Kīlauea Update, Friday, July 27, 2018. Subtle (or Suttle?) changes...

I needed a kickstart today.  Actually, it was a walkstart.  On the streets of the Golf Course subdivision.  The air was...hazy with an ever-so-tiny bit gritty on the tongue.  Masses of air blow hither and yon, there, then here, as wind directions change.  Trades are apparently deciding whether or not they want to be here.  And when they are here, the air is crisp and clean and clear.  Other times...I react with a hmmmmm.  Is this the exhalation of Pele from Keahialaka?  Suspended extremely fine wind-blown lehu (ash)?  A combination?  Then I inhale, testing...canʻt smell kūkaepele (sulphur)?  Then off we go a-rambling.

Might be, may be, vog (uahi ʻawa).  After being around it for decades, my telltale is Instant Headache.  At least up here.  On the west side of our fair isle, itʻs scratchy throat, dry eyes.  Whatever your symptoms... the closer you are to the source, the worse it is.  Though of course living in it, as folks in the Konas, Kaʻū, and Puna do, is challenging.  And thatʻs an understatement if there ever was one.  At least up here, kona winds blow in uahi ʻawa, and trades carry it away.  Lucky us.  TryRead:

what is Vog?

for a simple, straightforward explanation.

Next topicette:  English is odd sometimes.  Subtle.  Not Suttle.  Suttle, according to Wiktionary, is the weight of commodities after the container weight is deducted, and before weight of waste is deducted.  And Subtle (with its silent "b") is often misspelled Suttle.  Now we know.

And there are indeed subtle changes in the works of Pelehonuamea.  Now the kahawai pele is fast, then her river is slightly sluggish.  Her fountains are tall, then the luaʻi pele seems to abate.  Get plenny ʻōlaʻi, then not so much.  Her ʻaʻā moves fast, then slows, then stalls, then goes again.  We should all be as watchful as we can.  No get cocky.  Weʻre happy that Pohoiki ma kai is still OK.  At least we presume and hope that it is.  But we thought that of the Kumukahi-side of Beach Lots for awhile, then look what happened.  All gone.

Would be good if Pele spared Pohoiki.  Then all they gotta do (if, IF things remain as they are) is clean .7 (seven-tenths) of a mile of road by MacKenzie, and people can go from the ʻOpihikao-side.  Otherwise gotta investigate making Honolulu Landing again.  More about that later.

And there are subtle changes in the ʻōpelu outside.  Not the fish kind.  The plant one:  Lobelia hypoleuca.  Beauteous spikes of blue flowers in the Fall.  The tips of the branches are now narrow and tight, the indication that the inflorescence, the flowering branch is about to appear.  These photos are from seasons ago and arenʻt the best, but youʻll get the idea, I hope.

And up at Kaluapele, I suppose the big news was that the interval between the last two exploquakes was 53.5 hours.  That too, a subtle change?  Maybe not so subtle, maybe it means nothing other than we had another exploquake.  All I know is now, today, we are having lots of M3ish ʻōlaʻi.  Lots.  Every day is different.  And walking at the GC today, every once in awhile I felt dizzy.  Funny kine.  Like I was dehydrated and needed to drink water or something.  But not.

Today is shortish.  Sometimes even a walkstart doesnʻt quite do it.  But Iʻll be back tomorrow with more info for your consideration.

Till then as always, with aloha,

BobbyC