Mahalo Daddy-o

L'Union fait la force

2010-01-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

We heard this morning that our friends Père Elie Charles, his wife Jamine, daughter Minou, and the rest of their family in Haiti are safe! Père Elie and Jamine, especially, are like family to me, and I am so relieved that they are okay.

I hope that the silver lining to this tragedy will be worldwide attention to Haiti's suffering and a strong will to better the quality of life there. This is an opportunity to start over and not repeat the selfish decisions of past American and Haitian leaders.

Last night, I went to a prayer vigil for Haiti at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. I reunited with several women who I traveled to Haiti with in 2001, so we were able to both express our concern for our friends who we had not heard from and reminisce about our adventures in Haiti. What a mixture of wrenching worry and happy nostalgia.

Here are the words of reflection that the Episcopal Bishop Jelinek gave last night. I found them to be comforting, especially the words against Pat Robertson's awful and heartless comments...

We have come together in shock, grief, dismay, concern and a sense of helplessness in the aftermath of one of the most awful devastations of human life in Haiti the day before yesterday. While many bodies lie undiscovered and others are still lost from their families, we are not yet hearing stories of what we call miracles that warm our hearts and cheer our souls.

We come together in our helplessness, for we know we cannot bear helplessness all alone. There may be something we can do - at least pray; there may be a word of hope to hear; there may be a moment of solace in holding onto one another.

Tragedies like this, where so many lives are lost, when urban landscapes are unrecognizable, when people are still caked in dust, when whole systems of production and order and care-giving and transportation and communication are interrupted or cut off - tragedies like this challenge our whole sense of security and justice and even hope. We like to believe we stand and live on solid ground.

And yet...

We live our whole lives on a fault. Those of us who have lived in parts of the world where the deep tectonic plates of the earth are still moving and shifting know that one of these shifts can happen at any moment, causing an earthquake, or, as we say in French, a "tremblement de terre" - a trembling of the earth.

We would like to believe that life can be predictable, certain, clear, but it is not so. Today we grieve over the devastation and loss of life from an earthquake. Recently we have grieved over the devastation of tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, blizzards-natural disasters of many kinds.

Some believe that the God who created the universe still pulls the strings like a puppeteer or a stage director, finding ways to punish those God does not like or who make God mad. But I do not believe that. If God were so vindictive, so cruel, then how could so many of God's followers be moved to open their hearts to be so generous, so helpful, so willing to pour out care and affection and resources? If humankind has grown at all over the centuries and the millennia, it is in our awareness that God calls us to love and forgive and give beyond our families, beyond our friends, beyond people who look and speak like us.

We can explain how natural disasters happen. We can understand why in terms of geology and climate, but we cannot explain them in terms of God's anger or displeasure. This is not about blame. This is about being able to suffer together, and we either suffer together or we suffer apart. I prefer to suffer with you rather than without you. And I believe that God suffers with us.

It was Jesus who wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus. It was Jesus who revealed God's heart in the midst of the most painful dimensions of human life. And how can we imagine that God's heart, like ours, is not broken by the loss of so many lives, cut off in the bud or even in full bloom. It is not that God causes or allows terrible things to happen. We believe that God is with us and between and among us in the midst of the terror and grief.

As for me, I have been home from Hawai`i for about a month, I have finished applying to grad schools, and am now spending time with family and friends while applying for jobs in the Cities. This will most likely be my last post, seeing that my time in Hawai`i has ended and my daily activities are no longer quite as exciting.

I'd like to be a pilot.

2009-11-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Seriously, helicopters are possibly the coolest mode of transportation that I have ever experienced. The helicopter is so small and light (with no doors!) that the winds were pushing us around, but somehow we managed to get to where we needed to go.

All HVO volunteers are taken up to the skies at least once during the visit, and my turn came last Friday morning (11/20). Conditions were ripe for a smooth flight, with bright blue skies and relatively light mist over Pu`u `O`o. We started our brief journey by flying over Halema`uma`u (and we swerved on my side so that I was directly over the vent, staring Pele in the face).

Above is Kelly photographing the summit vent, and below, an artsy photo while we're landing.

The view of the ocean entry with the big plumes (Waikupanaha), and you can see the new ocean entry (West Waikupanaha) with the smaller plume in the distance.

Fun with the camera while we're on the ground...

We took a short stop to sample the fresh flows west of the lava tube. This was the most active (aka fastest) lava I've seen yet! Also, flightsuits are hott. I'm getting one when I get home.

What an adrenaline rush! I have to do this again sometime.

All photos in this post are property of the USGS.

What I came to Hawai`i to see (besides lava)

2009-11-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

Public Hawksbill turtle nest excavation at Puna Lu`u on Veteran's Day:

There's no doubt that these are the most adorable creatures on Earth. It was so special for all of us to see these lil' babies encounter water for the first time, especially since no one will ever see the males again and the females lead such epic lives. They're fearlessly and innocently heading into an incredibly deadly environment because, well, there's no other option. I don't know about you, but I'm inspired. Good luck, hatchlings!

Green Sands Beach!

2009-11-22T15:16:00.001-08:00

Veteran's Day seemed the ideal day to take the mondo Mauna Loa 4WD car to South Point to visit the famous and off-the-beaten-trail Green Sands Beach. I'll probably never go to a beach in mid-November again in my life.

My weak attempt to keep sand from getting into my wounds. Ultimately, the plan failed.

Green sands! And plenty of tourists. The green sand is weathered olivine from basaltic phenocrysts, and it's heavier than black sand (basalt grains). It is preferentially sieved by the waves and washes up on this beach.

There's me, sitting at the top of the beach, reading Lucretius' On the Nature of the Universe. It's a good read - I recommend it. He has some funky ideas, like that things that are pleasurable to our senses have smooth, round atom shapes while things that are sticky, smelly, or gross have rough and jagged atom shapes. However, some things, like sea water, can have a mix of atom shapes because it is fluid (smooth shapes) but also salty (rough shapes). Trippy....

Another Misadventure, of the Sea Urchin variety

2009-11-22T14:46:00.001-08:00

I'm sure most of you are aware of this incident by now, if you've seen the pictures on Facebook that Andy P. posted. I thought that I would tell the story from the trailhead, and I'll also mention that I'm nearly walking normally now and the sea urchin spines are almost gone (I think).

