Todd's Blog

Ok, so I know it's not the North Shore or anything, but I took my kids to White Plains beach near Barber's Point yesterday. The kids had a great time playing in the sand, and shallow water near the shore. Obviously, most of my picture were of them. But, since I had my camera and a moderately long lens (Canon 70-200 F4L) I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots of the many surfers who were out enjoying the waves.



I've got many more pictures in this set ... I'm sure you'll be seeing a few more in the coming days, weeks and months.

But for now, please enjoy this Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Aloha,
Todd

For people who've spent any amount of time on the windward side of Oahu, the image above may be a familiar sight. It's a CH-53 Sea Stallion flying out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.



I took this picture from a pontoon boat out on the bay (which can be rented from the base if you take an extra day to get a license). We spent the day sitting out the sand bar drinking a few beers and taking in the sights.

Now, after I got done having a little fun in photoshop, I'm not so sure this isn't more of a "painting" rather than a photograph ... but I think it's still cool enough to be today's Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Aloha til next time ...

Todd

No, that's not me in the picture ... but it gives a pretty accurate idea of how I feel on most Saturday afternoons. I'm not sure if this guy brought his own hammock, or if it just happened to be strung up between these two palm trees on Waikiki beach ... lol, wouldn't that be a find.

Either way, it sure does epitomize what many people imagine about living in Hawaii.

And because I'm all about nice relaxing images, this hammock on the beach is today's Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Aloha til next time.

Todd

I had to bring my camera and tripod to work today ... apparently I'm the unit's "camera guy".



We needed to have a flight picture to celebrate our recent award as the Air Force Weather small unit of the year. This is a pretty big deal actually ... for a unit to win an Air Force level award. Our Major is a good writer, I'm sure that helped ... but, I'm also sure it didn't hurt that we were in Iraq pretty much all of last year. At one point, almost everybody in our unit was either deployed, or returning from deployment. And apparently we did a good job. ;-)

Anyhow, this is the image that will probably end up hanging on our wall. Until then, it will just be the Alohateam Hawaii Picture of the Day.

One of my favorite things about living in Iroquois Point is that it's only about a 10 minute walk from my house to the beach. As far as swimming goes, to be perfectly honest, it's a little bit rocky ... but the kids seem to enjoy it anyway.



And as far as the views go ... well, it is Hawaii :)

Palm trees, green water, and a nice sea breeze. Who could ask for more?

Oh yea, and if you look real hard, you can see a rather famous Hawaii landmark ... the big pink hospital on the hill called Tripler.

I hope you enjoyed this Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Aloha til next time ...

Todd

Given the positive reaction to yesterday's post, I thought we'd keep today's Hawaii Picture of the Day in the same "neighborhood".



This is a picture of the outside of our house. We live in the Puuloa section of Iroquois Point; just down the street from the Elementary School and mini-mart. If you look over the top of the house, you can see the big mango tree out in our backyard.

For those of you who have seen this area in the past, you may notice some pretty significant changes. About 2 years ago, Ford Island Housing (the leasing company) planted new grass, and painted the outside of every house in this area. Besides the red trim of our house, there is also Blue, and even one with a green with purple trim (it looks better than it sounds).

It's a 30 year old house, but not terribly different than most military housing ... and the price really just can't be beat.

Hope you are all having a great night ... aloha,

Todd

Aloha,

Today's Hawaii Picture of the Day is going to be a little bit different. One of my readers, Lorie, left a comment the other day about she used to live here in Iroquois Point. Since she went to the trouble of providing her old addresses, I thought it might be fun to take a quick drive by and snap a "how it looks now" picture.



lol, I felt a little sneaky, and a was just a tad bit worried that somebody might call security on me. But in the end, no harm was done. And the picture above is what Lorie's old house looks like in April of 2008. Enjoy.

Todd

p.s. if you're not lucky enough to be here in Hawaii right now, but there's something specific that you'd like to see a picture of, feel free to shoot me a note through the contact form up above. I'll be happy to see what I can do.

In addition to sunsets and palm trees, rainbow pictures are instantly recognizable as a symbol of Hawaii.

This morning as I was driving over to Schofield to get some Diet Mt. Dew and a Local Bento, I noticed a little rainbow up over the Waianae mountains. Since my camera was sitting in the seat next to me, I decided to snap off a few shots, just to see what it would look like.



Although I would strongly caution against taking pictures while driving, I think this one came out good enough to qualify as the Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Aloha til tomorrow ...

Todd

That's pretty clear cut and simple isn't it.

