let’s
see now; maui whales in february 2014, maui birthday in november 2014,
big
island (different island at least) in march 2015, maui birthday in november
2015…
diagnosis:
repetition, with some confusion…..
the
california drought is also on repeat mode, with everybody (in northern
california, anyway) finding ever more creative ways to conserve water.
rainwater catchment system seminars are a very popular weekend activity; now
we’re just waiting for rain, more rain, and lots of snow.
we
did find some snow this year, on the big island of hawai’i, in the month of
march. march is normally considered ‘summer’ in the hawaiian islands. mauna kea
is a dormant volcano on the big island, and at 13,796 ft (4,205 m) above sea
level, is home to thirteen observatories and is one of the best sites in the
world for astronomical stargazing. driving from sea level to the summit takes
less than two hours! temperatures were below freezing at the 9,200 ft visitor
center on the day we drove up. the tourists in shorts and sandals did not stay
long! the manager, who had worked at the center for 18 years told us he had
never seen such weather.
in spite of our long underwear and down jackets, we
were grateful for the free hot chocolate. the remaining 4,500 feet up the road
to the summit was closed due to lots of snow and 100 mph winds.
a few
days later we were hanging out at the beach, when a pickup truck drove right up
to the sand with the bed of his truck filled with snow! he knew the secret
backroad up to the snow on mauna kea, and brought a whole load down to the
beach, so all the kids (and adult-kids) could throw snowballs at each other
before all that cool white stuff melted in the 80 degrees!
BIM
celebrated another significant birthday this year – he turned 70!
as he is fond
of saying, he has now entered his eighth decade. he decided that a party with
100 of his closest friends would be the perfect way to commemorate and
celebrate. we rented a hall called the I.O.O.F – International Order Of
Oddfellows – how appropriate!
we’re
both in awe, with a little confusion tossed in, at these forty years we’ve
shared filled with such richness and joy and adventures and life and love.
we
continued the birthday celebration by flying (repetition doesn’t get old for us
– we send our apologies to our readers…) to the hawaiian islands! moloka’i was
our first stop, and our first visit to this very non-touristy, laid back
island.
the thirty minute flight from maui was one of the highlights. we were six
passengers on a small prop airplane, flying low along the 3,500 foot sea cliffs
of northern moloka’i.
Moloka'i north shore
the only bench at the ‘airport’ doubled for sitting and
for baggage. the people we met were incredibly friendly and loved to talk and
tell stories about their island. we hiked down the vertical cliff, with 26
switchbacks, to visit kalaupapa (the former leper colony) which was
astoundingly beautiful, dramatic, filled with history and whispers of the past.
patti on the path
the ‘crawl’ back up those 1,700 feet was exhausting, but we made it! our visit
to halawavalley was limited due to flash flood warnings, so we could only view
the four beautiful waterfalls from a distance, and just imagine swimming in the
crystalline pools beneath a 300 foot waterfall.
after
a wet and rainy week on moloka’i, we relished our scenic flight back to maui,
Moloka'i south shore
where we enjoyed the same old things – snorkeling in the pristine turquoise
waters surrounded by tropical fish and green turtles,long walks on golden
sandy beaches,