The first photo of the weekend, taken on November 6th. The original plan was to hike 6 miles to Apua Point (the turtle beach that I visited earlier this summer), camp there one night, and then continue through Keauhou beach to camp at Halape beach the second night. We're all excited to start the long, flat trail along the southern coastline.

Apua Point at sunset is a beautiful cove. There was a near-cloudless sky with plenty of dramatic shooting stars.

Along the trail from Apua to Keauhou, Katie and I stopped along the way to check out some potential 'shatter rings' for Katie's supervisor.

We finally made it to Keauhou and found the other members of our group. Keauhou is a pretty nice beach, secluded with nice soft sand. According to some people, it's the best snorkeling spot on the island, so of course I was tempted...Unfortunately, the 'best' spot is where the larger waves are.

Snorkeling with Katie! There were a few cool fish, but we were getting pushed offshore by the waves so decided to head in...

The two bobbing heads on the left are us, and we were heading straight for those rocks on the shore when the waves got rougher and pushed us onto them. I was dragged across a sea urchin and about a dozen spines punctured my foot. I also collected several scrapes on both legs and feet from the rocks. Luckily, we had several first aid kits so we patched it up as best we could.

There wasn't really a feasible way for me to reach Halape, so the options were to hike up the pali, or go back the way we came along the coast. Although the coastal trail was longer, it seemed the better option, so Dave B. was a gentleman and walked out the 9 miles with Katie and I back to the car. When I got back to the house, I soaked my foot in vinegar and hot water, and it looked like this:

Gross, right? I think the purple color comes from the venom or dye that was injected by the spines. It faded after a few days. No worries, I'm walking okay, and I'll probably try to get to Halape again during one of my remaining weekends...

Fieldwork at Mauna Loa summit, Oct 19-21

2009-11-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

This was one epic trip, and as our supervisor Frank would say, "The mountain won." Mauna Loa is a formidable beast, especially if the camp stove that worked perfectly at 4500ft fails to light in the bitter cold of 13000ft. That was our first misadventure on the Mountain, but we survived the night without dinner and luckily were able to get another camp stove by hailing a helicopter to fly it up.

Sarah Iki, me, and Mango on the northwest rim of Moku`aweoweo at sunset.

Mauna Kea in the background! Luckily it was clear like this the entire time.

Hualalai in the distance and the sunset.

Lunch the second day tasted delicious with our fancy new (functional) camp stove! When we hailed the helicopter, I was reminded of the opening scene from MASH...

Digging in the dirt! Taking fine-grained samples to look for lithics...Erin looks excited, too.

Erin and I huddling next to the van while cooking dinner to avoid the wind.

Last day! Driving home, we stopped by this dramatic fissure. Lava poured into it from both sides to create a smooth surface.

All photos in this post are the property of the USGS.

The Return of the Lava

2009-10-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

I suppose the lava never really left, but I was inspired by the amazing original VHS copy of Star Wars #6 that resides in the USGS dorm...Remember the days of VHS? I do.

In other news, I may have lost my camera at the summit of Mauna Loa from my epic camping trip earlier this week (which will be a post at some point, I promise), so for now I can't post pictures of my weekend adventures. A narrative will have to suffice.

The lava flows on the coast near Kalapana that are fed by Pu`u O`o have been incredibly active this past week, despite a deflation-inflation (DI) event last weekend that threatened to halt the downslope movement of the surface flows.

Earlier in the summer I went with my CSAV class to experience the lava for the first time, which involved an arduous uphill hike over tumuli in the intense heat of the early afternoon. However, last Sunday morning when I went out (with a certified HVO scientist, of course) the hike was an easy 5 minutes to get to the active flows. We mapped the fresh lobes with the GPS, walked over the flow that had cooled the day before, and then collected a few samples for ourselves. The flow was sluggish at the time, but over the next few days it moved about 400m towards the trailhead and the tourist viewing area.

Don't worry, I didn't actually eat my sample. The flows are actually quite a hazard, potentially, because they are encroaching on a forested kipuka and may cause serious forest fires. Also, the tourists might be able to see the flows from the viewing area, so the number of ignorant trespassers will likely triple in the next few days.

Here's Sarah K., Katie, me, and Sarah S. excited about lava!

The HVO scientists are predicting that the lava will actually reach the ocean because the flows are tubed (aka insulated) on the slope of the pali. Therefore, they can travel much greater distances than if they were exposed to the air.

Now, my lovely lava video.

All photos and movie footage are the property of the USGS.

Grad School Blues

2009-10-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that I'm still in the process of contacting potential advisors and trying to sort out the geologic topics that interest me.

Today I contacted professors from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks for volcanology and geochronology, so hopefully I'll hear back soon. I could see myself really enjoying Alaska, despite the dark winters. Although it's easy to say that now that I'm accustomed to a tropical paradise...

Nature is Cyclic

2009-10-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

The last Saturday of September (the 26th) was a pretty spectacular day for Pele and Halema`uma`u, but I got so caught up in other things that I failed to update my captivated readers to let y'all know what was going on.

Here's the deal:
The volcano is constantly uplifting and subsiding - I think of it as breathing - and this motion is reflected in the tilt deformation stations at the summit (and at Pu`u O`o). When there's a distinct change in deformation we define it as a DI (deflation-inflation) event.

On Saturday (the 26th) there was a prolonged and exaggerated DI event where the lava lake level beneath the crust dropped for an unusually long period of time, so much so that the hardened crust was left hanging - literally - and crashed down to the surface of the lava. The collapse produced a robust brown ashy plume, and it was the largest event that has happened since October of last year.

The next cool thing to happen was the cyclic filling and draining of the lava lake that was suddenly and violently exposed to the air and unprotected by a cool crust. The cycle was on the order of a few hours, although in the past it has been as fast as 3 minutes! Click on this link to see the cyclic draining/filling of the lava lake.

On Friday night Katie and I were able to go out to the caldera (with a qualified HVO scientist, of course) to view the lava pond for ourselves. Unfortunately it wasn't quite as exciting as other nights from last week because we caught it during the end of the draining/beginning of the filling state so there was more bad gas than usual and the lake level was lower. I also couldn't get any good pictures because of the lighting. Still, I enjoyed it, as always.

The lake disappeared (aka drained away) on Saturday morning and was gone until Monday morning. Maybe it had something to do with the full moon?

