May 2025.
Kālaheo, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i.

Lately, I’ve been reminiscing about our two-month stay in Kālaheo. Many of my cellphone photos were captured right from the comfort of our second-floor deck—a few of which have already popped up in earlier Cellpic Sunday posts. That porch became our front-row seat to whatever the day offered, and this post gathers a handful of those distinct moments.

Each day brought us sunshine and clouds, and almost every day a rainbow or two. Our host’s notes mentioned the likelihood of daily rain and the prevailing easterly winds. If we left the house, the east‑facing windows had to be closed, or we’d return to a wet kitchen floor. All the others could stay open 24/7. The porch faces east, so as the sun set behind the house, the sky in front of us was often treated to rainbows and warm golden tones.

Often, the rainbows were full, complete with a second, softer arc mirroring the brighter prism below. This view, taken a few days later in the afternoon, arched right over the neighborhood rooftops and treetops.

Our neighbors to the east have a large lot that requires weekly attention. Each time the mower started its back‑and‑forth pattern, a small wildlife crew of egrets fell in line behind it. They weren’t there for the show—they were hunting. The mower flushed insects and small lizards from the grass, and the egrets knew the routine well enough to arrive right on cue.

One early afternoon, I noticed the outdoor cat we cared for while our hosts were away. Hobbes—named after the cartoon tiger from Calvin and Hobbes—often stopped by a bit early for his next meal, and this day was no exception. Spotting him from the bedroom patio door, I quietly snapped his photo while he clearly wondered why the bowl was still empty.

Hobbes heard the camera shutter‑click and immediately turned his head to see me. The timestamp showed this photo was taken six seconds after the first one. He didn’t simply glance over to check the noise—he fixed me with a look that said exactly what he was thinking, in true cartoon‑Hobbes fashion: “I see we’re running behind schedule.”

About the photos: Our days in Hawai‘i were filled with island excursions, but some of our favorite times were spent right on our Lōhe Road porch. Because so many of these views were unexpected, I kept my Samsung S23 Ultra constantly nearby. All images were processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic, with tweaks applied in Luminar Neo. The two rainbow photos are panoramic shots stitched together because the rainbows were too large to fit in a single frame. I used Lightroom’s Panorama tool to stitch the images, and in the golden-hour image, I used Photoshop’s Generative Fill tool to create a section of blue sky in the upper-left corner, and the Remove tool to remove the very top of a power pole and the wires that intruded on the lower right. If you’d like a closer look, the full gallery—with complete metadata—is available in 2K HD on my Flickr site here.

I invite fellow bloggers to join in by creating their own Cellpic Sunday posts. There’s no set theme. The first rule is that your photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule is simple: link your challenge response to this post or drop a comment here with your link so others can find it. And remember, despite the name, there’s no penalty for sharing on a day other than Sunday.

John Steiner.