at work and, of course, a lot more to do on the weekends!

A Diving Weekend!

I went to Shark's Cove today. It was a little cloudy, but the water was great. There were so many scuba divers that the water looked like a Fresca! Anyway, it was fun and I saw many amazing underwater things. I will be going to dive tomorrow on the Waianae side of the island with a friend from church. He hasn't been diving in a long time, so it should be fun! In the meantime, here are a few more diving pictures!

The other divers didn't know what to think of me. I'd put the camera down on a rock, set the timer, then swim away for the picture and then swim back to pick up the camera. I think some were embarrassed...



There are a lot of caves and lava tubes at Shark's Cove. Many of them are easy to swim through, but they don't photograph very well. Here's a good one. See the large fish on the other side?



Did you ever wonder what it's like to dive with me? Now you know what DeAnna sees!






At one point, I took my camera, set it in movie mode and dropped it from 10 feet to sink to 35 feet. The other divers thought I was nuts. One guy just shook his head and swam away as I picked up the camera. Sometimes, people are just too serious...


During this last week, I've been working 16 to 18 hour days. Several Accenture guests were visiting from the mainland and I have been playing host as well as developing new intellectual capital. It's been a great day away from the phone, computer and stress. I can't wait until tomorrow (another dive)!