EARTHQUAKE

2009-10-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

I just felt an earthquake for the first time! At 05:32 HST, a magnitude 2.7 earthquake occurred 1 km E of Kilauea summit at a depth of 1.6 km, and it shook my bed and rattled our blinds for a second. Enough to wake me up, anyway.

Ok, back to bed.

Update: In my weary blurry-eyed confused state this morning I failed to realize that 1 km E of the summit is approximately under my house. Craziness.

Summit Inflation, Explosive Events: It's Been a Good Week

2009-09-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was marked by an unusual peak of inflation at the Halema`uma`u vent that caused the lava lake level to rise to the point where it was spattering out of the little pukas on the vent floor. The vent floor is about 85 meters below the Kilauea caldera floor, and the surface of the lava (the surface where the gas is released) is about 200 meters below that. So, for scale, the glowing red holes that you see in the picture below are each about 10 meters across, or the size of a city bus (according to my poor estimation skills).

Matt P. took Fred and I out to see the lava (not all of the volunteers could go for safety reasons), so I've posted a picture and I also took a pixelated video from my camera. All photos and video are property of USGS. A much better video is Matt P.'s zoom-in video, where you can see the lava spattering up through the holes. I've posted the link to the right of this entry under the Interesting Links section. Pretty cool, right? Apparently the lava lake level in June was about this high, although the hole was much bigger so you could see the lake sloshing around a lot more.

While we were there we heard a rockfall that lasted about 15 seconds (it seems even longer when you're standing right there) and the red glow intensified, but apparently it was still a pretty small rockfall in comparison to other events.

Speaking of other events, there was a hybrid/VLP event on September 17 at 3:13 am, meaning that there was a large collapse onto the lava surface that caused an explosive event. There's a video posted on the HVO website from the high resolution low-light camera in the HVO tower, but I've posted it here for your convenience:

This event was about 1/5 the size of the October 12, 2008 explosive event that happened during the day where you could see lava above the vent floor level.

In my humble opinion, it's been a very exciting week.

Happy No-Work Day!

2009-09-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

It's official - I win the prize for most awkward burn line (or most hilarious burn line, if that's your sense of humor). You can't see the other side of my face, but I pretty much have a stripe of red across my eyes and a glasses-line on the other side. I call it the "raccoon" tan. Or maybe, the "reverse masked hero" tan?

In other news, it's my first celebration of Labor Day, and to honor my first day of not-working on a week day in Hawaii, I baked garlic rosemary bread using Katie Bovee's recipe that she got from someone else. I baked this bread for comps talks last spring, and this batch turned out even better. Now, if I could only find people to eat it...

On Saturday in Hilo we ate breakfast at a great waffle place, then walked all around the farmer's market before taking a few people to the airport. While I was shopping in the stores along the bayfront Fred showed me a place to buy a soprano ukulele, so I did! Today I've been researching ukulele chords and popular songs to play. Is it just me, or do most songs sound better when played on a ukulele?

P.S. Have a great time in Germany, Ben! I miss you!

Journey to the Top of the World's Biggest Mountain

2009-09-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

And I didn't have to go to the Himalayas to do it.

If you were to include the depth to the sea floor, Mauna Loa is technically the tallest mountain in the world (and has the largest volume by far). The summit is located at 13,679 ft, and in order to climb to Moku`aweoweo (the caldera) and return in one day, we started at ~11,000 ft and hiked 4 miles up to the caldera. Here's the view of Mauna Kea from the start of our hike on Mauna Loa.

In the Hawaiian language, moku`aweoweo roughly translates to "burning red area," or it could be named after a red big-eyed fish. Who knows.

The trail is marked by stone cairns, called ahu, so every so often we'd take a break. That's Fred in the background.

A cool feature near the big cairn!

This was my favorite part of the trail. The goldish-brownish material is mostly basaltic pumice from a lava fountain during the last Mauna Loa eruption in 1984, but there are also some pumice chunks where the gas bubbles were elongated and the colors were metallic blue, teal-ish, red, blue-green, and orange.

Finally, we got to the caldera! I felt pretty tough, especially considering the high altitude. It took us about 4.5 hours to hike to the caldera, but only 2.5 hours to hike down. Thanks, gravity.

We were pretty tired after lunch...

Here's all of us at the caldera! From the left: Erin, me, Katie, and Fred.

Four Outta Five Ain't Bad

2009-09-05T18:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the second trip planned by Jane to get compass directions for a series of pictures after the 2006 earthquake. This time we traveled to Kawaihae, a city north of Kona. One of the sites damaged was the Pu`ukohola heiau (temple). Pu`u means hill, and kohola means humpback whale, so the site is right near the coast where humpback whales congregate from November to May. Hopefully I can come back over here before I leave! This is a picture of the main heiau building that was damaged:

After the second site (the Kawaihae pier, where the main security guard thought we were crazy for wanting compass directions for buildings that were damaged and didn't exist anymore), we stopped at a chicken plate lunch stand near the road and then drove to Hawi. Hawi is the northern-most town in Hawaii, I'm pretty sure, and it's also super artsy-fartsy. It's a small town with a lot of art galleries and overpriced unnecessary things. Still, I liked this sign:

We decided to drive to Pu`u Huluhulu, one of Mauna Kea's old eruptive cones that is now surrounded by Mauna Loa lava flows. This is the view from the top looking towards Mauna Kea, with many more Mauna Kea cones all around and the treacherous Saddle Road in the middle:

On the drive up to the Mauna Kea observatory, I got hungry for some delicious chicken...

Here's the visitor's center right before sunset - we hiked up one of the nearby cones to watch the sun go down.

Here's a view of some cones from the top looking toward Mauna Loa. The cones are so pretty, I think.

And here's the sun, and the third youngest volcano Hualalai is in the distance behind the clouds.

So today we saw four out of five volcanoes, including the oldest, Kohala, in the north on the way back from Hawi.

Just for reference, the volcanoes from youngest to oldest are: Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, Mauna Kea, and Kohala.

Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na.....Native!

2009-09-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a little tidbit about Hawaii that they don't tell you in the guidebooks. The popular Hawaiian radio station, called Native FM at 95.9, repeats 5 reggae songs over and over in one day.

