Conditions of Volcanic Out Gassing (VOG) continue around the south side of Big Island. The worst, so far, for us in Ocean View was overnight and morning of the 15th and 16th. That morning the civil defense trucks came by with loudspeakers suggesting voluntary evacuation due to high sulfur dioxide levels. The "danger" was gone by 10am, when the wind blew it all back out to sea, but the damage to the Protea plants had been done. When we went out to pick flowers 24 hours later, we found a whole field of burnt plants.

Sulfur Dioxide, when mixed with water, forms sulfuric acid. While we could treat and use the water, any rain now would be very acidic. However, the sulfur dioxide as a gas, when present in high quantities, is taken into the bodies of living plants and animals through standard respiration (breathing) where it meets water in the cells, again forming sulfuric acid, burning from the inside.

Kilauea volcano has been producing 8-10 times the normal background rate of sulfur dioxide daily. The vog consists of this sulfur dioxide, volcanic ash, and dust. We have better days, but mostly it is hazy now and we seldom can see the coastline. We are having a particularly bad day today.

The Protea plants are still alive. No plant seems to have actually died. However, on many plants, much of the actively respiring tissue has been killed, and another episode like last week could finish them off. Older leaves, at the base of a branch, were often spared, as well as the newest, soft growth (new tissue that may have not yet begun respiration.) This produces a plant that looks burnt in the middle, yet growing from the tips.) There are differing levels of damage on different Proteaceae species, and cultivars within the species. Australian Proteaceae seem to have sustained the least damage, although we have seen some effects on Banksia Prionotes and Grandis seedlings. The King Protea, with the waxiest of leaves, seems to have faired well, as have most of the leucadendron varieties (Safari Sunset.) The mink and Queen Proteas, and a majority of the Hawaiian leucospermum (pincushion) varieties, have taken the worst damage, varying by parentage. Showing the worst damage amongst the Protea was Pink Mink (Protea neriifolia.) Our leucospermums (pincushions) took a lot of damage; many of which were flush with new growth at the end of their flowering season. Pincushion varieties with glabrum, cuneiforme, or conocarpodendron parentage seem to have the most tolerance though still took damage, while those with cordifolium, tottem or reflexum parentage look so bad, it makes me want to cry. Leucospermum lineare, patersonii, and vestitium varieties, which are also common in Hawaiian pincushion, showed moderate damage, relative to the others.

The pictures don't do the damage justice; when you visit the field, what gets you first is the smell of dead vegetation. Each leaf, on many of the plants, is 75-90% dead. Two effect have been hard on the leaves: the extra particulate matter in the air, often the density of talc, sucks the moisture out of the tissue, leaving the leaves scorched on the tips and edges as though a very hot day after a period of water stress, dried them; then secondly the sulfuric acid effect, that appears almost like a chemical burn on the leaf, at first, then the burned tissue desiccates. The non-transpirant parts of the plants, very new tissue, stems, and leaf buds, do not seem effected. The plants, disregarding the damage, look very healthy, in fact the undamaged tissue has actually grown remarkably since the incident, as though the plants now have extra energy even as we deny them water.

We are also seeing damage to some pincushion flowers, and the bracts (the colorful parts that surround, and are often mistaken for, the flowers) of the mink and Queen Protea varieties. In the pincushion flowers we have seen whole flower heads of shrivelled pins. In the Protea the damage appears as a bronzing of the colorful bracts surrounding the flower head. On some varieties this is more destructive to the look of the flower than in others.

Next steps: wait, wait and more wait. Some of the growers on the hill met with the government people, of course this has never happened before, so they can only help us test some theories of what might help, should it ever happen in the future. We are trying a couple of chemicals, in standard, controlled, tests on several varieties along with the other growers, but we know that its not really a viable way to grow the flowers. Even if a chemical could prove useful, could it possibly be worth the cost of applying it. Instead, we will hopefully determine what Proteacea can tolerate the conditions supplied by the volcano. We haven't heard how the Macadamia trees are doing yet. They were also at the end of their flowering cycle. Macadamia is a Proteacae too, from Tasmania, but like the other Australian Proteacae, it may tolerate the bad air more than the South African Protea and Leucospermum. We will have to wait, at least a season, before we remove anything from the ground that doesn't just die. It is important that we determine if the plants can recover, and what the long term effects will be.

Labels: Flowers, Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 10:43 AM
0 comments

We have posted a new set of pictures on the Hawaii page!
These are primarily from our friend Teddy Bare's visit. Enjoy!

