Most of us are familiar with the footage from some years back, with an advance into a small town, but this seems to be moving somewhat faster. Very sad for these people who are caught in the path.
Jane and are just back from another trip, this one to Seattle area and back, also family business, absolutely exhausted—that’s 4 hours on the road each way. The pond is a mess. I’m going to have to deal with that…sigh. And the house is chaos. The yard is a mess. We’re a mess—so sore we can hardly move. And way too many potatoes, which does not help the soreness. I think, however, I am going to kit up today and try to deal with the pond. While we were gone, Scott continued to work, and we now have tile up, or a lot of it. Unfortunately—this glass tile means that you have to go in with fine tools and chip out the mortar in a very precise way so that the grout (black) doesn’t have white bits showing. It’s extensive, in one case going up and surrounding the over-sink light. Jane is better at fine work; I specialize in destruction, and am going out to destroy the spongy cladella algae that has infested the pond.
Glug;wet;sloppy;alloveralgae…but I got some meaningful yard work in. I finished the trim on the espaliered apple—kill or cure. It was stuck half-trimmed half not. I cut limbs regardless of bloom. And wrestled with the pond filters. Finally got an attack of smarts and stole the little-used wide-mesh filter pads from the lily pond filter box and installed them in the main pond box which doubles the filtration there. And I dumped in more Pond Balance, having found out that I had underdosed it, not realizing I had a one-cup measure, not a 2. The cats of course supervised, running from the hose, and oh, so sure that even if there had been food left down for them from our trip, that their coming in on call must mean SOMETHING..,like maybe a treat, an upgrade from a kibble. Anyway, I am exhausted. Jane is cleaning the fiddly bits of plaster from between the tiles. And she is tired. So we are off to Costco to try to find another grey sheepskin. I would say this is a gray sheepskin, being paler than grey. 😉 English majors, I do regularly say grey, because it looks more serious. Anyway, we’re hoping to find one. At very least, we have a ‘needed’ list, and I have finally found one sandwich at Swinging Doors that I can eat very happily—mouth is still sore, but getting better.
Maybe the tree will get angry and you’ll have a big bunch of ‘nyaa, nyaa, can’t discourage me’ apples.
Sort of a reverse Ent kind of apple tree? Heheh.
CJ, so should we call you by your barbarian name now? CJnan the Destroyer, warrior-woman of the algae ponds? Hmm, OK, that last part needs a little more pizzazz. Somehow, algae ponds don’t sound quite so menacing, unless you’ve been in one. (I cleaned out an algae and leaf filled pool at least twice. No fun. Very smelly. Very, uh, biological.)
I am in favor of grey over gray, even though this messes with American English bluegray, but my spell checker no longer likes “bluegray” no matter how you spell it. I would not, however, claim grey and gray are different; I’d just say they’re in the middle between black and white.
As stated in the previous thread, I’m glad Chondrite’s OK, and sorry for the folks in the path of the lava, for losing what’s theirs. People displaced by Hurricane Harvey last November have been back in the news here lately, as things like evictions from housing have happened. So disaster relief is a long, unhappy thing for those left without.
—–
I rested some today after working on my storage space yesterday.
I have fixed a nice pot of pinto beans with mild Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilis. Hmm, not quite mild enough to suit me, but I will do fine once I add some cheese or sour cream, and maybe some diced pickles. Problem: It seems I don’t find any pickle relish, but an overabundance of “stacker” pickles. Solution: new immersion blender or else the stand blender, I think. 😉 — Anyway, I will have some very nice pintos for tomorrow, which is Cinco de Mayo. — If I make a bad pun involving mayonnaise, I’m hopeful y’all will just grin and bear it. 😀
I think the cats have the right idea: You should treat yourselves after all that. Some nice meal and dessert, and treats for the cats. Have the two pairs been introduced to each other yet?
My tooth is still stubborn, loose but hanging on, now two weeks. Sigh. But not enough of a problem that I feel a dentist trip is necessary. — Chili and spaghetti are likely over the weekend, along with the pintos and the remaining salads. Ooh, I just realized, the avocados are overdue to eat. Guac may happen if I have an onion in good shape, or else it may be sliced avocados.
I am going to watch something or other tonight; possibly a rewatch of a Stranger Things episode or two. — Reading on Finity’s End tomorrow, likely.
—–
Mashing avocados into a jar of salsa or a can of rotel works pretty well, if the onion is not there.
Or mashing avocados with herbed cream cheese (like paturain, or philadelphia light) – probably like cussing in church for any real guacamole makers, but very easy to do, no worries about getting the seasoning right, and it makes a tasty avocado dip.
Mom taught me about just plain mashed avocado on buttered toast with a light salt and pepper. So simple, so good.
Chondrite, glad to see you posting. Sounds like the eruption as well as the quake are not in your vicinity, which is good.
