sorry for the radio silence

So where was I....oh yeah, LAVA!

Tuesday night we heard that Kilauea was cranking out lava so Rob, Corinne, Daniel, Cody and I jumped in my car (yay) & headed down the road. We hoofed it out to where Pu'uO'o vent was flowing into the ocean. You could see the steam plume for miles it was so huge! Here's our 'Survivor Hawaii' Promo shot, lol. That big cloud in the background is the steam plume a mile away!

We made it out to the flow right as the sun was going down. Lots of folks were out there. This is my favorite shot from the evening.


I can't post video on this blog so the pix and video are on my site here: http://www.kohledfusion.com/hawaii/puuoo06122007/puuoo06122007.html.

We each left offerings to Pele..tobacco wrapped in Ti leaves. Here's a pic of Rob carrying the Ti as we trekked in from the 'parking lot'.

We ended up out on the flows for four hours & were pretty exhausted and sore when we got back. There was one 'interesting' moment when we were coming back... it suddenly got very very hot & we looked down to see glowing cracks below our feet. DUMB. Literally deep cracks with a red glow six inches under the surface. Freaked me out. The soles on our shoes were melted when we got home - yikes!

Wednesday day was fairly uneventful except my abdomen siezed up. Luckily Cat's friend Mark was visiting & got me on the massage table. One hour of massage & I was good to go. Dinner got a bit crazy & drinking ensued. At 9 we headed out to Chaka's for Kareoke. Names will be changed to protect the guilty and thankfully no cameras were present :P

Thursday was household hangover day. Our designated drivers got to point and laugh while the rest of us skunked about the house looking miserable. I did manage to make a Fred-Steak knockoff for dinner which went over well. I was bummed that I didn't have the right cut of meat but no one else knew the difference.

Friday Cat & ran all over Hilo running errands. My car finally has Hawaii plates, woo! We picked Jen up at the airport around 1pm & dragged her to two client meetings in Hawaii Paradise Park. Funny I was so worried about finding work and I already have 3 clients (house plans) qeued up. When we arrived home we found Cristina beaming in the driveway & rubbing here tummy. She's Pregnant & absolutely thrilled! I found Tri tip cuts at the market so they're brewing in the Fred Steak Marinade - should be ready for Tuesday night. Cat made "snaktivity" sushi dinner & we all had a great time making fun of each other's sushi rolls (insert size jokes here). Daniel seared up local Ahi that was to die for.

Saturday morning Rob and Corinne (our crazy Aussies) left :( I was hoping to wake up to say goodbye to them but slept right through the alarm because I had magically gotten the flu overnight >:| I went into Pahoa with Daniel and Cristina to pick up the raw fixins of Daniel's magic sick-conconction of Fengreek & thyme. It tastes like ass but it works like a charm. I spent most of the day trying to convince myself that I wasn't sick but to no avail. By 8pm it was clear I had caught the bug going around the house. Cody mommied me up with garlic & vitamins then we crashed in the living room to watch Moulin Rouge on the new tv. I ended up sleeping on the couch because I was too feverish and shakey to safely make it up the attic stairs into my loft :)

I spent all of today crashed out on the porch futon being sick. I must say that it feels great to be sick out on a shady deck with 80 degree heat, 70 percent humidity and a stiff breeze. Daniel, Jen and Cody headed into Pahoa for the farmer's market & stopped by Natural Foods to pick up more home-remedy stuff for me. More stuff that tasted like backside but really work well. I was sorta bummed that I couldn't go out on such a gorgeous, clear day but oh well. Cat just brought me home a huge tub of wonton soup & everyone is making sure I eat/drink/sleep/vitamin/drug enough, it's kinda cute & I have to remind myself it's ok to let folks take care of me. The hardest part has sitting still...I'm bored out of my mind!

Off to make another batch of fenugreek/thyme tea + a pot of natural quinine (?) from boiled grapefruit peels-yuck....then a date with the dvd player on the living room floor :)