Where Am I?

As I have been here for over a month now, I thought it high time to give a little description of the area of the world I am in beyond the farm. I am on the Big Island which, true to it's name, is the biggest island in Hawaii. It is very rocky due to its formation by volcanos -- one of which is as active as it has been in years and sends "vog" (a mixture of fog and volcanic ash) upon us on a daily basis giving the rainy season an extra haze and heaviness. Our town, Honaunau, 45 minutes South of Kona, is inhabited by a lot of coffee farms and generally laid back and friendly folk. We live at a rather high elevation, but are only a few miles from the beach. Many of the beaches in this area do not have sand or a clear shoreline, but are volcanic rock abutting the ocean. The closest beach is a National Park called City of Refuge as it has long been considered safe and sacred ground by the Hawaiians.

Due to the way the volcanic rock has formed, there are many little pools that fill at high tide with small tropical fish and provide a nice little perch to keep cool in. The scene between the farm and the beach is not what I anticipated -- to me it looks more like the cattle ranches of central California.

On the way between we also pass several cars that look like they were attacked by the jungle -- in Hawaii it is common practice to drive a car until it just can't anymore and proceed to leave it there...

Last weekend I had the chance to go around the island with Tane as we had to pick up an order from a Kava farm outside of Hilo. Kava is a root that is present in various forms throughout Polynesia and has various social and medicinal purposes. Traditionally, the root is ground up into a powder and mixed with water and drunk in dried coconut shells. It looks like dirty water and doesn't taste much different. Luckily, it is a maaajor muscle relaxant and causes your mouth to go numb almost instantly and thus the taste is not much of an issue. It generally makes you feel relaxed and cheerful while it increases blood flow. The roots themselves often need to be taken out with a tractor as they can be huge and heavy. On our way to Hilo we drove through such diverse terrain including the lava fields which are just black waves of rock as far as the eye can see down into the ocean. I was surprised to learn that the huge billowing clouds over one section of the island was not just the cause of the rainy season, but the pressure caused by the eruption of the volcano below. We also passed through legitimate deserts and ended up in lush Hilo.

After leaving Hilo and the Kava farm, we drove home between the two major mountains, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, and stopped in a little forest reserve that was packed with unique trees local to that high elevation.

Before the islands were brought into heavy mercantile trading with the British and other empires, Sandalwood was an abundant and prized wood good for building and with a sweet smell. Sandalwood is now all bit extinct except for this little reserve -- one tree had a very staunch looking Hawaiian Queen sitting beneath. Upon closer inspection it was incredible to see how much life existed in the harsh lava beds between two major volcanic mountains. We saw moss growing on many trees, little berry bushes, and birds. Fortunately we didn't have any encounters with the wild goats and pigs that feed off of this terrain.

I suppose I have come to expect the unexpected here -- not much is predictable and if there is a pattern to things, I don't quite get it and I'm okay with living with the mystery.