Lā Hoʻolu Pae Moku

During November Lā Hoʻolu Pae Moku, aka ReTree Hawaiʻi, worked in collaboration with numerous organizations & volunteers to plant trees in the State. More than 1800 trees were planted on Hawaiʻi Island as part of efforts to reduce climate change impacts; statewide over 10,000 trees were planted. Trees on Hawaiʻi Island were planted in 7 different locations, with about 1/3 in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Personally, I had to have 30 invasive trees & 1 hazardous tree removed from the property; I have planted 2 fruit bearing trees. Only 29 more to go! (I am not counting the hāpuʻu since they are parts from larger plants.)

I made another dinosaur kale proothie. I think I shall try to grow some of my own once I am settled. Between dinosaur kale & lau ʻuala, I should not need to buy any greens for my proothies. The lau ʻuala should do better in the drier months & the dinosaur kale in the wetter months. I should check to see if lau ʻolena or lau ki are edible when raw; I know lau kalo is not edible when raw but is so ʻono when cooked! I don't think there are any other plants there that might have leaves that are edible when they are raw.

I couldnʻt find Luna this morning when I went to check on the cats. Surprisingly S'mores was sleeping out in the open in the cat bed at the end of the hallway. Keala was doing her usual impersonation of a stuffed toy.

Keala.

S'mores.

Oh, oh. Some folks in Kaʻū ran in to problems ordering their free test kits. Some parts of Hawaiʻi Island, like where I am, do not have residential delivery service & you need to have a post office box. I had been wondering if I would have that same issue with ordering but I did not. I know that when you live in those areas, there is a Federal policy that you can get a post office box for free. I wonder if that zip code was not listed as being a post office box only community? They give you the smallest size box for your location; there were none available when I started my service but I needed it right then so I could start my account at the credit union. I got the next size up & it was also conveniently located so I could reach it easily!

The University of Hawaiʻi has approved the new Master Plan for Mauna Kea. The Master Plan covers only those lands that are managed by the University of Hawaiʻi & does not approve, adopt, or fund any projects. A number of people are upset because it did not outright deny the Thirty-Meter Telescope that was a big point of contention a few years ago. But the Master Plan is not the means to do that, a master plan is kinda like a Comprehensive Plan that says what broad categories of use are allowed in which area of a county; whereas a Permit would allow for the construction of something within that location. (Looking back at that explanation I find it would only make sense to someone who has worked in something like a planning department like I did. Not sure what other example I could use. Oh, well.)

We are all out of the soups that The Potential Most Favorite Roommate made a couple days ago, so for dinner I dug through the freezer. I found I still had some plant-based "chicken" nuggets, so I had some of those with the roasted mixed vegetables from Kokua Market.

This week's Volcano Watch article is about the evidence of explosive events at Mauna Loa. It goes into geeky detail about the different types of debris fans found on the summit. The bottom line is that Mauna Loa could erupt again & if it is an explosive type eruption it could have impacts on nearby populated areas. Kīlauea is still erupting & appeared to become a slight bit more active near the end of the day. Mauna Kea still has some old snow.

At 9:26 a.m.

At 4:21 p.m.

At 9:26 a.m.

At 4:21 p.m.

At 9:26 a.m.

At 4:21 p.m.

The Aix weather app forecast partly cloudy skies for Honolulu until late evening when drizzles would begin; it was accurate except for the drizzles. For Kapaʻau,Aix forecast partly cloudy skies turning to drizzles by mid-afternoon & continuing through the evening; Big Island Now forecast sunny in the morning becoming partly sunny with isolated showers in the afternoon & a 20% chance of rain. The Honomū weather station recorded no precipitation today. For Mazrysville, Aix forecast the day starting & ending with drizzles between periods of partly cloudy skies; the traffic cams werenʻt working today so I was unable to get a hint of what happened today.

Waikīkī looking easterly at 9:29 a.m.

Waikīkī looking easterly at 4:19 p.m.

Kaimukī looking westerly at 4:22 p.m.

Honomū at 4:22 p.m.

No response from the Marysville trqffic cam at 4:22 p.m. HST.

The surf on north facing & west facing shorelines is increasing. The surf on easht & south facing shorelines is smaller.

Laniakea (N) at 9:24 a.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 9:22 a.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 9:26 a.m.

Banyans (W) at 9:24 a.m.

Laniakea (N) at 4:18 p.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 4:18 p.m.

Waikīkī at 4:21 p.m.

Banyans (W) at 4:20 p.m.

The low pressure area is a little more than 1000 miles east-northeast of Hilo. Showers & thunderstorms have decreased & it has become less organized. The chance of cyclone formation over the next 48 hours has now dropped to 10%.

There was a magnitude 5.3 earthquake last night 60 miles northwest of Homer, AK, as well as a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Shikoku, Japan, today. Neither one generated a tsunami.

There were 4473 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 195,151. There were 2 new deaths reported, increasing the death toll to 1137; currently there are 58,521 cases that are considered active. As of today, there have been 2,672,297 doses of vaccine administered, providing 75.5% of the State population with full vaccination & 81.4% with at least one dose & 31.4% with their 3rd shot. Currently there are 394 cases in the hospital with 45 in the ICU & 32 on ventilators. The 7-day new case average for the State is 4587; the 7-day new case average for Oʻahu is 3134.