BCS: I snorted at you CJnan the Barbarian! I was just listening to the opening music of the movie about half an hour ago, actually. (And if folks are not familiar with the score to the first, Conan the Barbarian, it is one of the best orchestral scores for movies that I know: I love listening to the soundtrack!)
CJ: Yes, remember that you and Jane should rest up too! But, thanks for the tip that Costco may have sheepskins back in. We have a grey one (lovely) from there at a super price and it is large and, well, flattened at this point due to being a favorite human and cat sitting/snoozing spot. I want to get one for my young cousin for a high school graduation gift.
Did you know you could put a sheepskin through a dryer on low, as long as it’s not wet? Good for fluffing and crumb removal.
No, I had not known that sheepskin trick! That’s good to learn… although I’d like to know how you knew about all the crumbs in our many sheepskins?! (Our sofa is covered with them—sheepskins, that is. Some in the house date back to when I lived in Edinburgh in the ’80’s). 😄
Two children under the age of four, and the spousal unit insisted on having sheepskins as seat covers.
I always spell it “grey” because that’s the way it sounds (to me). “Gray” looks wrong and doesn’t sound right.
ISTR she’s on Maui. I have pics of a 2014 “Doors-Off!” chopper flight over Puu-Oo and the view of the flow going to Pahoa, with smoke from burning trees, but no way to post them.
One of my dearest friends is in Keaau so I was concerned also when I saw the news of the eruption this morning, I see that Keaau is taking evacuees so the Puna coast is mighty busy. I have certain suitcases with irreplaceable artwork and photos ready every summer here in the forest because of wildfires. I have been fascinated by lava from watching the old black and white movies when I was a kid. The forces of Mother Nature are so unpredictable and difficult to deal with I so hope there will not be too much loss of homes and NO life on the Big Island.
CJ and Jane, take care of yourselves!
I’ve visited some people who have a rhododendron nursery in Keaau.
They had a quake there: came in at R6.9. That – will definitely get the attention of everyone in the area.
The quake came in at about 12:30 in the afternoon local time, and neither I nor DH ever noticed. That’s what happens when you have an island and a half between you and the epicenter. OTOH, it does look like it’s revving up for more; another spewing fissure opened up in poor Leilani Estates (there are now 5 in various stages of activity), and it’s wall-to-wall vog and more noxious gases. Many of the people in that area are one step up from homesteading, and can’t get insurance because of just such an eventuality.
Zorro is now on a Hill’s z/d diet, and is so intent on scarfing her food that she doesn’t really notice the content has changed. It does seem to be improving her itchies (or that might be the shot the doc gave her), so as long as she will eat the stuff and not get the flailing scratches, it’s on the list.
CJ, you don’t suppose we could take all your algae and horsetails and stuff it into the fissures? Invoking Kamapuaa and his age old feud with Pele to grow the green stuff might choke off the lava.
This algae is tough enough, that’s sure. When yanked, it forms a fibrous mat you could sew as cloth, it’s so durable.
I’ve seen a couple of videos on YouTube, showing modern native/indigenous researchers who decided to experiment to see if they could recreate recent and ancient sandals made from reeds and plant fibers of various kinds. (I believe these were Soutwestern, using either river plants or else something like yucca or other fibrous parts.) One of the women said she was able to use techniques handed down into her people’s lore, nearly lost, and combine that with close examination of how the old sandals were made. She said eventually, she got to where she could create a pair of sandals in a few days, preparing the materials, then a few hours to plait and seal the sandals into something usable. Then they could be worn for quite a while, but could need periodic maintenance.
I seem to recall one of the “Ice Man” or peat bog mummies / fossils of ancient or prehistoric people included a cape or other clothing items made from plant fibers like that.
Of course, papyrus and some early writing tools were made from papyrus reeds and other such plants. So there’s a worldwide precedent. — And I recall that at least one of the Southeast Asian scripts (Tamil?) is designed to be loopy, so it can be written as it originally was, on broad leaves.
People find very inventive solutions to a problem, when they are down to low-tech methods. But they do find solutions, and then refine or replace them.
How typical is that of volcanic activity there? Extra or average? That sounds like the area might not be livable after it’s done for now, or like it might grumble and sputter for a while in the future. Hurricanes, I understand. Tornadoes, I sort of understand via relatives. Volcanoes and earthquakes, yee-ouch. I have no idea what to wish for for those folks, except that no one gets hurt.
>:D Heheh, Raesean, glad you liked it. It’s been too long since I last watched Ah-nold in that movie or the sequel. (It was the first time I’d heard Carmina Burana, also.)
