Quick Update

Internet at the house went out about 9 yesterday morning so I was unable to post anything or even send texts. Fortunately, I was added to the Lapakahi State Historical Park Starlink network when it was installed last year. I am at the park assessing damage & sending info to Dane & Jaime so they can report to higher ups on what will be needed to reopen park. Will post update on what happened at house later. Mahope!

Hurricane Lala Arrives

Note: This post was written on 08/15 but published the next day for reasons noted in this post. Check back later for more photos. (I was having difficulty downloading them.)

I went to Lapakahi 1^st thing this morning. The gate was closed & locked but there was a guy in a white truck parked there; he was just watching the storm. There were no goats in the trap but there was a lot of water in the rain gauge! At 1^st I thought there was 0.1” of rain; but it turns out that was what had overflowed! There was 1” plus the amount in the holder. Since the average annual rainfall at Lapakahi is 9”, Jaime got a gauge that measures in the 1/100's of inches to a maximum of 1”. I will have to find out if the gauge came with instructions for measuring the overflow amount. If not, I will get the diameters so I can figure out the volume of water that was in the holder. The sustained winds were normal for Lapakahi; the gusts, however, were stronger than usual.

This is overflow.

Gauge was filled to top!

I took Moʻo with me to Lapakahi; she stayed in the car while I checked up on things. She seemed to like it; she was warm & dry & near me. I kept her in the house for the rest of the day. She likes to run around out in the rain & I did not want her to get soaking wet & have to do a lot of work drying her off when I brought her in later in the evening.

As I was driving to Lapakahi I noticed there were no businesses open. Except for Takata's; they have a large bank of solar panels & heavy duty array of back-up batteries. There were also very few cars on the road on my way to Lapakahi, but I did see both patrol officers sitting by the side of the road waiting for speeders to zip by! On the way back Takata's parking lot was almost full! 

Usually parking is full all the way out to here.

Even though I had power, the Internet was out so I was unable to occupy my time by watching those Netflix shows that are “leaving soon”. I had to fill my time with making orange juice, putting away laundry, & taking naps (it was really difficult to do this last one... 🤣). The 10 pounds of oranges gave me 3 quarts of juice; on average 9 oranges made 1 quart of juice.

From where I was making juice I could look out clerestory window at ironwoods along gulch.

I also found out that I could not make phone calls because the Internet was out. I knew in disasters they tell you to send texts because the phone will keep trying to send until it finds an open slot, but I was not aware that you could not make calls if the Internet was down. Silly me! Tomorrow I will see if I was able to send texts out this morning because I was connected to the Starlink system at Lapakahi. Maybe I should take my laptop with me tomorrow? (I did, so you are able to read this.)

About noon, the intensity of the rain & wind increased. But it was only for about half an hour. Then later, around 2 pm there were a series of stronger gusts along with more wind. The branches of the puakenikeni that had been occasionally thumping against the eaves became more intense. The cats slept through everything. The stronger winds & gusts persisted for most of the afternoon & evening but the rain came intermittently.

I steamed some green beans for dinner; I was so focused on the oranges I forgot to press the extra water out of the tofu so decided to do something a little different for dinner tonight. 

Over the last few months I have been “training” the Common Mynas to not roost in the lychee tree in the backyard; I don't want to have to deal with Myna droppings all over the place! I have a bamboo pole that is about 20 feet long; I would poke it into the top of the lychee tree to chase the Mynas out. But as I took it from the garage out to the tree, I would loudly tap it twice against the old metal clothesline pole. It got so when the Mynas heard the tapping, they would leave the tree; most would move to the ironwoods along the gulch before I would even start poking the pole in the lychee. Now they rarely roost in the lychee. But in these very strong winds they were back in the lychee this evening since it provides more cover than the ironwoods. I really did not want to try to poke the 20 foot long bamboo pole in the tree with these winds, so I just took a 2” x 4” & tapped it against the clothesline pole twice; the Mynas left & got blown towards other trees! Yay for conditioned responses! Working smarter not harder! FYI In order for something like this to work you have to start with consistent harassment when the sound is made. Then you can back off & just make the sound, but must randomly follow through with harassment every so often so they don't become complacent.

Since Mo'o & the cats have been confined to the house I decided to give Mo'o & Ho'okoa a little play time this evening. Ho'okoa is the cat that plays with Mo'o the most. He will let Mo'o chomp on him & lick him until I separate them; he purrs when he is playing with Mo'o. Pa'ipa'i will put up with Mo'o up to a point, then will turn around & swat her if Mo'o doesn't back off. 'Alani will walk away when Mo'o approaches him. 'Ohuna just disappears when Mo'o is allowed in to the cat room. 

He walks in to her crate to play with her!

[Check back later for the finished post.]