I don't care how much money you make (or intend to make), if you're spending inordinate amounts of time on the computer, you are NOT successful ... at least from my point of view.

So, here's the trick then ...

How do we go about developing a successful (online) money making venture while only spending an hour or less a day on the computer?

I think one of the first steps is to adopt this motto that I heard on Mark Yarnell's Holy Grail CD ...

Do one thing, do it well, finish it.

I like it.

Catch up with you again soon !
Todd

As I said, we went out to Bellows again yesterday afternoon. There are two sections of beach at Bellows. One side is open to the public on the weekends, then a little further down, there is a whole other section that you have to show your ID card to access.

This is where the cabins, the tennis courts, the golf driving range, picnic areas, play grounds and small exchange are located. It's also one of the best places on the Island to enjoy beach going in relative seclusion.



This picture was taken about 5:30 pm on a Saturday afternoon. Where else in Hawaii can you enjoy a beach this beautiful with literally not another soul in sight?

I hope you enjoy this Hawaii Picture of the Day.

We took a trip out to Bellows today to visit with some old friends who are staying in one of the cabins. I also brought along my camera to get some pictures. Sometime in the next few days (maybe even tomorrow), I'm going to do another full post about some of the fun things to do out at Bellows.



But in the mean time, I got a nice sunset picture of Chinaman's Hat Rabbit Island, with a really pretty reflection in the foreground water. I hope you enjoy today's Hawaii Picture of the day.

Aloha til next time ...
Todd

High Cirrus clouds in the tropics always produce very pretty colorful sunrises and sunsets. The image above was actually one of the very first Hawaii Pictures I ever took ... a couple of years ago, the first time I lived here.



I know it's kind of cliche, with the silhouette of the coconut tree in the foreground. But, I really liked the colors. So, this pink sky sunset shot is our Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Aloha til next time,
Todd

When I was searching for a house here in Iroquois point, one of the things that attracted me to this one was the big mango tree out in the back yard. The fruit is just coming into season again. Besides the obvious, being able to walk into my back yard and pick fresh mangos, one of the things I most enjoy about the tree is the wildlife it attracts.



One day I looked out back, and I had a mongoose, and about 10 different species of birds having a feast in my yard. I didn't grab my camera quickly enough to get a picture of the mongoose. But this little green guy, which my friends and I used to call "Banana Birds" when I was a kid, was having a nice little meal just outside the sliding glass door.

This is today's Hawaii Picture of the day.

Aloha,
Todd

It's really nice when the beach is only a 10 minute walk away ... it's one of the good things about living here in Iroquois Point. Sometimes, just to relax, I like to take a walk down there with my camera.



Our particular beach has a lot of rocks along the shore. And here in Hawaii, where there's rocks and ocean, it's inevitable that you'll find crabs. I thought this guy had some pretty interesting colors.

This little crab is today's Hawaii Picture of the Day.

I only have a few minutes to post tonight ... it's my night to put the kids to bed ;-)



I did manage to get out with my camera for a little while this evening though. I took quite a few picture, but this one of some nice Hawaiian flowers in the early evening sunlight fits best with the theme of Hawaii Picture of the Day.

Enjoy. Aloha til next time ...

Todd

Wheeler Army Airfield is located in central Oahu, and is home to the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. Basically, this where the helicopters that support Schofield Barracks live and train. I've worked here as a weather forecaster for about 2 years now. With all the aircraft, and the weather associated with our location on the middle of the Island, it's can be a great place to take interesting pictures.



Today's Hawaii Picture of the Day, is actually one I took the other night. The easterly trade winds were just coming back, but there was still plenty of moisture and instability from an upper level disturbance to our southwest. The result was a pretty dramatic sky scene when I made a long exposure (luckily I had my tripod in the trunk).

I hope you enjoy the photo.

Aloha til next time ...
Todd

I remember when I was a kid, one of our favorite things to do during the summer was to jump on our bikes and ride over to Pearl Harbor to to look at the ships ...



Well, some of us never grow up :-)

Whenever I get the chance, I still like to go sit out at the mouth of Pearl Harbor and watch the Navy ships go in and out. One of these days maybe I'll even be lucky enough to catch an aircraft carrier during one of their frequent stop overs.

Until then, this lovely ship is today's Hawaii picture of the day.

Aloha,
Todd

The Aloha team loves to get down to Waikiki beach. And one of the most famous sites on Oahu is Diamond Head. This is a bit of a different angle than you may have seen before. And it's today's Hawaii Picture of the Day.