Kilauea Update, WED May 16, 2018, 7a

EŌ Pelehonuamea!

We live in remarkable times.  As in...thereʻs lots to remark about. And then some.

And yesterday, just after I posted the Kilauea webcam picture of 810a, and clicked SEND, little did I realize that Pelehonuamea had already decided that sheʻd do something else...and what an amazing something it was!
HVO has stated that what we all saw yesterday was NOT a steam explosion.  It was a rather impressive ash emission (I know...nothing like a little understatement).  I went to the Volcano Golf Course with many others.  Watching in living color what I (we) had only seen on slightly blurry vintage black and white postcards, was...indescribable.  At least without using a LOT of words.  Awestruck disbelief maybe sums it up.  Or maybe a haiku:

SILENT roiling there

up up roiling and more more

beyond description

It was sooooo quiet.  And mesmerizing.  And sad-making, thinking of all the people in Kaʻū having to deal.  And praying yet again, that weʻll be spared a bout of kona wind here in Volcano.  Maybe kinda selfish:  YOU take it!!!  I donʻt want it!!!  But there you have it.  Our dear Hawaii nei...yes...Pūkaʻina hū pele (eruptions), Kūkaepele (sulphur), ʻŌlaʻi (earthquakes)... we feel besieged, some of us, but in the end, we pray and hope to understand that weʻre just here temporarily.  Pele, pele, the deity, the lavas, all this is hers.  Much of the time we coexist peaceably, then there are these times...perhaps hulihia is too big a word for now, for some, but those who have lost homes or been displaced can relate.

huli.hia

Pas/imp. of huli 1, 2; overturned; a complete change, overthrow; turned upside down. Chants about Pele with verses beginning with the word “hulihia” are referred to as hulihia. See prayer, kualakai 2. Hulihia ka mauna, wela i ke ahi (PH 204, 225), mountain overturned, hot with fire. Hulihia Kī-lau-ea, pō i ka uahi (PH 197), Kī-lau-ea [Volcano] is overturned, darkened by smoke. Kaua hulihia, revolutionary war. (PNP fulisia.)

Versions of the hulihia chants referred to above can be found toward the end of 
"Pele and Hiiaka: a myth from Hawaii", by Nathaniel Bright Emerson.  Available online.

We have a need to understand, to try to make sense of the seemingly senseless.  One thing that seems to help me:

be outside...pay attention...noho i waho...a maliu

I heard that phrase uttered by Hiilei Kawelo on HPR one early morning in late January.  It captivated me.  Mostly because thatʻs how, I believe, Iʻve lived my life.  Maybe not so much now, with what-la-getting-older-issues, but for sure back in the day.  Outside, unencumbered, wandering and wondering, becoming a naturalist.  Understanding our surroundings, unfiltered by electronica, isnʻt always easy or necessarily pleasant, but we can try.  Take a walk.  Listen.  Watch.  Smell.  Taste.  Get dirty.

OK, Bob...Letʻs move along...

The dynamism of our isle, lying as it does under the lovely blue of sky, and surrounded by the sapphire of ocean, is a powerful thing.  At times subtle, and then BOOM!!! in your face.  

The pele on the LERZ continues.  And it shall until it stops.  This fissure, that fissure, this alert, that alert.  My feeling is, get out of the way and let Pele do her thing.  When pau, go back.  We observe and learn.  
Here in the summit region of Kilauea, we should expect the unexpected.  Eighteen felt EQs in 4 hours, Halemaʻumaʻu now agitated, now calm, dramatic displays beyond our ken, hot sun, mists, this chill air coming down from the mountain in early morning, all that and more.

As usual, I attach webcam images for your perusal.  This BLOG is a work in progress.  First time, no can help if buggy, or things are repeated, or no captions, or too small the writing.  Let me know how it can be made better, and Iʻll try.   Trying to find that balance between the picky proofreader that I am, life in these hectic times, and the importance of getting info out there without the need to be perfect.  All I can do is try.

THE USGS HVO PHOTOS LINK:

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html?newSearch=true&display=custom&volcano=1&resultsPerPage=20

Oh.  Maybe a good idea to bookmark this page...

As always, with aloha,

BobbyC