Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Glows, moons, crusts, plants: Topics

 Whew!  Re-entering the buzz of society has been...interesting, challenging, with a bit of apprehensive scariness, despite being vaccinated.  Like being physically out of shape, one must ease into exercise.  Body, brain, all same same.  The speed of thinking and reacting has accelerated, and itʻs been an interesting transition.

Summer has apparently arrived.  Hopefully, this time isnʻt a false alarm.  This past Monday was HOT, aided by Kona winds and lots of sunshine.  Iʻm happy, and pray that the warmth (and dryness here) lasts, as it has so far.

First, about the works of Pelehonuamea:

ghostly purpled pit

loko ahi once seething

for now crusted calm

Above, on Monday, May 24, 2021, that one bright dot on the floor.

Below, also on May 24, from the HVO webpage, a bit of glow from the west vent spatter cone complex in the fume at the left, and the dot on the papa, the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Below, last Friday the 21st, a hotter papa...

And as with many terms in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, there are many descriptors for "glow", with subtle, but important differences.  I am far from qualified to discern varieties, but reading, learning, considering is always enlightening.  Hmmm... Pun Intended???

So.  You can come visit night time, and enjoy moon and/or starglow, but for as long as She decides, pele glow is skyabsent...  And please, please, please...no one I know and respect is saying that the eruption is over, and I trust that you wonʻt either.

And so Nani Wale ka Mahina...the beauty of the moon never fails to entrance...specially when get eclipse.  Have seen eclipses of the moon, I wasnʻt inclined to stay up late.  But hf did and shared this:

At totality, hf commented:  "Interestingly, the moonʻs north limb (top) retained a bit of brightness...and the red color never developed fully, perhaps because the moon was just past meridian rather than near the horizon."  And that dot to the left???  A star, HIP 79524, 125 light-years away, whilst mahina is about 1 light-second away.  "Light-" is how far light travels during the stated time.

In ʻEwa Beach, meanwhile, from ln:

And, below, back to the Island of Hawaiʻi, from the HVO webcam on the Maunaloa Strip Road.  Click "Save" at the right time... at 750p last evening, looks like daytime.  Antares below mahina at the left, and our best friend Hanaiakamalama, the Southern Cross at the right.  Alpha and Beta Centauri, pointing from between clouds, at the top of the Cross.

Though Iʻve pointed this out before, the proper name for Moku o Keawe in ʻōlelo haole, is Island of Hawaiʻi.  Perhaps more might use that, rather than, at least for me, the nails-on-blackboard "Hawaiʻi Island".

[[NOTE:  Mahalo piha to hk for a kāhea pointing out an error in the paragraph above.  Sometimes fingers and brain donʻt always align, and for that, I apologize.  So.  "Moku o Keawe" or "Island of Keawe" is a traditional name for this island, Keawe being a famed Kona aliʻi centuries ago.  The language pattern, "Island of Xxxxx" is what I intended to point out.  As in Island of Hawaiʻi.  I did not intend to say that Moku o Keawe translates to Island of Hawaiʻi, which, of course, it doesnʻt. ]]

I persistently persist in trying to alter habits...

Sunday last, I joined a small group of friends to niele about a shore in Kaʻū.  VERY cool plant communities.  Shoulda brought a ruler (or something) for scale.

A hāliʻi nui (big blanket) of pāʻū o Hiʻiaka, a beach morning glory with pua liʻi (little flowers).  Theyʻre most often a pale blue.  When Pelehonuamea decided to go surfing at Hāʻena, she left baby sister sleeping on the sand.  Pele was gone awhile, sun got hot, and so the vine grew and blanketed Hiʻiaka.

ʻIlima papa, center bottom, grows with a creeping ʻakoko, a rare endemic Euphorbia, in pōhaku.  Practically no soil to speak of, and with very little seasonal rain, ʻakoko persists.

Nehe, an endemic member of the daisy family, a Composite with tiny leaves, also in bare pāhoehoe.

Kaunaʻoa, our endemic dodder.  Itʻs the floral symbol of Lānaʻi, and is a parasite, here being sustained by its host ʻilima.

Beautiful ʻIlima: Martin Pahinui

Below, kaunaʻoa befriended ʻakoko...

And then, rare for our fair isle, hinahina (Heliotropum anomalum), with leaves covered with tiny hairs to deflect sunlight, making it appear silvery grey to our eyes.  Growing amongst naupaka kahakai, itʻs a very very unusual pairing, but a strikingly beauty full one.

OK?  Variety is enjoyed.  

NOTE:  For those interested in eruption histories and the politics of land development, my frustrations with the continued spending of LOTS of our money to Recover and Rebuild in Puna ma kai after the 2018 lava flows, prompted me to submit a piece to Civil Beat, based on Oʻahu.  They published it yesterday:

Rebuilding in Puna ma kai is folly

Till next time, then...

As always, with aloha, for ʻIlima,

BobbyC

maniniowali@gmail.com