Labels: Faeries, Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 11:34 AM
1 comments

Ten days between posts again; sigh. The household had a head cold. Each of us, one at a time; me last, so by the time that I went down, nobody as left to do my chores. We're all better now, and made it to volleyball yesterday, but we still have some catching up to do around the farm.

We're looking forward to the eclipse of the moon tomorrow night. Seems Hawaii is in the best possible position to get the whole show. ( Your guide to the total lunar eclipse )

So, with little else to entertain you with from my own brain, here's the most insteresting thing I came across this week. If anybody knows anything more about this guy, let me know! (For some reason it is interspersed with some awful German sitcom; I've got to find a clean version of this song!)


O here it is: Elton Motello - Jet Boy Jet Girl

Labels: found weirdness, Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 10:40 AM
0 comments

Flossie was a flop. While it DID rain here for about 10 minutes last night, the rain gauge didn't catch any of it. And while I am sure that the windward side of the island got some stormy weather as the 'hurricane' came on shore, it looks like we, on this side, won't even get much from the trailing edge, as I had hoped.

Sigh, I guess I have to go water the plants now.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 9:52 AM
0 comments

Yes, there was an earthquake. Here's a link to the map.
It was centered over the Pu`u `O`o Crater which is the currently active vent of Kilauea Volcano. It might have been a big deal if we were still linving in a tent in the jungle, as it was centered only a few miles from da Banana Boys. However here, on the other side of two mountains, we only felt some rocking and rolling. We are still waiting to hear from da Banana Boys that everything is OK over there.

We are still in "the calm before the storm" stage, so its a beautiful morning. The hurricane will first hit the south east side of Mauna Loa which is around the bulge from us. We should see a lot more action after the eye passes the island and the trailing edge pulls up warm water and air from the equator.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 10:31 AM
0 comments

What kind of a name for a Hurricane is 'Flossie'? This is the satellite image from this morning. Flossie will obviously bring us some rain (see Thanks b 2 Lono post; maybe we overdid it.) You can see the islands in the above photo, outlined in red. We live close to the southern most tip of the southern most island.
Here's a link to the current animation.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 11:39 AM
0 comments

Being a farm in Hawaii we have a Tiki of Lono - the God of (amoungst other things) Agriculture. We thought it appropriate, that where we were, and what we were doing, that we should have one. And of course, being gay men, we got one with a raging hard-on. (ha ha, a tiki made of wood with a woodie!)

However, being Scientists we promptly forgot about him and went on with our lives.

Then came the drought, un-ending months of ZERO rainfall. True we live on the 'Dry' side of the Island, but we should still get SOME rain. It was several months into the drought that we were reminded that we had a Tiki who should be providing rain for us, after all the plants are HIS responsibility, right? And then we realized that we had been ignoring him, and that if we wanted any relief that we should pay some respect to him. So we did. We began ring-tossing a cock-ring up into the air to try and ring his cock. And the day after Reese finally made the toss... it rained. It is now almost a month later with our normal rain pattern re-established, and we have hope that the drought is broken.


Thanx Be to Lono.

Now, as Scientists, we can not discount that, for reasons unknown to us at present, respecting Hawaiian Gods actually seems to work.

Labels: Hawaii, Our Queer Family

link | posted by Reese at 10:05 PM
1 comments

It has been sort of a slow month so far. After the couple months of the building project, we are settling back in to our regular farm work, but we are still kind of in recovery mode.

We went to a dance party at Kalani this past weekend, and I think that it was the first time that we actually had fun at Kalani. That's not Kalani's fault; we have just previously never been able to get into the vibe there. This time, friends from vollyball who live at Kalani invited us over for dinner after the game, and we stayed for the dance. Dinner was wonderful, the company was wonderful, and while the music was less than wonderful, I had a good time dancing.

We have been trying to find a source of gigs/events to participate in. While Tolver and I enjoy living "out in the sticks", we figure that it is about time for us to broaden our social circle beyond volleyball. There is another regular estatic dance event Kona-side (Kalani being Puna-side) that we are thinking of getting involved in. So we may go to that tonight.

We have also started Tribe accounts. Although I haven't had much motivation that direction yet. I think Tolver has worked on his some.

O yeah, the title of the post: striped feet... I have been playing vollleyball wearing a pair of Walmart sandles lately. They are very comfortable, and the rocks fall out as easily as they get in (unlike with tennis shoes), but we noticed the other day that I now have very distinct tan lines on my feet. Heh.

