Cloudbow

This is the first time I’ve seen this natural phenomenon, although it must be quite frequent: the cloudbow. That’s a rainbow (a circular diffraction pattern caused by water droplets in the atmosphere) made by clouds, not by rain.

I walked out onto the lanai to enjoy the (extremely rare) evening sunshine. The sun had already set on Hau`Oli Mau, but it still shone on the ocean, unencumbered by Mauna Kea. There was a giant cloud right ahead of me, towards the wind. And from it rose a vertical rainbow.

Progress in the house

Well, get this: during lunch hour, when nobody at work wants to communicate with me anyway (they had sushi, I heard) I got to complete two of the two critical tasks from the other post, and start on the fourth one!

In particular, I fixed the sheeted windows, adding two panes where they had broken (it’s SOOO quiet in the main room now, it’s almost scary!) and removing a sheet where it had torn, but no sheet was needed (in the upstairs room). Additionally, I moved all of the flooring from outside in. That was a lot of work, actually, and I am glad I could rush it into my lunch hour.

From the main room, while the rain is pounding

Here I am, in the middle of the night, woken up already but set to go for another day of fun in Ninole. The Internet connection works well, and there is nothing to do for the next five hours, until the sun starts peeking through the clouds.

You find me well here in Ninole. I haven’t accomplished nearly enough, as usual, and I still have to go to the County to talk with them about my permit. That’s set to happen today. For the house, I find I need to do little this time. I set the goal of accomplishing as follows:

Drought in Ninole

I didn’t think it was possible, but we are experiencing drought conditions in Ninole! I mean, all is relative, and a drought here is wetter than a winter in San Francisco, but it’s a nice change from the usual page. I do not have to wake up in the middle of the night because the rain is rapping on the metal roof, and I can open and close the gate without getting drenched.

Theft

Phil, a friend, told me not to worry about the refrigerator, but about the generator – that’s the item most frequently stolen around here. Well, you know what: that’s what happened to me: I got here late last night, only to find that the generator(s) had gone. Missing were: (a) the good generator; (b) the bad generator; (c) the two gas canisters; (c) the chain and lock that tied them to the post. I did a quick inventory, and it looks like there is more missing, but the house has been left alone. (There is something sacred.)

My neighbor's property

My neighbor invited me on a tour of their property, yesterday. She took me on her tractor and we drove all around. What a marvelous place!

The property is a long strip of land that goes from below mine all the way to the shared boundary line mauka. It looks strange on the map – like a snake that had one too many gerbils to eat. On the positive side, it has two gorgeous streams (one on each boundary line), and the proximity of the streams has made the banks flatter, making for easy stream access on most of the property.

Invasion of the moths

Coming home last night, I closed the door of the Hilo bedroom and didn’t notice it didn’t latch. The next itty wind slammed it wide open again, while I was running down to turn on the generator.

A few hours later, I am walking to the bathroom, and notice several moths. Strange, I think, I have never seen moths inside the house – where might they have come from?

That’s when I notice the wide open door. There are dozens of moths in sight, a flurry around each lamp. All look very similar: triangular wings, one inch long, look sturdier than the usual mainland moth.

My little koki

Every night, when I go to bed, there is a little frog singing the praise of the land. It makes a strange sound, first a lower pitched, short vowel, followed by a much higher pitched, longer vowel, that sounds like it has the stress. Low pitch-high pitch. Sounds like ko – ki. And that’s what the little critter is called: a koki.

Unfortunately, koki can be a real pest. They are minuscule (males reach about 40 mm, or tiny), but emit this sound that can easily reach 100dB. Which is to say: really loud. They are endemic to Puerto Rico, but some idiot thought they were cute and imported them to Hawai`i. By now, there is an enormous population in the State, with deleterious consequences to B&B operations and poor chaps trying to sleep at night.

Planning for the next stage

Hau`Oli Mau was a pleasant surprise: the weather is good, the pasture lush, and the house not infested by critters or otherwise damaged. Everything looks grea, and my life here is suddenly easier.

There are a few things that need to be done, though:

• The carport is not even started
• The power situation needs to be addressed
• The windows have to be put in
• The floor needs to be sanded
• The permanent bathroom counters need to be put in
• Furniture?
• Some appliances are missing
• I have to get pasture animals

Aside from the carport, which I need to take care of soon (because the previous owners want the rest of the construction material) and the power situation (because running off the generator is noisy, smelly, and expensive), the other items can take time. Well, getting in the windows would not be bad, either…

Google Maps updated

Google has updated the satellite images for Ninole! Here is a link link to the house. Notice the incredibly red roof, and the pyramid look (only from space…).