Urban wildlife, etc.
More morning urban wildlife of Honolulu:
1 chicken
1 black cat
2 fairy terns
3 kolea
6 cattle egrets
The usual mob of mynahs, sparrows, zebra doves, and spotted doves
The line in front of Mitsu-Ken at 7:00am was 7 people long, including one police officer. Eeek. I hope that garlic chicken is worth the wait, not to mention the hunt for parking on that block.
When I drive to work, I rarely notice the smells of the city. Bicycling in the open air on the sidewalk, though, I’m surrounded by ‘em. The sweet smell of mock orange blossoms; the not so sweet smell of rain-moistened dog droppings. The green smell of fresh-cut grass by the roadside and the cloying smell of half-burned gasoline.
February 8th, 2006 at 9:51 am
In SF, my ride to work takes me almost the length of Golden Gate Park before I’m on the city streets and when on a bike, you are really part of the environment.
A car blocks everything out and so you miss the wonderful smells of spring in the park and the speed of the car prevents you from taking in all that is going on around you.
In GGP, you see the people going through various exercises (tai-chi etc) on sun drenched fields and you can’t help but be drawn into the peacefulness from their communion with nature.
You also feel every change that happens within your neighborhood - a work crew digging up gas/water/powerlines etc creates not just a minute and a half inconvenience as you drive through it but a much longer affect - the change in street texture - now you have to remember the bumps and holes to ensure a smooth ride.
February 8th, 2006 at 10:24 am
Leo! Good to hear from you, my friend. I would love to have a commute through a park like Golden Gate, but alas, my route is past some of the densest parts of Honolulu instead.
Seeing how one neighborhood blends into the next is fascinating. If you travel by car, especially on highways and major streets, different parts of a city can seem very disconnected from one another when in truth they’re all of one continuous piece.
February 17th, 2006 at 9:10 am
No plover? We’ve seen one in our back yard quite often this year for the first time ever, and we’ve had a few mongoose sightings in the yard, too.
February 17th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Sure, I saw some plovers — I listed them as “kolea”.