If you can get past the eye-dazzling colors of the flowers and don’t get lost in the sheer profusion of the greenery, some of those cool plants growing in Hawaii have fascinating leaf shapes, seed pods, and other structures.

There’s nothing like the vision of a Hawaiian sailing canoe to make you feel like you’re in paradise.

Staying in Kanaloa at Kona, we saw watercraft ranging from SUPs to dive boats to cruise ships from our ocean-view lanai. Most mornings we were treated to the sight of a small fleet of outriggers paddling past.

One morning I walked down and watched them launch from Keauhou Canoe Club.

The well-practiced teams made it all look effortless: carrying the huge boats into the water, climbing in, maneuvering each boat out of the way to let the next one launch, then heading out to sea in close formation.

A solo paddler came in just as the fleet left. The beautiful little boat balances delicacy and strength like yin and yan.