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Lava, pigs, tourists and sea monsters


The lava has returned to Pu'u O'o on Kilauea. It's not flowing to the ocean, but it can be seen in the crater. Click here to see the lava live via the USGS Live Webcam.
If you log on after dark (that's after dark in Hawaii, of course) you can really see the ribbons of lava.

We’ve gotten a bit jumpy here in the rainforest. Now, every time a dog barks, Ron shouts, “Is it pigs? Is it pigs?” Oddly, it never is. Or maybe it is, but by the time we go out to look, they're gone. I’ve been seeing tell-tale signs of the pigs around the neighborhood. They leave strange trails where they’ve rooted up the ground along the sides of the roadway in search of worms, roots and grubs. They've returned to the yard, too. The other night, I took a stroll down the driveway in the dark with a flashlight. I was listening for coquis. The battery in my light failing and the light was dimming. As I listened to the frogs chirping, “co-QUI, co-QUI,” I heard a “snorty snorty snort" in the bushes to my right. I swung the flashlight in that direction. Nothing. I didn’t see them, but I knew they were there. I heard them. I could sense them. Haley Joel Osmond may sees dead people. I feel live swine.

The winery has been slammin’ busy lately. Today was no exception. The dollars don't always reflect the frenzy of visitors. People are coming, tasting, chatting and buying stuff. They’re just buying a lot more stuff on some days than others. Today's sales were respectable. Tuesday, however, were weak, despite the fact that we worked our okole's off, running around like lunatics. Unfortunately, it takes me just about the same amount of time to sell a single bottle of wine as it does to sell a case. I’m just hopeful that the “decision makers” don’t use the dollars as their only factor in deciding whether to cut hours. It’s already tough enough to get through the day with three people. Four is always better. We actually get to take a 20 minute lunch break when there are four of us. But three? It’s two minutes here, three here, five there if you’re lucky. And if just two people are working any given day? Fugettaboutit. Five minutes off your feet, tops. Gotta pee? Sorry. No time. Even my high arches are hard pressed to resist flattening after that much time on my feet. The stressful competition of law school is appealing to me more with each shift.

Ah, but the tips make all the hard work worth while. I raked in two buckaroos cash under the table today. Woohoo!

That said, it is fun to chat with visitors who come from all over the world. I poured a tasting for a guy the other day with a NY Yankees world series ring on his finger. He works for George Steinbrenner and is on the ball club’s administrative staff. That ring was way cool. One woman last week told me she does clinical trials for cancer drugs. A guy from Honolulu is a lawyer for a non-profit that fights for native Hawaiian rights and takes on their cases in court. Pretty noble. Today, I encouraged a seven year old from North Pole, Alaska to sign our guest book.

Scientists have discovered a new sea creature they've dubbed the octosquid. It appears to be a cross between an octopus and a squid. I wonder why they call it the octosquid and not the squidopus. OK. I guess I really don't wonder.

A hui hou. Aloha!




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