There's nothing like a molten river of 2000+ degrees hot lava to get your attention and focus your thoughts. Bob Kirk and his crew have moved quickly to get deliveries before the road is taken out by lava. The forecast now is for sometime next week. We will still have access to Hilo (our "big" city where we stock up supplies and groceries), but it will take longer. And I am sure traffic will be Hell with all of us driving through neighborhoods with streets not designed for commuter volume.
The good news is that the house project is on track for us to move in by Christmas. In the main house, the wood floors upstairs are installed. The kitchen cabinets are being custom-built right now, and will be in by Thanksgiving. The electrician and the solar guys are scheduled to complete the set up of the electrical system and solar power in November. Downstairs, drywall is up and painted with two coats, one to go, of a cheery bright yellow. Ceiling fans are in, and all the large windows went into the eaves.
In the master hale, all the tongue and groove wood walls and ceilings are complete. The master bathroom drywall is taped, and was probably painted today. Next week the floors are going down.
It's starting to feel like our home and less like a construction site! I even drove over to the Kona side of the Big Island on a furniture shopping trip this week and filled a 14' box truck with a beautiful, unique elephant bamboo sectional; 8 woven bamboo chairs; and a special, hand-carved, painted five foot tall Thai lady statue.
In downtown Pahoa, our little village, the lava will cut it in half next week. It's already crossed a couple roads and is poised to take out the main highway in a few days. Yes, it's a tragedy, but we are all drawn to the molten lava like moths to a flame. Viewing the 2100 degree lava is awe-inspiring and depressing at the same time. I was feeling sorry for myself until I saw a video of an elderly lady in her home. She read the evacuation notice she had just gotten since her home is in the lava flow and will burn soon. She calmly read it, then called her daughter to come help her pack.
Our home is not threatened by the lava which is 7 or more miles away and moving downhill toward the ocean, not towards us. So it could be much worse for us, and I gain good perspective on dealing with disaster and the wonder of lava flow every day.
Aloha for now! Send your comments and love our way!
Oh, one last thing. Here's a 1 minute video I shot yesterday in downtown Pahoa where the lava is about to engulf the road, it's quite surreal!
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| These are apple bananas. If you've never tasted an Hawaiian, fresh off the tree banana, you're missing out! The ones you buy in stores back East are McIntosh, bred to ship, not to taste good. |
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| Who needs Fall when we have Australian Flame Trees blazing red for us here? |
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| Custom-made doors for bathrooms' pocket sliders |
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| The loft, or where you'll stay if you arrive uninvited ;-) |
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| Kitchen before wood floor went in |
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| Guest bedroom before painting |
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| Bob Kirk painting guest bathroom |
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| Master Hale-I love the play of the sun shining in! |
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| Ginger flower |
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| Stunningly blue ginger flower |
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| Orchid straying into the vireya trail |
Bromeliads below...
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| First coat of yellow in guest bedrooms |
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| Kitchen and living room floors almost done. Look at the beautiful triangles of light from the windows above. |
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| Me at Kehena Beach today. Even if there's a volcano flowing, it's still 80, sunny and a paradise! |
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| First building on fire in Pahoa Oct. 27. Note that smoke is black. It only turns white if firefighters douse it with water. There's no saving structures in the direct path of the flow. |
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