Labels: Hawaii, Kalani, Tribe, volleyball

link | posted by Reese at 10:53 AM
1 comments

Now that we have upgraded from our little ten by ten, it was time to revive the old room into a perfectly suitable guest room (just horrible enough that they don't stay too long!) The room had wonderful, shit colored walls, while we were there, thanks to the previous occupant.

Now its a very sunny room! Not only are the walls a gentle shade of sunshine yellow, the window faces the morning sun this time of year, so the effect is very bright and cheery for all you morning people. There is also a nice view of the pineapple patch, and uphill the protea. We think that we may replace the window with a sliding glass door, someday, and create another lanai to adjoin the eventual carport (whew!)

We are under mandatory water rationing now, even if we did get some rain yesterday. Actually all of the rain that we catch with our tanks is ours to do with as we please, and we might just be able to live off that even with such low rainfall. But, we share our water with over 3000 plants, so we purchase water to keep up with the demands of production and propagation; we've pretty much had to give up on the landscape plants, the strong will survive. Its clouded up, and acting like it did yesterday, hopefully that means more rain.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 5:03 PM
0 comments

Well, Tolver's thumb injury is healing, and even though he's been to the dentist three times in the last two weeks, and had at least that many teeth pulled, he's been going crazy to get back to work. So we made another trip to Homo Despot, and we've made some more progress on the new room.


Add a coat of paint, and things start to really look like they are coming together.

Now we have to wait for delivery of the sliding glass door to finish the final exterior wall. In the mean time, we'll get the wiring done.



Nice Tush!

---

Today though, we got sidetracked by BUGS! More precisely, a yet to be identified moth has been laying eggs all over the pincushion flower buds. It does not seem to be the Apple Moth that has restricted the export of plants from the island (another pest that we have to be on the look out for) but it will probably be another problem at the point of inspection (we allready have to watch out for ants.)

---

And, thanks to God of Biscuits (who has linked to us since the Blog was called "Tolver's Mind"), I (Reese) was directed to the "Which Tarot Card Are You" internet quiz...

You are The Hierophant

Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.

All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Labels: building, Faeries, Flowers, Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 6:08 PM
3 comments

We make the trip to one port or the other, east or west, Puna/Hilo or Kailua-Kona, sometimes many times in a week. My last three days consisted of:

• Saturday up at 6am, cut and process 250 flowerheads, load the Jeep, on the road by 11am and drive to Puna-side to deliver them (total drive time with stops: 2 hours 30 minutes.) Played volleyball for 5 hours, then drove home (another 1 hour 45 minutes.)
• Sunday slower start, but still had to get both the Jeep and the Jetta cleaned up, and vaccuumed, before we took off in the car for Puna-side again. This time only to Kea'au (drive time: 1 hour 20 minutes) for potluck and movienight with the boys. (Another 1 hour and 20 minutes to get home.)
• Monday on the road by 8am, headed Kona-side this time for errands and shopping. We made it home by 3, so I guess it was a 7 hour round trip, with an hour each at the doctor's office, Walmart, Safeway, and Costco.

Now, Bob will take the car back Puna-side to Hilo tomorrow. Tolver and I are going to Kailua-Kona again on Wednesday. Bob delivers flowers, and goes to the gym Puna-side on Thursday. Friday we all get to stay home, but Saturday it starts all over again...

Driving can be very meditative, but sometimes it is an exhaustive fight to keep from getting hypnotized to sleep.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 8:00 PM
1 comments

Ah, another beautiful Hawaiian Saturday... as usual, we made it volleyball around 2pm, although we've added a couple of stops along the way now, and Saturday is becoming just as much about getting stuff done as about Volleyball. See, we deliver flowers along the way, so we have to get up early and pick them and process them, before packing everything in to the Jeep for the trip across the island. Now, we have found much better prices on produce at one of the farmer's markets along the way, so we stop there too and load up with veggies.
It had appearently been raining heavily on the east side that morning, but it had pretty much stopped by the time we got to the Banana Boyz farm. And, although it stayed overcast, it was pleasant and not too cold. We got started playing volleyball almost as soon as we got there, and the activity kept us warm!
But, I guess we never got around to mentioning to anyone that we were planning on leaving early to make dinner at a friends beach house at the end of the day. So, when we quickly re-packed the Jeep, and began to make our exit (taking the music with us, the Jeep being the sound system afterall) we got all sorts of confused and troubled looks of: "Why are you leaving?! Its only 5!
Ooops, Sorry everybody!
We arrived at the gated subdivision long enough before sunset to have a look around, and getting to eat dinner before the two hour drive home is a real treat. The beach house was a cute bungalow packed with several others around a cul-de-sac of ocean, where developers had built right out to the edge of the water back inthe days before such things were regulated and frowned upon. There was a very pleasant breeze and the sound of the ocean breaking against the lanai. Around the bungalows have been built salt water fish ponds, and we got to see our first Humuhumunukunukuapuaa. (It's pronounced HOO-moo-HOO-moo-NOO-koo-NOO-koo-AH-poo-AH-ah)

