I went to Castle’s (part of Malaekahana State Park) with my family on Saturday, and the vog was ridiculous!

The sun was out, and the water was beautiful, but the sky was just…the wrong color!

The haze got worse as the afternoon wore on–it looks like it should be raining, but it isn’t.

Other than the weirdness of seeing the sky in a not-so-blue shade, it was a great afternoon for the beach. I was the only one in my family affected physically by the vog, with sneezing, slight runny nose, and itchy eyes throughout the weekend–although it could just have been my normal allergies!

I also noticed that that the moon was large and orange–and Halloween isn’t for another 6 months!

Anyone else notice anything unusual over the weekend?

Last weekend, despite the weather, I was determined to get to the beach. It was an overcast afternoon, but the air was warm, and for me, Saturdays inevitably bring with them an *itch* to see, smell, and experience the ocean.

I got my little sisters suited up and ready, and we headed down to Temple Beach in La’ie. It’s a great beach for kids, as adjacent La’ie Point keeps the shorebreak small, and not too many people frequent it, especially on an overcast Saturday.

As we came out of the right-of-way onto the beach, I was totally shocked. A group of people had completely staked out the length of the beach with fishing poles, lines reaching over the sand and just offshore. They literally took over the entire beach, around 30 bell-rigged poles set up every five or ten yards or so. We had to walk all the way to Hukilau Beach, which is on the complete opposite end of La’ie Bay (there is too much reef to swim between Temple and Hukilau). Over the next two hours or so, we saw a bunch of other refugees who had planned to swim at Temple making the trek to Hukilau.

Granted, it was an overcast day, and the usual Saturday crowd wasn’t there, but is it ok for people to just take over an entire public beach? Sure, they may have been trying to rake in a hefty catch for an upcoming wedding or lu’au, but I don’t think it’s very considerate. I don’t mind sharing the beach–I enjoy fishing, myself. But I should be able to take my sisters to swim without worrying that they’ll be accidentally hooked by a fishing line every 5 yards down the entire length of the beach.

On Thursday afternoon, the Kahuku girl’s water polo team got into a horrific bus accident by the Waikane store–the bus was almost completely flipped over! Apparently, a car in front of the bus stopped suddenly. Unable to slow down fast enough, the bus driver swerved to avoid a rear-end collision, failing to realize that instead of a shoulder, that stretch of Kamehameha Highway borders a ditch with a small stream running through it.

As a former Kahuku girl’s water polo player, the story hit a little close to home–especially since the new head coach played with me on the team all those years ago, and I occasionally try to make it back and help out with practices when I can. I’m sure I speak for all of us out here in Ko’olauloa and on the North Shore when I say how very grateful we are that nobody was killed or severely injured.

What really sets this group of girls apart, however, is how they came together less than 48 hours after the crash to play two games against Roosevelt and Mililani, winning each game decisively. Even the 5 girls with injuries that kept them out of the games were there to cheer on their teammates, and the good humor of both the parents and players was evident after the game, when a celebratory cake with an upturned bus appeared during the potluck lunch.

The team’s goal this year is to make it to the state championship game–and win. They’ve been there before, but haven’t been able to pull together for a win. Now that they’ve been through one serious challenge together, this may be their year.