I Move to Hawai’i and This Happens…

In July, this Kansas woman moved 3800 miles to the island of Oahu.  We came for a job. We put our kids in good schools. We started to settle into a routine. We are slowly getting everything unpacked and the house put in order and taking care of all of those logistical things that happen when you move long distance.

Kansas City to Honolulu Map
Map of the United States

The State of Hawai’i is part of a 1600-mile archipelago of volcanic islands and is home to the most remote city on the planet, with the next nearest metropolis over 2000 miles away. We aren’t near much of anything except tinier islands that stretch back across Eastern Pacific Ocean, a trail left by a volcanic vent over the course of several million years. That volcano continues to erupt as Kilaeau and is currently expanding the size of the Big Island.

Hawai’i is a place where people want to go on vacation. Why? Because the weather is almost always sunny and the air and sea are warm. The ample beaches are sandy and the turquoise water beckons. We go to a beach at least once a week as a family to take a dip and watch life.

Between June and November, it also happens to be Hurricane Season in the Pacific. The likelihood of the major Hawaiian Islands being hit is rare – a small group of islands in a vast ocean makes a tiny target. Conditions have to be just so.

Hurricane Hector passed by with a distant wave in early August, but that storm

Satellite and Radar of Hurricane Hector
Satellite and Radar of Hurricane Hector – August 2018

went on to break the record as the longest lasting major hurricane on record. (And the entire storm only completely dissipated on August 16th.) Hector’s nearness to the islands, as well as a class assignment about disaster preparation, made me act on getting our supplies together little by little. I planned to stock up over several weeks to the recommended 14-day supply.

Fourteen days because we are out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and it takes at least that long to resupply the island with commodities like bottled water and food. Fourteen days for each person in your household. That’s 28 gallons of drinking water, 28 gallons of general use water, and 14 days worth of non-perishable food to cover 4 people. That’s quite a bit to stock, but I’ve got time, right?

Hurricane Lane has other plans. Hurricane Lane, just two weeks after Hector, is charging at us with torrential bravado. Lane is here, and it is going to drop rain by the truckful on these little islands. The Big Island is already in the deluge. Maui, Lana’i, and Moloka’i are next. On Oahu, we are just waiting for the rain and the wind.

How much of each? Forecasts predict 20 inches or more possible of heavy rain in the next few days. Winds depend on the strength of the storm as it closes in. If the weakening trend holds, this might feel similar to a severe Kansas thunderstorm – with the winds coming from the wrong direction. Either way, I’ll let you all know what happens when we come out the other side.

NOAA Image of Hurricane Lane
NOAA Satellite Photograph of Hurricane Lane and the Hawaiian Islands

 

41 Writing Contests in January 2018 – No entry fees

Some of these have due dates right on the horizon – great if you have something in your back pocket, and others have a good month to write, edit, and polish something new. Go for it!

============

There are more than three dozen free writing contests in January 2018. As always, every form and genre is represented. There are prizes fo…

Source: 41 Writing Contests in January 2018 – No entry fees

#OctPoWriMo 17 – Strawberries

She turned her nose up at the berries
I had grown with my patience and toil.
They aren’t the same as the store-bought ones.
They are small, very small, and very red.

“But you love strawberries.
You eat them by the pint.”
“They don’t look right,” she refused,
Shaking her blonde head and scrunching her nose.

So I left the bowl on the counter,
A tangerine bowl filled with crimson fruit
Bright against the mottled brown stone.
I went outside to enjoy the shade of the porch and sip my wine.

Not to my surprise, my girl followed me out,
Bowl in hand and berries in her mouth,
Juice dribbling down her chin.
“I told you so.”

#OctPoWriMo 14 – Community Garden

A community of gardeners
Who can’t agree on gardening
They bicker about the bermudagrass
Fists at their sides hardening

And who keeps track of what is done
By whom and when and why
But half the gardeners never show
So is it worth a try

To make the gardeners understand
They need to do their part
Will the leaders step up soon
Like they should have from the start?

The grass needs mowed
The weeds need pulled
The mulch needs laid
The plants need culled

But no one sees it as their duty
To keep the garden looking neat
They come to meetings grudgingly
At the promise of a treat

A community of gardeners
Who struggle to join together
They bail on working Saturdays
At the slightest hint of weather

 

#OctPoWriMo 12 – Kansas Seagulls

A migration of thousands,
Flashes of white and gray
Against the storm cloud sky
With the sunrise behind me.
Swirling, twirling, doubling back,
No straight course
Yet clearly heading south.
How will they get there,
Their path so randomly etched?
Play more the work.
If I had the time,
I’d wind my way like the gulls.
I’ll head out to sea when the time is right.