Beaches and beaches

Beach below Soundcliff on Vashon Island

If life’s a beach, then Gordon and I are waves lapping on it, storms kicking against it, kids surfing it, cliffs wondering at it.

We live on an island, above a beach that looks rocky like the photo above.

So we were happy to spend the holidays on another island that has beaches like this …

A gorgeous beach near the Kona-Kailua airport on the Big Island of Hawai'i

In order to get to this beautiful white-sand beach, you have to walk across lots of hardened black lava, or drive in a 4-wheel-drive or high-axeled vehicle. We were lucky, after a long walk in, that Marshall, Olivia, and Josh offered us a ride back to our car on the way out...

College students Marshall, Olivia, and Josh gave us a ride in their truck, then posed for a photo!

We were also amazed to see the sea from lava-beaches like this …

Lava and coral combine to make dramatic beaches -- and locals like to write messages in white coral on black lava...

And to walk into dramatic valleys to large-stoned beaches like this...

The astounding black rock and black sand beach at Pololu Valley on the north end of the Big Island

And to sit on precarious cliffs like this …

Okay, Gordon got the nickname "Ansel" Barnett from our friend Zeke, and I misspoke. The name of the place is Kapa'au.
Accuracy in reporting! But you get the idea -- and hey, it's my first multimedia blog entry! How many mistakes do you hear on media every day?