Hawaii 2013: Volcano, the Village

This lush little town nests on the back mauka (upland) slope of Kilauea volcano, and though subject to tremors and quakes, is advantageously situated to avoid both volcanic emissions and probably any future eruptions. The color motif here is green and grey-black - the former from the exuberant vegetation and the latter from the underlying lava deposits. All shades of green intimately intermix, sometimes on the same plant, punctuated by flowers of every size and shade. The pa'iniu or fiddlehead fern is a constant. It leafs in late winter/spring, the fiddlehead or leading edge of the stalk progressing upward until the shoot is complete, then regressing into a woody remnant:

New pa'iniu shoot

Aged pa'iniu shoot

During its rapid growing period, the pa'iniu exudes a fine, dry dustlike pollen which forms a gritty deposit on adjacent surfaces. Fortunately we are not allergic to this plant (yet!).

A walk one mile south and 0.6 miles east took us through neighborhoods of gracious island living...

... and brought us to Volcano Garden Arts Center and Cafe Ono, a vegetarian cafe. The property is owned by notable Hawai'i artist Ira Ono

Ira is a delightful, personable, friendly, energetic, animated fellow and a wonderful artist, who makes terrific collages, ritual masks, and many other things. We were fortunate to enjoy his company to ourselves for a good period, even though the gallery and cafe are quite busy. Perhaps we will bring something of his back to the mainland.

The gallery is quiet and peripheral to the town, and totally encompassed by greenery. Security is not an issue, though, with the watchful eyes of Ernest the goat and underworld Hawai'ian deities repelling any suspicious interlopers:

The return walk to Nohea (our house) began in a slight mist which morphed into light rain which continues at this moment (written @ 3 pm, HST). Nohea is owned by Kathryn and Kenneth. Kenneth, a true "heartist" and fine craftsman, built this amazing abode from the ground up. Kathryn is hostess par excellence and an enthusiastic font of information whose range of subjects seems to know no boundaries.

Only the soil necessary for Nohea's foundation was cleared. It is 12 inches deep and lies above pahoehoe lava, the smooth, flowing lava form which hardens in place. The flow upon which this house sits occurred 600 years ago, per Kathryn. So, 600 years in a rain forest produced 12 inches of topsoil. Kathryn and Kenneth are doing their part to protect and preserve the wonderful natural legacy, as is Ira at Volcano Gardens. Inasmuch as all water here in Volcano comes from the sky, a sign above the toilet at Cafe Ono reminds us that water is scarce and precious, and "not everything has to be flushed every time. If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down". We should all be more protective of our world, eh?

At Volcano Gardens, I picked up a novel by local author Tom Peek, signed on the title page and recipient of 12 very good reviews on Amazon:

Late in the evening we returned to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, something we've been itching to do again. It was misty/rainy with reduced visibility, so we took a new (for us) route down to Devastation Trail. The path circles clockwise around Kilauea Iki crater, a baby secondary crater lying to the immediate east of Kilauea volcano. In 1959, as vulcanologists attended the impending spectacular eruption of Kilauea Volcano, shock ensued when lava geysers spewed forth at Kilauea Iki instead. The eruption vent, Pu'o Pua'i, is on the south face of the smaller crater. Lava geysers and explosions over the next 5 weeks created a large cinder cone, as ash and cinder settled downwind. Heat, fire and toxic gases layered a delta of devastation extending for several miles. Living things were buried, burned, and/or killed by gases. Some 55 years later, life is returning to this empty zone.