The View from Maui

This is the view from our balcony. Pretty, don'tchathink? Rule #1 when traveling to Maui: Do not bring books, especially new, expensive books. The pages will warp, and you will cry. Solution: Wrap the book in a cloth or towel and stick it in the fridge at night. The dry cold of the fridge reverses the effects of the hot moisture of the island. Such is what I have learned from The Necronomicon, the singular tome I brought with me to Maui. Its pages are filled with ghastly, horrific stories which bring me much glee.

Today is quite cool, the temperatures briefly rising into the low 80's, and that was when the sun was shining. Right now, the skies are overcast, and neighbors warn of rain on the horizen--something I would very much like to see while I'm here. Of exciting wildlife, there is plenty. Colorful birds have taken the place of mainland pigeons, croaking and pecking around human colonies. Small yellowish geckos with giant red eyes cling to outdoor walls, soaking up precious sunlight. On the beach, sand-colored crabs with enormous eyes and tiny pinchers scuttle to and fro. The strangest sight has been organisms which cling to rocks beaten by the surf. They look something like mounds of outwardly-overlapping scales, purple and red. Where scale meets igneous rock, long pink scales fan outwards. Very strange creatures, hard to the touch and immobile.