My Summer Vacation: Three Years!

That's how long I have been living on Hawai'i Island permanently; Happy Anniversary to me! A lot has happened since then; the Holiday posts from 2023 & 2024 provide a broad brush view of a lot of it. And the posts over the past 3 months capture the details of what has happened since the last holiday letter was written. (I usually write the holiday letter just before Thanksgiving since I send them out with holiday packages.)

Jaime arranged for Becky & Johannes from Terraformation to meet with us today at Lapakahi State Historical Park. They have a 40-acre revegetation site about 2 miles south of Lapakahi that they have been working on for about 4 years now. They are more than happy to share what they know & have learned over the years about getting vegetation re-established on the leeward side of the island as well as excluding goats. They are also partnering with Lapakahi to raise the seedlings that will be needed for the revegetation project.

(L-R) Jaime, Dane, Johannes, & Becky looking at potential revegetation site.

When I left Lapakahi, I continued heading south to Kona; I had to go to Home Depot to check how close a match I could get to the original flooring. Searching online yesterday, I discovered the original flooring in the house is no longer manufactured. Checking at Home Depot in person, I discovered that the online info was not at all accurate for what is actually in stock; there was a lot more there that was not shown online. But since I still could not find a close match, I decided to go with something completely different but beautiful. I got the engineered wood with a koa veneer on top. If they had this when I 1st was looking in 2016, this is what I would have chosen. They had enough in stock I was able to pick up as much as is needed to do the flooring in the Lumi Pōpoki.

Waiting for loading.

Harvest loads flooring in to Crosstrek.

While at Home Depot I looked for new lights for the Lumi Pōpoki, the Cat Genie room, & over the kitchen sink. I really couldn't find what I needed; they seem to have gone to fixtures with built-in LEDs that say they last for 45 years. When they burn out, you change the entire fixture. As I was looking at it, a couple came by also looking for lights. The woman said they got one earlier & they were back because it lasted more like 45 days not years. I'll keep looking.

I also looked at desk lamps for when I will be using the space. I want something that focuses the light on the work space but does not have anything that might attract curious kitties looking for something to play with. I have not selected anything yet.

The slim black one is what I was looking at.

And I looked for deck furniture at both Home Depot & Lowe's. The part where the furniture will be is 4 feet wide so whatever I get will need to be compact. It will also need to be weather-resistant because I do not intend to move it in & out every day. And white so it doesn't heat up too much. These 2 are candidates.

Here's the current status of the deck where the furniture will be sitting. The plywood is temporary; the actual decking will be the plastic-wood composite that is more durable than treated lumber. Also more expensive but in the long run more cost-effective.

The 4-foot wide end of the deck.

It's 3'6" at other end so hapuʻu does not need to be removed.

Chris & Spencer started putting up the drywall today. It is beginning to really look like a room now!

They also put on another coat of paint on the outside.

The 9th episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is still paused. But here is a video of it while it was actively erupting. Fountains were reported to be up to 200 feet high in this earlier episode.