Obey Zolac!

Today I got paid $16/hour and free dinner to drive a bunch of NYU students around in a van. And like, see the Gemini North telescope control room, and go up to Mauna Kea summit, which are things I would do for free.

And it was just. Perfect. To slowly climb the switchbacks while the sunlight turns golden high on the cinder cones, with the whole earth and a sea of clouds dropping away beneath us and Mauna Loa growing larger and impossibly larger to the south, and the peak of Hualalai erupting into view, then Haleakalā—"Look, there's Maui!" "Whaaaaaaat, no way!"—and pulling over at the top with the swollen, luminous full moon rising just above the limb of the summit cone in the east, and the observatories gleaming like jewels in the glory of the sun to the west, and the kids gasping at the view and laughing at the way the thin air makes their heads spin, and the sky going red and indigo, and Venus, then Jupiter, then Regulus igniting above the horizon, and driving down in the dark with the full moon too bright to look at, casting shadows and illuminating objects in color vision, the sea of clouds glowing nearly as bright, the sky black and starry and the hulk of Mauna Loa even blacker, and the smudge of glowing orange cast by Kīlauea's lava against the clouds. And parking at 9000 feet with the moon too too bright but still with so much hanging above us in the sky, the Big Dipper and Polaris, Scorpius about to devour Saturn, and taking them to see the silverswords gleaming ghostly alien in the moonlight, tall flowering stalks standing silent shadowed sentinels. All the kids lying on their backs, shouting in astonishment as meteor after meteor slash across the sky, Timo asking, "Well, it's getting late, should we go?" And one girl yelling, "Noooooooo, I'm going to live here, I want to stay on this mountain forever!!"

Yeah, girl. I know exactly how you feel.

OH HEY SO THOSE MAUNA LOA SUMMIT PICTURES I MEANT TO POST, LIKE, TWO MONTHS AGO, FML.



( More under the cut, plus bonus random pictures. Again, dunno why some are sideways, LJ didn't used to do that, whatevs, that's what your neck is for. )

It is sooooo full of pineapple right now. :D

Laulau and fresh coconut for breakfast.

I WIN BREAKFAST.

My icon has never been more appropriate.

So back in March a new fissure opened up between Nāpau Crater and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (you may remember I made a post about it) and lava poured out for a few days, and an experimental seeding and out-planting section of the forest caught fire and burned to the ground. We've dubbed this area Kupukupu, and now that my adventures in Kealakomo Waena are complete, our next big project is checking up on our experimental plots and seeing what survived, what's resprouting, and what seedlings are coming up.

Today was our second day up there (our first day was a few weeks ago). We hiked around, surveyed our plots, and a little after 2 p.m. we started the 40-minute hike back down to our truck.

WHICH IS WHEN THIS HAPPENED.

...Yes, that would be a volcanic eruption.

According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website (also check out their web cameras), rapid deflation of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater floor was detected at 2:05. We started to leave our work site at 2:15. The eruption began at 2:20.

Consider, if you will, this Google Map I have marked, showing the estimated location of the new eruption, and my estimated location at time of eruption. I was about, oh, I dunno, 4 miles (6ish kilometers) from the fissure, down slope (and due south, which is, according to the website, where the lava was going).

We had, by the way, absolutely no idea this was going on at the time. We were a fair part of the distance back down to our truck when our radio started going crazy with chatter about volcanic activity at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, but it wasn't until we got in our truck and started driving back up Chain of Craters Road that we saw the black plume and pulled over to take pictures realized what was happening.

By the time we got to the intersection with Crater Rim Drive, we'd passed a whole posse of government trucks on their way down to evacuate tourists from Chain of Craters, and a roadblock had been set up to keep people out. We got back to the greenhouse, and my boss is like, "Well, I guess we won't be working at Kupukupu again for a while...." I just about died laughing.

MY JOB IS THE BEST JOB. I LOVE MY JOB. I LOVE MY LIFE.

...One of the best bits of today's story is how I'd spent the morning hike up having an extended conversation with our volcano goddess, Pele. It's a thing I do, sometimes, when I'm going to work in the forest; I don't know the appropriate Hawaiian chants, but I like to quietly introduce myself to the forest and beg permission to enter. Today, being so close to the active vent, I spoke to Pele. I introduced myself and described my lineage, explained my reason for being there that day, and asked for her hospitality and, should she care to give it, her assistance. I counted it a win when the sulfur dioxide wasn't as bad as the last time we visited. Looking at the timing of that eruption, though... that happened just as we were leaving. If she had let loose earlier in the day, they would've started evacuating people while we were still well up the hill; I bet we probably would've been buzzed by a helicopter. As it was, she held off until we were on our way out. I asked for hospitality; she exercised her power and showed very clearly that she does whatever she likes, but she chose to let us depart safely.