The most popular song, which you hear approximately 4 times if you're driving a lot in one day, we HVO volunteers call the "Brothers and Sisters" song. The chorus (the only part we can actually understand) goes like this:

Keep your culture/Bruthas and sistas/Keep your culture/...Polynesia!

The other 4 songs that they repeat aren't quite as redundant and there's even one that isn't reggae, but instead it's quite melodramatic and sappy. Someday I'd like to meet the DJ.

Slow Going

2009-09-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, it seems that Pele is feeling shy as the glow from Halema`uma`u is dimming and occasionally "winks" out of sight altogether. This is one of two reasons for my recent lack of posts (or interesting volcano-related ones, at any rate).

The second reason is that I have been updating the huge HVO abstract database for the past few weeks; therefore I have been spending a ridiculous time in front of a computer, typing noisily on a stubborn keyboard for hours at a time. I'm proud to say that I've logged over 100 abstracts and articles, but it does not encourage fun computer blog-updating time at home.

And, here's a random picture for your entertainment. I love the Lava Lounge (and pau hana!) Sam Nakata, a 2008 Carleton geology grad, is behind Katie and I, and Adam Soule, another Carleton grad (from a while ago - he's Sam's advisor at MIT) is there, too. And Katie's laughing REALLY hard about something...probably our Aloha Friday shirts!

This upcoming weekend includes picking up a new volunteer on Thursday, Kawaihae on Friday to do more compass-direction work for Jane, Hilo on Saturday to drop off the Frenchies, and hiking Mauna Loa on Sunday. Then, finally, my very first celebration of Labor Day (aka a day off) on Monday!

Post-HVO Plans

2009-08-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

I took a rest day today to relax, sleep in, clean the house, and start my graduate school application statement of purpose essays. Right now I'm considering three schools for a Master's degree: Oregon State University, where I'd work with my advisor from last summer and continue my senior thesis project (a Marine Geology degree in the Oceanography department), and either the University of Oregon or the University of Hawaii-Manoa grad programs, where I'd be working toward a Physical Volcanology degree.

This is pretty exciting, because I remember in Jr. High I was really interested in Oceanography and Volcanology, so it's nice to actually realize that dream. Then again, I also wanted to be the first female President...

All three applications are due at the beginning of January, so I have to apply while I'm still volunteering. I'm not too stressed right now because I think I have a pretty good head start on the process, but the time passes so quickly here. If anyone has advice about the grad school application process, I'd love to hear it!

Richardson's Beach

2009-08-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

We took last Sunday to get groceries in Hilo and use the government car to get to Richardson's beach - one of the best beaches in Hilo (doesn't compare to Kona beaches, but it'll do). We played Hana fuda while sitting in the sand, and Katie and I lost 6 times in a row against Reid, Fred, Kevin, and David. I still haven't won a game - there's not even a strategy involved! It's supposed to be just luck!

I spent some time trying to pick out the pretty green olivine crystals, but laying down in the gravelly-sand is not the best idea:

The exciting part of the day was seeing this turtle swim its way through a channel to the open water. I love turtles!

After the beach we went to see Public Enemies at the $1 theater in Hilo. My next plan: buy a ukulele in Hilo sometime...

The Lu`au Aftermath

2009-08-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

The lu`au was a tremendous success. The temperature in the imu was measured at 194 degrees using a thermocouple (the tool that you use to probe lava), and a pig is supposed to be sanitary at 170 degrees. It was the MOST delicious pulled pork I've ever tasted. Here's me between the pig under the tarp and the sheep on the spit (I really liked that hat):

Once the pig came out, a friend of Jack Lockwood's used the shoulder bone to mash the meat and the fat together in order to maximize the flavor. I was surprised that the pig came out falling apart, but it smelled really good!

Here's Katie and I sampling Frank's infamous homemade beer - the best homebrew ever!

It was raining on and off all day, so Loren, Kevin, the drummer named Jeremy, and Reid jammed out under the tent.

And we got to take a huge plate of food home, which we're still working through.

A Bona Fide Lu`au

2009-08-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

I can now add to the number of eccentric older famous geologist celebrities that I've met. Yesterday, Jack Lockwood (a friend of Walter Alvarez, so Jack was excited to meet other Carleton graduates) invited us volunteers to a special lu`au celebrating the release of his new volcanology textbook, as long as we helped dig the imu oven and prepare the pig. It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so most of us jumped at the opportunity. This wasn't some fake lu`au organized for tourists where they aren't allowed to give the tourists the roasted pig meat and there are hula dancers everywhere. This is bona fide.

We drove out to rural Volcano to a huge, sprawling and messy farm where they killed the pig (I set up the tables so I didn't have to watch the slaughter and become a vegetarian) and we helped to set up the oven. It was basically a big pit under a tin shack where we piled `ohi`a tree wood high and covered it with stones. I didn't post any graphic pictures of the pig.

These are the materials - a pit, rocks, banana stumps, tea leaves, `ohi`a wood, and dirt.

Here's Katie and the pit pre-wood...

We piled the kindling on, but apparently it wasn't enough for the giant pig, so we had to take all of the rocks and larger pieces of wood off and start again. This time we did Pele proud. I've also learned that volcanologists tend to be pyromaniacs.

We were at the farm from 10-3 for this stage of the process. At 6 pm they lit the fire, and we returned at midnight to help put the pig on the rocks. We definitely earned our invitation!

At midnight we smashed the banana stumps to cover the glowing rocks (the wood had all burned away), and we carried the 100-lb pig to the pit using hooks thrust through the lower legs. Frank (an HVO geologist who was in charge of the whole process) cut pockets in the shoulders and rump of the pig, and we put thin round glowing rocks inside the pockets and belly to facilitate the cooking. The entire pig was smoking, but it didn't really smell like bacon.

The final stages included covering the remaining glowing rocks with the squashed banana stumps, wrapping the pig in tin foil and wire like a giant hot pocket, and covering the pig with banana leaves, tea leaves, wet burlap sacks, a tarp, and finally piling dirt back on top. It was extremely smoky due to the rocks in the pig as well as the burning wood.

We'll see how it turned out soon! We start eating the pig at 2 pm. I'll post more pictures and let you know how it went later today.

