Postcard from Puna, Hawaii: Feral Chicken Eggs are as Radiant as the Sun
You may recall that I live off the grid in East Hawaii. That means only solar power (with an occasional generator top-up of the batteries in dire emergencies) and catchment water (gathering rain from the roof). I shower outside unless it’s too cold or raining sideways. What qualifies as too cold in Hawaii? We’re not at elevation, but during the “winter” it can easily drop into the fifties at night. Those mornings I ask myself, do I really want to be fully exposed to the elements right now? We’ve had a few chilly mornings lately, but I haven’t yet taken Read more…
Your Friendly Neighborhood Mystery Writer is Still Here
I counted 21 open flowers on this orchid, another 14 buds, and even more nubbins that promise to be buds that promise to be flowers. Talk about an over-achiever! Yes, it’s been… let’s just say a while since I’ve posted. But I’m still kicking and, per my lovely photographic evidence, still doing it in East Hawaii. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve written a bunch of brilliant blog entries, usually in the shower or in bed at night when I can’t sleep. Of course, you’ll have to take my word for them being brilliant since they never made it from the ether Read more…
Postcard from Puna, Where Pork Might be Back on This Vegetarian’s Menu
Aloha, my daydreaming snowbound friends! Last post, I shared a bit of the reality of living in East Hawaii with you, specifically that we received (there’s that deceptively grateful word again) 17.5 FEET of rain last year. Seriously. Well, in true contrarian fashion, our normally rainy January has been quite dry. So dry that I’ve started regularly (dysfunctionally?) laying a hand against our catchment tank to check the water level when I feed the fish in the evening. (Don’t worry—we still have plenty of water; I just like to be reassured that we still have plenty of water.) It has Read more…
Want to Get Some Reading Done? Hire a Terrier
You may recall (That’s Why You Don’t Leave the House) that we have occasional issues with rodentia in our rural Big Island home. Also, everywhere else we’ve lived on the island. Our first stop in North Kohala, the rats lived in the ceiling space above our heads and rolled mac nuts across it at night like bowling balls. There was a small knothole in the ceiling near the kitchen, and occasionally you’d see a rat head peering out of it like a periscope. It took us a month or more to get the rat situation under control here the last Read more…
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