Should I write or should I not?

Green Turtle and Manini
A huge, old Green Turtle who was a regular at Champagne Pond with Manini fish grazing algae off its back. It loved to rest in the warm waters of the geothermically heated pond. I do not have a waterproof camera, so I can only take shots like this when it comes right up to the shore – and it often did.

On 2 June 2018 a lava flow from the recent Kilauea eruption reached Green Lake Crater. The fresh water lake in the crater evaporated within an hour. The area south of the crater was untouched by the 1958 flow in the west and 1960 flow in the east. It looked like the crater would save the area from any lava flow. It was pretty much gone the same day. Two days later Vacationland and Kapoho Beach Lots were destroyed and with them the the Waiopae tide pools with their coral reefs and the Champagne Pond. Kapoho bay was filled with lava and the shoreline has been extended one mile out into the ocean.

Farms, gardens, vacation homes – everything gone, burned and melted into the lava. Completely destroyed forever. With the neighborhood went the people. Often I don’t know where they are. Sometimes I see photos or read about them in local papers like the Herald Tribune Hawaii or the Honululu Star-Advertiser.

No parties, no potlucks, no jam sessions, no yoga, no fruit stands, no art. I have so many pictures and memories about this place and planned to gradually write about it. Now, my blog is not chronological. I post whatever I find interesting on the day. It does not necessarily reflect, what I do that day or where I am.

I always had the idea that my blog is about places that people can visit. But what about places that ceased to exist? Would anybody want to read about those? Would it upset people to read about them?

If you have got any thoughts about that, please, let me know.

Opihi

Opihi

These limpets are also called the “deadly delicacy”, because those who try to collect them risk being swept off the rocks by fierce Pacific waves. Opihi feed by grazing algae off the rocks in the intertidal zone.  You can eat them raw or grill them in the shell and add some chili and soy sauce for taste.

Oi … back off!

Jackson's chameleon

Slightly disgruntled Jackson’s chameleon. He seemed very busy and didn’t like the hold-up (quite literally). Don’t know why I picture him with a British accent.

Jackson’s chameleons are native to East Africa but have been introduced to Hawaii in 1972. This one was in the process of changing its color from a leafy green to earthy browns.