So, I’m getting the idea that Cjnan the Destroyer, warrior-woman of the rocky northwest, goes around, grey sheepskin-clad. Much better than that chilly brass breastplate. Though, hmm, I suppose that’s what the sheepskin is for: insulation! >:D — Hey, if Xena and Grace Jones can rock the look, Cjnan can surely do it up right. Loyal warrior-woman Jane of the Steppes, fighting alongside her, cougar-sized cats and all. … OK, so there’s a strong Daybreak 2250 AD, Starman’s Son, Beastmaster influence there. What can I say? I always liked Andre Norton’s stuff. (Also the iron Cage.)
It’s actually quiet around here tonight. I’d expected more oomph. The complex might be jumpin’ tomorrow, though. I don’t recall a big deal last Cinco de Mayo, so who knows?
Kidding aside, take care, everyone.
Andre Norton was my gateway drug to scifi. Being female, I got looked at askance checking out all the “boy” books from the library, but quite frankly, the “girl” books of the early 1960’s were abysmal and left me cold.
Happy Star Wars day, dear salads.
Glad Chondrite is so far is un-shook, rattled and rolled, and un lava-ed. I can’t see how a proper offering made to Madame Pele in a properly respectful and sincere way could go amiss. Anything that would help chill out her famous temper.
A sad thing happened today. My cousin and her hubby were visiting from Garland, and while we were eating lunch, their eldest daughter called to say she had just fished four dead koi out of their koi pond in the back yard. Then it was five. Then it was eight (they only had 13 total, including 3 new ones). Their waterfall is controlled by a GFI plug which is turned off by throwing the breaker. (The pond and circuitry came with the house.) Apparently what happened is that during the warm weather, the pond stratifies by temperature with the water with the least oxygen ending up as the layer on the bottom. They had torrential rains there Wednesday and somehow the extreme moisture tripped the GFI breaker. They left to come visit us early Thursday morning and no one had noticed that the breaker on the waterfall had been tripped and that it was not running. The big influx of cold rainwater sank to the bottom and displaced the anoxic layer upwards. Because the waterfall was off for almost 36 hours, the water was not being mixed and aerated, and the biggest fish (15+ inches), the ones they’d had for over 10 years, were the first to perish from lack of oxygen. They were lucky the girls happened to look out in the back yard and happened to see the waterfall wasn’t on or they would have lost them all. Hopefully, the ones that are left will be OK. Three of them were new fingerlings. So very sad.
She was one of my favorites, growing up. Andre Norton, Heinlein’s juveniles, Alan Dean Foster’s and James Blish’s and later Star Trek novels, a host of other SF&F authors too. Growing up, I graduated from the little kids’ second of the library to the adult section early, with a starter library card and my parents checking out some books for me. Once the librarians saw, yup, I was really reading and understanding those, and not abusing the books, heheh, I was about like any other regular patron. And I’m pretty sure that’s the story for most of the readers here too.
Growing up, my mom and dad and grandmother also made sure I gotta go to local bookstores, and there were two or three really good series of science-and-wonder type youth reader books out there on things like dinosaurs, the solar system, all sorts of neat stuff. I went for the dinosaur books in particular, and my mom and dad noticed my language skills early and started steering me towards that, after a few enthusiastic book responses.
Most of my childhood and early teen allowance went to haunt the local mall bookstores, chiefly right to the one or two shelves of the science fiction and fantasy section, haha. Ballantine’s and B. Dalton’s and Waldenbooks got substantial portions of my allowance money, and it was well spent. 🙂 (Plus, my mom read SF and my dad would watch shows, though he didn’t have a lot of time to read, so I got to read the SF&F books my mom or dad bought, and otters occasional titles if they interested me.) My mom liked mystery/suspense/detective novels and some others a lot besides, though I didn’t go in for those much as a kid. (My mom also liked Edgar Cayce’s books, around college age, apparently, though how seriously she took them later, I don’t know for sure.)
Books were a big deal, growing up. Our living room and guest bedroom had lots of bookshelves, and I had my own bookshelves as a kid. But that’s normal for folks here.
As a boy, there were plenty of men and boy heroes to choose from in SF&F, and later on, there were occasionally girls and women as major or stronger characters. (As a kid, I had action figures for Lt. Uhura and Princess Leia alongside all the guy heroes, and didn’t think this was strange, but then, my perspective might be a little different than some other boys. But because of this, I think the marketing people who claim boys won’t ever go for the girls/women in their toys, are mistaken. At least some boys do without ever thinking that’s weird for a boy. And there are plenty of girls to buy those girly action figures and toys. I think it ought to be less of an issue, these days, than it still is.
