One of my favorite places to run is on a quiet trail that hugs the shoreline of the Pearl Harbor channel. It's a beautiful setting, and halfway down the trail in a quiet glade alongside the water is a solemn memorial dedicated to Air Force - and Army Air Force - Medal of Honor recipients. I’ve been running along this trail for years, but I had never stopped to look closely at the memorial until recently. I was feeling a little tired during the run, which seems to happen much

At first glance, we thought it was a barracuda that silently appeared in front of us as we snorkeled at Maui’s Kahekili Beach. This did not alarm us because barracuda usually have no interest in swimmers or snorkelers. I say “usually” because if you are wearing a piece of shiny jewelry - such as a bright watch or a necklace or maybe even a nose or belly-button ring - a barracuda can confuse its glint for the silver belly of a fish and strike in the blink of an eye . . . or

Whenever we snorkel, we collect trash from the reef. Usually it consists of fish hooks, weights, or broken fishing line that is wrapped tightly around coral heads, but any object that should not be in the ocean is fair game. I intentionally wear a pair of swim trunks with a large pocket in which I place everything. One perfect day when we had just left the water after a morning snorkel at Makua Beach in Waianae, I was warming in the sun when something suddenly leaped from m

We did an early-morning beach cleanup a few weeks ago in Waikiki. At one point, I saw something glistening in the sand, and thinking that I might have found one of Dennis Rodman’s earrings, I bent down to pick it up. Instead of bling, I found this little fellow, a 3-inch squid that was so life-like, it must have died just minutes before I found it. I have no idea why it died. Some people will say that it must have taken the Covid booster. I won’t argue with them. I have

I returned from a run and found a Hawaiian blind snake crawling on the concrete floor of my garage. It was the first one I had seen in years. It was also the largest one I’ve ever seen. My wife picked it up while I jumped on a chair and cowered. Blind snakes normally live underground or in piles of moist leaves but certainly not on concrete garage floors, so we decided to move it to an inviting place in the backyard where the leaves have not been raked since Nixon was pres