Dispatches from Volcano: Monday, December 21, 2020, Ka māuikiʻikiʻi o ka hoʻoilo, Winter Solstice

Ahhhh. It feels good to be doing this again. My brain is engaged, figuring out what to say and how, and I trust that, as with past posts, the info presented here is useful.

I started writing two and a half years ago when media conveyed inaccurate and erroneous information to The Public. And theyʻre doing it again: Ash explosions. People are advised to stay in their houses. Then phone rings, texts appear: You OK? friends wonder. So, I write.

Such a busy time. Lots of ʻapapane are about, now taking a break from higher elevation chill. The sun is brushing Ke Alanui Polohiwa a Kanaloa, the Tropic of Capricorn to our south, and then starts its journey to northern latitudes.

So.

We rely on webcams, as well as our friends at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for timely updates and insight.

Tilt is declining as pele is erupted. We anticipate a flattening when the eruption wanes.

The webcam screenshots are from earlier today. Heavy traffic on the HVO website has s l o w e d downloading images, but we do what we can with available resources.

I make out four different streams feeding the new lava lake. That purplish area in the middle is a dome of pele that formed, perhaps after the water lake was gone and lava pooled. The dome was the slightly cooled surface of the new lava lake, and as molten lava flowed down and filled the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu, some of it may have made its way under the cooled crust, causing it to bulge upward. Or not. We look, we muse, we guess...

A daytime view from the HVO tower. Vog is back, carried on trades to the southwest.

Much of my information comes off the HVO website:

HVO Website

Noodle around and see what you discover. Lots of News, video, and photos...

I am most pleased with the following two screenshots obtained from a timelapse gif. we were wondering where and when Pelehonuamea appeared. At 928p last, all seemed visually normal, though tilt was declining and small ʻōlaʻi (earthquakes) increased. The orange was the lake of hot water, an exposed surface of the local watertable. Think digging a small lua in sand at the beach, close to the wash of waves. Go deep enough and water appears...

Then, Hoʻopuka ka Wahine: the Woman emerged and appeared:

...very close to the shore of waterlake, causing it to boil, steam rising up. We can see the streaks of purple (hotness) on the wall encircling the pit, but none yet emitting pele.

Lots of thinking and musing and contemplation... the following, I pray, is legible. Posted previously, itʻs a page from the Nogelmeier mā translation of "The Epic Tale of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele" by Hoʻoulumahiehie.

Itʻs about Hiʻiaka, a younger sister of Pele, digging down through various strata of Kaluapele, seeking water to drown her sisterʻs fires. Hiʻiaka, mad with grief, was seeking revenge after Pele killed Lohiauipo. Perhaps the waterlake was heated "cold spring water", and in this instance, last night Pelehonuamea won the battle by replacing water with pele. If we consider that the waterlake was the surface expression of a connection to the ocean, Pele couldnʻt/wouldnʻt/didnʻt appear through the waterlake but rather at its edge.

But...not being anywhere close to competent in understanding the complexities of Peleʻs relationships, all I can do is wonder...

Just pulled the following off the HVO cams: 238p and 244p. Though the lavalake is getting bigger, Pele seems to be relaxing a bit, save for the very hot brightness at the bottom of the image. Compare with the 958a shot, above. Looks like the vent at the bottom is being drowned by the lake.