Also, going into my teens and young adulthood, there were very few characters who were not so straight, and the few times I did encounter that, I didn’t know quite what to make of it. But some of this still helped me, I think, as low-key as it was then. (It’s still uncommon. Mainstream publishers still shy away from not-straight relationships or characters for the youth market especially, and the adult market.) But even some other things, like hero characters running around in the buff or nearly so, I think helped me as a younger reader to see there could be more than just what real life offered. As a handicapped and smart kid, and as a kid who was only just discovering there was something not so straight going on with my feelings, I was hungry for stories where I could be part of the adventure in some other time and place, without the real world restrictions I came up against every day at school, home, church, etc. — And I was very, very fortunate that, with few exceptions, my parents were fine for me to read almost anything I wanted to, as long as they knew what I was reading. (Major exception: I was not allowed to read Stranger in a Strange Land, even at high school age, but any of Heinlein’s other books were fair game, and I can’t think of any other SF&F books I wasn’t allowed to read, growing up.)
I suspect I owe a lot to several SF&F authors for all those wonderful adventures, and for letting me see past my own real-world settings to something else. My parents were good parents, except too controlling / over-protective and too limiting on my friendships (or visiting with friends, either coming over or me going over), and too closed off about sexuality. And I think my parents did not realize they were not right about those things, and thought they were doing right. They had good intentions, but I could tell, even growing up, that it was off-kilter somewhat.
But those authors and their stories helped me see past my real-world life to something greater, and I’m always glad for that.
Ahem, I think I was somewhere in the middle of the second volume of Cyteen before it finally got through to me that Grant and Justin were more than just friends since their teens and roommates and colleagues. If I recall, the scene that finally got this across to me was one point where they argue, they pull each other into a bathroom at work, continue the argument, then settle it very close together. I don’t recall if it’s more than a hug, or if there was a kiss. I’d have to reread (again). But the light finally clicked on that they were a couple. Ohhh. Duh. (And this was during the time in college, I was struggling with my own (lack of) acceptance that I was gay, so it isn’t too surprising that I had an emotional blind spot about that, maybe.) — But this, and a few others by other authors, helped me (eventually) to deal with this part of myself better. The relationship with Grant and Justin was very, very low-key (IMHO), but helpful for me, at least.
I didn’t know quite what to make of, I think it was Stephen, in one of Vonda Mcintyre’s books, the Starfarers books, I think, at the time. But I was OK with him being there. Now, I think I’d be glad to see what I didn’t know what to make of him as a character, back then. I liked him and the others in the books, though.
One book with a girl protagonist might get a special mention here, though I’m not sure it deserves more attention than others with female central characters. Alexei Panshin’s Rite of Passage is a story with a teenage girl as the POV character. She’s a girl from a family starship sent down, by tradition from starships, to a colony world as a survival test, to familiarize their kids with planet living conditions and keep them stronger, fiber for survival. The girl gets mixed-up in an intrigue involving bad guys out to harm a colony on he planet, and things go from there. What’s notable about this was, as a young teen boy reading the book, it did not bother me that I was reading about a girl, being in the head of this girl character in the book. Publishers and marketers seem to think most boy readers get all uncomfortable and get their macho young selves all weirded out if they’re reading about girl or women heroes. I didn’t see this as any problem; more like a chance to see how the other half lived, and really, I didn’t see anything all that different about it. (Though in that case the writer was a man writing a girl hero character, so this could influence it.)
On the other hand, in college, my mom specifically wanted me to read the first (and later) Ayla / Clan of the Cave Bear books. (Yeah, note that she wanted me to have this perspective on women’s issues and on good and bad couples relationships. But that’s a good point in her favor.) — That did indeed give me a fuller perspective on what it is to be a woman or a girl growing up. (Whew, and it was both interesting and strange in the, ah, more intense spots….) — But also good from the guys’ perspective, and great from the paleo history aspect. — By then, I was a young adult reader, college age.
So I don’t really understand why publishers and marketers and toy / merchandise tie-in people are so convinced that boys and girls don’t want to read or play with the other gender’s characters or toys. I think, sure, some boys and girls might be a little uncomfortable saying they do, talking about it, especially within earshot of their peers. But I suspect that most boys and girls really don’t have any serious problem with this, and would like more chances.
However, it seems like our society currently has two opposing trends going on: a more conservative backlash retreating from this into more restrictive roles for males and females; versus a more open-minded, relaxed, or liberal, or modern view, where this is not an issue. There is a third trend that may be an exaggerated reaction, in which that is more fluid or malleable, beyond neutral into what’s between or across the norms. That might also be healthy, since there are people who don’t fit neatly into either one side or the other. I can relate to that. Possibly, it’s good to explore that and see if our norms are too narrow. but it tends to make the more restricted folks twitch a lot and become more entrenched in their views, instead of opening up a little.
I seem to go into essay mode all the time lately, and I still don’t know why.