When I brought Mo'o in from her last potty break, as I was walking down the hallway to the bathroom & I noticed the attic access panel was ajar. Apparently differing air pressures caused it to be lifted up. In the early afternoon I had noticed a gust of air when I passed through the hallway on my way to the kitchen but did not really think about where it came from, now I know! I will have to bring the 6' ladder in tomorrow & set the panel back in place. I should check for any roof leaks while I am up there; this rain should be a good test!

Since the Internet was down, I was unable to do my Lingopie lesson so my streak was broken. But I was still able to get the 5 Duolingo lessons that were downloaded on to my phone by the SuperDuolingo app that I am using.

Since the Internet was down I was also unable to get the storm path maps like I usually do but I know how to go into the archives to get maps after the fact. Here are the predicted paths at 5 am, 11am, 5pm, & 11 pm.

Kilauea

Hau'oli la Hanau e Sean & Natalie! A me ka Hauʻoli lā Hoʻomanaʻo makahiki kanakolu kumamāiwa e Curtis & Lori!

Hurricane Comfort Snacks

On my way back from Lapakahi this morning I stopped at Takata's to pick up some hurricane comfort snacks. I have more than enough emergency supplies; I just wanted some other fun stuff to snack on while hunkered down. 

Though I really like guacamole, I opted for salsas that have less calories.

FYI I did weigh myself this morning to see what impact my hurricane comfort snacks will have on my weight loss journey. Currently, I am 0.2 pounds heavier than my 08/01 weight but 1 pound lighter than my starting weight.

I am glad I closed the kitchen windows before I went to sleep last night. There were raindrops on all the panes showing that rain would have gotten in if I had not closed them. I will be closing most of the other windows tonight since tropical storm-force winds are expected to arrive before sunrise.

This morning when I went to prepare Moʻo's breakfast, I discovered the cats broke the cat door again. But this time it is unrepairable. What perfect timing! Do it just hours before the storm is supposed to arrive! Thank you very much for adding another thing to my final storm prep list, kitties! (The kitties are very unhappy with the temporary solution - a piece of plywood & a 2"x4" on the inside to block them from going out the hole during the storm & a plastic bag stapled to the outside wall to keep the rain out.)

Before I left the house I secured the windows in the garage & the outdoor shower. I had been wondering if it would be better to leave the garage window open since incoming rain would land in the laundry sink & not harm anything. But the windows are tested for impact-resistance in the closed & locked position so I decided that was probably the best way for them to face any projectiles launched by storm winds. 

I went to Lapakahi State Historical Park this morning because Fridays are my usual days there. But this morning I only went to check on the goat trap, unplug the Starlink due to the incoming storm, & empty out the rain gauge also due to the incoming storm. There were no goats in the trap; even though I don't like them here I don't want them to have to spend the weekend in the trap while it is storming. The Starlink was already unplugged; I think Greg probably did that yesterday. And there was about 0.02" of water in the gauge; if I was the last person that emptied it on Tuesday it means we got an average of 0.007" of rain per day over the last 3 days. I am interested in seeing how much precipitation we pick up over the next few days while the storm is passing through. Weather permitting, I will check the gauge & the goat trap on both Saturday & Sunday morning. (The State Parks website already shows all State parks on Hawaiʻi Island are closed on Saturday so I will have to wear my State Parks shirt when I stop in tomorrow & enter the park to check on things.) 

Visitor center at right end of rainbow.

Starlink unplugged.

Precipitation 0.02".

I also stopped at Naito Store on the way back to top off the gas tank; there was only 1 other car there. No long line of cars of people who waited until the last minute to do their storm preparation like you usually see on TV when the news people are talking about an impending storm. I also picked up a sweet potato manapua as a hurricane comfort snack. I am comfortable with relaxing my strict eating for a couple of days. Besides, if a lot of clean up is needed post-storm, I will need more calories anyway.

When I got home, I moved the outdoor potted plants in to the outdoor shower. I also took a bunch of "before" photos just in case Lala makes a right turn & blows right across the middle of Hawaiʻi Island  like Iniki did to Kauaʻi in 1992. 

During Kona low in March, Elephantʻs Foot Yucca (Yucca gigantea) lost a couple of branches.

I hope new niu (Cocos nucifera) can stand up against strong winds.

I am hoping old gardenia won't be damaged too much.

I am expecting to find a lot more tangerines on the ground after storm.

I am hoping solar panels & garage roof avoid damage.

Looking northerly along deck; hope house shields hapu'u from damage.

Looking easterly along house.

I also picked about 10 pounds of navel oranges rather than have the winds knock them to the ground. I will be making orange juice while the storm is raging. I did not do the same with the tangerines; there are way too many of them for me to pick this morning, then I would have to find homes for them in a couple hours. I have too much to do already to add that to the list.

