July 28, 2013 - Speed Kills

Here's one pua'a that won't be making it to an imu!  The wild boar was on the side of Hawaii's Queen Kaahumanu highway on the Kohala coast.  No luau for us this week!  (Although, if you're going to eat roadkill you could do worse....)

Overpopulation of wild pigs on the Big Island is an issue with land management agencies because of the damage that they do to the fragile natural environment.  They trample and disrupt the indigenous plants and disrupt the ecosystem.  Pigs were originally introduced to the Hawaiian islands when they were first settled by the ancient Polynesians that discovered the islands.  Without any natural predators pigs thrived in the wild.  In the 1700's the European settlers introduced even larger pigs.  These 150 pound boars, as this roadkill can attest, still roam the countryside.

July 18, 2011 - Naupaka Nani

A Naupaka shrub has somehow taken root among the white coral and black lava on this stretch of the Kohala coast of Hawaii near Kikaua Beach.  The shrub is common to both coastal and mountain areas of the islands of Hawaii.  The Naupaka blooms in small, white half flowers, each appearing to be missing half their petals.  There are different legends behind the origins of this half flower, each with a similar theme of separated lovers.  In one version a Hawaiian princess, Naupaka, found herself in love with a commoner, Kaui.  They were prohibited from marrying and in the end they separate - one to live in the mountains, and one to live by the sea.  When they separate, Naupaka tore a flower in two, gave half to her love and went to the sea with the other half.  The flowers of the Naupaka shrubs in the mountains appear to be missing the lower petals while the flowers of the shrubs by the sea appear to be missing petals from the top.  The legend has it that when the two flowers are reunited, the lovers will be together again.  The ocean, the coral, the lava, the plant, the flowers, the legend are each and all nani - beautiful.