Dead batteries, Rainbows

I would send more pictures from Hawai'i but my camera's batteries are now all dead, and I didn't pack my recharger with me...

However, I do want to mention the rainbows. When I first arrived and picked up a rental car at the airport, there was a huge double rainbow in the sky. Since then it seems I have seen a rainbow every few days. Rainbows seem to be very common here and perhaps explains why a rainbow is on the HI license plates. By the way, I have only seen one license plate so far that is not Hawaiian; it was from Alaska!

I have a bank account and a van now and am looking for a house to rent so the rest of the family can join me (I was in a hotel for a few days but now I am in a temporary sublet), but I am also starting a new job, so things are busy once again.

Grape Morula Shells

Here are shell fragments from the Grape Morula (Morula uva) collected along the beaches near Dillingham airfield. Tiny broken pieces are very common and were one of the first shell fragments to really catch my eye because of the black & white contrast. I suspect (correct me if I am wrong) the brown and white ones are just more worn down.

Penniform Cone Shells

I found some penniform cone (Conus pennaceus) shell fragments scattered along the beach on the north shore of Oahu. The cone snails have poisonous darts and some species have even killed humans, but that is rare. This species is even more interesting because it has a pattern on its shell that is very similar to rule 30 cellular automaton. The pattern reminds me of a snow capped mountain range.

East - West, West - East

There are a million things I should talk about to catch up on all the news in Germany and returning to the US and so on... in time.

However, I'll just mention one thing about Hawai'i at the moment. I keep getting turned around with road directions. I'm used to thinking of West as toward California, and East as towards China. I know this seems stupid but when I see an Exit that says H1 East for example I imagine that I am heading toward the side of the island in the "China" direction in my mental map, but it is the opposite. I still need to get used to being on the other side of the earth.

In Hawai'i

I am in Hawai'i now. It's a long story...