OK so I lied. I didn't go the the Puna farmers' market. Actually, I did go, but I got there too late. Apparently, if you don't pull in before noon, you'll find, as I did, that all the vendors have pulled out. So, I went to the Hilo farmers' market instead to pick up plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. I even bought a breadfruit, or ulu, something you don't see at the market very often these days. It's the large, bumpy green orb with white streaks you see in the picture above. The ulu is still a staple among many Polynesian people in the south pacific, but not many people eat it here in Hawaii anymore. When we were here on vacation some years back, I bought one and asked a Hawaiian man how to cook it. He told me; just carve off the out rind, which is bumpy and green, cut the pale yellow, squash-like flesh into chunks, boil it until it's soft, mash it up, season with butter and salt and eat it. I did. Yum! They are a kind of sticky, starchy consistency, like a sweet potato. I think that, when it came to breadfruit, Captain Bligh was right. OK, he wasn't right about it catching on around the world and making a fortune selling them, but he was right about the taste. I like 'em anyway. I was delighted to see this one on Saturday and snapped it up. I'll eat it tonight with some roast chicken.
Yesterday was a rare, beautiful, sunny day, so I drove up to the Volcano golf course just to check it out. That's where I snapped this second picture. That innocuous dome you see in the background is not just any pile of dirt. It is Mauna Loa, the most massive mountain on earth. It's impressively tall too at over 13,000 feet above sea level. Mauna Loa has been Pele's second home during the past few years. She lives full time lately at Kilauea, the mountain just to the southeast of Mauna Loa and the place where all of the recent volcanic activity on the island has taken place. But she visits Mauna Loa frequently. It's still active, as evidenced by large lava flows all over the southern part of the island. A hot, molten flow from Mauna Loa came to within four miles of the city of Hilo in the the mid '80s before it stopped. Whew!
There is a bit of a gentrified neighborhood around the golf course, where people were jogging and walking their dogs yesterday afternoon. But the favorite residents are the nene birds. Nene, or Hawaiian geese, are an endangered, endemic species. They exist nowhere else in the world. One theory is that a few ancient descendents of Canada geese made their way to the islands thousands of years ago. They stayed and evolved over time, adapting to the island environment. That environment was void of predators, so the geese were unafraid when the first humans came here. Those people found the geese to be easy pickings. Later, after Captain Cook's arrival, the people, feral cats, rats and later mongoose wreaked havoc on the nene population. Nene are smaller that Canada geese black and white stripes on their necks. The have very little webbing in their feet. That's because, unlike mainland geese, they don't swim much. Instead, they walk. The nene hike around on the craggy lava. They also spend time hanging at the links of the Volcano Golf and Country Club.
At the end of the same road that passes through the golf course is the Vocano Winery. They actually grow some grapes there and make a handful of respectable fruit and honey wines.
This morning, I'm waiting for Wayne. Wayne is the tractor dude who is suppose to return my repaired John Deere. He was suppose to bring it last week, but he forgot. I gave him a friendly reminder message yesterday. He's not here yet. I'll give him a little longer....
Yesterday was also a day to remember that, most of the time, you get what you pay for. I purchase some cheap shelves at Walmart. As soon as I began the assembly process, I realized they were cheap for a reason. The picture on the box showed two options; one with the shelves built as a single, tall unit; another with them split into two shorter units. It wasn't long after putting stuff on the shelves that I realized my choice to go tall was a mistake. With very little weight, the shelves began to list. Luckily, I was there when they decided to topple over and was able to catch them before then landed on the truck. With my shoulder holding them up, I performed contortions to get the stuff off the shelves and to then unassembled them. I put them back together in two segments, shorter and sturdier. They're still cheesy. Like I said, you get what you pay for. The stuff in the carport is now off the floor and on the shelves, which was the goal. I also pounded nails and hung all the garden tools. It was a pretty productive morning.
It still remains to be seen how productive today will be. Until next time, aloha.
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