My Summer Vacation: March 2022

At 7:29 this morning there was a magnitude 4.5 earthquake near Waikoloa about 14 miles deep; I felt it here at the house. Like the other earthquakes I have been through, there is a different sound that precedes the actual shaking by 10 to 15 seconds so I knew what was going to happen; I headed to the sturdiest part of the house. The earthquake did not generate a tsunami; I did not feel any aftershocks. Here is a video describing this morning's activities.

For those who have been following along on the blog since I moved back, you have seen me looking for earthquake-proofing materials like straps to stabilize shelves & the new monitor that Laurel & Bill gave me. I am now living on an island that frequently experiences earthquakes & while the last big one that caused damage in this area of the island was in 2006, it is part of living on this island & another could occur at any moment. FYI The hurricane food I have talked about could also be used in a major earthquake; I guess I should really call it my emergency food supply.

After the earthquake, I went online & filled out the USGS Did You Feel It? survey. It provides scientists & responders with more information for future events.

In case you were wondering about the sound I hear; today it was a very low subtle clanking of the dishes in the safe. There are no vehicles passing by on the road that can cause that; I have read that there are vibrations of the P wave that precede the big shaking. I think the P waves caused that clanking. The magnitude 5.3 May 1996 Duvall (WA) earthquake was at about 9 pm; I was in the computer room at home. I heard what sounded like a cane truck coming down between my house & the apartment building next door; only problem is there is only a sidewalk & a fence with not enough space for a large vehicle. I immediately knew it was an earthquake; from the safety of the sturdiest part of the house I watched as one of my hanging potted plants swung around during the shaking. In the magnitude 6.8 Nisqually (WA) earthquake in February 2001, I was at work. I heard a low rumble like a cane truck passing by; since I was on the 5th floor of a concrete building & Washington has no cane trucks, I knew it was an earthquake. I quickly pushed myself away from my desk & sat in the middle of my cubicle area looking out for anything that might fall from nearby shelves. I did not follow the safety officer's advice to hide under my desk since the back side of the modular desk furniture was open to a window about 6 inches away & would not prevent any glass from hitting me if the window shattered; sitting farther back in my cubicle well away from the window was safer.

When I was a child I remember hearing a cane truck passing by my grandparents' house in Halawa Camp one afternoon. I was puzzled because the road in front my grandparents' house only led to 2 other houses, not any cane fields or the mill; I ran to the window to see the truck. There was no truck passing by, just swaying trees; I later heard my grandparents talking about an earthquake. I think this was the magnitude 4.99 Hāwī (HI) earthquake; I think this is when I learned to associate that cane truck sound with an impending earthquake. I think that sound is also produced by the P waves which dogs, cats, & other animals can also apparently hear. According to the literature, most humans think it is just traffic noise & ignore it.

I was a little late in starting the cats' morning feeding; I gave them their first scoop at 7:23 a.m. They were done eating before the earthquake hit & were sitting around the empty bowl when it struck. They did not seem to know it was happening until after it started; then they ran like they usually do when a stranger is approaching the door. To be fair to them, the "shaking" was about the equivalent of someone quite a bit larger than me walking around the house. The 2nd scoop I put out for them was within minutes of the earthquake; Olomea sat at the end of the ramp, no one else showed up immediately. I think they might have been waiting to see if that "heavy person" was still around. I don't think even Mom Cat has been through an earthquake that could be felt before.

Holoi (L) & Olomea at 7:23 a.m.

At the food bowl at 7:23 a.m.; (bottom to top) Holoi, Mom Cat, & Olomea.

Only Olomea is here at 7:31 a.m., wary of the heavy other "person" in the house.

Mom Cat (end of ramp on L), (then L to R) Olomea, Holoi, & Hahai coming to eat at 7:46 a.m. after the heavy "person" has left.

(L to R) Mom Cat, Olomea, & Hahai waiting for food at 8:01 a.m.

No one here at 8:15 a.m.

Hahai waiting for food at 8:31 a.m.

Hahai at 8:46 a.m.; not as hungry as earlier.

Everyone is done eating for the morning at 9:01 a.m.

I processed some of the fruit that Catie bought while she was here; they were finally ripe enough to eat. I cut up the sugar cane that was left in to 1" cubes to add to my proothies in the morning. I did a similar thing to the papaya; I have 8 bags. I froze the apple bananas whole; there are 4 of those. I use fruit in my proothies once a week on Feast Day so with these I now have enough for 12 weeks. In order to freeze them as fast as possible, I lay them out 1 layer deep; the mango & rambutan will have to wait until tomorrow since I am now out of space for that 1 layer. I also cut up the guavas; I will be collecting them until I have enough to make jam. (They are too seedy; I don't like the texture in my proothie. Besides, I like jam better!)

Snack bags of papayas, bananas, & guavas.

