Lots of Rain at Lapakahi

When I went to turn on the drip irrigation system for the revegetation area at Lapakahi State Historical Park this morning, I noticed the ground near the valve for the niu was wet. And not just a little wet, like someone-emptied-their-water-bottle wet. It was rain-event wet! I checked the rain gauge & found we had 0.56 inches of rain yesterday! Well, that is my assumption. I don't think anyone else checks the gauge & there was hardly any rain in Kapaʻau since I emptied it on Tuesday except for yesterday. And Kapaʻau gets much more rain than Lapakahi. So I assume there was rain at Lapakahi only yesterday.

This area does not have this large of a wet area after irrigation.

Ground is saturated so irrigation water ponded here.

There is no irrigation in this area.

I only kept the drip irrigation system on for half an hour; usually we water for an hour so that we supply the plants with 1 gallon of water more or less. But because we use about 400 gallons with each watering & we were running low on water, I watered for only half the usual time due to yesterday's rain event. We now have only about 1200 gallons left.

The rain we had yesterday was statewide & there were also flood warnings issued for many areas. It was the remnants of Tropical Storm Norbert that were finally making it to our shores. Because these types of storms bring so much rain with them, I keep less water on hand than the recommended amount of 1 gallon per person per day for 14 days since I can collect rainwater off the roof for use for flushing toilets, filtering & boiling to wash dishes, & drinking water for Moʻo & the cats. 

As I was parking the car after I returned from Lapakahi, I saw what looked to be feathers on the ground flapping in the wind near the jaboticaba. My 1st thought was, "Oh, no! Moʻo got one of the chickens!" But as I watched it more, it looked smaller than a chicken so I thought it might be a Spotted Dove. I was relieved to find out it is just a fern leaf; a couple of the blades were broken so were easily blown around by the wind! 

From a distance with a couple blades flapping it looked like feathers.

Last night I stayed up a little later than I should have. I heard a noise out in the front yard & checked the security camera & saw ʻŌhuna jumping off the puakenikeni branch it is mounted on. Twice! About a half hour later, when it began to rain, I watched her climb back in to the cat yard,

Just hearing noises at this point.

ʻŌhuna makes her appearance.

And trots off in to the night.

Climbing back in to cat yard during rain event.

Here are thumbnails of ʻŌhuna & the other cats. The ones labelled "North" are in the cat yard; the others are the yards around the house. About half the time ʻŌhuna is outside the cat yard. 

L ʻŌhuna; R her brother Hoʻokoa.

ʻŌhuna outside the cat yard.

I also saw Olomea! She is Paʻipaʻi & ʻAlani's mom & Hoʻokoa & ʻŌhuna's aunt. Her birthday was on Tuesday.

Today I did the exercise regimen recommended by Next Level. It is called high-intensity SIT - Sprint Interval Training. I think I am going to like this since I like sprinting! It is a very simple regimen involving 8 seconds of intense exercise that raises your heart rate up to 85% of your maximum heart rate, followed by 12 seconds of easy exercise, repeat for a total of 20 minutes & do it 3 times a week. In a 2019 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise that she cites, a group of post-menopausal women between 47 & 59, did the high-intensity SIT for 8 weeks & lost fat, regained lean muscle mass, & improved their aerobic fitness. I am hoping for similar results! I did a session today & feel good about it.

Motek Bakery had a special falafel dinner tonight. The special combo included a dessert pudding called malabi. I will buy this the next time they have this dinner special.

Malabi.

Today I realized the 47 "Days practicing" on Lingopie does not mean the total length of time I have been practicing. It means just the days that I click on the "practice" tab. It was really 11 weeks ago that I started or about 77 days. So the fact that I am still remembering quite a lot of the words from 11 weeks ago when I started is even more amazing to me!

The picture shown with "golden leg" looked like ham.

Remembered almost 70% of what I 1st learned about 11 weeks ago!

I really like that Duolingo mixes in Hanzi practice with everything else they make me do. I also like that even within the Hanzi practice there is still practice for speaking & recognizing the character & its meaning. Today I am sharing how to write one of the radicals for "juice".