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 9:14 AM
1 comments

December and January brought very little rain to our little parcel of the Ka'u alpine desert. Our rain guage recorded just over an inch for the 60 day period. Now we spend so much time over on the wet side of the island that we would joke with our friends that when they come visit they should bring as much water as they can haul from over there.

Well, some fearie friends visiting Big Island, were staying over there for the last couple of weeks, but then came to stay with us for a couple of days, and they brought the rain with them! We received just over 5.5 inches of rain since the evening of January 31st. The wind was blowing warm air up from the south and hitting us on the side of the mountain head on. At times it was literally raining sideways.

Now it looks like the rain is past, and we have fierce winds blowing from the west. It is sunny and mild outside, but the wind is keeping us from getting any work done outside. I am grateful that the cinders are still moist, so at least we are not getting sand-blasted yet.

Seems that it is crazy weather everywhere.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 4:18 PM
0 comments

Today we took the truck and went to Beach 101 - that's what I call it since it's at mile marker 101. Usually when I drive the truck I am the only occupant, but Reese was my passenger today, and it was fun for him to be one since he is usually the driver. It's 20 miles away down the mountain and around the island, and then another 5 miles down a beauteous meandering back country road. And then you are suddenly at the bottom of the road and out of nowhere a small village appears. A collection of homes that have obviously been inhabited for generations. You instantly get the feeling that people have been in this place for a very long time. The air is very warm and inviting, and you feel as though you are guests swimming on a neighbors beach. We parked about 30 feet from the ocean, up on a sea wall, there to channel any high tide aside from the homes beyond, and walked down the beach to find a spot to lay. The sand is black, tan, green, and coral. The surf picks it up and sloshes it around, letting the different colors settle out at different rates, striping the beach as the waves languish back and forth. The shore is punctuated by low broad pieces of the underlying lava sheet jutting up at shallow angles creating eddies and surf breaks that add their own complexities to the movement of the wind, sand, and water that is the beach. After a while we started to look around and realized that the whole little cove used to be up about 30 feet higher, but that at some ancient point the whole area subsided in one piece, creating a shallow protected bay no deeper than 20 feet out to such a distance that no wave higher than 3 feet makes it to break on the beach. Protected from the waves by the bay and protected from the winds by the cliff makes a very inviting micro-climate, you never want to leave it. But we had to, the day wore on and the clouds came in, and we came home for dinner. But I will always remember the tiny praying mantis, less than a half inch across, who decided to explore me. S/he was green with brown stripes and absolutely fearless, a great hunter/warrior. We spent time learning about each other, then went our separate ways, each a little wiser. The whales were, as always, a special treat to see, but the praying mantis will be today's favorite experience on a beach in Hawaii.

--Tolver

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 8:39 PM
0 comments

Just in case the news makes a big deal out of this one too,
we're fine... no damage... so far!

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 12:22 PM
0 comments

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 8:44 PM
0 comments

We lived in San Francisco from 1994 until January of this year. In all that time, we never felt even much of a tremor; if I remember correctly, the largest earthquake, near the Bay Area, was less than a '4', and so short in duration, that you're not even sure it just happened.

This morning's quake is still reporting at less than a 5, but what a difference! The shaking went on for about 15 seconds. We even had a nice aftershock about five minutes later.

http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 10:52 AM
0 comments

Besides the regular Saturday volleyball, for which we compile about five hours of music each week, we have played three other gigs since coming to Big Island.

For the first of the three, we were asked to volunteer our VJing for a benefit for a guy who had fallen out of a tree and broken his back. It seemed like a great way to get us out in the community and show them what we could do, so we didn't mind the idea of working it from 8pm until 4am, for not even so much as a free vegetarian burrito (the proceeds of which were also going to help Jasper, the unfortunate sod.) It wasn't until we found ourselves walking home at 4:30am during one of the largest rainfalls of the year, carrying two suitcases worth of equipment, that we came to realize that it had not been worth it.