I made a dinosaur kale proothie with a couple chunks of sugar cane for lunch. I know it is a Fast Day & I should be waiting until dinner to break my fast. But working with all the fruit made me hungry! Besides I wanted a reward for starting to clean out one of the very dirty cabinets that the cockroaches seem to like a lot!

For dinner I finished off the leftovers of the "past it's Best By date" hurricane food that I had made on Thursday evening. I added some Tajin & it improved the flavor!

At the evening feeding the cats were acting normal again. Olomea & Hahai were here for the 1st scoop even before 5.

Hahai (bottom of ramp) & Olomea are 1st in line for the evening meal at 5:01 p.m.

(L to R) Holoi, Hahai, & Olomea at 5:16 p.m.

Holoi waits close by at 5:31 p.m., while Olomea (L) & Hahai wait further down the ramp.

At 5:46 p.m. Holoi was right by the door.

Holoi moved away when I reached out to put food in bowl; Olomea (middle) & Hahai watched from ramp. Mom Cat peeking around house at end of ramp on left

At 6:01 Mom Cat still peeking around house at end of ramp; Olomea sits on ramp.

At 6:15 p.m. Holoi was eager for food.

She backed up a little when I came out; in back Hahai (L) approaches a patient Olomea.

At 6:31 p.m., Holoi seemed to still be hungry; Olomea sat on ramp, Mom Cat & Hahai waited at end.

Holoi still hungry at 6:46 p.m.; Mom Cat & Hahai haven't moved.

Holoi still hungry at 7:01 p.m.; Mom Cat & Hahai still at end of ramp.

At 7:04 p.m. Mom Cat & Hahai at end of ramp to R of center; Olomea on driveway to L of center.

Duolingo thinks I did good since I did not slip down another league. I feel like Duo in the last picture; I want a nap!

The accident was on the Kohala Mountain Road on a section near the Waimea end of the road. The motorcyclist apparently lost control & struck the guardrail. The motorcyclist was bleeding seriously from a leg wound; good thing for the motorcyclist Officer Beckwith had 12 years experience as a combat medic! The officer properly applied a tourniquet to slow the bleeding & saved his life!

I'm glad to see moves being made to return sacred lands back to the State so that Native Hawaiian caretakers of those lands can once again carry out their sacred duties. U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele has introduced the Leandra Wai Act to return Mākua Military Reservation to the State & clear unexploded ordnance out of the sacred valley & remediate the area. This is not the 1st time in Hawaiʻi that the military has used a sacred place for target practice.

I am also glad to see that more people are getting involved to send a message to Russia that they should not be in Ukraine. There is a ʻUkes for Ukraine live-stream fundraiser to be held on April 9th to raise money for World Central Kitchen which has already donated I million meals to the people of Ukraine. (It's just too bad that the mispronunciation of ʻukulele will be perpetuated since the 1st syllable is not pronounced like "Ukraine", but like the "oo" in "moon". )

The University of Hawai'i at Mānoa has been awarded a 4-year grant of over $1 million to study the ecology of lava tubes. Systematic biological surveys will be conducted in lava tubes on Hawai'i island to compare the ecology & diversity. They hope to learn how the below ground ecosystems form.

The eruption at Kīlauea volcano was not affected by th eqrthquake on Mauna Kea this morning; it's still going. There is still a little snow at Mauna Kea.

At 7:50 a.m.

At 5:50 p.m.

At 7:50 a.m.

At 5:50 p.m.

At 7:50 a.m.

At 5:50 p.m.

At 5:45 p.m.

I took a closer look at the weather app that comes with my phone; it is from AccuWeather. I like the Aix app better; it gave me all 3 locations in one compact window. With this AccuWeather app it is 3 pages. It does provide a little more information such as percent chance of rain every 4 hours & the "RealFeel" at the current time you are viewing it; I just wish it did it more compactly. I guess this will have to do, though, since the Aix app is no longer functioning & I don't have enough memory to add any other app. AccuWeather forecast Kapa'au to be prtly to mostly cloudy in the daylight hours with about a 40$ chance of rain; Big Island Now forecast mostly sunny with isolated showers in the morning becoming partly cloudy with scattered showers in the afternoon & a also a 40% chance of rain. We had the mostly & partly sunny but there was no precipitation. For Honolulu, AccuWeather forecast sunny in the morning becoming cloudy in the afternoon with a 34% to 60% chance of rain during daylight hours; there did not appear to be any rain there today. For Marysville, AccuWeather forecast mostly cloudy all day with a 20 to 50% chance of rain.

Fifteen minutes before sunrise.

Kapaʻau looking northerly at 7:26 a.m.

Waikīkī looking easterly at 5:48 p.m.

Most places are pretty flat but the surf is forecast to be increasing on the north facing & west facing shorelines overnight & advisory level surf is expected tomorrow.