Ode to Color

Our three CORGI dogs have favorite toys including a plastic bottle stuffed into an old sock that "crackles" when they play with it.  So, while I was folding the laundry and watching the Macy's parade, the sound of chewed plastic did not alert me to the fact that POKO was chewing on something he shouldn't.

(tail wagging)...."I'm so cute"

"OH COOL -- WHAT'S THIS?? -- IF IT'S ON THE FLOOR IT'S MINE!"  

Red tomatoes and bell peppers Nov 28th

(oooops...it's NOT mine?)

Well, what had fallen to the floor was a small container of multicolored test strips for the hot tub.  By the time I realized it though, he thoroughly "crunched" the plastic bottle, popped the lid and had a mouthful of color strips spread on the floor and a few hanging off his chin.  Naturally, they were turning all the WRONG colors in quite the colorful range!  (dog saliva!)

Thanksgiving

Who's that dude out on the point?

It is the day before Thanksgiving and as we chop up fresh cranberries, orange zest, pecans and apples for cranberry salad to share at the potluck gathering tomorrow, are we very THANKFUL!!!  And, the list is very long too.

Mostly, we are still amazed that we are here, as well as being thankful  that we "were there" in all the steps along with way that brought us to this point.  Here are a couple photos of us this week on a hike out to Kaloli Point, a few miles from our house where people gather to watch whales during their annual migration.  It was just a bit early to see whales but the first sightings usually happen around this time of year.

To Hawaiians, the whale is a representation of the Hawaiian god, Kanaloa - the god of animals in the ocean.  Humpback whales (na kohola) are found in all oceans, although they generally prefer near shore and near-island habitats for both feeding and breeding  A large percentage of the North Pacific humpback whales migrate to Hawaii during the winter months.  The round-trip distance they travel during this annual migration is approximately 4,000 miles, one of the longest migration distances of any animal species.  Near the islands, the whales devote most of their time to mating and giving birth to their calves.

"Just Stick It in the Ground!"

“Just Stick It in the Ground” (dedicated to Karin)

Wild Nun's Cap Orchid

White Anthurium

When we first retired to Pahoa on the Big Island, many of our new neighbors gifted us with cuttings from their yard, with this planting technique being repeated numerous times. Although it was initially hard to believe, after two years now,  it is an everyday experience!    

Two weeks ago we visited Luana neighbors across the street whose lovely white hibiscus arched gracefully, full of white blossoms.  As we left I asked for a cutting and was gifted a 4’ branch, simply snapped off near the trunk.  As we were busy finishing up the new lanai, I literally stuck it down in a three-gallon pot of cinder/soil and forgot about it – until today.

Hibiscus that rooted and bloomed in 2 weeks

Today’s project was to work on our “white bed” in front of our house, in which I was planning to add some miniature spider lilies to a bed with white anthurium, white mini poinsettia, nuns cap wild orchids and white trumpet flower tree.  Hoping for the best, I gently shook the hibiscus (from two weeks ago) and found the roots had extended to reach the edges of the three-gallon pot!!  Not only that, it already had four blossoms. Although few friends from the continent really believe it, IT IS TRUE!  “Just stick it in the ground!”

Threats?

I am not sure how I feel about the pop-up I received from the Norton Anti-Virus software today, not that I don't get one every month.  The stats included:  62,987 Known Threats & 5,394 Known Attacks

I don't even know how to think about that, or "that many" threats all simply associated with my computer.  It prompted me to think about a variety of threats (not including the lava that has so preoccupied our awareness for the last few months here in Pahoa, Hawaii.)  So I pulled up a "top 10" list of threats from the Huffington Post from 10/27/2010, and was surprised to find some of my"personal favorites" missing.

• Bio-Engineered Terrorism*
• Solar Flare/EM Pulse/Cyber Collapse*
• Nanotechnology* (my personal favorite)
• Climate Change
• Artificial Intelligence* (smart software)

*Even though I read Science Fiction regularly (as indicated by my additional threats,) it is interesting to me is how little time I actually pend thinking about any of them -- as actual threats.    Things change; shit happens.  The recent hurricanes and lava have presented us all with a chance to look at how little control we have in our lives, and how much our attitude affects the final outcome.

Or, in the words from two of my all-time favorite SF books/movies:

"Live in fear - be a slave." (from "Blade Runner")

"Fear is the little death; fear is the mind killer." (from "Dune)

.

Volcano Music

"Vivo Acceso" (c)

While some of the lava flow at Pahoa (Puna, Hawaii) has slowed, there are several outbreaks back from the front.  Overall, the lava is building up higher and higher, and widening out.  Right now, it is a slow process - no violent eruptions, but I am sensitive to low, inaudible frequency vibrations

"Pahoa Arpeggiato" (c)

In a meditation, I was focusing on the movement of the lava beneath the land and how this subsurface activity creates vibrations. 

