The photo here shows just how up close and personal this experience has been for us. Our house (the white rubble to the far left) is what is left after it burned a few days before this photo was taken. The homes near the bottom right corner belonged to a beautiful Hawaiian family and other good neighbors -- all now under lava; family now relocated or living with relatives or friends.
Hard to believe that only a few days ago, Phil was sitting by Lunel's bed in the hospital waiting for her to come out of a coma from a seizure she had 12 hours BEFORE the fire began. Despite what many tests, MRI, neurology, etc. may show, isn't is just possible that Lunel's deep connection with this land somehow realized she did NOT need to witness this part of the destruction/creation cycle?
Maybe you've already seen enough footage and images of lava -- up close. The voices of the people in the video (linked here) seem to expressing both wonder and amazement at the power and beauty of "being there" up close and personal. For us, it represents a different kind of "personal." LINK: Up Close VIDEO
Aloha Phil and Lunel,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your loss. I lost my house at Kaupili and Leilani avenue on May 27...it was there one day and gone the next. My ex-partner who was living there at the time was evacuated, lived at the Pāhoa shelter for a month until I found him an apartment in Hilo. He was there for a month, took a fall, went to Hilo Medical Center, and died 10 day later. I was very fortunate to have had Allstate Insurance....they paid me a very agreeable settlement 3 weeks after my house disappeared ... I don’t know if I could have seen my house burned and destroyed like yours! I do hope the best for you...by the way, your blog post on Keahialaka was excellent, and I forwarded it to Susan Lee Loy...if Fissure 8 is to be renamed, it should have the placename that the Hawaiians gave our old neighborhood. Much aloha, Kevin Roddy
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