I’m glad we get so many choices in stories and authors, though. There is still plenty more room for that. But I wish there were also plenty of room for backlist and recent works by current authors.
re the koi, I feel their pain. It’s dreadful when equipment breaks down. Wishing them the recovery we’ve made in this last year. The new koi are growing fast.
The next island is forming off that south-east coast, Lo’ihi. It’s about 3.000′ down last I looked, but growing. The south-east of the Big Island isn’t a place to live. When Lo’ihi breaks the surface…
I specialize in destruction…
Like Pele? That does have a ring of truth!
Good to hear you’re okay, Chondrite!
___
BCS: Try right-clicking on bluegrey (or whatever). You may have an option to add it to your dictionary. Or try blue-grey. Or livid or glaucous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-gray
Livid, for me, is closely associated with liver: a reddish/ brownish/ purpley bruise-color. Wikipedia may say that livid means bluegrey, but it also says that it’s bruise-colored, and that is too reddish/purpleish a blue to be associated with the cool color bluegrey. Not at all the same.
Glaucous is so rare it doesn’t have all the extra associations except with dusk, so that might work as a synonym in an atmospheric setting.
Wow, that’s scary, that volcano opening up so close to where people live on Hawaii. Good that people got enough warning to pack essentials and get out safely, but still very scary, and hard to recover from.
Do the people of Leilani who lose their houses to this get some kind of government compensation to start over elsewhere? Or are they stuck with their nigh unsaleable patch of sharp new volcanic rock, that’ll need centuries of weathering to become useful, and might be hit again if the now demonstrated weak spot opens up again in the future?
I think without insurance, they’re pretty well out of luck. The US government can declare a disaster area, which gives them the chance for some tax DEADLINE leniency — (one is tempted to a grim and hollow laugh: you can get that ordinarily just by filing for an extension)–in some cases low-interest loans—and in some cases FEMA (Federal Emergency Management) comes in with portable housing/tents. And before the feds can move, the state government has to request them to act. Unfortunately the government is not forceful about saying ‘don’t rebuild there!’ and people do. Disaster management ought (in my opinion) to mean arranging for relocation of the community, say, above the water line, but it doesn’t.
People often insist they be allowed to build where they want, “come hell or high water”.
This place in south Louisiana is home. It has been for a while, almost 200 years. We are, however, thinking of building the next house on stilts again. Houses only tend to last 40 or 50 years here.
I agree with you about livid, and I think of that as an angry reaction or an angry bruised color.
Glaucous, to me, also carries a milky or cloudy, whitish translucent connotation, but not a bluegrey connotation, so we’d agree on the English senses of those Latinate words, and it sounds like they mean approximately that in Dutch too, if they exist in Dutch.
(Just so you know how a native English speaker thinks of the two words.)
@BCS, Those words don’t exist in Dutch, not in a form that resembles the English ones.
FYI: Do not ever expect FEMA to come in with portable housing or tents. It’s been 8+ months since Hurricane Harvey and Port Aransas TX is still waiting for that to happen.
FEMA used to be better about that, but yes, with Harvey and the other two hurricanes hitting Florida and especially Puerto Rico last year, it was…bad does not begin to cover it. I was very fortunate that where I live wasn’t much affected by Harvey. But elsewhere in town (Houston), it was beyond bad, as bad or worse than when Ike or Rita or Allison hit.
In this week’s local city news, there was an article I didn’t watch, about multiple evictions for people displaced by Harvey. Whether this was FEMA or state-sponsored or locally-sponsored housing, I didn’t hear. But that’s after just 6 months, and most people, even middle to upper-middle class, if their home was unsalvageable, are not in any position to have any decent alternatives yet.
That said, there has been rebuilding (from scratch or nearly so) going on throughout the city, necessitated by that or by more normal needs. So there are houses and apartments becoming available. But that means the ability to pay rent or mortgage payments, when people displaced by Harvey have had to replace much of, or everything, they owned, and restart.
But yes, FEMA’s (and other agencies’) responses were so overburdened and so underwhelming, that it has stunned people. Part of it was due to having three huge hurricanes hit at once, as far as I know, a historic first. That stretched emergency aid providers too thinly. But part was also the very bad response by the current administration. Previous administrations of either party did somewhat better. (That doesn’t begin to cover my opinion on the response to Puerto Rico, which I’m not sure I could put into printable words. Puerto Rico got treated intolerably badly, compared to Texas and Florida, which were not treated well.)
That said, some local businesses and organizations have helped out a great deal toward rebuilding. One local, well-off businessman, “Mattress Mac Macinvale,” has often helped people before, regularly does so, and did so this time, helping to organize relief supplies (and mattresses and furniture) from his store locations in the city, for Houston and for flights of supplies to Puerto Rico. Others from Houston pitched in, since they weren’t as affected by Harvey as others in town.
So — Yeah, I sincerely agree. Federal, state, and local agencies and organizations need to do more, and yes, they may be overwhelmed, but that is the whole nature of a natural disaster.