Images came to me that I felt could be interpreted as sound /vibration and I wanted to write music!  However, since I'm not musically inclined, I used my abstract visual imagination to create what the music might "look like."  Here are two of my visual- interpretations of "Volcano Music" which I hope to explore further -- perhaps in a series over the winter.

Sticky Envelopes and Stale Crackers

Today it rained – almost all day long, so I stayed inside to do some art, and to write cards and notes to friends for birthdays and anniversaries.  Maybe that's a bit old fashioned when there are such things as "e-cards," but that's just not my style.  As  I began going through a box of treasured note cards I have collected over the years, I was chagrined to find, once again, the card I REALLY wanted had the envelope stuck to it – on the front of course.  Since it was raining anyway, I decided to try one of the classic old super-sleuth tricks with the steam from my teapot – and voila!! Somehow the challenge of unsticking over two dozen hand selected cards brought back a story from over two years ago. 

First batch of the unstuck cards. 

When we returned from Hawaii in 2012 we were hesitant to tell people we had “just bought a house in Hawaii.” We had not yet sold our 22-year old gallery business - nor had we sold our house.  The reposes were mixed.  Most came with enthusiasm tempered with a degree of puzzlement and concern.  One of my most appreciated responses came from our dear friends Iris and Jeffrey who raised their boys here in Puna and who lost two homes over the years during the Kalapana flow.  Ironically, it was what they didn’t say that was such an appreciated gesture.  They let us effuse with glee and they told stories of their adventures. 

 

At one point, though, it was obvious there were things they were not saying, so we queried them.  They wisely said, “You know there are always pluses and minuses anywhere you live.  We’d love to share your excitement and joy – and just let you discover your own challenges along the way – and learn from them.” So I grinned today while rescuing a batch of much-loved cards.  Yes, we live in a rainforest, with glued envelopes, pesky mongoose,stale crackers, mold, noisy frogs, hurricanes and lava flows.  And like they already knew, we have found our way and continue to learn from every experience.  MAHALO Iris & Jeffrey!  XOXOX

Lava Claims First Pahoa House

Photo from Hawaii News Now TV

Please refer to the story from Hawaii News Now as lava claims the first house in Pahoa.  (To our friends and ohana reading this, we remain safe a few miles away from this.)

Lava Claims First House

(Quote from article above)  One of the residents who lived at the home, John Byrd, explained that while this is a loss, the wait can finally be over for them.   "We can close the book on it because the house burned finally you know, so we're on to our new story but it's going to affect a lot of people for a long long time," Byrd said. "I don't think it's short lived. It's still pumping it's going to be agonizing for a lot of folks and I wish everybody the best and as long as the 'ohana, everybody stays safe, that's the main thing. Property and stuffs can all be re-done."

This is not "new" news on the Big Island.  Our friends Iris and Jeffrey, raised their four boys here in Puna, and lost house #1 in the Kalapana flow many years ago. 

Pau Hana!

Toes (and brain) taking a break from lava and work--
 appreciating a beautiful morning!

Pau Hana!  (done with work)  This week I spent emptying out the 10x20' shade house which typically features beets, lettuce, bok choy, (our corgis' favorite) tomatoes, squash starts,   spinach and lots of pots with small plants. After hurricane Iselle, we had a tree fall on it, bending two of the support poles, and ripping the roof to pieces.

So, before winter, we need to disassemble the beds and replace the roof.  Since we are doing all this rearranging, we decided to also move it out from near the property line, and get weed barrier cloth down on the ground. 

Getting it all done now means I can get a batch of winter vegies in.  PAU!!  (all done)

Winter Welcomed

The juror selected the "other one" like this for the show.

Don't you mainlanders laugh!  There IS a winter here, marked by a significant increase in rain, a decrease in temperature, and in the evening night actually "falls."  As we finish out our second full year living in Puna on the Big Island we are both glad for an excuse to be inside and to develop the art directions we have both been playing with (in between various house and land-related projects as we have shared on the blog.)

"Royal Ancestor"

Detail of auto window glass, shattered and reassembled.

In spite of all we have In spite of all the hard work we have still managed to find time for art too.  We are both inspired by the dynamic elements of this land -- both culturally and geological. I was pleased that three of my quirky assemblage pieces were included in October's "Trash Art" exhibition, with one receiving an "Honorable Mention."

This month we both have art at East Hawaii Cultural Council's HMOCA -- Hawaii Museum of Contemporary Art. We entered two, and the juror accepted one from each of us;  They accepted one of Phil's "Volcano Moon series, but "Royal Ancestor" came home to be in the "Stairwell Gallery."