Mountains and Islands

The big news around here is being referred to by geologists as "Episode 56." Last Sunday, Kilauea summit began to do a little shaking. (Kilauea is the mountain from which the current volcanic eruption is spewing.) Apparently, they experienced some 200 or so small earthquakes, one after another, starting at about 2:30 a.m. and lasting all day. I say "they" because we didn't experience a thing. We're very close to Volcanoes National Park, where all the shaking occured, so the quakes must have been tiny. We always feel the bigger ones. Anyway, scientists and park officials felt something was up, so they evacuated all the campers from the park and closed it. It's the first time the park has been closed in a decade. Pu'u O'o, the vent from which the lava has flowed for the past 10 years all the way to the ocean, had stopped. The crater floor and edges began to collapse. In the photo above you can see that what was once a circular crater has sprouted w...

Tis the season to eat lychee. I actually shot a couple of pictures myself of lychee purchased at the market yesterday, but for some reason, my technology failed. So I stole these from wikipedia. Driving through Hilo, you can see the trees everywhere, laden with fruit. What does it taste like? Hmmmmm... That's kind of like asking what peaches taste like or apples. They taste like peaches and apples. Lychee tastes like lychee. It's sweet and juicy with it's own unique flavor. They taste a little like a rambutan, if that helps. When I was growing up, we heard of something called a lychee nut, with the word pronounced leechee . I think the nut part comes from the appearance of the seed, which you can see looks like a nut, but to my knowledge nobody eats that part. Here, it's pronounced lie-chee . I spent a few hours at the library yesterday. I actually love the Hilo library. At it's center is a landscaped courtyard. The walls on the courtyard side... well, there are n...

When it comes to holidays, living in Hawaii is a lot like going to Catholic school. I used to relish the fact that we not only got the typical national holidays off, but a bunch of additional saints' days, too. Here in the islands, there are several additional holidays that hearken back to the days before statehood. Most honor a member of Hawaiian royalty. Earlier in the year we celebrated Prince Kuhio Day. (The shopping mall in Hilo is named after him.) Today was King Kamehameha Day, celebrating the life and accomplishments of arguably the most famous Hawaiian. While most hail Kamehameha for "uniting" all the islands, some prefer to use what is probably the more accurate term, "conquer." Plenty of blood was shed and many died defending their individual island kingdoms against the forces of Kamehameha. Still, the ultimate result was unification, so there you go. Here's a statue of the King. He was a formidable man. This one, located in the town of Hawi (...

Wow! The power of blogging is awesome! Just write a little ditty about a drought and viola! Rain! The big news here in Hawaii is all the critics talking stink about Michelle Wie . It's really quite amazing. Shoots. The girl is only 17 years old. People are saying she's washed up. Her best golf is behind her. Huh? She's a kid. A very talented kid who has yet to hit her prime. Do I think she should be competing against the men just yet? In my opinion, she should stick to the LPGA until she's got more professional experience. But what do I know. I'm just a hacker. She's earned $20 million, so maybe she and those advising her know what they're doing. Last night, I caught the end of a documentary on Mauna Kea and the "development" at the top of that sacred peak. There are oodles of telescopes up there, plus a bunch of support buildings. Supporters say that astronomy is a clean industry and the knowledge gained atop Mauna Kea is of great value to al...

Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.... I'd love to tu-u-u-u-u-u-u-urn You-u-u-u-u-u-u- o-o-o-o-o-o-on..... Woke up... got outa bed....dragged a comb across my head..... It's official. We are now in the midst of a drought . Farmers and ranchers are struggling to water crops and livestock. The average homeowner who lives outside the city limits is also struggling, since they, like we, rely on the rain to keep our water tanks full. As you drive the highway, you see water delivery trucks going everywhere. I talked to a lady at the Laundromat today who was told that the she'd have to wait three weeks for water. They're just that busy. So there I was, sitting at a picnic table waiting for my laundry, when I overheard a worker at the True Value in Volcano (it's adjacent to the Laundromat ) ask a passerby if she knew the cause of the blackout and how long it might last. Blackout? (Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?) I popped off the bench and hustl...

The vines are leafing out at the winery. Be careful what you wish for. It might come true. I've been wishing for the sun to shine for more than two days in a row for some time now. It's been sunny, warm and relatively dry for nearly two weeks now. So now I'm getting worried about our water supply. The tank is down to the last third. To combat this, I have adopted that venerable Fokker's mantra: If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. If this keeps up, I may have to hit the laundrimat soon. If we get really low, we can order water but then we can't brag about getting our water for free anymore. The lack of rain is starting to have a visible impact. Today, there was a huge line at the public county spigot in Kurtistown, which is right on the highway. The county had spigots all around the island for people to fill containers for drinking water. They do this because there are so many people who rely on catchment systems. It's not genera...

Once in a blue moon. By one definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. It didn't look very blue to me tonight, but I shot a picture of it anyway. I watched the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee tonight. Now that's entertainment! Really! I mean it! It's actually great to see these smart kids getting treated like star athletes or rock stars. They are amazing and make me feel hopeful for the future of humankind. As I watched these 12 and 13 year old kids spelling words like zoilus , paronomasia and schuhplattler , I just kept thinking they should post some fine print at the bottom of the screen imploring fans, "Don't try this at home. These are trained professionals." I was on the edge of my seat. Seriously! (By the way, spell-check highlighted each of those words above. See? They're too hard for spell check. Seriously!) Today was screamin ' busy at the winery. I think it was a record sales day with over $5000 in gross sale...