ANNIVERSARIES 10-20-30

 

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

Haysmer Hale Le'a Update

Besides the knees there IS actually other news. The garden Lunel worked on so lovingly in early spring is responding well to our comfortable summer 70-75 degrees. Although we loved our former home in Leilani Estates before the 2018 lava flow, it was too hot much of the days in summer time. So much has changed -- not only our home, the weather, there's Covid19 to contend with. The state of Hawaii now has over 300 cases -- and before you think that is small potatoes, our count is up 50% like many other states.

Lunel in the dog-yard. Dogs from left: Tuxedo Tudor, Uncle Poko, mommy Lani

But now, onto the KNEES!  Today marks one-month anniversary of Lunel's bilateral knee replacements. An interesting point is that although the total knee joint was replaced, she still has her original knee caps! Anyway, stitches are out, bandages are off and today she went down the stairs (with Phil spotting her carefully) to meander out to the close-by dog yard. We have an physical therapy office here in Volcano where she will begin a professionally guided recovery program.

Although we are at home 95% of the time, we are friends with many of our nearby neighbors and enjoy safe conversations along the driveways or from the front porches. We are so happy not only with our sweet "Hale Le'a" -- house of gladness, we are equally happy to have a real neighborhood of friends here in Ohia Estates, as well as old pals from the old neighborhood.

STAY SAFE, 
PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS

ALOHA FROM PHIL AND LUNEL

What's in a Name?

Nahelenani Street

It was during our 2011 vacation to the Big Island that we first got the idea to retire here. Many of the necessary logistics such as divesting a lot of our "stuff," finding a buyer for our 22-year old gallery, and selling our 1860's Victorian were just plain work. But one of the FUN things was discovering the richness of the Hawaiian language.

Some of the first words we learned were typical vocabulary like 'aina, mahalo, and aloha, or learning the different kinds of lava formation like pahoehoe or a'a. When we made the offer on our first home in Leilani Estates and found out that our street name was LUANA -- of course we looked up that word too: Luana: to be at leisure, to enjoy pleasant surroundings and associates and to enjoy oneself. 

Luana -2012 - Healthy Trees

At that time our lovely one acre of land was thick with Hawaii's native 'Ohi'a trees, but in less than two years most of the trees were dying from a fungus that was spreading rapidly - hence the name "Rapid Ohia Death" or ROD. The photos here show the difference in about 18 months' time.

Luana - 2013-14 - dead trees

That is just one of the reasons we are so delighted with our new street name of Nahelenani, because it means nahele (forest) nani (beautiful.) Once again, we are blessed to be safely snuggled into forest of beautiful 'ohi'a trees that are now bursting with lehua (lay-HOO-a) blossoms.

We loved "Leilani Estates" and are heart-broken over the lost of our home in May 2018. Leilani was a larger subdivision with dozens of streets -- all with beautiful Hawaiian names like Moku (island) or Hapu'u (fern), etc.. Our new subdivision of "Ohia Estates" however, only has two street which makes it easier to get acquainted with our new neighbors.

Trees on our new property

If you are interested in learning 
more about the ROD "Rapid 'Ohi'a Death" 
you can click on this link:

  ROD - great photos and explanation

12-12 HO HO HO!

What's in the PINK BOX??

In December of 2012, when we bought our one-way tickets to The Big Island, we thought it would be cool to arrive at our new home on 12-12-12! We arrived just as it was getting darK. For some reason, NONE of the keys we were given opened the front or side or back doors!!  Lunel actually had to crawl in the bathroom window to open the house!  We just figured that it might be the first of many tests (we were warned) that Pele might offer to see if we really had what it takes to live here and join the "Punatics' Clan"** We survived Hurricane Iselle and the lava of 2014. Now, after losing literally everything we sure hope we FINALLY past all her tests!!   Welina Tu-Tu Pele!

CK's "Little Pink" --W&J's  Hale Akala 

While the year may be different, this week is a RADICAL12/12 too! We signed our insurance check from Lloyds' AND all the processes involved were completed today on our new fully furnished rental home in Volcano!  If you read our Nov 22 blog entry, we gave you a sort-of hint -- it was in the PINK box in the photo.)
And here's the rest of the story.

Once Upon A Time...

Cozy living room with fireplace

...we had NO IDEA how our lawsuit against Lloyds' of London would turn out when we signed on with our amazing attorneys, but we felt we had nothing to loose, and we couldn't stay in 400 sf studio with three corgi dogs for a year while we waited it out.  So, we began to think about renting a furnished home here in Volcano to see if this is where we'd might eventually like to live. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, imagine our surprise when our attorney called --Lloyds' was honoring our claim IN FULL!!

While it is sufficient to buy a house, we immediately realized that neither of us is ready to do that -- emotionally or psychologically, and we really did fall in love with this very cute, fully furnished two bedroom house. (Even the idea of buying furnishings for a whole empty house right now would be too much.)

In the middle of an Ohia forest
(Mauna Kea in back)

We have enjoyed it here in Volcano at 3500 ft elevation, more than we expected, particularly as there are lots of retirees here and even more artists. When we got here in August and the months that followed, I was delighted to spend hours a day beautifying the already stunning gardens -- even this last week. Yes, it's chilly in the winter, but ta DAH - we have a fireplace!

One of the two bedrooms

So, here's a few of photos of our new place. It is in "Ohia Estates" a very tiny (two street) subdivision on a street named Nahelenani (beautiful forest)...and so it is. Two thirds of an acre surrounded by ohia trees. Even though you can't see it, there's lots of room in the back yard area. Phil is drawing up plans for a wood shop (with the owners OK) and Lunel will have a greenhouse!

We got bananas! and soon a greenhouse.

We have met the sellers who have been very kind and helpful and we already know several neighbors and have even been included in holiday festivities! We could hardly wish for a better closing of this most peculiar year, moving in on 29th and 30th -- Happy New Year to us!
We wish everyone a particularly wonderful holiday season.

(PS Remember that our address book with birthdays and such is gone....it may take a while to reconstruct all that information.)

** We are STILL "Punatics" because the district of PUNA extends all they way up here to Volcano.