Iʻve been remiss in communicating regularly. As Iʻve likely said before, a year ago there was an urgent sense of urgency. Our worlds were violently disrupted, we were agog, trying to make sense of the works of Pelehonuamea, and no one knew...no...one...knew what was to happen moment to moment. To say it was disquieting would be a big understatement. And then the first week of August, She paused. And we were left to pick up the pieces, to try to reassemble our realities, and resume living what passes for normal lives.
And then there was talk of Recovery. And FEMA money, and this aid and that aid. And apply here and go there. And wait and pray and fix what we can and in some cases, sue for compensation. And how quickly some moved on. And others still wait. Particularly those with properties, homes, and livelihoods landlocked in seas of dark fresh pele. They wait(ed) for the cumbersome wheels of bureaucracies to turn, groaningly, toward resolution of some sort.
And the folks at PGV (Puna Geothermal Venture) bulldozed a temporary road over the pele. Judging from aerial photos and video, itʻs a relatively tidy affair. Providing basic access - a bumpy drive over a gravel road to sanctuaries hither and yon - but access nevertheless to properties of grateful landowners in a large kīpuka. And I imagine the cost for that endeavor was relatively low. Relatively.
And I was calling and visiting various County offices in Hilo in attempts of garner information about the Recovery. What does that mean...Recovery? If Recovery means Weʻll Rebuild! Bigger! Better! I say NO! How much will it cost...Recovery? Many assured that the Recovery, much of it, will be paid by FEMA or Federal Highways, or even The State. Itʻs OK. We have Federal Funds. As if those Federal Funds conveniently fall from the heavens. We donʻt even have to bother plucking bouquets of money off the money tree (Dracaena marginata). Money appears and we spend it. Like this screenshot from Big Island Video News:
Hwy137 TA refers to the road built over three fingers of lava between MacKenzie State Recreation Area and Isaac Hale (huh-leh) Beach Park at Pohoiki.
Kipuka Access might refer to a short road over fresh lava into a small kīpuka ma uka of IHBP on Pohoiki Road.
Highway 132 TA is the road from Lava Tree State Monument to Kapoho
Pohoiki Road TA, Iʻll guess is the road from Lava Tree SM to IHBP.
Cool: Various pots of money; one pot doesnʻt have the burden of funding the Recovery.
Curious: HWY132 is buried for about 3 miles. Pohoiki Road is buried for about 2 miles. GoLook and clickmeasure on the Civil Defense lava flow map. Remember that one?
How come get 1 (one) mile LESS on Pohoiki Road, but the cost is 3 (three or tʻree) times MORE?
Itʻs all so very confusing for a non-engineer non-County Budget person like myself.
I have to wonder: who exactly benefits from the Federal largesse? Contractors? Did they bid? The County?
And the Biggest Wonder: Who in their right mind spends tens of millions of dollars (Oh...I forgot...itʻs Federal Money. No need worry.) on Rebuilding Recovery Roads on land that a year ago was being reshaped by incomprehensible pūʻiwa-inducing floods of pele? Who? And Who in the County questions these expenditures? Our budget-cautious and fiscally responsible County Council? Staff in various offices? Mayor Kim whose kuleana it is to manage these monies? Who?
And at the risk of stating what might not be obvious to many, including purse-string holders:
Highway 132 is being rebuilt, recovered, temporaried for now along the middle of the axis of the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea, the most active volcano in the US. In Lava Hazard Zone One. The worst. The most hazardous. Really? Really. Yes, I empathize with property owners in the kīpuka. They should have access. Could a gravel road work? How many properties, exactly, are lava-locked? What are their valuations? How many reside there? Were all structures permitted?
Too good:
YouTube Drone Video Day 22 of HWY132 re-something
And a screenshot from the above video:
An observation: The PGV road (upper right) is cut shallowly into the flow. It is relatively narrow, with, as far as I can see, tidy edges. Kinda reminds me of the Chain of Craters Road in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. I grant that my memory these days is often flawed, but I seem to recall when CoC was rebuilt after the Maunaulu eruption, heavy equipment drove one way down the hill to minimize scarring adjacent fresh lava flows. But I digress.
