COASTAL TREES

Kapa'a Beach Sunrise, 9 x 12

Hiking along the beach trail in Kapa'a, I am captivated by the shapes of bushes and trees along the shore.  Three main types: a tall tree with waxy, rhododendron-like leaves; beach naupaka, with its juicy leaves in rosettes and white half-blossoms; and the ironwood, with its sturdy twisting trunks, and needles reminiscent of horsetail rushes.  All of them are pushed and pulled by sea and wind into giant bonsai creations, with little windows of sky and ocean between the branch clusters.  A shape-painter's gallery.