Musings

2009-08-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

On Friday afternoon during lunch I had a great conversation with Ken, Kevan, and Loren (all older HVO employees) about life, marriage, kids, and being ready to make big decisions. Ken offered a really wise statement, which was "The only difference between energy that drains you and energy that invigorates you is your own attitude." It was really great listening to those guys, both for feeling part of the HVO community as well as hearing life advice from men rather than women. It was interesting to get a different point of view. It seemed like both Kevan and Loren weren't ready for kids, especially since Kevan isn't ready for a second dog, and Loren was weighing kids versus waxing his surfboard. Funny guys.

Also, during work I was logging articles into the HVO's huge abstract database, and I came across an article from EARTH journal about the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain and the possibility of hotspot movement (the topic of my senior thesis at Carleton). It quoted Anthony (my advisor from last summer at OSU), and mentioned that he was going back to the Louisville seamount chain to get more data. If I choose to work with him next year in graduate school - which he really wants, apparently - then I'd be going on that data cruise, too, most likely. I thought that was pretty exciting. The project is definitely on the forefront of marine geology!

One final exciting find - I was thinking about entering my AGU abstract from last fall into the database because it relates to the Hawaiian seamount chain, but when I searched for it in the database it was already there! Anyone want an autograph?

Waikupanaha the Sequel

2009-08-21T01:23:00.001-07:00

On Thursday night myself, Katie, David D., Matt P., and Dave S. went to the Kalapana Cafe before heading to the touristy Waikupanaha overlook. You may recognize photos of the ocean entry from lava day, but I'm pretty sure that at that point I didn't know the official Hawaiian name. It's a little confusing because the ocean entry plume is called Waikupanaha, but the original vent that is sourcing the lava tube is called Kupaianaha. Crazy fun Hawaiian words...

The Kalanapa Cafe is a small outdoors local restaurant that serves "high-brow" plate lunches and really great hamburgers. I don't know if there's a place with a great hamburger reputation (like pizza in Chicago/New York, beer in Germany, etc.), but Hawai`i should be it.

As we were eating outside in the garden/picnic-style tables, there was a banjo player who started playing "Wagon Wheel" by O.C.M.S., which was the Carleton geology campfire anthem for a number of years. Good memories!

The plume was much more exciting this time around, although we weren't nearly as close. Luckily, David D., another volunteer, had the great idea of bringing his gigantic binoculars, so we could actually see the lava streaming out the tube (occasionally), and small bits of lava bursting out of the littoral explosions.

I also love the reactions and comments of tourists whenever they start talking about the geology, because in 99.9% of situations they say something ridiculous or downright wrong. A few classic and hilarious questions that have been asked and are quoted frequently include, "When will the volcano evaporate?", "Where's the ocean in the crater?", and "I heard the volcano is supposed to erupt today - do you know what time?" As we were walking to the lookout point, a woman was saying that Mauna Loa hasn't erupted in hundreds of years (it erupted in 1984), and Kohala was just declared dormant (it's the oldest volcano on the island and hasn't been active for ~120,000 years). Once we got there, another woman loudly exclaimed, "You brought me here for this?! I can't see anything!"

This is a video of the activity that I recorded through the binoculars!

The Butterfly Princess Palace

2009-08-19T22:36:00.001-07:00

A quick photo of the three Butterfly Princess Palace princesses (Katie, Fred, me) on our balcony with our new gaudy jewelry!

The Hike to `Apua Point (aka The Hike That Lacked Turtles)

2009-08-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon was surprisingly spontaneous, as I ended up leaving work early to pack for an overnight trip to `Apua Point. The 'Turtle People,' as we affectionately call the group who lives nearby and monitors turtles all summer, reported a recent Hawksbill turtle hatching at the beach. I wanted to see for myself, and another HVO volunteer wanted to hike out there, so we packed up sleeping bags and food to spend the night looking for turtles.

The hike was 6.6 miles one way, and since we started after work, we barely got to the beach before the sun set around 7:15 pm. I was exhausted after the hike - I'm still not quite acclimated to the intense heat and the lack of shade on the lava flow fields, so 6.6 miles on a flow field seems like a longer trek than 6.6 miles in a Minnesotan forest trail.

We met a pair of turtle people at the beach, so they showed us where the turtle nests were, and were generous enough to offer two of their cots for us to use. Here's the turtle nest (picture taken the next morning; no baby turtle tracks, unfortunately):

The horizontal lines are drawn in the sand by the Turtle People, to track the movement of the turtles. They woke up each hour until 2 am to check if the turtles hatched, and they stay on the beach for 6 nights in a row. The beach was very beautiful, but I don't think I could handle that much time sitting around. I think turtles are fascinating, especially because of their long nesting journeys. According to a reliable source, the chances of a baby Hawksbill sea turtle's survival is about 1 in 3,000. I wonder what the human population would be if we had that survival rate... What do you think?

After sunset, the sky was completely clear and the stars were glorious (I write about the night sky a lot, but it's so spectacular that it takes me by surprise every time). It stayed clear all night, so when I woke up at various moments I tried to pick out how the constellations moved throughout the night. There were also huge waves that crashed rhythmically all night - it was the ultimate soothing soundtrack. We slept under a palm tree, and asked the Turtle People to wake us up if they saw any turtles:

Hilina Pali is in the background, for a reference point. We had to be back at the HVO for work before noon, so we started hiking at 7:30 am. I knew it was going to be a rough hike when I was sweating before we even started. Apparently the wind is supposed to be strong along the coast, but on Monday the wind was taking a day off, and the heat intensified.

We reached the car at 10 am, after I consumed ~4 liters of water and thought I was never going to make it. My hikes in Israel, Italy, Haiti, Ireland (on a hot day) could not compare to this hike. Even after sitting in the car and cooling down, I could still feel the sweat dripping. I won't go into any more detail, but you get the picture - I was disgusting. Unfortunately, we didn't have a key to the house, so we went back to the HVO and back to work in our sweaty clothes for the rest of the day. Ewwww...

And we didn't see any turtles.

The Lava Strikes Back

2009-08-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

And the font color goes back to red, in honor of the slowly-rising lava lake level in Halema`uma`u crater. Last night I was invited to enter the caldera with two of the HVO scientists who wanted to check out the glow close up. And I survived!

This is a picture from the crater overlook, slightly to the east of the big vent, so you can see the different colors of the crater walls (the slope in the distance is where the HVO and Jaggar museum are). All photos and video in this post are property of USGS. The wall of the big vent is just barely in the bottom left hand corner...