Mahalo nui loa, Pele. Aloha. Message received.

It has been remarkably stormy this May and June: frequent thunderstorms, snow on both mountains, and tons of rain. (Apparently it was really dry just until I showed up... this is pretty typical for me and rainy weather. ^_^) But it cleared up a few days ago, and I saw Mauna Kea over the weekend for the first time since I got back, which is really kind of sad.

Yesterday evening was freaking glorious. As I left the house for folk dancing at around 6:45, the sun had dropped behind Mauna Kea and it was seriously one of the most beautiful Hilo sunsets I have ever seen. The sky was powder blue; the mountain in silhouette was pigeon gray with just the slightest flavor of purple. Its feet nestled in thin layer of soft cotton, and the summit was crowned by golden rays of light. The whole thing was framed by high clouds, burnished by the sun and delicate, lacy, like gold flakes. Just- GUH.

I spent the whole drive over staring at it and trying not to crash into anyone. When I got there we all stood on the upstairs porch, enjoying the view from Haili Hill of idyllic Hilo on this soft, perfect evening, Haili Street sweeping downward through old Hilo houses to Hilo Bay, Coconut Island and coconut trees, a lone sailboat anchored on the blue-gray water. We watched the sunset clouds turn from gold to tangerine sherbet and wished to vanish the power poles disturbing our view, agreeing that Mauna Kea is the most beautiful mountain in the entire freaking world.

Coming home at 9:15 it was still so clear, and the moon had set and all the stars were out, Scorpio dominating the sky to one side, the Big Dipper to the other, and so many stars in between. I turned off the carport light to look. Gods but I love living in an astronomy town; Hilo's got a population of 43,000 plus and I can see the Milky Way from my driveway. In the space of a minute I saw two shooting stars.

The amount of my happiness is immeasurable.

Speaking of happiness, I haven't told you about my job. I AM LOVING IT. I spend every day outside, in the forest or down on the coast, where it's hot and windy and there's no shade, but the sky is blue and the ocean is blue and the difference between that and a cubicle is broader than the slopes of Mauna Loa. I am doing actual honest-to-god science, and I am learning every day, and I love the people I'm working with, we all get along swimmingly. Stacey's a Waiakea grad and my neighbor; Laureen is from Réunion, France; Chico is a tough chick from Pepe‘ekeo; Susan Dale is the mother of Sarah Dale, my friend and Stacey's; and Mark is as cheerful and friendly and helpful and energetic as he sounded on the phone, and he smiles all the time and he looks a little bit like Val Kilmer. XD

Everything's been brilliant aside from the Unfortunate Saga of Mark, which a couple of you know a little about. We were supposed to go camping last week, but Mark got sick. Then he slept for 16 hours. Then he went to the hospital. Then he stayed in a hospital bed for days on an IV with antibiotics and no food. We saw him on Monday, on his feet again but pale and skinny, the poor thing. Turns out he had an inflamed appendix or something of the sort. He should be out in the field again on Friday.

So, all that and dancing half the nights of the week as well, and sometimes more hiking on the weekends. I am sore and tired and I never get enough sleep and I am SO. FREAKING. HAPPY.

Love you all. ♥

...Well, this is as good a time as any to be making a post.

So that folk dancing party I went to. It was lovely. Like I said, good food, good people, live music. And dancing! Smiles and laughter. Sampled some of Lon's homegrown homemade chocolate. Good stuff.

Also a bunch of us took an excursion up to Chris and Julianna's place. Chris and Julianna are this lovely young artist couple–Chris is a woodworker, Julianna paints–who live on Lon and Carol's property and, apparently, collect animals. When I met them in November, they had cats, a VERY HAPPY dog named Jeeves, a bunch of chickens, a garden, and a greenhouse full of tomatoes. When I met them again in January, they'd acquired a pair of baby goats. Now, the kids have grown up, and there's also a little sweet-faced donkey named Aster, and a big black cow with three calves, and a pair of Jackson's chameleons, and a flock of ducks, and pheasant chicks, and quail chicks, and a horse.

...Let me tell you about this horse. So Lon and Carol had this horrible sketchy neighbor who was always driving home drunk and getting stuck on their rocks, and he moved away, leaving a dog and a horse behind, and when his caretaker had to leave he told his caretaker to leave the animals to die. Instead the caretaker came to Chris and Julianna. They gave the dog to some friends who love dogs, and they kept the horse. Her name is Grace and she is skin and bones and her coat is bad and her digestion is bad and she is lovely. She's this tiny little roan thing and despite everything she's been through she is so sweet, she is so friendly, she has this amazing temperament and good spirits, and when she's healthy again she is going to be fantastic.

