Pier Remains at Anahola Beach in Kauaʻi
It Used to Be There
When we visited Anahola Beach during our 2018 Kauaʻi trip, we were walking along the beach when we came across the remains of an old pier. You might have seen a glimpse of this in Part 4 of the Trip Report, in a photo where Laura was standing one of the supports, but I thought another look might be worthwhile.
I actually do not know anything about the pier that used to be here. In fact, I am just guessing that it was a pier in the first place. That is based on the similar supports at the Cocoa Beach Pier in Florida. When was it there? What was it for? Why was it removed? I do not know the answers to any of those questions. I could make some guesses, but they would probably be wrong. Especially if I guessed something about aliens coming and attacking the pier or something like that. But that would be as informed as any other guess I would make. So I will just leave those questions unanswered.
I did look for some information, but all I found was an old photo at this site. Apparently, ships used to dock there. Maybe the lack of information just means that it was not all that interesting in the first place. Who knows? Certainly not me.
So instead, let us just look at the nice simplicity and symmetry of the photo. Fortunately, most piers are built in an orderly fashion, which is nice for those of us who like things to line up well. Plus, the wet concrete color stands out nicely against the wonderful blue colors of the Pacific Ocean, which, in contrast to its name, is anything but pacific. It would have made for a better photo for Laura to go stand on one of the support bases that was farther out in the water so that only water was surrounding her and not sand. But the waves were quite strong, so that was why she just chose to stand on the closest support to us.
In almost every case, being safe is much more important than having a cool photo, after all.
Future Questions About the Past
I sometimes wonder what people way out in the future might think about us when they find remains of some of our things. Will data sources like the internet survive, giving them a good written record (or as good as the internet might be) about the things that they find? Or will much of that be lost, leaving them with some interesting things to look at but with many questions, such as some of the ancient Mayan ruins?
We won’t really know the answers to those questions, because we will be long gone by that time. But it is fun to think about from time to time. Organized things like time capsules are interesting, but what about the everyday things that they might find? What will they think about the ruins of our house in 200 years? What will they think about the people who lived there?
Of course, there is not much point in speculating what the people of the future might think about those of us in the past, besides filling space for a blog post. But there is often not much point in any kind of entertainment, is there? Who says everything has to have a point to it, anyway?
But anyway, it is best to choose to life your life right now, and not for the future. Or for the past.
Bible Verse
Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward. - Ecclesisastes 5:18
About the Photo
As I have mentioned before, I put a little more work into these individual photos than in the photos that I use in the trip report. For this particular photo, I spent some extra time getting the color scheme to look just right. At times during processing, it was just a little too yellow, or too green, or too red. So I would leave it and then come back to it later, making some more adjustments. Either I finally got happy it, or I just got tired of working on it. I will let you guess on that.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus 14-42mm IIR
Date: July 5, 2018
Location: Anahola, Hawaiʻi
