Category Archives: Series

Better Days: Old Pu’u Wa’awa’a blockhouse

The interior of an old building on the Pu’u Wa’awa’a trail.

A few days ago I posted (here) about the view from an old blockhouse on the Pu’u Wa’awa’a trail. Today, I’m taking a look inside. As I mentioned before, the building is now a shelter for livestock with assorted detritus on the floor, but light through the empty windows still casts a bright image on the painted walls.

For more information about Pu’u Wa’awa’a and its trails, go to puuwaawaa.org.

Signs: Water shortage

In Kailua Kona, this electronic sign flashes “Emergency Water Restriction” and “Stop Sprinkler Use.”In Kailua Kona, this electronic sign flashes “Emergency Water Restriction” and “Stop Sprinkler Use.”

I was in Kailua Kona recently when I saw this electronic sign flashing “Emergency Water Restriction” and “Stop Sprinkler Use.” The irony, of course, was that I saw the sign during the kind of tropical downpour that washes cars, trees, and houses away. The road I was on was a shallow river. Entering one store, I had to wade through water lapping at my calves.

Kona’s water supply has been in trouble for several weeks now, but it’s nothing to do with rainfall. The water supply comes from wells and several of the pumps have broken down. Most of the pumps are different so each has its own unique spare parts. The one, brand new, spare pump available proved to be defective.

How was such a situation allowed to happen? Well, that’s a good question and people in high places are concerned. Serious questions are being asked. New procedures are being drawn up. Those responsible will be held to account. Just kidding on that last one. That’s not really how things work here.

 

Abstracts: Jellyfish

A tiny jellyfish floats in the waters off the Big Island of Hawaii.

Every so often, when I go snorkeling, the water is full of small pink filament-like things. Swimming through them leaves me feeling slightly itchy and I’ve been told they’re baby jellyfish. A few days ago, in amongst these little pink blobs was a somewhat larger one, still only an inch or two long, but definitely a jellyfish.

This was the best photo I got, but I liked how the water swirled around above it with the pink-rimmed hole looking like it might just have beamed the jellyfish down.

Abstracts: Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles

This pair of yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles were waiting for something at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens

This pair of yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles were waiting for something at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens. Perhaps they were plotting a breakout, figuring out how to cut through the mesh, before making a plod for it.

For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.

Signs: Tong Wo Society

The sign outside Kohala's Tong Wo Society building.

The Tong Wo Society is a nonprofit organization, founded for Chinese immigrant workers as a meeting place and social center. The society’s building, at Halawa in North Kohala, is the oldest standing Chinese building in the state. It’s only open to the public one day a year during the Chinese New Year celebrations.