(I lived through a month and a half without electricity after Ike, as did much of the city. I still recall what it felt like being plunged into 19th century or earlier technology levels, and we were lucky my grandmother had an old gas stove. That, and we fared really well by comparison.)
So, real sympathy for folks still dealing with last year’s hurricanes, and we are nearly to the start of this year’s season for the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.
Therefore, real sympathy for people displaced by volcanic activity there in Hawaii.
That said, living here, miles inland but still near the coast, or living on the islands, there’s a risk involved each year, but it’s beautiful, and people have to live somewhere.
That also said, the predictions of what will happen if sea levels rise even by only a few feet, well, many world cities and islands will have people displaced inland within half a century or less. The social and economic outcomes of that would be mind-boggling, since it covers a great many major population centers worldwide, famous cultural and historic sites, major industrial and technology centers, trade and travel and communications hubs, and so on.
However, I don’t think Chicken Little had the right idea to go around screaming and hollering in panic. Just saying.
By contrast, the weather here is beautiful and mild today; it’s a good chance for people to enjoy the weekend if they’re in a position where they can.
One of the things that boggled me about Harvey was the state government refusing to dip into their rainy day fund, at the time at least. If Harvey isn’t a rainy day, what is?
Blog weirdness: I was logged in when I started to reply, but by the time I had it written, it had logged me out, without the page updating. I copied and pasted, then logged in again and posted. I’ve never seen WordPress do that before. Odd.
We are now up to 6 fissures, maybe 7; one of the local people has been posting smartphone videos showing the lava merrily percolating out of big slashes in the earth, usually across roads.
There seems to be a certain amount of fatalism, especially in Hawaii, about building where a natural disaster, like an active volcano, might wipe out your house with little warning. ‘Madame Pele gives, and Madame Pele takes away, as is her prerogative’ has been the traditional response to any inquiry about putting a house where there is a not insubstantial chance it will be overrun by lava. It’s baked into the culture here. Now what that says about people who persistently build where storms, beach erosion, and flood plains can and do take out your house, I dunno. At least the volcano is fairly obvious.
I was just reading about there being more fissures, and some of them have lava fountains. Which means it’s not going to get better very soon, I think.
Pele does as Pele wishes to do. If it pleases you to make offerings, do if you will. She will do as she pleases anyway.
Every time the Mississippi floods, whole towns will be flooded out, again, for the umteenth time in as many years, and the people inevitably come back and rebuild the town right where it was, and rail at the “gummint” because they don’t do something about keeping the river from flooding. On the occasions where the “gummint” has done the right thing by saying the people cannot rebuild the town at that spot because it is in the river flood plain (DUH!) and make them relocate the town to higher ground where it is much less likely to be flooded out, everybody gets unhappy with “gummint” high-handedness. It’s like people convince themselves that just because their town has been completely flooded out ten times in the last 75 years, that it’s never going to get flooded out again. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?
Louisiana is rebuilding, but only about a third of us have the wit or money to rebuild differently though Katrina was only a 3 when she made landfall.
Heh. Just heard from our tame astrophysicist, who was attending a conference in Hilo on the Big Island. He had dinner reservations last night at Volcano House, perched on the rim of Halemaumau Caldera. Strangely, they canceled the reservations because of VOLCANO! Volcanoes National Park has closed temporarily as well, and they are seeing cracks around the Jaggar Museum, an observing and monitoring site also on the rim of the crater. All non-emergency personnel have been sent home.
This is a somewhat unique situation, as most people in the US have no direct experience of a volcano going off, and it affects far fewer people than, say, a hurricane or snowstorm.
We’ll see if this works:
http://khnl.images.worldnow.com/images/16692742_G.jpg
Most certainly, but after 1980 not hereabouts, nor in Spokane, I’ll wager. There were few people in north-east California in 1915, but Lassen is still a name to remember. Mt Ranier in 1894-5, and is currently rated a severe danger to Tacoma and Seattle from lahars and pyroclastic flows. Mt Hood began an active period in 1795, and erupted in 1804, the year before Lewis & Clark paddled by. Threat to Portland: very high. Californians are no strangers to earthquakes, and I’m a native Angeliño apprehensive of “springy floors” when a train passes by. Then there’s New Madrid, MO, in 1812, or the Cape Ann, MA, 6-6.3 in 1755. You’ll still pay a pretty penny for earthquake insurance in Boston. Even Oklahoma is becoming familiar with temblors, and likely will continue to be as long as they continue fracking.
Mount Shasta is also a volcano. Not as recently active as Lassen, but still dangerous. (In fact, the entire region north of Lassen and east of Shasta is full of volcanic remains; it’s the south end of the Cascades.)
