Where did the Lava go?

This building you may recognize from the news accounts on CNN that put shabby little ole Pahoa on the international map. In an effort to make the June 27 lava threatening to set Pahoa on fire seem even more threatening, it showed loop after loop of this building ablaze. What they didn't mention was that the old barn had been abandoned for years, was in a pasture on the outskirts of town and had been stripped of every last thing of value.

But as these pictures show, it was a black beast to be considered when it is plotting and a scheming in your back yard.

burnt the warning sign and all

To recap from other posts:

The Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption began when fissures split the ground in the remote rainforest of the eastern rift zone of Kilauea volcano, birthplace of Pele, the most active volcano in Hawaii and the centerpiece of Volcano National Park. By June 1983, the activity had strengthened and localized to the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent. Over the next three years, 44 eruptive episodes with lava fountains as high as 1,510 feet stopped traffic at points across east Hawaiʻi. The fallout of cinder and spatter from the towering lava fountains built a cone 837 feet high.

In July 1986, the conduit feeding magma to Puʻu ʻŌʻō ruptured, and the eruption abruptly shifted 1.9 mi downrift to form the Kūpaʻianahā vent. With the new vent came a new style of eruption: continuous, quiet effusion from a lava lake replaced the episodic high fountaining. After a few weeks, a roof formed over the main lava outflow channel, which created a lava tube The lava tube allowed the fluid pahoehoe lava to retain heat and flow long distances. In less than a year, overflow from the lake created a broad and low shield about 180 feet above Kūpaʻianahā.

On the evening of January 29, 1997, a series of earthquakes struck Kīlauea's east rift zone. Deep within the rift zone, magma was escaping from the conduit leading to the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent, cutting off the supply to the ongoing eruption. The lava pond at Puʻu ʻŌʻō drained, and residents 10 miles away heard a low, rumbling roar as the crater floor dropped 500 feet and the west wall of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone collapsed. 

A few hours later, as magma found a new path to the surface, the ground cracked in nearby Nāpau Crater, and lava fountains lit up the night sky. However, activity in this area was short-lived, and the center of activity soon shifted back to Puʻu ʻŌʻō. In 1990, the eruption entered its most destructive phase when flows turned eastward and totally destroyed the villages of Kalapana and Kaimū. Kaimū Bay and Kalapana Black Sand Beach were also completely covered with lava. Over 100 homes were destroyed by the ever-broadening flow field in a nine-month period. New tubes diverted lava away from Kalapana early in 1991, and lava once again entered the ocean within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The eruption then returned to Puʻu ʻŌʻō, where flank vents on the west and southwest sides of the cone constructed a new lava shield. Soon lava tubes were feeding lava from the vents to the ocean, with few surface flows in between. The flank vents have held center stage ever since.

On June 27, 2014, new vents opened on the northeast flank of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone that fed a narrow flow to the east-northeast. On August 18, the flow entered a ground crack, traveled underground for several days, then resurfaced to form a small lava pad. The sequence was repeated twice more over the following weeks with lava entering other cracks and reappearing farther downslope. In this way, the flow had advanced approximately 8.2 miles from the vent, or to within 0.8 miles of Highway 11. Advancing to the northeast at intermittent rates, the flow entered the Waste Recycling Center within spitting distance of Pahoa.

As the lava entered the transfer station and was now 40 yards from burning Pahaoa and cutting off the road, the stores were closed and the National Guard was brought in.

and then one day the lava just stopped. Been flowing for 32 years though, maybe she is just taking a break.

One day recently we had a very windy day. My friend Titiana, who had just returned after a year on the mainland, was staying in a tent nearby and the strong wind had ripped the staples out of several of her tent's flaps. Meet Titiana Here

No running water or bathroom, limited off grid electricity, for this rock climber.

Although she denied it and stated that it was mere coincidence, I suspect that she wasn't all that confident in my carpentry skills.

'Cause Terry from Colorado and Gerry from Alaska, both life long carpenters and handy men, and the rockstars of the Kalani maintenance department miraculously manifested themselves exactly as we arrived. Hmmm.....

Alors, all's well that ends well and those pros, with me holding a flap or two, got her up and running again. And it was Corona time. Titiana, professional adventurer and life long climber, has recently made a movie about an all female team in the rock climbing business: Titiana's film "On the Rocks"

Sadly, local iconic figure and musician Robert Pookapu "Uncle Robert" Keliihoomalu passed away peaceably at 75 recently. Far from a somber event, it was a Hawaiian version of the New Orleans send off. The kupuna (an elder that has acquired enough life experience to be a family and community leader) was the patriarch of the musical family that ran the popular Uncle Robert's Awa Bar. Uncle Robert's Life Story

Here Kalani guests and volunteers await the funeral procession.

The remains were brought to Uncle Robert's Awa Club. Awa is the Hawaiian name for Kava, the relaxing island drink.

They kept coming for ~25 minutes. It was a raucous procession. 

It was three days of music and feasting on Hawaiian food and all of Puna was invited and included. Here is the open casket on the stage he and his ohana loved to perform on so much.

Uncle Robert's Awa Club is a staple in these parts. Part community center, part center for the Hawaiian Sovereignty and sustainability movement, closest store to Kalani, farmer's market for all manner of local food and products, part recently dedicated UFO landing pad and star visitor sanctuary that will produce peaceful relations with the expected extraterrestrial visitors and the best party and Hawaiian music in Puna every Wednesday afternoon. Uncle Robert, a devout Christian, was to be buried on the property,

In other random news:

I had dinner with Chef Marc at his fiends Jim and Heather's house recently. Jim was also a serious rock climber and here cleans his jungle compound of storm damage, after a month on the mainland.

Not really a picture worth posting, so you will have to use your imagination. This was a shot of a blizzard that took place recently on Mauna Loa volcano. At more than 13,000 feet, the white part above the clouds in the background is the snow on top of the volcano. Just something I noticed from the parking lot of my dentist's office. Hawaii, the gift that keeps on giving.

There is a problem with wild pigs in Puna. They are very damaging to native plants and although technically harmless, it can be a tad disconcerting running into 6 or 8 of them on dark jungle roads. Kalani has to trap them from time to time. They are taken to a farm and fed our very own Kalani created pig slop from our kitchen waste, until such time as they return looking like this. Here Dion of Colorado prepares to break one down. Doesn't get any more local and farm to table than that.

My neighbor tools around on her bike sporting her Swedish flag.

Stumbled on to electricians Drago and Dave pruning our palm trees in the "hotel cut" style. Palms throw off an amazing amount of debris. The falling coconuts and fronds can be dangerous, especially in high winds, so every so often they are given a buzz cut.

Next time we will discuss my two treatments by a practitioner of Acutonics. I am now more better.

Acutonics, n. 1. System of vibrational sound healing rooted in Oriental Medicine and philosophy that utilizes tuning forks and symphonic gongs tuned to the planets, Tibetan bowls, bells, drums, and rattles. Connecting body, mind, and soul in the journey toward optimal health, harmonic attunement or at-one-ment with all things in the Universe. 2. The integral way, undifferentiated wholeness, the essence of Tao.

Thanks for stopping by