Roping
Category: Hawai’i
Exploring the islands
2016 Parker Ranch 4th of July Rodeo
I love small town rodeos. Fortunately we have the Parker Ranch Rodeo right here, and we have regularly made the effort to attend each summer. The rodeo is a celebration of the ranching history of Waimea, a heritage that is alive and well in the ranching families that still earn a living raising cattle and practicing the old skills.
In past years the public had been allowed right to the rail of the arena at the conclusion of the horse races. This had allowed me to get really nice images of the riders without the fence in the shot, shooting through the rails. The last couple years this has not happened… A problem, I attend this event as much for the photographic opportunity as anything else.
This year I wrangled Deb and myself a couple media passes to the rodeo. Access to the pens, the chutes, and the arena fence… Perfect! The media contact at Parker Ranch was careful to explain the safety issues, no leaning over the rails, nothing through the fence, I can live with the stated rules.
We had a great time. Set up right on the fence for much of the day we had a clear shot at the action. I used a 70-200mm telephoto lens much of the day attempting to catch instants in the action that told the story. A rearing horse, dirt and dust flying under hooves, a rope in the air. The elements are all there, catching them at the right instant is a real challenge for a photographer. With the camera in servo mode I would fire short bursts at what I hoped was the right time. Sometimes it worked. As the memory card filled with over 800 images I found that some actually looked good.
Photographically it was the various mugging events that produced the best images. Team mugging, with a rider and several teammates on the ground wrestling a steer can photograph very well. The junior/senior ribbon mugging event with the kids and adults working together was equally photogenic.
Do not ask me who won and who lost. I really did not care to follow the winners and losers that closely. So much of a good score was really based on luck, did the steer buck or twist at the wrong moment? I just appreciated watching the skill and pride that was on display in these events. A skillful flip of the rope at the right moment, a well trained horse that did just the right thing to support the rider. That is what I enjoy in a good rodeo.
Of course there is the chore of processing my way through 800 photos from the day, selecting a hundred or so to pass on to Parker Ranch. That chore is just about done, I have finished mine, I just need to work through a pile of photos Deb gave me to process and add to the package.
Plumeria
Royal Poinciana
This is the first year our royal poinciana has really bloomed. It is over five years old and starting to be a sizable tree. We had had a few blooms before, but this time the entire tree has turned bright orange. Quite impressive!
Gecko and Pineapple
Our front lanai pineapple currently has three fruit and half a dozen geckos in residence. A busy plant…
Hualālai Dawn
Morning Sky
A Brilliant Day
It was a rainbow sort of day.
After a spell of Kona weather the trades were back with a vengeance, blowing hard. This moved the Waimea mist wall halfway to Waikoloa. The result? Rainbows around every corner.
The first in sunrise light over the Kohala, the second in the mist as the sunlight pierced the low clouds near the airport, more of a fogbow actually. Another in the mist at Puhakuloa along Saddle Road, another on the summit road where heavier raindrops produced a brilliant bow. That was just the morning drive to work, the afternoon produced another set of rainbows for a total of seven, not counting the one I saw twice I as I drove into and out of Waimea.
Yeah, it was a rainbow sort of day.
A Wave in the Sun
An 1835 Map of Hawai’i
Among the items I found in the NYPL image collection was an 1835 map of the Hawaiian Islands. I included it in the posting on the collection, but the map truly deserves a closer look. It preserves the western view of the islands as of the early 19th century.
The map is reasonably accurate, looking at the coordinates given for key points in the islands shows that they are correctly plotted. The outlines of the islands are mostly familiar. The shapes of Molokai, Maui, and parts of Hawaiʻi do show some odd features that look odd to anyone with a good knowledge of local geography. Any number of points and bays seem exaggerated, note the peninsulas on the north shores of Oahu and Maui. Notably Kealakekua bay is drawn as much more sheltered than it really is, an odd inaccuracy in a maritime map.
Continuing inspection reveals a number of other oddities… There are two islands marked on the map south of Niʻihau, named Tahoora and Papappa. Modern navigation maps mark only one island here, Kaʻula. Tahoora (Kaʻula) was spotted by the Cook expedition and recorded with that name. Reference to Papappa can be found in the 1870 Seaman’s Guide to the Islands of the North Pacific, Part II, W. H. Rosser. Apparently local fisherman reported another island south of Kaʻula. A number of ships looked for such an island in vain. The guide lists its existence as “doubtful”.
It is also interesting to note that the coordinate system used is referenced to Greenwich. Thus the longitudes marked at the bottom match those found on modern maps. At the time the prime meridian, the location of zero longitude, was hotly contested between several possible locations. It was not until the 1884 International Meridian Conference that Greenwich became the accepted standard worldwide. This was over the objections of the French who abstained from the vote and continued to use the Paris meridian until 1911.
Of course it is the place names that are the most fascinating feature of the map. Setting aside the Dutch vocabulary and looking just at the transcriptions of the Hawaiian place names one sees familiar names as they were used two centuries ago.
Looking about the map one will note Owhyhee in place of the modern Hawaiʻi, Mowee and Woahoo as the old versions of Maui and Oaho, quite recognizable. If you have read the old accounts you may recognize Atooi as the island of Kauai. We also see Mowna Kaah printed on the map for present day Mauna Kea, similar to the Mauna Kaah found in the Cook expedition journals as the first written version of the mountain’s name.
| Map Name | Current Name |
|---|---|
| Atooi | Kauai |
| Honoruru | Honolulu |
| Karakakooa | Kealakekua |
| Mowna Kaah | Mauna Kea |
| Mowna Worroray | Hualālai |
| Mowna Roa | Mauna Loa |
| Morokinne | Molokini |
| Morotoi | Molokai |
| Mowee | Maui |
| Oneeheow | Niʻihau |
| Oreehoua | Lehua |
| Owyhee | Hawai’i |
| Ranai | Lanai |
| Tahoora | Kaʻula |
| Tahoorowa | Kahoʻolawe |
| Woahoo | Oahu |