Aren't these beautiful? They just popped up in the grass next to a tree in my yard the other day. I think they are some sort of ginger, but they are unusual in that the flower sprouted straight out of the ground just like this. Usually ginger flowers grow on established stalks. Quite literally, there were nowhere to be seen one day and in full bloom, just like you see them here, the next.
The trade winds have died down the past few days, prompting the vog to settle in. Vog is volcanic smog, created from current Kilauea eruption. Usually, it is sent aloft and to the west to create a constant haze over Kona. Not today. I had a chat with a neighbor this morning who said that there was once a baby vegatable farmer on our road who supplied many of the local restaurants and small market with greens. The vog was his undoing. As rarely as we experience it here, when we do, it burns the leaves of vegatables, turning them brown. She said she sold spinach to Cafe Pesto for awhile, only to have them switch to a Waimea supplier because she would not be able to come through for them whenever the vog was prevalent. I would love to have found a little house like mine on five acres in the Waimea area, but it would have cost about three times as much money there. So, we're here. Anyway, my neighbor said even in her greenhouse, the vog would burn her spinach leaves. That totally sucks. Fruit trees, however, and trees in general, seem unaffected by the vog. The neighbor said she has three coffee trees that are thriving and that coffee once dominated the North Glenwood area. Aparently, a blight of some sort wiped them out many years ago and nobody's made a serious attempt to replace it here since.
I heard a coqui frog last night. It sounded like he was somewhere just up the road, maybe across the street and up a house or two. There was only one, but at 10,000 eggs a lay, that could change quickly. I'll listen again tonight at dusk to see if I still hear him. We heard two about three weeks ago, but they disappeared so we assumed someone snapped them up or sprayed them. We are, geographically, very close to the Volcanoes National Park border, a place I know does not want coquis. So we should be able to get some help, what with the USDA now swooping in to help eradicate what has now been officially designated as a pest. I've seen their trucks around at lower elevations.
I'm headed to the driving range today. I haven't hit a golf ball in a couple of years, so the results could be interesting.
My adopted kitty cat, Mr. Sox, is still struggling with his goopy eyes. He's been taking antibiotics for weeks now, to no effect. He's now so gun shy of the medicine or whatever treatment I might administer to him that he simply runs whenever I come near. So I think I'll have to just give him a rest, with several days of no medicine, before I start the next round. Poor guy. The vet wants to try antihistimine too, to see if it's an allergy. We're hoping it's not viral, since that would be even more difficult to treat. Dogs are so easy compared to cats. Just stuff a pill into a hot dog or piece of cheese and they gobble it down. Not cats. If they even suspect you've doctored their food, they'll refuse to take a bite. Mr. Sox really is a big sweetie. He's beginning to leave the dogs alone and even he and Abner are coexisting peacefully most of the time.
I'm off to the range. Wish me luck making some contact with the little white buggah. Aloha.
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