This is the 180 degree view from the picture above, so you can see the thick plume, and Matt (a USGS volcanologist) is using a thermal camera to image through the plume. There are now two 'hot spots' within the vent where the lava can be observed using this camera.

Before I entered the caldera, I never really thought about what a volcano would sound like on a regular, relatively non-active basis. When I was looking over the ledge, down into the vent with the smelly plume in my face (I was wearing a respirator, don't worry), and my eyes burning, I heard the near-constant huffing of the released gas and a few ominously invisible, and rather loud, rockfalls. Basically, it sounded as though some frustrated creature was hurling glass China plates against a wall. Janet, another scientist, was trying to record these sounds with a fancy new microphone, although I'm not sure how successful it was.

Finally, here's a short video I took of the plume activity and the surrounding environment. We stayed until it started to get dark, in order to observe the glow. Unfortunately Matt and Janet weren't too impressed, but I thought it was great. Apparently, two months ago they could stand where we were and see the surface of the lava lake through the plume. Hopefully Pele will be generous again within the next few months!

It Glows in the Dark!

2009-08-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

The most recent news from Halema`uma`u crater is the return of the glow! The lava pond level has risen to the point where there is a soft, warm glow from the vent that is visible at night. Of course, a higher lava level doesn't mean an imminent eruption, so don't worry. On Monday night, a few dorm kids and I drove to the crater overlook near the Jaggar museum to enjoy the glow. Check out the lava pond on June 3rd. This churning a few months ago was preceded by a glow, so we're hoping to see more churning soon!

The most beautiful aspect of Monday night was, in my perspective, the contrast between the crisp and clear star-lit sky to the northeast and the amorphous glow through the plume and clouds in the crater to the southwest. It was too dark to get a picture that any of you would appreciate, but take my word for it - the night was gorgeous. The residents of Hilo purposely dim their lights every night to make the astronomers on Mauna Kea happy. You can imagine the result: shooting stars galore.

Fun fact: Did you know that, to the ancient Egyptians, Vega was the North Star?

In other news, today was my third work day in the HVO library, and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Every Monday there's a meeting with the entire staff to go over the previous week's volcanic activity, so at the meeting for this week my boss introduced me to everyone. It's a close-knit community here, and I already feel like I'm part of it (well, almost). At lunch some of the staff play a spirited Japanese card game called Hana Fuda, and they get so worked up over it that I'm really tempted to join in sometime.

My favorite part of working at the HVO is the conversations I have with my library boss, Jane. She's already such a mentor to me - yesterday I asked her for advice about my grad school situation, and today she said she wished her son would find a girl with a personality similar to mine (but don't worry, Kevin! She knows I'm taken). Today we had a hour-long talk about different styles of cooking, and sometime she's going to introduce me to a world-famous bookbinder who lives in Hawai`i.

It's fantastic to be in an environment where she just tells me what she wants me to do and then trusts that I can do it well. I also really enjoy feeling like my book-repairing skills are needed.

Yesterday I passed the breathing test required to wear a respirator and enter the caldera! It was a little nerve-wracking beforehand because I was thinking "If I don't pass this test, how can I hope to work as a volcanologist?" I've been worried this entire time that my asthma would act up due to the elevated SO2 levels and would ruin my chances of researching (and living, I guess). Apparently my lungs are just as good as anyone else's!

If any of you make it to the end of this post, here's my mailing address at the HVO:
Lauren Colwell
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
P.O. Box 51
Hawai`i National Park, HI 96718

I love snail mail (I'm not sure about larger packages, though). Do it.

Pikos and Petroglyphs

2009-08-12T01:03:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Fred, Katie and I drove down the Chain of Craters Road to see the Pu'u Loa petroglyphs. These drawings were carved into the 400-700 year-old lava flow by generations of Hawaiians. Pu'u Loa means "hill of long life," and it was the destination of many Hawaiian families when they introduced a new baby to the land. Some of the petroglyphs represent men, but the most common drawings were circles or small holes.

When a baby was born, the family carved a hole (puka) into the land and placed the baby's piko, or umbilical cord, into the hole and covered it with a small rock. The parent's hope was that the mana (spiritual guiding energy) of Pu`u Loa would bless that child with a long and prosperous life, and root them to their ancestral lands.

Nearby the petroglyphs is the Holei sea arch. It was pretty cool, too.

I'll update tomorrow about my library adventures thus far. It's been a hectic day!

Tropical Storm Felicia

2009-08-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

...was more than just a little disappointing. It turns out that Madame Pele intimidated Felicia so much that she decided to change directions and hit the northerly islands instead. Our new friends who just arrived from Maui (aka the other two volunteers Reid and Tyler) report that there was only horizontal rain for about 10 minutes (enough to make the tourists retreat indoors). It's misty here right now, but that's about it. No harsh rain, no gusting winds.

Here's hoping that a more courageous Tropical Storm comes around sometime before December.

Volunteering: It Doesn't Pay

2009-08-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

For anyone who enjoys the title of this blog post, you should check out Busted Tees. I'd recommend entertaining yourself with this website for short periods of time. After that, you just get too overwhelmed with the hilarity. Make sure to hover your mouse over each one for the commentary...And feel free to share which one is your favorite!

See, I'm distracted even writing about it - what I meant to write was that so far, living in the USGS dorm is pretty great. The house has two floors: the men live in the downstairs part that they deemed the "Mancave," and the women live upstairs in the "Butterfly Princess Palace." Katie and I are sharing a room upstairs, near the living room (with a table, a couch, some chairs, lots of books and games, and a TV) and the kitchen (complete with two refrigerators and an ant infestation in the cupboards - they almost claimed my peanut butter last night).

Here are the pictures, so that I don't have to spend time describing everything:
This is the outside of the house - there's a picnic table, clothesline, and a hammock out back (no geologist's home would be complete without a hammock).

This is part of the living room - you can see the image of Tropical Storm Felicia on the computer screen. It looks like the eye of the storm is almost larger than the Big Island, and it's headed straight for us. It'll be a helluva ride on Monday/Tuesday!

This is the other part of the living room, complete with a futon (I feel so at home!) and volcano posters. You can see into my room from this view...

And, finally, here's my bed (and the end of Katie's bed). I know, it's not that exciting, but at least I won't hit my head anymore, and I like the Hawaiian topographic poster from USGS...

