On a recent foray into Hawi to get photos for last week’s Sunday Stills challenge (here), I took these photos of the Kohala Welcome Center. This is the place to get information about North Kohala for visitors en route to Kapaau and Pololu, which marks the end of the highway.
On this particular evening, the welcome center was illuminated by its Christmas display and a full moon, which also highlighted the palm trees that tower over that location.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Holiday Decor.’ See more offerings here.
This theme forced me outside after dark, something of a rarity these days. As usual, when I walked into Hawi, I thought, ‘I should do this more often.’
Here are a couple of the downtown buildings illuminated for the season. In truth, this was pretty much it for holiday trappings, but it’s still a good deal more than at my house!
Also posted, belatedly, in response to the last Friendly Friday challenge theme of 2019, ‘Christmas Preparations.’ See more responses here.
This is the entrance to Lokahi Garden Sanctuary. It’s on a narrow road with trees on both sides so there’s only a short time when the sun hits these plants. I’ve driven by many times when it was dark or in the shade. Other times, when the sun was right, I didn’t have my camera. But I really wanted to get a photo of the plantings with the sun on them.
On this day I had my camera, stopped the car, and took a couple of photos. I’m glad I did because shortly after this, a tall, purple banner was placed in the center of the plants. Depending on one’s point of view, this banner is either lovely or a garish eyesore. It certainly removed my desire to take any more photos.
The sanctuary itself is a great spot. For more information about Lokahi Garden Sanctuary, go to https://lokahigardensanctuary.com/.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