I tell my geology and geography students that our Boston area is in an earthquake zone… And much of the non-colonial city built on landfill. They are all quite surprised and vow never to live or buy in those areas. Not that anybody, let alone my students, can afford property in Boston these days.
If they need a reference for it: the “One Hoss Shay” should do. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45280/45280-h/45280-h.htm
It reminds me of a case I read about in a geology class. Geologist’s determined that a particular hill was unstable. They went to the city and the city made it illegal to build on the hill. Developers sued the city and forced the city to allow building on the hill. They built and 30 years later all of the houses slid down the hill one by one. The owners of the house said that they weren’t told about the dangers (even though it was on the deed for the land). They sued the city and said that the city was in the wrong for allowing them to build there. They won the suit and the city paid to help them rebuild their houses.
If you want to build in a spot that it is almost certain your house will be damaged or destroyed during your lifetime you either have to pay through the nose for insurance or live with the fact that you might lose it all a the drop of a hat. It really shouldn’t be the government’s job to protect people from their own foolishness. On the other hand, if a second party or the government itself caused the problem it is a different story.
They should have lost, IMO. They were warned..
CA has a law that limits construction in fault zones. It won’t prevent damage, but it should reduce it – a lot of those zones are now parks and greenbelts instead of being built over.
@scenario-dave. In that case the blame, and the need to pay compensation, should be almost entirely on the developers who forced the city to let them build on known dangerous ground, knowing they can sell those houses to less-than-knowledgeable people who won’t understand the implications of this one detail among all the paperwork involved in buying this house – and who might trust professional builders to build safe houses. And really also on the judge who forced the city to give in to them, if that didn’t imperil the independence and objectivity of the judiciary branch – if the judge gets campaign contributions from the developers and let that influence their decision, something like this should be reason enough to decide they’re unfit to be a judge. If they were against the decision but had to make it due to anti-government pro-business laws, those lawmakers should come under scrutiny because of this.
In this case, the city tried to do the right thing and avoid the disaster, yet they -> the taxpayers end up paying, while the greedy and unscrupulous developers got their money and left, apparently not liable for delivering a known dangerous / likely to fail product, just because the buyers trusted them and hadn’t realised what this bit of small print meant? That is not right or fair!
I used to know someone in California, who bought a new house in a new subdivision, thinking that with all the rules in California about building things earthquake-proof it would have to be safe; still they were careful, going for a single ground floor house, with no upper levels. There may have been some mention somewhere in all the paperwork about what kind of soil it was on, in geographical terms, but nothing that rang any alarm bells. Turns out, the entire subdivision was built on sedimentary soil that is likely to turn into jelly and let all the houses sink into the ground if ever an earthquake hits close to there… that is not something a non-geologist would realise, and exactly why we have government building permits, to protect ordinary people from being taken advantage of by unscrupulous developers.
So what can you do with a volcano? Looks frightening. Please everyone slow down. As we get older survival becomes more to the front – this for Ms Cherryh and Ms Francher. Let the yard go. I had a gout flare up because I started taking a walk around our pond up here in NH. On the koi – I allways ask why not native fish that are apparently more hardy. It bothers my that we enslave (?) creatures in part by putting them in peril, while the koi are nice, do they not deserve better by us. I have no pets because I do not think I can take care of them. I even eschew houseplants, which I love, because I appear to have a black thumb.
Two things about living in areas with recurring problems:
Every several years, about 5 to 10, a hurricane makes landfall and reaches inland to Houston, which is not too far inland. This can be minor or major, depending on the storm. Tropical storms can do less or more damage, such as the unusual Allison did, which was as much as some hurricanes. Then you can have massive ones like Rita, Ike, or Harvey (all within the last 15 years, also unusual in frequency).
Does this mean both Galveston and Houston, or any and all coastal towns/citiies (Corpus Christi, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, etc.) are better left uninhabitable? Hmm, ti’s honestly hard to say, there, and it could depend on the location. While I’d tend to say Houston is OK, it has been hit hard several times recently, far more frequent and harder than usual, and if we are to believe predictions on global warming and rise of sea level, and I think that’s all too possible, then Houston and other major coastal cities world-wide will ultimately end up underwater in half a century to a century or so, unless we change our ways drastically, which is unlikely, darn it.
That may not be a big deal for a small town to move further inland, a few hundred or a few thousand people. But an island or a town or a major city? That gets very tricky. I forget my city’s population, but IIRC, it’s around 2.3 million or 23 million (oh wow, I’m going to look that up again). If you were to have to relocate a city that size, or an island state or nation (Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Japan, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, e.g.) then you have a major problem. Relocate an entire country like the Netherlands, say, and it’s as serious or more so. And we might be facing that, worldwide. (Not to be alarmist, just stating it.) — So what should we do? — Well, some places are too risky too often and we ought to move people from those locations to places that are more safe, higher up and further inland.