The remnants of Tropical Depression Fifteen-E are more than 1000 miles south-southeasterly of us in the Central Pacific region. Conditions in that area appear to be conducive to possible reorganization. It is predicted to have about a 40% chance of becoming a tropical depression again. Just westerly of it is another disturbance that is predicted to have about an 80% chance of becoming a depression in the next 7 days. I better remember to close all the window before I leave! The only other disturbance in the Eastern Pacific does not look like it is coming our way.

There seems to be no current activity at Kīlauea that points towards another fountaining event occurring any time soon.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Aurolyn! 

IASA #4-32

Found out ʻŌhuna is climbing over fence to get in & out of cat yard!

 

Keeping People Safe From Themselves!

Today a bicyclist rode in to Lapakahi; he had to walk his bike around the locked gate at the top of the hill in order to get in. I intercepted him as he rode past the visitor center, I told him the park was closed & asked him to please leave; he acknowledged that he heard me. But then he stopped about 50 feet further along the road & started taking pictures. I let him do that ... until he got off his bike & started walking over to the picnic table by the fallen tree. I went up to him & repeated that the park was closed & he needed to leave. He acted like he had not heard me, taking out his earbuds & saying, he could not hear me, even though he acknowledged earlier that he understood he needed to leave the park! Auē! I then said, "There is a big sign at the gate saying the park is closed, 'Keep Out'; you need to leave now." He then claimed he just came in to use the bathroom, even though he rode right past the porta-potties & did not stop nor ask me earlier where the toilets were. I repeated my directions to leave now. And stood there while he got back on his bike. I escorted him for about 50 feet, then stood & watched him until he rode past the curve in the access road; I made it very obvious that I was watching him & also made sure he could see that I had my cell phone in my hand the whole time I was standing there. It really irritates me when people disregard signs that we put up to keep them safe! It also irritates me when people feel they are privileged enough that locked gates & "Keep Out" signs do not apply to them. (Kai, on the other hand, feels that they are just plain stupid!)

The trespasser.

Is this sign not clear enough?

I immediately reported the incident to Denali, Jaime, & Dane just in case the trespasser decided to file a complaint. It was refreshing to have Denali respond quickly asking if I wanted him to send the DLNR enforcement out to handle the guy. I told him, No, the guy left. I think persistence & not allowing his haughty attitude to affect me were key in getting the trespasser to comply. FYI If when he initially rode up, he asked to use the port-potty, I would have let him. But the lying & refusal to follow directions made my goodwill disappear.

The cats seem to be really enjoying the areas that have been opened up in the cat yard. And so far, ʻŌhuna is the only cat I have seen outside of the cat yard.

ʻŌhuna outside the cat yard.

ʻŌhuna outside cat yard again.

Hoʻokoa contemplating the gate.

ʻAlani checks things out.

According to Lingopie, I have now been practicing on their platform for 45 days! Yay! I think? I do seem to be remembering things. The words that showed up in today's spaced repetition practice are from the Good Morning, Breakfast! video that was the 1st one that I started watching. And I did quite well I think. 

I recognized a radical in each phrase that helped me with translation. 

I can now distinguish phrases better.

I listen to video, then listen to each phrase & put them in order.

I recognize both Pinyin & Hanzi for "tea". 

1st try after not hearing these words for several weeks!

Today's Duolingo lesson was primarily practicing Hanzi. Which looks easy on the surface but is actually a harder part of learning Mandarin in my opinion. 

Both Norbert & Fifteen-E dissipated today, leaving no storms in the Pacific region anticipated over the next 7 days.

A new vent has opened up at Kīlauea but there is no word on when the next episode of fountaining will begin.

New vent on right.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Anne, Nina, & Simon! A me ka Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Olomea! She is Paʻipaʻi & ʻAlani's mother & appears to be the only one of the feral cats that was here when I arrived in 2022 that is still alive; I have not seen her sisters Holoi & Hahai (Hoʻokoa & ʻŌhuna's mother) or Mom Cat (grandmother of all my cats). Olomea is 5 years old.

Olomea (04/2022).