The second gig held more promise. First we had been promised pay, second it was being held at the Banana Boys farm, so we wouldn't have to make it home afterward. We were hired just to do VJing again, but when there was no DJ with people starting to arrive, We pulled out the library, and without any sort of prep, we DJed and VJed for the first two hours. Then continued the visualizations for the rest of the DJs for the remaining five hours of the party. Although the gig itself was a disorganized nightmare, and we were paid only $20 plus a couple doses of magic mushrooms, we made a great time for ourselves after the party, so this one doesn't go down as all bad.

Playing the music for Saturday's volleyball, we have to pre-prep the playlist so that it can just run off the car stereo all day. We try to keep it fresh, and non-redundant, with a bit of oldies thrown in for nostalgia. Volleyball kind of requires everything stay up-tempo, but we try to keep away from cliche gay-bar disco. We get lots of compliments, and occasional jeers, about the mix. The eclectic nature of the Saturday mix, led to the third gig: the labor day party being thrown by the local HIV support organization. They asked us to volunteer the Jeep and a playlist for their party. As we would be playing for the potluck crowd, the pool-side crowd, and the volleyball crowd, we tailored the playlist accordingly.

See, this is the tricky part; when creating a 5 to 6 hour playlist we put a lot of effort into thinking about the audience, the event, and how the party will likely progress over time. The limitation of DJing from a car stereo being that changing things on the fly in real time results in stops and starts and awkward pauses. We are lucky that the Jeep has a MP3 capable stereo, so its possible to fit about 10 hours worth of music on a single CD. So, we try to structure a playlist that will fit a party, set it free, and hope for the best.

Well, so, the Labor Day smash didn't go off very well. The volleyball field was set 100 yards away from the party proper, and we got relegated to playing for just the volleyball crowd. The music was a little low key at times, tailored for the pool-side / potluck set (who ended up without any music at all,) and though some of the volleyball set were really grooving on the mix, others thought that the energy dragged, and just wanted the usual disco to play to. Unfortunately, this was communicated to us in a way very unbecoming to those involved. Sigh, do we just attract drama? So, we got our feelings hurt; the one, two punch of finding ourself in a situation very different from what we were asked to prepare for, and then having our effort disparaged by those who's opinions mean so much.

Still, we made the most of it. One friend had shown up with a CD for us to borrow, and we found a couple of CDs in the changer, so the volleyball Disco Duchesses were appeased with boom boom boom (actually, I think the one person probably responsible for all of the bother got up and left as soon as they got their way.) Of course we couldn't satisfy everyone, and those that always complain that the music is too loud, still had to whine about how blown the speakers were.

We roll my eyes at the lot of you. Do better! Bitches.

Actually, we are greatful for any gigs that we get to play here. Our chances for social life are often few and far between; especially when we average $31 for fuel to get across the island to get to them. We are also grateful for all of the thanks that we do get for our contribution. We hope that our friends will continue to expect us, and we are allways open to constructive additions... Bitches... ;-)

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 10:16 AM
0 comments

It's the beach that we can see from our living room window; about 10 miles downhill. It's a 4-wheel drive event. No puny tourist vehicle will make the trip, and it is too undeveloped to attract many locals.

On one side is a barely swimable, black sand covering green sand beach (every footprint is green sand under black beach top), on the other side is a calm tide pool with regular soft wave injections. Just Perfect.

As we arrive somebody else is often just leaving, and as we leave somebody else just arrives. Karmic privacy. In one of the most sought out tourists destinations on the planet we find a public beach with so little traffic as to be our own private beach, often with not so much as a boat on the horizon for the few hours we spend there each week. Truly paradise.

We play in the surf, getting to be stronger swimmers every time we go. We explore the tide pool, getting to know the water life better. Coral toughens up our skin. The ocean always wins, as we are tossed about like leaves in a whirlwind. Today I have 3 cuts on my foot from rocks in the surf, 2 scrapes on my thigh from coral, and board-burn on my belly from the boogie-board we play in the surf with. It's a small price to pay for such fun returned. I spent 11 years sitting behind a computer screen getting soft, and I expect to spend the next 40 letting the island surf toughen me up. I was slowly dying back there in San Francisco and didn't even know it, now here in Hawai`i I have reason to live to be twice as old as I am now.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 1:44 PM
0 comments

Many of the misconceptions that I had about Hawai`i before moving here concerned the beaches. One of these misconceptions, or maybe its just a lack of perspective, is that I never considered that we would ever be on a beach when no one else was there.