People will eventually have to do something, though. Whole platform cities? Cities beneath the sea? I don’t know. But it seems likely that we’ll end up with new cities and new countries and mixing of people across the planet, if and when conditions change so severely.
People do regularly migrate across the Gulf Coast when one town is hit and they have to live elsewhere. Louisianans and Floridians and others end up settling in neighboring states or going inland, and curiously, people from other states go there too. This means cultural enrichment right along with problems, good and bad together.
The other point, the point I was originally going to make:
New people constantly come into my city and other towns and cities along the Gulf Coast, and the have no understanding whatsoever of what a hurricane is like. They think it’s a bad thunderstorm or a flood, ho-hum, they’ve seen those, surely it’s no different. — And locals tell them and help them prepare and watch them learn the hard way if they don’t do enough to prep. And locals also miscalculate at times. — For Ike, for instance, I would’ve had to have made the decision about two or three days sooner, with not good enough evidence, to pack myself and my grandmother and the cats, put us on a plane to see relatives, and go. When it was 24 hours before expected landfall was impossible, and 12 hours was even more impossible, and that’s why we stayed. If we had left, which we probably should have, both houses would have been unoccupied for around a month and a half before electricity and internet were on again in those neighborhoods. So even native / local folks can and do misjudge. (Our former pastor and his wife were stuck in traffic about three hours out from the city, on the highway toward Conroe, in a standstill traffic jam around 12 hours or less before the hurricane made landfall.)
But this means that newcomers move to an area, have no idea what it’s like, buy homes because developers don’t always tell the truth or say a word, and then when storms come in, the new folks go through their first hurricane, only slightly prepared, and with some help from friends and neighbors who keep a lookout. The point being, new people are unprepared and innocent about it, and need help getting through until they are seasoned veterans like the locals.
One other important point: You know all those dystopian apocalyptic stories? They underestimate people to some degree. Note how long I said it was after Ike, and this was typical for city residents. We were plunged back into 19th century pioneer conditions or earlier. — I cooked meals on a gas stove, and relied on natural light or those old-fashioned kerosene lamps, and sparing use of flashlights, sometimes candles. — During recovery, city police, county constables, and national guards were posted throughout the city for safety (martial law). But — for the most part, people did not break down into barbarism. Some looting, but most people reached out to help neighbors, band together, and make the best of it. People waited patiently in lines for ice and food and supplies. Purchases in stores were abbreviated and records were often incomplete beyond a total and payment recorded. (Twice, utility bills came and went with no service, but paid, and I was relying on memory as to what was in the bank: no bank access for stores or personal.) — Emergency services, businesses, then residential areas were given priority as workers moved in a line across the city, restoring services. — So it was very, very strange. It looked like a war zone, too.
But my point is, people did not descend into utter lawlessness, chaos, and barbarism. They cooperated and made the best of it. We were all in it together. Sure, it wasn’t always like that, but it functioned far, far better than I would have ever thought after that long.
That said, if it had gone on for two, three, or more months, I think people would have become more desperate and social cooperation would have had breakdowns.
Also important: During this, people were able to get generators and restore some service. Neighbors of my grandmother got a generator through work, we could get our cell phones charged periodically, and so there was enough power from the generator to run both refrigerators for a portion of the day or night, alternating between houses. The city and state and national workers, and volunteers from around the country and the coast pitched in to help. Heck, volunteers from Mexico and elsewhere were allowed to help too. This helped rebuild a major city.
That also helped in large measure to prepare, and Harvey hit in a far different way than Ike. Every storm is different.
My point being, people were civilized. Most locals knew what it’s like to go for hours, days, or weeks after a hurricane. Ike and Harvey were both major and affected people differently.
(I was very fortunate: Harvey didn’t affect my area too badly.)
After last year, I don’t know what to expect, and our hurricane season is nearly here again. It is most likely my city won’t get hit this year. What usually happens is, any one city only gets hit every five to ten years or so, but some city along the coast does get hit, somewhere along the coast, every year. Three major hurricanes in one year? Freaky. So…here’s hoping it’s better this year.
Raindrops on the pond
The koi within falling into
obscurity
– Peter Kendall
I just watched (via YouTube) Honolulu news coverage from 2 days ago. Wow. Impressive and kinda scary. Nothing like seeing highway concrete and paving under it, cracked and glowing orange, red-hot from lava below. Sympathy to the folks there, and hope that things will be better soon. Maybe it will get quiet there and concentrate on new island formation off the coast.
I wonder if anyone has estimated how long it will take for a new “Bigger Island” to surface and become bigger than the main island. I recall from somewhere that there are already undersea islands forming in the chain, because that’s a property of what happens there, Hawai’i’s geology.