So that's the grand tour (the basement looks like men live there, just take my word for it). As for the people, so far we've met Fred (a girl from just north of Paris), and Kevin, who's from British Columbia and plays really good music from the speaker system at all times. This morning Katie and Fred went to the farmer's market, and later today I think Fred, Katie, and I will drive around the park and hopefully see some features that we haven't seen already. Then we start work tomorrow!

P.S. If any of you want postcards, email me your address and I'll do my best. Email: lecolwell@gmail.com.

The End of CSAV

2009-08-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Today Katie and I make the transition to the HVO guest house to begin our volunteering adventure, and the last of the other CSAV students leave for the airport. To mark this occasion, I thought I'd wrap up the past few weeks by posting photos that most of you haven't seen yet.
This is the Holo Holo In driveway - you can get a sense of the wild vegetation.

My bottom bunk (I've hit my head so many times - you don't even want to know).

This is the KOEC classroom down the street from the Holo Holo.

My charred burrito on lava day! I am so excited to eat this thing...

Our professor Chris setting up the seismograph on lava day. We didn't really get any high frequency events like we thought we would. There were probably too many helicopters messing up the signal.

Lava bon bons! Imagine rolling a snowball...except with hot, mushy lava.

Philippe and I after figuring out how to set up our static GPS station. We were so proud!

Annie and Dr. Don Thomas taking a gas sample from Sulfur Banks in the National Park. If we had inhaled the gas (poisonous amounts of CO2, SO2, and H2S) near the vent, we probably would have collapsed. I was the only one who had a gas mask (in case of an emergency), so I wore it only to scare the tourist's children. It was a fun time.

Katie, Karen and I in our touristy Hawaiian dresses!

Okay, that's it for now. If anyone wants to stay somewhere in Volcano, I highly recommend the Holo Holo In!

The 'Paradise' side of the Big Island

2009-08-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, a small group of budding volcanologists drove across to Kona, away from the comfort of Kilauea's fumes and toward the hot, crowded, beautiful, surfable tourist beaches. In any other situation I hate being the obvious tourist who doesn't belong, but in Kona, the natives stand out while the tourists swarm the landscape in cliche Hawaiian shirts and sundresses. That being said, it was wonderful to be so conspicuous!

We started the day at Punalu'u beach near South Point. We didn't stay long, but right before we left two sea turtles managed to make their way onto the shore. The closest we could get was 5 or 6 feet away. They didn't seem to mind us.

From there we continued the drive to Kona, and we arrived around lunchtime. We wandered in the dry heat for a while (it was definitely the stereotypical Hawaiian destination) and finally found a cafe place named "Bongo Ben's" where we had lunch (and all different kinds of tropical colorful drinks!)

After lunch we stopped at a classic ABC store - apparently there's one every few blocks in Honolulu - and Katie and I bought Hawaiian print sundresses to blend in with the tourists. There are all kinds of interesting and cheap souvenirs in those stores...which some of you may or may not receive...

Our destination then became Hapuna beach, a fine-grained, shallowly sloping, white sands beach about 20 minutes from Kona. We got there around 4ish, hoping that the tourists and small children would leave to eat dinner, and the beach cleared out within the hour. The waves were huge - at least, the largest I've ever experienced - at 4 to 6 feet tall. They were powerful enough to pull you under briefly into the sand if you didn't jump high enough or were trying to bodysurf.

This is a movie to illustrate both the height of the waves, Philippe's hilarious last-minute jumping, and Shaun's spectacular bodysurfing abilities (he's the one with long hair at the end that looks like seaweed).

And...after a few hours at the beach, finally, the sunset is gorgeous. From left to right: (top) Anson, Shaun, Josh, Philippe; (bottom) Karen, Katie, and me.

But, the adventure wasn't over. We spontaneously decided to drive all the way to the Mauna Kea Observatory Visitor's Center at an elevation of 9,200 ft, near the summit of Mauna Kea. It was freezing at the top, but we were courageous enough to stand in the wind to see a double star in the Big Dipper. Unfortunately the moon was bright and it was a little cloudy, otherwise we might have driven to the summit.

The big kick we got outta this stop was this sign that was posted near the door. Invisible cows...umm...what?

The drive was somewhat epic, in that we drove from sea level to 9,200 ft, back down to sea level in Hilo (we stopped at a 24-hr pancake house for snacks at 11 pm), and then back to 4,000 ft in Volcano. I must have been feeling better, because my ears tolerated the extreme altitude changes well. So there, Mom.

A Brief Orientation...

2009-07-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

...just in case people can't place the locations that I'm talking about, here's a detailed map of the area around Kilauea:

I'm currently living in Volcano, the nearest village to the caldera. Pu`u O`o is the current outbreak area along the East Rift Zone, and you can see where Kalapana used to be. The last day of physical volcanology was spent at Kilauea Iki (the reddish area).

From my ground deformation classes during the past few days I've learned that the entire side of the island south of the East Rift Zone is steadily slipping southward on a decollement fault. This means that if the fault motion continues, the south side of the island will collapse into the ocean. If this collapse occurs suddenly, the motion will likely cause a gigantic tsunami that is sure to devastate the other Hawaiian islands (within 20-30 minutes) as well as other countries along the Pacific Rim.

It would be easier to determine what the motion is along the decollement fault if we knew what was going on ~15-20 km offshore (where a lot of the action is, supposedly). However, right now there's not a great way to determine submarine deformation due to complications arising from using acoustic waves to get a position on the sea floor. All we can do is use static or kinematic GPS stations on land to quantify how much each south section is moving due to tectonic forces.

In other non-geeky, non-geology news, here's a picture of the entire CSAV group on lava day with our two instructors, Wendy (physical volcanology) and Chris (seismology):

The one on the far right is my friend Katie from Carleton, can you find me? Hint: Look for the one with extra attitude.

Random thoughts:
-Today I got an awesome stocking-high tan line (aka sunburn line) from hiking and neglecting sunscreen on my legs. If it sticks I'll take a picture and post it...
-I'm looking forward to Kona, white sand beaches, and civilization tomorrow!

InSAR

2009-07-29T20:32:00.001-07:00

WARNING: This is a SUPER nerdy post. Seriously. You have been warned.

Alright, here goes.

Today I learned about different ground deformation monitoring methods. Basically, they tell you if the ground is inflating or deflating (with up to mm- or cm-scale accuracy). My favorite method - and as it turns out, one of the best methods we have right now as a warning system for eruptions - is InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar).