The beach that is closest to the farm is that a the end of the Road to the Sea; an unpaved, rocky path cut through a 100 year old lava flow almost directly downhill from us (we can see it from our window even though its alomst 12 miles away.) At the end of the road there is a Olympic sized tide pool to one side and a black and green sand beach to the other. Each time that we have been there, we have had the place to ourselves; it is an amazing experience.

Being at the intersection of the land, the air, and the ocean, with no distracting energies, only your own, allow you to really meditate upon your self in relation to the planet.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 2:56 PM
0 comments

We have spent the last few days with our friend Bob, at his place up the side of Mauna Loa. Here, at approximately the 3400 foot level, the Protea grow well, it is very rocky, and the air is much drier. So far it has not been clear enough for us to see all the way to the ocean, but we can tell the view is glorious.

It is very different living in a place where elevation changes are the norm. San Francisco has its hills, but here, travel from sea level to over 4000 feet, can happen just a couple of miles down (or up) the road. It tasks the inards! and, I have found, can make you very drowsy.

We drove up the mountain to where the cinders are dug up for use in planting. At the tops of the volcanoes there are left cinders in many colors: golds, and browns, greens and grays, reds, orange, and maroon. Bob says that they all have different properties and chemicle compositions. He prefers the gold and brown, and not the red. The quary is very much like looking into the Grand Canyon.

Bob is helping us re-learn to drive. We will need drivers' license, here, and eventually may actually get a vehicle. Its like riding a bicycle, even though its been over 10 years, it was still easy. The written test might not be so! heh.

more to come!

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 1:31 PM
0 comments

Our experiences here on the Big Island of Hawaii are starting to pile up, much faster than we can write about them. Plus when we are at the computer, the time is mostly spent trying to keep the mainland money flowing... leaving little typing endurance for writing about our experiences here. But, in an attempt to try to write more, we are going to try dividing up the pages. For now, tolver will be updating the Hawaii page with his experiences, while I will try to write mine here, in my Blog.

Today I want to try to get to some of the stuff that I have been piling up, so this might turn out a little disjointed, with me trying to say to many things at once, but here goes!

The first experience that seems to be important for me to relate has to do with working the land. Almost every other day I still have to hitch-hike the 7 miles into Pahoa to sit at this PC and stay connected to the internet, but on the days that we don't, we tend to stay on the farm and either work the land for our hosts, or work on our own shelter and surrounding area. I really love opening up the paths that surround our shelter. There were just a couple of "paths" when we started, but then there were also dozens of tiny "pig trails". A Pig trail is usually about 6 inches wide, and maybe a foot and a half high through the denser growth. It would really be neato to be able to shrink myself down to gnome size and see where they all go! Since I can't do that, we use them as a starting point, and clipper away the ferns, weed trees and cane grass until these paths become passable by people our size. I had always wanted a chance to construct and play within a hedge maze! now I am doing just that! I will call it The Menehune Maze, because they may look like pig trails, but we hear the Menehune at night!

After using the hosts aging clippers for the first couple of weeks, we made the trek to Walmart (about an hour bus ride away, in Hilo) and I bought a new pair of clipping shears for $8.88, and clipping has become one of my primary jobs. I have to go back and clean up each trail every couple of days, but they have also been very useful for the main job that I have been doing for the hosts: cane grass removal. The cane grass grows 5 to 12 feet high, and would strangle the whole property if we didn't keep at it constantly. So we hack away at it, with the clippers, and machete. Ah, the machete. I am 38 years old, and I think that I have had my first true testosterone experience! hacking at cane grass with the machete. After about an hour of intense hacking and whacking I completed a field surrounding a large weed tree, that we were clearing for a later date with the chainsaw, I let out a primal scream and felt the juice flowing through my vains. I ran up the hill and took my mate! heh.

OK, so the last experience that I will have time to relate today, will be about our time at Kehena beach yesterday. (See the pictures) Yes we do get to go to the beach, we don't just work every day; although this was only our second time. After swimming in the ocean (body tempeture in February) I just sat back on the beach and allowed the energy of the environment effect me. It was wondrous, and we saw whales. And I thought to myself how cool it would be to develop a visualization algorithm that would be like watching the ocean for whales, with the occasional moments of wonder and excitement. Yet, later, I realized how strange it was to want to try to re-create something that was so wonderful experienced live, with something that was just video imagery. My outlook on reality must be changing...

I will leave you with that, until next time.

Labels: Hawaii

link | posted by Reese at 11:49 AM
0 comments