December 30, 2003

Rain Day

Its raining... and has been for the last 48 hours. Not too unusual in an area that gets 165+ inches of rain a year, more or less. We have been in somewhat of a drought as we have had only 89 inches of rain this year...its nearly a record dry year. The weather has been wonderful and other than being concerned for those souls that depend on catching rainwater for their drinking and other water needs, I would rather that it stay dry.

The landscape here suffers though if it doesnt rain everyday at least a little. We live in an area that is relatively new land. This side of Hawaii island has constant volcanic activity. As recently as 1960 areas within a mile of my home have had lava flow. My house is on top of such a flow, solid rock with no top soil. Grasses, plants and even trees grow out of the very porous rock. Moisture gets trapped in the smallest crevices, and provides a hospitable environment for growing things. It dries up quickly. I have seen it rain 36 inches in 36 hours and have no puddling in the yard or drive, it sinks in that fast. Flooding happens only where there is soil, or in Hilo where they have paved over much of the town, and the streams that drain off Mauna Kea bring torrents of water down to the bay. In 2000 a huge rain driven flood did a lot of damage to parts of downtown. The current location of the shop is not in a danger area. The possible new location could have some flooding at the front door area. We'd sandbag inside and outside the front door.

So I tell people that I live in the Green Desert. It really is. When Monica was here she was amazed at the water dripping off everything yet there never seems to be any bodies of water, no lakes or ponds. That's because the island is one huge water tank, a aquifer, with water seeping out under the sea and on land too.

I said that most people here in the Puna District use "Catchment" systems to gather the water used for bathing, toilet flushing, and if you have a really good system that kills the microbes you can drink it too. If your tank runs dry you can have it filled by the water man who brings his big truck and hose. There are water spigots along the main highway for people to get drinking water for free. In our subdivision we have a water system. This are was known since the old times for its water. "Puna" means "springs" as we understand them. Water flowing from the ground. The developers tapped it and the 5500 homes ( more or less) reap a real benefit. Our water is rated the best in all of the Hawaiian Islands. After growing up in Southern California, where the water is so hard,and full of chemicals it is the consistency of jello, (just kidding!) this is bliss, just having a glass of water. I drink a lot of it and prefer it to any other beverage. It makes superb coffee and tea too. My water bill in California was 50.00 a month (I did a lot of gardening), here its 15.00 a month unlimited usage. More Hawaiian bliss. The only thing that tastes as good as this water is the fruits that grow here in that water.

To have this luxury we must have rain and lots of it.

We have had the first "winter" storm (which means cold) of the season. We had thunder and lightning and its snowed on Mauna Kea I include a link here to the observatory. The Mauna Kea Weather site has a great photo of the observatory swathed in snow. This is the only place on earth where you can snowboard in a Aloha Shirt. Looking forward to seeing the "White Mountain" perhaps tomorrow when we go into the shop.

We took the day off as we didn't want to deal with the weather and we were pretty sure wed have little or no business. Normally we are closed on Mondays anyway. Had a lazy day. Did some work getting ready for taxes and the annual inventory which we will do on the 2nd of January.

Tried my teapot today...it leaks... See the DancingRainGirl make a pouty face. Woody wasn't happy either, but we know that Margaret at Phoenix Rising will make it right. One way or another.