It was a dark and stormy night [ummm...afternoon]; the rain fell in torrents...
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Most say that the lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea in 2018 (Six Years Ago!) began on May 3, down in Keahialaka. Those whoʻve read these posts mayhaps might remember and understand why I say that the eruption, and the hulihia (catastrophic collapse) of Halemaʻumaʻu, began at approximately 2p on April 30, 2018. A Puʻuʻōʻō webcam image (above) at 2:12p is all we have to document That Moment. Rainclouds gathered in the crater, but topography was missing.
The rift zone downslope and next to Puʻuʻōʻō had ruptured, causing the floor of the crater to collapse. And magma then began its movement through dikes toward Keahialaka, 14 miles distant, erupting there on May 3. About twelve miles through the rift, ma uka to Halemaʻumaʻu, magma in the fully charged plumbing system was draining back toward Puʻuʻōʻō, and eventually down to 24 eruptive fissures in Keahialaka.
Above, under a decorated sky, and taken from Uēkahuna, a last glimpse of pele in Halemaʻumaʻu on May 2, 2018. That vent began erupting in March 2008...
Once equilibrium in the system was reached, three months later, the eruption ended. Tales of those three months, and others, are in my first, early blog posts. TryGoLook...
And now, here we be:
breezes breeze along
refreshing cooling respite
skins caress delights
Nothing at all wrong with stating current condition. Yes, itʻs been awhile. Partly trying to figure out what to bother you folks with, but more, contemplating how to share my scribblings with more people. Seems that facebook is the way to go for now. Hmmmm
Google used to forward/post my blogs, but they stopped doing that a couple years ago. Then I got lazy, and too, was a bit distracted with walking issues. Now, abed, I thought Iʻd have lots of time on my hand, but you can guess how that goes. As with people who are purportedly "retired", Iʻm as busy as ever, writing, researching random topics that come to mind, sunning in the yard, sating food cravings aided by friends, attending the occasional ZoomTeam meeting, napping daily, and what-la.
I do miss my daily strollwalks to Keanakākoʻi and a bit beyond. The above, on April 27, 2018, was a day of lightkonaish breezes, as one can discern from the fume, bluebrown rising nearly vertically from Halemaʻumaʻu. Then, as now, lehua bloom as is their wont. The roadway shown, Crater Rim Drive, is mostly gone, collapsed into the Lua. It seems so very long ago, that day and those that followed, that there seems to be a sense of detachment.
I remain committed to Being Outside and Paying Attention: Noho i waho, A maliu, even if from my bed (with an all too serious gaze) as I enjoy the lehua bloom!
And even if using file photos, thereʻs always someone who hasnʻt seen them, and even if they have, I still enjoy the review.
Just unfurling, the first thing to pop out is the wahine pistil, consisting of stigma, style, and ovary (buried at the base of the pua). On the tight buds, the greenish points are sepals, and overlapping red "scales" are petals! Lehua "flowers" are clusters of individual pua, each with a central kukuna (pistil), encircled by the kāne pōuleule (stamens). Every single one is different and I adore them.
Equally, I adore friends with whom I can talk story, share ideas (some wild and crazy, others serious), thinking as we chat, watching our thoughts evolve and become fleshed out.
To wit: Pele Honua Mea or pelehonuamea or pele honua mea or... For a long time, perhaps influenced by Catholic, or Greek, or Roman statues of gods and goddesses, and the populace attempting to put faces to phenomena, there was the Goddess Pele, the Madam(e), the Deity, and her clan of Nature People. Paintings were made of females with fiery tresses, legs turning into pāhoehoe flows, all reds, oranges, yellows. But of late, some of us, and then more and more of us, have been delving into the phenomena and their descriptive movements, rather than simply naming nomenclatures.
Pele = molten lava, honua = earth, mea = a thing. Think of it as the energy that creates land. Creation, rather than destruction. Without that process, we wouldnʻt be able to dwell here. Or in Tahiti, or Te Fenua ʻEnata (the Land of Men = Marquesas), or on many other archipelagoes created by hotspot volcanism. It is believed that phemomena on the surface, rather than underground, have feminine qualities. Birthing of red earth. Birthing of vegetation, as attributed to Hiʻiaka and Haumea processes. Mea underground, such as earthquakes, transport of fresh water, and those of the atmospheres, such as thunder and lightning are in the domain of male energies.
We continue to mull and ponder perplexing puzzlements:
A good friend shared yesterday that we donʻt spend enough time thinking. Just thinking. Like when before we went camp with zero electronica. Just us and the elemental elements. Sit on the beach or on a pōhaku or log, and simply Be. Observe, wonder, think, process. Try it. Try thinking and sorting out things. Connect dots, have revelatory moments. Pretty awesome.
Trying to connect those dots, I wondered about the circle of yellow-white deposits on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu:
So I asked a friend at HVO (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory). He said that the circle is an artifact of fuming cracks under the surface:
Then the last few days, some were on alert, instrument watching as yet another flurryswarm of ʻōlaʻi (earthquakes courtesy of Kānelūhonua) happened:
The region of orange dots is a place where we often see intrusions. Along Kealanuipaeluapohopele (Chain of Craters Road). This screenshot taken at 930a today. And we observe, and we wait.
And we wait, and we remember, and we think, and we wonder.
Someone on The News: You can protest, but you cannot disrupt.
In my experience, disruption happens when peoples do not agree. Whatʻs the point otherwise??? Those protesting the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza are right to do so. Any of us who disagree are welcome to go be in Gaza. Go... Most Americans are incredibly insulated and isolated from whatʻs happening in Gaza. Many live in Big Houses, granite-countertopped, master-suited, etc., rather than in shelters of tattered fabric with nothing, nothing...
With aloha, always aloha,
BobbyC
maniniowali@gmail.com