I am sickened by the video. Large amounts of cut/fill. I get one frickinʻ BIG machine anʻ I goinʻ GO! It hurts me. I love lava. I love its textures, its colors, its smell, how it sounds when you walk over it... Although advertised and touted as a Temporary Road (a gravel road accessible by two-wheel drive vehicles, per The County definition), sure looks like 132 will be a pretty nice ride. On the East Rift Zone. In Lava Hazard Zone One. Parts are in an engineered ditch, so views will be obscured, but why quibble? After all, Iʻm not an engineer. And Iʻm absolutely positive that the $12,000,000+ expended will be worth it. After all, itʻs not our money. Itʻs Federal money. Really, Bob??? You still apoplectic?
And then there are phrases such as "Aloha ʻĀina" brah. Mālama ʻĀina, bruddah and tita. Be Pono yʻall. What do those words mean? Because Iʻm not on Social Media, Iʻd love to be able to understand current context.
On this USGS map dated 1930, we can see and learn about locations of now inundated cherished places.
I adore the name "Halekamahina": House of the Moon. Who, how, when, why it was named is likely lost to The Ages. It and other wahi pana, those storied places. "Kaholua o Kahawali"...go read "Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes" by Westervelt. Warm Spring, or one of the Waiwelawela commemorated in chant. Kūkiʻi, where it is said ʻUmi built a heiau from which Kalākaua took stone(s) used in the construction of ʻIolani Palace. Waiakea...same name(?) as the Waiākea in Hilo, that broad expanse of water. And the easternmost Kumukahi, still the easternmost, even after all what we witnessed last summer. Where the rays of the sun first kisses the shore of Hawaiʻi nei.
And the village of Kapoho. And Kapoho School from which porch my family and I watched the 1960 eruption. The Kapoho where grew vanda orchids from which timeless lei were and are fashioned, though vanda are no longer grown in Kapoho.
These places, all subject to eruptions and lava flows, earthquakes, coastal subsidence related to those phenomena [(Ka-poho, Poho-iki) poho = depression, sunken area], tsunami, and other elemental happenings, all these places were loved and tended by residents, who were often tied genealogically to the land. Aloha flowed. And now??? Auē!
It seems to be all about Money. How sad is that? But Bobby...thatʻs reality now. Really? Who said?
And this popped up this morning, sent by a friend on Maui:
Comic Book Kīlauea
Havenʻt read or digested it, though I knee-jerked unfavorably at "Hawaiʻian". "Hawaiian" is not a word in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and so does not get an ʻokina.
OK then. So. Maybe not so apoplectic after venting, but still pissed...at extremely poor communication on the part of The County, at extremely poor design/build/spend because we can; at a lot of things, including The Media for not asking hard questions and sorting out and educating The Public about these messes.
And plus my left knee is itai. Ata-ritis. And falling down and making it worse. But...but...the sun is shining, Iʻm warm, and though weʻre reaching the end of our bloomings, ʻapapane still melodiously sing outside. And how cool is this: ʻaʻaliʻi start to finish (shared by ML):
(L to R): pua wahine, pua kāne, hua, ʻanoʻano (female flowers, male flowers, fruit capsules, and one lone black seed in the dry pod). All gathered in a short distance last week. "When do ____ bloom?" Or fruit? When they feel like it. Kāhili ginger up here started flowering two weeks ago. Used to be late August or early September. Not even the white or yellow ginger down the highway are blooming yet.
ʻŌhiʻa ʻai keʻokeʻo (white mountain apple) bloomed in Waiākea uka in mid-April,
and in late-June, about 10 weeks later, fruit are falling. Junk the pictures, but you get the idea.
And because I adore lehua: mamo and ʻāpane neighbors:
And, finally, this, from the skies of Waimea:
Slowly... Take a deep breath... Slowly... Exhale...
As always, with aloha,
BobbyC
maniniowali@gmail.com
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