Horton Deakins's Blog, page 21

Hangin' loose on Sunset Beach

Yep–that's me, hangin' loose on Sunset Beach

This beach is on the north side of Oahu.  I don't normally wear my hat backwards, but I turned it so I could give the "hangin' loose" sign in style.

Another view of a peach of a beach--Sunset Beach

We had so little time there–but we could have stayed all day and not have tired of it.

Nothing like this around here!

Sure wish we could go back!

More rustic, but picturesque

Don't you just hear the woman in the distance singing, "Bali Hai?"

Ghosts of the USS Arizona

Ghosts of AZ crew

I never noticed this before.  As you stare down through the water at this submerged portion of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, there appear to be ghosts rising from the depths.  Do you see them?  The ship entombs over 1100 sailors and marines.

Arizona Memorial

Here is the USS Arizona Memorial the way it looks as you approach it on the ferry.  It spans the wreck of the ship as if it were a bridge.

Marker for the USS Arizona

This marker can be seen for a considerable distance.

A portion of the list of the dead

The wall containing these names was much bigger than you see here.

Tears of the USS Arizona

Oil is constantly seeping to the surface from the USS Arizona.  The ship was loaded with fuel oil when it was sunk, and over the years the sea has taken its toll on the structure of the ship.  Some day, all the remaining oil may be released at once, and that will be a serious pollution event.  No one has come up with a practical idea for recovering the oil without damaging the ship and desecrating this solemn site, so they have decided to let it take whatever course it will.

USS Arizona gun turret

The base of one of the Arizona's gun turrets was above water, affording a better view.

Life's a beach

It was a bit chilly today, so to feel warmer we looked at a few of our beach photos from our various vacations.  Here are some from our Hawaii trip a few years ago.

 

Waikiki

 

Diamond Head

 

Waikiki

 

Da beach

 

 

Waikiki

 

 

Beach with volcanic rock

 

 

Palm trees, more igneous outcroppings

 

 

Sailboat, more rocks

Fewer rocks, more sand

 

Day of the Iguana

 

El Dorado Royale Iguana

Iggy seemed to have little or no fear of people.

 

Another view of Iggy

 

Beach on the Mayan Riviera

These photos are from our 2004 trip to Mexico.  This was one of those all-included adult retreats, located about 45 minutes south of Cancun.

 

La noche del burro

Or, night of the long guns, night of the big sombreros, night of the silly moustaches, night of the colorful serapes.  I think the donkey would have preferred to be anywhere else.

 

Now, that's the way a pecan pie is supposed to look

Pecan pie, Thanksgiving 2006

Yes, it's the wrong holiday, I know, but I just ran across this photo and had to post it.  This was from Thanksgiving day in 2006, and unless I'm mistaken, it's a pie that I made.  This is the way a pecan (pronounced puh-KAHN, all o' you Yankees) pie is supposed to look–none of that ground-up, discarded pecan chips for us.

I probably made this in a microwave.  Wait!  You can't do that.  Well, you can if it's a combo microwave/baking oven.  You don't see many of those these days.

You have my permission to drool.  Run out right now and get the ingredients, mix them up, pour them into the pie shell, pop it into the oven, wait 60 minutes, take it out, let it cool, and then completely violate your new-year's resolution.

A final glimpse of an Opryland Christmas

Opryland Christmas

More Opryland Christmas

More photos of our 2004 Christmas at the Opryland Hotel.  Enjoy.

Opryland Hotel in Nashville

A Very Merry Opryland Christmas

Christmas Tree in Opryland Hotel

Seven years ago we spent Christmas in the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.  If you've never seen it, it's worth checking out.  On the inside, it looks like a city, but from the outside, it looks like any other large building.  I'll be posting several photos of their Christmas decorations over the next few days.

We almost didn't arrive at the hotel on the day we planned, as we had to deal with a solid sheet of ice on the roads all across Arkansas and half of Tennessee.  Many of the roads were closed, and we narrowly missed having to sleep in our car the first night in Arkansas.

Alive, alive–oh!

The migration of my site and blog from one hosting company using Linux to another using Windows is finally complete.  My blog is back, and soon I'll find something interesting to upload.

Please keep checking back.

Cheers–

A word to my faithful readers

Many thanks to those who have been reading my blog and viewing my photos.  I have enjoyed sharing those photos with you.

Very soon, probably in the next day or two, my blog and Web site will be going off-line while I change hosting companies.  These things never go smoothly, so I imagine the change will take weeks rather than days.  I believe it's for the best, however.

Until then: au revoir, dewa mata, hasta la vista, tschüss, arrivederci, see you later alligator.