SPAM Addition

You never know what you will find at  WalMart in the book section.

It was an oversight on my part not to have mentioned the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota. Austin is home to the Hormel Foods Corporation that produces SPAM. Austin is located close to the Minnesota/Iowa border. I have actually been to the museum and can attest it is a one of a kind museum. There are clever and quirky interactive exhibits that highlight SPAM with all the trivia you will ever need to know such as SPAM rolls out of its far-flung factories at a rate of 44,000 cans an hour. 
A towering wall of SPAM, made of 3,390 cans rises to the ceiling in the lobby when you enter the building. The official word is there is no significance in the number it's all that fits in the space. The museum boasts SPAMVILLE,a replica of a military camp. Here you can find out the part SPAM played in feeding the military during World War II. "SPAMambassdors" roam the floor answering any  questions you might have. Since the museum is free of charge there are no tours or free samples. But stop by their amazing gift/souvenir shop which has every imaginable kind of SPAM paraphernalia and speciality SPAM flavors to purchase. . 
This link will take you to their online shopping service if you are not able to get there
http://store.spam.com/departments.asp
And this link will take you to SPAM recipes http://www.spam.com/recipes

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Out and About on Kauai Island

I was captivated by the beauty and uniqueness of this tree. At first glance I was thinking pineapples growing but found out it is a  Lauhala tree. 'Lau" means leaf in Hawaiian language and refers to the leaves of the hala tree. The tree is of great cultural, health and economic importance in many Pacific Islands. The leaves are used to weave, plait or braid for baskets, mats, hat and bracelets. The pods pictured above were once used by the natives to make pigments to dye things. Once dried the pods were also used by the natives as brushes.

At first glance you would think these were grapefruits but it is an Asian citrus tree and these fruits are a variety of  oranges.













Its hard to see the man who is almost to the treetops. A crew of men were trimming fonds from the palm trees. This tree must have been 70 feet high. When I inquired how he got up there the ground crew laughed. Seems he just climbed up just like a monkey. In our area at home you'd only see someone going up that high with the assistance of a hydraulic lift. It was quite an impressive feat. Perhaps he had special shoes on with spurs.  


My imagination went wild thinking who could live inside this hollow-perhaps fairies.

There are many tropical fruit stands on the island.
And last but not least, the ever present rooster. He followed us to lunch and would not leave.