Deep, deep, sigh..... And this was all triggered by a little editing I did yesterday for a friend, and they used the phrase "ʻUpu mai ana ke aloha...".
From the P/E (Pukui & Elbert) Hawaiian Dictionary:
ʻupu
nvt. Recurring thought, desire, attachment, hope, expectation; to desire, long for, covet, keep thinking of with anticipation.
It fascinates me that a four letter word carries so much weight; means so much. And is so lovely and complex.
Here are the lyrics to "Aliʻipoe", and then a youtube link to my favorite version, by Nā Hoa.
Yes, a couple lines of the English translation are a bit clunky, but I trust that youʻll get the idea anyway.
And today (a segue...) the recurring thought...Upu aʻe ka manaʻo...What about Pohoiki? And another...Whatʻs underfoot here at the summit?
The first is maybe easier to answer. As of yesterday afternoon (WED 7/25/18) Pele was observing the boat ramp from just 500 feet away. Her intentions are inscrutable as they always are, but we remain hopefully resigned (is that even a thing?!) to whatever she decides is best. From a DLNR overflight yesterday:
And the Star Advertiser, yesterday too:
And we wait. I just shut the windows. The air is hauna because of uahi ʻawa, stench-filled because of sulphur smoke. Had a BAD uahi ʻawa episode up here late Monday morning. I was in town, and when I got home the house smelled funny kine, but I wasnʻt too concerned. Weedeating on Tuesday, I noted shriveled dandelion leaves and the edges of some kīkā (cigar flower) leaves looked burnt. By yesterday afternoon, all the kīkā leaves were fried, and the maʻo hau hele leaves too. And weʻre 20 miles from Keahialaka! Interestingly, the hāpuʻu, ʻōlapa, and all other forest friends are fine. Theyʻve adapted.
And we wait. No exploquake for 48 hours. Should I be concerned? TryLook at the Tilt:
This is Two Days at Uēkahuna, by HVO and Jaggar. Sure looks like itʻs moderating or flattening. But what do I know??? The offset in the graph happened right around 4p yesterday. I was minding my own business here in the loft working on something or other. Shake shake shake... I wrote: "3 or 4 distinct shakes in ~1 min". Turned out to be a slightly skewed version of reality.
Was at 3:55.55pm, a M3.6; at 3:57.16p, a M3.6; and at 3:57.46p, a M3.9. Thoughts flashed to "Is this it? Are we sinking?" Then a quick look and rewind of the VolcanoHouse Live cam:
Pretty big rockfalls and what-la. But. No "5.3 No Tsunami Generated" message. Still waiting. And I donʻt know if I should be concerned. Is something stuck? Have we entered a new phase? Remember what I said about being complacent and not predicting patterns? Just gotta wait and see what She has in store for us. Bobby reminding Bobby to breathe...
Because with all the instruments and fancy equipment and all the data being collected, analyzed and reviewed, and every little thing we sense and/or feel, No One Has A Clue. Yes, we can see what happened, or whatʻs happening Right Now; but 5 seconds from now, tomorrow, next week or next year??? Who knows???
So we walk when we can, maybe go for a swim or bob (ahhhh Kikaua, hk), and we listen to lovely, evocative music, with gratitude to the musicians for their artistry and skill.
ʻUpu aʻe ka manaʻo....
As always, with aloha,
BobbyC
Yes! Hoʻokena's version of Mī Nei forever changed my perspective of the mele and made me love it in an entirely different way. I adore the kīkā kila in Nā Hoaʻs version of Aliʻipoe. It hearkens to that earlier era of haku mele who painted images and kaona with their words.
ReplyDelete"but we remain hopefully resigned" - ʻUpu aʻe ka manaʻo indeed. I remember feeling similarly with Kapaʻahu, Kalapana, Kāmoamoa....
That foul smell could be S02, its different than just sulphur. If youʻve noticed in a few days that plants are shriveling/dying possibly not uahi ʻawa. Some of the plants, especially the lehua, even niu, has survived at my house in Kaueleau. I evacuated because of the strong "sulphur smell." I now know, its S02. In 4 days after I left, the dying/dead plants, grass and trees was devastating. It was waiwi, all the leaves were falling, all over the road to my house. I could now see my neighbors driveway from my yard because of the fallen leaves from the waiwi forest. When I return to check my house nowdays, if that smell is there, I leave. Iʻve had headaches and very dry itchy eyes from exposure. There are good days where I can stay and not use my respirator. the longest Iʻve stayed was 5 hours with out the mask, but when the wind changes, its not good, put on mask, go in the house. Please take care Bobby. I have extra respirator/cartridge. Send me an email lynnm@lymanmuseum.org.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen this one? http://www.opentopography.org/news/2018-kilauea-volcano-datasets-available-download
ReplyDelete