Archive for island life
April 25, 2008 at 6:47 am · Filed under island life
Remember this?
We’ve stretched our original one-two years in Hawaii into nearly three, but it’s finally time to go home. I’ve spent the last month mourning the end of this adventure and anticipating life back in the country, but mostly, trying to figure out how in the world we acquired so much stuff. We may have come here with only eight suitcases, but the stack to go home? Decidedly bigger.
Of course, we are taking home FIVE ‘ukuleles, an electric guitar, and a drum set that have all joined the family since we’ve come. It’s certainly been a musical few years.
We have two more weeks before we fly out. Thankfully, I turned in the final edits for my medieval book yesterday. I can now focus on all it takes to move across the Pacific and arrange as many hikes and beach visits as possible.
Despite the tears that I know will be shed over the next couple of weeks, in the words of my 15-year-old, “I’m so glad we did this!” So glad.
April 18, 2008 at 7:04 am · Filed under island life
The vog from the volcano continues to be heavy. On Wednesday, evacuations were necessary on the southern part of the island because of the health danger from sulfur emissions. Air quality is definitely compromised. Here’s a view from a house lot advertising “ocean views”:
One of my favorite views on the island is the gentle upslope of Hualalai. It’s lush and vivid green and it makes me happy every time I see it on my drive home. It looks like this lately:
And here’s a view across Kona’s only highway, looking at Hualalai from a different angle. Truly, there IS a mountain there!
April 16, 2008 at 10:25 am · Filed under island life
I spoke with an editor in NYC this morning. Funny how easy it is to forget how the rest of the world communicates. Here, pretty much any phone call - even business calls - start with an exchange of “how are yous” and friendly conversation. My NYC conversation opened with a direct question related to an article that’s scheduled to run in August. No “hi, I’m the editor working on your story” or “how’s the weather?” Just straight to business.
She wasn’t unfriendly at all, and actually we worked into a friendly conversation. But the order in which it happened seemed quite foreign to me. People here - except for visitors - wouldn’t dream of being so direct.
April 12, 2008 at 10:21 am · Filed under Food, island life
While I had my camera at the grocery store, I took some pictures of snack foods that you probably won’t see on the mainland, unless you shop at an Asian food store.
April 10, 2008 at 2:04 am · Filed under Food, island life
When we were moving, everyone (everyone!) asked about the high cost of living here. Coming from California, I honestly didn’t notice a huge difference for most things (bread, milk, and electricity being the main exceptions). I suppose if I’d moved from another state, that might have been different.
Recently though - the last six months? - I’ve noticed a huge increase in the price of our food at the grocery store. The high cost of fuel is really hitting our pocketbooks when we shop for items that have been shipped in (most everything). I have absolutely no idea how these increases compare to mainland increases. For fun, I took my camera to the grocery store and snapped some pictures of random items. How do these compare to where you live?
Crazy, yes?
I’ll add more pictures under the cut for the truly curious.
Read the rest of this entry »
April 8, 2008 at 10:19 am · Filed under island life
Littoral explosions at Waikupanaha entry (called littoral explosions, because they occur at the shoreline, or littoral zone - I learn something new every day)
The activity of the volcano and Halema’uma’u crater bring hourly eruption updates from our Hawaii County Civil Defense. In addition to updates on flow activity, these radio announcements include messages from the health department with regard to the vog and dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide. There is an emergency health advisory today for parts of the island.
Our air in Kona is hazy; the horizon is invisible and I actually smelled sulfur this morning taking Brad to work.
FURTHER NEWS: Officials closed Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on Tuesday and evacuated the Volcano House, a hotel overlooking the craters. The evacuation was due to poor air quality. The vog is so heavy on the east side that daytime headlights are necessary. Note that part of the problem is that a weather pattern isn’t allowing the vog to blow out, coupled with elevated levels of sulfur dioxide spewing from Halema’uma’u Crater.
April 7, 2008 at 6:35 am · Filed under island life
Evan participated in a youth camp over the past couple of months, learning about the dynamics of multi-sport events, health, and safety. The camp ended just in time for the participants to run in the Lavaman Aquathon for youth - a 200 meter swim followed by a 2k run. We are not a multi-sports kind of a family, but I was thrilled that he was showing an interest in *any* kind of activity for more than two days - we’re still trying to discover that boy’s passion.
He finished the race in just over 28 minutes, then promptly announced matter-of-factly, “I don’t think I’ll do another one of those!” So much for THAT idea.
March 29, 2008 at 6:51 am · Filed under island life
March 26, 2008 at 2:21 pm · Filed under island life
Last weekend we drove from Pahala to Hilo and back, which took us past Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. On the first pass, we could see some smoke from Halema’uma’u Crater, but not a lot. There was a slight smell of sulfur in the air. Coming back, the smoke plume was much more evident and we could see the smoke drifting along the coastline (and then inland, right to where they boys were!). This smoke is the result of a gas explosion that happened inside the crater last week that scattered rock over 75 acres.
Access to the overlook at Halema’uma’u Crater is closed for safety reasons, but the scientists have installed a webcam that updates every 5-10 minutes. It’s a pretty amazing scene and a perfect opportunity for couch geologists to have a look at what’s going on (without dealing with respiratory issues!).
March 23, 2008 at 2:17 pm · Filed under island life
Husband napping. Kids still in jammies (at 2 pm). Because of this:
We left Friday to pick Brad up at his music workshop and stayed an extra day and then some to see the lava flowing into the ocean at Kalapana. Currently, the lava is flowing mostly underground so there wasn’t the opportunity to get up close that we had hoped for. Even so, it was incredible to see. Unfortunately, nighttime photography isn’t my forte (though it has piqued my interest), so while many photos were snapped, few were wonderful.
We didn’t get home until midnight or so, thus the lazy day today. Well worth it, though.
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