Tag Archives: Hawi

Signs: Do not miss this, whatever it is

Driving toward Hawi recently, I noticed this sign. The speed limit in this area is 45 mph and I was actually traveling at around that speed, but by the time the sign registered and I looked at it, I was unable to see what it said.

Next time I drove by, I slowed down and focused on the sign. I still couldn’t read it. Today, I stopped, got out of the truck and walked over to the sign to see what it actually said. I had to get pretty close before I could read it. I doubt many passing drivers, the target of the sign, had any clue as to what it was about.

It’s one of those signs that might have looked good on a computer screen, capturing the rural feel of the area, but it’s a real world fail.

And what is the event being promoted? It’s the Kohala Country Fair and it’s happening today from 10 am to 5 pm. Better get your skates on.

Electric

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Electric.’ See more responses here. These three photos are quite different, but linked by this theme.

The top photo shows a view of an electric substation. I like the lines and shapes such facilities offer. But where does this power come from? A good deal is from oil fired plants, but Hawaii is working to get more of its electricity from locally sustainable sources.

In the middle is a view of Hawi wind farm, with Mauna Kea in the background. There are several wind farms of varying sizes in Hawaii including a few on the Big Island. Their contribution to the power grid is small, but growing. Solar power is also a big contributor, on an individual house basis or for whole communities (here).

One source that provided around 25% of the Big Island’s electricity was the Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV). Last year’s eruption shut them down, though, as the bottom photo shows, the flows mostly missed the plant itself. I think a couple of their wells were covered by lava, but most were spared. Currently, they’re in the process of restarting power production. Not everyone here is a fan of this power source. The same can be said about the Honua Ola bioenergy plant, which will generate electricity from burning eucalyptus chips, but which is still to become operational.

Chair with an attitude

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Chair.’ (See more responses here.) Usually I dig through my files for something suitable, but I knew I was light on chair photos. Instead, I went out and took a photo specifically for this challenge.

I’ve always liked the front of this hair salon in downtown Hawi and, in particular, the old barber’s chair located out front. This is a spot where customers can hang out prior to an appointment, but it’s also fine for passers-by to take a seat and watch the world go slowly by.

Sugar cane

North Kohala was a significant center for Hawaii’s sugar industry through the boom years in the 1800s until its decline in the first half of the 20th century. Now, sugar cane is being put to a new use in the area – rum production.

The photos show sugar cane being grown in the fields below Hawi wind farm. This isn’t just any kind of sugar cane. These are heirloom varieties, derived from canoe plants – plants brought to Hawaii by the original Polynesian settlers. Now they’re being used in the production of rum agricole.

Rum agricole hails from the Caribbean, particularly the island of Martinique. Regular rum is made from molasses, but rum agricole uses fresh sugarcane juice. The people behind Kuleana Rum have begun producing the Caribbean-style rum here on the Big Island. They have a distillery in Kawaihae, about 17 miles down the coast, and have opened Kuleana Rum Shack, a bar and restaurant in Waikoloa.

For more information about Kuleana Rum, go to kuleanarum.com. Posted in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Spirit.’ See more offerings here.

When worlds collide

Two stores in Hawi in a dispute.
A store in Hawi in a dispute with its neighbor

These two stores have been neighbors for a while in downtown Hawi. Star Light features ‘Crystals & Treasures’ and ‘Spiritual Guidance Readings & Sessions.’

Hawaii Cigar & Ukelele is a new combination at this spot, but the cigar part of it has been there since I’ve lived here and probably for much longer. In the last few months the store has been promoting its CBD (Cannabidiol) products and it might be this that has fractured the fraught relationship between these neighbors.

Hopefully, the pending relocation will leave all parties happy and the spirit of aloha will return to the downtown area.

Posted in response to this week’s Friendly Friday challenge on the theme of ‘Story.’ See more responses here.

Super blood wolf moon

blood moon over hawi

blood moonThe recent lunar eclipse occurred last Sunday evening here in Hawaii. When the moon rose at 6:02 p.m. (five minutes before sunset) the eclipse was already well underway. Where I was watching, the sky was hazy so the moon wasn’t very clear. It then disappeared into a bank of clouds and I considered heading for home. But the cloud bank wasn’t huge and was drifting away from the area I was watching.

Sure enough, a little before 7 p.m., the now fully-eclipsed moon slid above the clouds into a beautiful starlit night. I took some photos where I’d set up, down by the coast, and then headed into Hawi to see what it looked like there.

Above is a view from downtown Hawi (not exactly hopping at 7:20 on Sunday night). The second photo is the moon soon after it rose above the clouds before the sky was fully dark. Below is the night sky with the moon in the bottom left and Orion at the top right.

Why the grand name for this eclipse? The moon was closer to the Earth than normal so it seemed bigger and brighter than usual, which is known as a supermoon. Because this was a total eclipse it gave the moon a red tint, which is known as a blood moon. And January’s full moon is sometimes called a wolf moon. Voila – a super blood wolf moon.

Posted in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Night,’ (See more responses here.) and this week’s Friendly Friday challenge on the theme of ‘Coral-ish colors.’ (See more responses here.)

blood moon and orion

Rainbow over the road

Rainbow

Rainbow over the roadToday marks the start of the fourth year for this blog. Post number one was of a rainbow over the northern coast, so I thought I’d post another one on the anniversary.

This rainbow occurred just last week over the road leading up to Hawi. Hawi gets around 60 inches of rain a year. A few miles south, the rainfall drops off to less than 20 inches, and it’s usually dry and sunny there. One byproduct of this climatic contrast is that there are frequent rainbows.

This one occurred in the late afternoon as I was heading home and, even though I see a lot of rainbows, I felt moved to pull over and snap a few photos before heading up into the clouds and rain over Hawi.

Under the banyan trees

Hawi Banyan trees

I could have used this photo for last week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘In Your Town,’ but it also works for this week’s theme of ‘Traditions.’ (see more offerings here.)

These two giant banyan trees are half a block up from the main highway through downtown Hawi. Each Saturday, a farmers market is held on the grassy area beneath these trees. That event is part grocery shop, part social gathering.

The rest of the week, the location is the traditional meeting place for the area, particularly for people carpooling. If someone says to meet under the banyans, or at the banyans, the location is immediately understood.