Fuck you very much for leaving her to die, you motherfucker.

Anyway, hanging with the animals is so much fun. They all love people and they get along with each other so well, it's totally adorable. My Dad and I walked down to the bottom of the lot to see the chickens and the garden and the greenhouse and the avocado trees, and the two goats and Aster and Jeeves came with us, and they're all playing together and chasing each other around, and then the cat that was down there poking about joined up with us and joined in the playing, and Grace wanted to play with everyone too but she was in her paddock. Aster's clearly friendly but very shy; if you look right at her she shies away, but she followed on my heels and I stopped once and she put her nose in my hand where I was holding it behind my back. Even the chickens and the ducks will follow you around, and the cow sniffed at my hand but tossed her head in disgust when I didn't have any food for her. I was up there for a good long while, feeding and playing with the animals, SO MUCH HAPPY ANIMAL THERAPY GUYS, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. T_T

...In other news, read this fic: History, Repeating Itself by gyzym. It's a multichapter Sherlock Holmes fic (as in, the RDJ and Jude Law movie), an AU where Holmes and Watson are grad students in America and roommates, and it is fucking BRILLIANT. Like, some of you are aware of Jizzy's genius, but this is phenomenal even for her. The best thing I can think of to compare it to is the show Luther. You're reading it and it's awesome, omg so awesome, so very fucking awesome and then HOLY SHIT WHAT IS HAPPENING OHMIGOD AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!! Like that. There's part of a sequel, too, Valley Winter Song, but she posted that almost a year ago and hasn't yet posted the rest, so read that at your own risk.

That is all.

Okay, so I wasn't going to do this, but it seems I just can't help myself. I've changed my mind. There are some things the world just really needs to see, and it would be irresponsible of me to stand in the way of humanity's ability to enjoy these wonderful things.

Things like this: SCOTTY CAAN, PORN COP. ...So, Scott Caan (better known as the new Hawaii Five-0's Danny Williams) was in this AWFUL MOVIE entitled Deep In The Valley that is basically a parody of porn. Anonymous Coward On The Internet has thoughtfully cut out most of the ninety or so minutes that we REALLY DON'T NEED TO SEE, and given us eleven minutes of Just Scott Caan in all his glory. GUYS, THIS IS EITHER THE BEST OR MOST TERRIFYING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN.

As I told sirona_gs, what's really funny is that Scott's character in this is a cop, and he looks like Danny and he dresses like Danny and he talks with his hands like Danny... basically it's like THIS IS THE DREAM DANNY WILLIAMS HAD ONE TIME WHERE HE STARRED IN A PORNO.

...His name is ROD CANNON, guys, ROD CANNON, come on, you know you need this in your life.

Stolen from queenklu and leupagus, like the creepy journal-stalker I am.

In other news, I've only got one South Pacific documentary episode left. Let me tell you, guys, Benedict Cumberbatch's pronunciation of Hawaiian names is SO HORRIBLY BAD, oh god. It makes me wonder how awfully he's slaughtering the other Pacific languages, since I can't tell the difference. ...Benedict, darling, you're trying so hard~! *pinches his cheeks* The series is totally worth it, though, for Benedict's voice the absolutely gorgeous scenery and camera work, and the amazing ground-breaking glimpses of rare animals and the fount of really interesting information. And anyway, he's hardly the first or the last to fail horribly at Hawaiian. *laughs at all of you forever*

...Wow, it hasn't been raining for at least a couple of hours. That would be a first since I got back. I should maybe go mow the lawn or something, while I still can.

I had a dream I was in the south of Oregon–heh, in Paisley, no less–with my dad and my brother and my young cousin, a four or five year old girl belonging to my Uncle Gary's family (this cousin does not actually exist). We were getting ready to drive back up to Portland where my brother and I would be returned to our mother, when wee!cousin DISAPPEARED. We went looking for her everywhere and talked to the sheriff's office and we were thinking of staying another night so we could look for her, and I was freaking out about having to call mom and tell her why we wouldn't be home that night and admit that we'd lost our cousin. ...She did eventually show up. She hadn't gone far.

Then I dreamed that I was in middle school again. WORST NIGHTMARE EVER, Y/Y?

It's raining. Again. Still. Always. It makes it very hard for me to get out of bed. It's so warm in my basement bed.

Two thunder storms in a row here, guys. What even.

:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

ETA: NOW WITH WATERSPOUTS OFF WAIKIKI BEACH :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD