Aloha y’all!

   Today was the first time I have logged in on a desktop in a long time, I just noticed some of the pictures are not displaying correctly, I apologize for this and will fix that promptly. Additionally, there will be other minor site changes as I focus more on flower photography than blogging. I hope you will continue to join me for the ongoing adventure and that you are having a great day! 🙂

   Because today is significant I have edited the “about me” section, if you’ve never taken the  time to read it, here is a little about me:

   The days of May 8th – 18th of 2008 are some of the best days of my life, but today (May 9^th) is special for Lahaina Laura, my fiancé and I had just arrived in Maui; it was the first day of our vacation and, of all the adventures we had planned, we needed to go run errands first. We had to file for our marriage certificate in Lahaina and go pick up his tux in Kihei, stunned by the natural beauty we were surrounded by, I started taking pictures, it had been about a decade since I’d done that, I very much credit Lahaina for the place I discovered inspiration again. I was hesitant at first to use the name, as I am not Hawaiian, native or otherwise. I did a bit of research and discovered Lahaina was once known as Lele, which means relentless sun in Olelo, and as a native Texan I can tell you that we know a little bit about the relentless sun. What really sealed it though is a bit of a play on words, it is well known that here in Texas many people speak Spanglish, a mix of Spanish and English; less known is Chicano English which is not just a mixing of two languages but a fully formed dialect. “Heina” in Chicano English is a term of endearment meaning “girlfriend” but carries the connotation of beautiful woman, probably because the word is derived from “Reina” meaning queen. Since Lahaina Laura and La Heina Laura sound the same, I’d found a name that best represented me. Originally, I had plans for this to be a travel blog, it has since turned into a site that is more about my flower photography. Remember I said May 9^th was significant, another thing occurred on the 9^th that has become a major change in my life, it is not the day we got married (that’s still the best day of my life), on May 9^th I saw my first plumeria tree. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Café that used to be on Front St, and the parking lot for what is now the Outlets has a great big plumeria obtusa, I was blown away at their fragrance and the bouquets of flowers that were everywhere, I was in love! A year later when I happed across two at a nursery in town, I thought, “Why not?”, I do well with hibiscus. Little did I know it would turn into a full-blown addiction. I now have way too many trees but in summer I have an amazing Zen garden that is a little slice of Hawai’i, my own little tropical paradise until I can call myself Kama’aina.