The image above is of Kilauea caldera. Up is North, and the Hale'mau'mau crater is the smaller circle near the center of the photo. The rainbow colors indicate the direction of ground motion. Depending on the scale (which they DIDN'T include in this picture, unfortunately), if the outside colors of the fringe move from red to blue to green towards the center, then the phase of the wave from the satellite to the receiver decreases, which means the ground has uplifted (the receiver is closer to the satellite). This is the case for the Halema`uma`u crater - you can count the 'rings' or fringes from the outside to quantify the extent of uplift in multiples of 2.8 cm. The static-looking part of the aerial photo is where the vegetation is too dense for the InSAR wave to penetrate.

Oh, and if the ground around a volcano is uplifting, then the magma reservoir is likely coming closer to the surface (and you'd better start running). If the ground is subsiding, then an eruption is probably occurring and the magma is draining from the reservoir.

Anyway, I think this technology is pretty cool, and I like the colors.

Random thought:
-I'd like to send a special shout-out to the Twins, who swept the White Sox this week! I wore my old, faded Santana Twins shirt today to show support.

The Ohia Lehua tree

2009-07-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

This is the story of how the hardy `ohi`a tree came to be.

`Ohi`a was a respected (and very good-looking) Hawaiian chief who once became the object of Pele's affections. Being the beautiful and powerful goddess of volcanoes, fire, lightning, dance, and violence, Pele is not one to mess with.

However, `O`hia was desperately in love with a girl named Lehua, and so he diplomatically tried to turn down Pele's seductive advances. Pele was jealous of Lehua, so she turned `Ohi`a into an ugly, stumpy tree with gray bark and pale green leaves as her vengeance.

The other gods were not powerful enough to turn `Ohi`a back into a chief, but they compromised by turning Lehua into the beautiful red flowers that blossom from the ohia tree. This way, `Ohi`a and Lehua could be united forever.

All along the rim of the Kilauea caldera, the native Hawaiians offer gifts to Pele that include lehua blossoms or rocks wrapped with leaves. When I first arrived here, I didn't expect to learn this much about Hawaiian culture, especially the fearful respect that everyone (Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian) has for Pele. Pele is described as jealous, violent, and merciless in many folklore stories, but I'm convinced that her portrayal is a biased one. Still, I wouldn't want to piss her off.

Aloha!

2009-07-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

A week into my Hawaiian adventure, and I have yet to create a written record of my adventures, experiences, and musings about this bizarrely beautiful and deceptively dangerous environment. Today, thankfully, is my much-needed rest day. So here it is, a brief summary of the past week, mostly highlights because I'm too lazy to write about everything...

I arrived last Sunday to the Holo Holo In (without my checked bag, at first) and met most of the other students. I was initially surprised to see that I was one of the youngest, and even more surprised to learn that many of them had began their studies in a completely unrelated field and then switched to geology much later. It's good to be reminded that life is long enough to be fickle about some decisions.

The first day we were all scared with the stories of either stupid people who did stupid things near the volcano, or people who were incredibly unlucky and never came back from their hike. Most of the stories ended with "and they never found the body." Yup, it was terrifying, especially for one with asthma - I'm more affected by the SO2 fumes. The first few days were great because I was jet-lagged from the time difference, so I was actually awake in the mornings and was able to get ready for classes/hikes with time to call Kevin or my family. I doubt that'll be the case for this upcoming week. Who knows, maybe I'll turn into a morning person after all? (doubtful.)

The coolest day this week was last Thursday, which was deemed "Lava Day." We hiked upslope over a more recent lava flow field erupting effusively from Kupaianaha (a vent 3 km east of Pu`u O`o, the current outlet of the Kilauea magma reservoir). Beginning in 1986, this vent slowly invaded the town of Kalapana, destroying a few homes per year until 1990, when Kalapana was almost completely buried by lava. Right now the homes are buried by ~100 feet of lava. Most of the residents had post-traumatic stress disorder during and after the flows, not only because the destruction happened so slowly, but also because some houses were on higher topography (kipukas: islands in the middle of lava fields) and were spared. Apparently FEMA won't send relief money or help to the Kapalana residents because technically the disaster is still going on - how ridiculous is that? We drove past the site of the old town, and saw houses that were rebuilt on top of the lava.

It was an incredibly hot day, and we hiked uphill during the hottest part of the day over rough terrain. In order to keep from getting dehydrated (the most dangerous aspect of the hike), I drank a little more than 4 liters of water throughout the day. I was sweating buckets, literally. It was totally worth it, though. The active lava field could be heard from a distance due to the crackling of glass popping off the surface of the cooling pahoehoe lava. We sampled the lava (see video below) with rock hammers and cooked burritos wrapped in aluminum foil on the surface of a very-recently-cooled area of lava. Mine was charred on one side, but it was delicious.

So far, my favorite lectures focus on physical volcanology - going into the field and observing how the pahoehoe or `a`a lava behaves as it flows. The instructor, Wendy, is very cool and brilliant - I pretty much want to be like her when I'm older. On Friday we drove to the HVO near the rim of Kilauea caldera and met Don Swanson, a researcher at the HVO. He told us more about the history of Kilauea eruptions, including some folklore tales about Pele, the volcano goddess. These stories are fascinating because elements of the story correspond to actual eruption events, including the longest Kilauea eruption in historic time called Ai`la`au ("tree-eater") that erupted for 60 years. For example, one of the stories describes Pele's youngest sister digging furiously in the dirt with rocks flying everywhere. Sounds like an eruption, right? I'd love to learn more of ancient Hawaiian folklore, because I bet that several of the stories relate to eruption events. Cool, right?

Random thoughts:
-lava fields remind me of a landscape you'd expect to see in a movie depicting post-apocalyptic life. The vegetation (or lack thereof) starkly contrast the black metallic sheen of the cooled lava, and if there's the slightest bit of fog to obscure the view, the landscape seems to extend hopelessly.
-it's REALLY hot within a few feet of fresh lava. I'm lucky that the hair on my arms or eyebrows didn't burn off.
-I panic whenever I smell sulphurous gases. Yesterday I almost panicked enough to initiate an asthma attack. This is definitely something I'll have to get used to.

A hui hou (until we meet again).