I took some photos of the māla kalo. The oldest huli have only been growing for about 5 months; harvest is usually at 9 to 12 months! How much larger will they get?  The kalo closest to Moʻo is a cultivar of ʻEleʻele. The big one behind it is Moi; which is so big you cannot see the Palehua & Bun Long cultivars further down the ditch line. The 2 ʻIliuaua starts are too small to be seen unless you are specifically looking for them.

Moʻo for scale; she is medium-sized, 40 pounds & about 20" tall at shoulder.

This is leaf of Moi cultivar.

The ʻIliuaua cultivar has finally sprouted! Bigger leaf is only about 3" long.

I trimmed a clump of ixora flowers off the bush to put in the wall vase in the kitchen. If we get a lot of wind it is very likely most of the flowers will be stripped off of the branches anyway. Aunty Maile makes lei with these; it takes 10 to 15 of these clusters to make a lei. That is about 300 to 500 flowers! She has so much patience!

Then I worked on covering the door out to the deck with plastic sheeting. Since the door is the old plantation style door with a sliding panel to allow more air in, when it is raining & there is a strong wind blowing from the northeast, a lot of water leaks in. Galen had suggested wrapping the door in plastic but the fit is too tight so I just stapled a sheet over the entire opening. I also stapled a bag over the cat door to keep rain from blowing in from that opening.

I was dripping with sweat since the air was so still & humid; I took a shower to clean up & cool off. As I was getting out of the shower, Spencer called. He wanted to know if I could give him a ride to Takata Store to pick up supplies; I said yes. We also made a trip to L & L Barbecue so he could get lunch for the ʻohana. I really should have called them when I was on my way back from Lapakahi & take him with me when I went earlier in the day. 

I had originally decided I would skip my usual Friday ice cream lunch since I was only at Lapakahi in the morning & Mark would not be open when I passed through town on my way home. But Aunty Maile lives past Mark, so taking Spencer to Takata's allowed me to pass by Mark's place when he was open! Winner! I'm not going to let a storm a few hours away stop me from having my Friday ice cream lunch!

My favorite flavor Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!

I have been nominated to serve on the Hawai'i Island Navigation Team for the State Division of Aquatic Resources' Holomua Marine Initiative. If I accept, I will be the Kohala representative. I will attend the informational meeting to find out what is being asked of the navigation team members before I make my decision.

Tonight I listened to the 1st episode again on Lingopie. There was a pop quiz right after it finished; I took the quiz. I got all 9 phrases correct on the 1st attempt; which is great! However, I really wasn't able to understand much of the video. I got the phrases correct because I could recognize some key characters like 月 (moon); though I can't remember that it is pronounced yuè in Mandarin because I keep thinking gatsu which is the Japanese pronunciation for that kanji. Auē!  

I am hoping the work I am doing on Duolingo will help me with recognizing characters in Lingopie. Duolingo goes at a slower pace than Lingopie & also makes you practice writing the Hanzi. I have not come across that in Lingopie. Yet. Maybe its there but I just haven't gotten to that point.

Don't get nervous when you look at the next picture. This is a satellite image of cloud cover plus infrared colorization showing moisture in the clouds. Yes, it has a large footprint & looks like it will engulf the entire state. But it is this type of information which provides the background for predicting what may happen & assist in emergency planning. It is vital to understanding what to do.

Tropical Storm Lala is expected to make landfall or pass very close by the southernmost end of Hawai'i Island some time tomorrow afternoon. Currently, Lala's sustained winds speeds are at 65 mph so it does not yet have hurricane force winds; it is expected to attain those levels overnight. Lala is about 245 miles east-southeast of Ka Lae Point (southernmost point on Hawaiʻi Island), moving west-northwesterly at about 12 mph. Tropical storm force winds extend outward about 220 miles from the center. Rainfall of 8 to 12 inches across Hawai'i Island is expected with maximums of up to 25 inches. My kalo should be very happy! (The māla they are in collects the rainwater from the kitchen roof.)

Episode 53 of the eruption at Kīlauea ended yesterday. Volcanologists need to collect more data before they can issue a prediction for the start of the next episode. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Tom, Hotdog Bruce, & Shelly! A me ka Hauʻoli lā Hoʻomanaʻo makahiki ʻelima e Tomiko & David! 

Tropical Storm Lala

Potential Tropical Cyclone One-C became a tropical storm early this morning. Tropical Storm Lala is now about 680 miles east-southeast of Hilo & moving west-northwesterly at about 10 mph. Its maximum sustained winds are about 40 mph with tropical storm force winds extending out about 140 miles from the center. Hawaiʻi Island is under a Hurricane Watch which means within 48 hours we can expect tropical storm force winds to arrive, making outside preparation difficult. It is currently anticipated that Lala will pass along the southerly part of the island on Saturday; it is also anticipated winds at that time will be near hurricane strength.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center map also shows Tropical Storm Hernan approaching us from the east. Hernan is expected to decrease in strength & dissipate before crossing in to the central Pacific region so should not be a threat to us.