Kilauea Eruption for Christmas!

Aloha from Volcano!  Just in case you're checking in to see how the Haysmers are doing after the surprise eruption last night in the caldera at Kilauea in Volcanoes National Park.  

WE'RE FINE. 

Good Grief! Planets colliding, volcanoes erupting -- what a strange Winter Solstice!

The first thing you need to know is that Kilauea volcano is an "inny" -- a very large hole 1600 feet down in the ground which is unlike many folks' impression of big tall mountain shaped volcanoes. (Of course four out of our five volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii are big tall mountain shapes.)

Many people were concerned that, after losing our home in Leilani Estates during the 2018 eruption, we were crazy to be moving to a small town called Volcano -- only about five miles from Kilauea. 

For insurance purposes Leilani was in zone #1 -- most risky and Volcano is in zone #3 with less risk (generally.)

Here's some photos -- last night's view -- today's view and a map showing our home in Ohia Estates.

The tiny active crater way d-o-w-n inside Kilauea (Kil-ow-way-ah) is called Halema'uma'u (Hah-lay-ma-oo-ma-oo) which means House of Ferns. In addition to the large caldera at 1600 feet down, this smaller active crater is another 1300 feet down (as of 12/31 lava is about 1/2 up the inner crater. With Kilauea itself being 2x3 miles wide active lava flow would have to completely fill the gigantic basin before reaching the top.

This USGS video shows the two fissures that opened along the walls.  Inside Halema'uma'u

Birds of a Feather

Living in the ohia tree forest of Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii we are blessed with an abundance of birds native, endemic and species from other places as well. We do miss the wonderful complicated song of the Chinese Laughing Thrush in our former Leilani Estates home, but the native 'Apapane has a lovely song as well:

   'Apapane Song.   

Here's a page we created using most of the birds we see every day, and a couple who mostly live four miles away around Kilauea crater in Volcano National Park. 

A couple days ago, we went for a fun drive (holoholo) and as we reached the sign inside the park reading "Nene Crossing" (pronounced nay-nay) we noticed there were two sitting at a turnout area reserved for them. 

Phil took the camera, got out of the car and ended up with a very close up encounter. They began to follow him back to the car where we shared a granola bar with them before heading down through the amazing Ka'u (Caw oo) desert and on to Na'alehu for lunch a visit to a Tibetan Monastery and a leisurely walk along the shoreline.

(hopefully I can get these pictures arranged well, but with the changes to this program, I doubt it) ENJOY

Whittington Park and Fish Ponds

Wood Valley Monestary