(Two years ago ZACH did an interactive production of Alice in Wonderland. It was part of the family series, but adults enjoyed it as well. It's great to acct like a kid from time to time)The reason for me doing a blog was to just see how it would go. Then it became a way to try to pass along information that maybe one person could use. Now it is a way for people to get to know me a little more.
There is always a lot going on in my life. I treat my blog just like my regular journal. Once I release it I rarely talk about it again. It all depends on my mood.
This past weekend I sort of binged watched the remainder of the James Bond movies starring Sean Connery and I ended with The Jason Bourne movies with Matt Damon. The reason I had become interested in the Bourne movies was because I had read the book, but like most movies that are based on a book they take some creative license. I did enjoy the movies, lots of action. I did however realize a concept that I have would seem similar so I will have to look at how I lay that out. Of course the idea behind my story is different.
I try not to be influenced by the things I watch which is one of the reasons when I am writing I don't watch any movies or television. It should be obvious that I'm not doing much writing other than my blogs and my journal.
As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to get my life back on track. There are things that I would like to do, but with the fears I have I've been putting them on the back burner. The fear if you are wondering has nothing to do with the project itself. It just has to do with me driving back to New Orleans.
That in itself, would make a great story. (Katrina did a number on me and it comes and goes.) There was a time when I had no problem driving back and forth, but now with all the disasters happening around the U. S. and the world it is affecting me again.
Just this weekend I saw that Mount Kilauea is spewing all over the Big Island. Now this is not news to me because the volcano has been active for many years. It does bring up a memory from my second trip to the Big Island. I had decided I would stay for two months. I was trying to acclimate myself and see what it would be like to be away from my family and friends. Could I just do nothing but chill? Of course I had been doing that since 2001, but most of my life I have taken a relaxed approach to things. It's the Southern way. I've never really told this story in detail. Sort of like the Katrina story I have yet to tell from start to finish, but soon, I hope.
So in October of 2006, I woke and started to get washed up when the bungalow began to shake. Now the year I spent in LA I never really experienced an earthquake, but living in Inglewood close to the airport, every time a plan took off... I thought it was a quake.
I didn't know how strong of a quake it was. My friend thought it was a 3.4 or some lower magnitude, but we would later find out it was the largest quake the Big Island had seen. It was rather scary, but I didn't freak out after that. About 15 minutes later the bungalow began to shake again. We were still thinking about our plans for the day as if nothing had happened. I recalled us trying to see if there was any information online about the quake.
The thing that never crossed my mind, but I would hear about a couple of hours later was if there would be an evacuation because of a Tsunami. We were really high up on the island on the Kona side which is mostly the dry side. Lots of sunshine that just made me feel relaxed and happy.
So, the plan for the day was to go to the Volcano. Now it's obvious neither of us was thinking but it was still something I needed to know. There were no warnings for people to stay home, but they were asking people to stay off of their cell phones. I wondered if my family had heard about the quake, but not knowing that things that happen on the Big Island usually stay on the Big Island if it doesn't affect any other regions.
As we began our road trip to the Hilo side of the Big Island which is known as the wet side. We heard reports on the radio, but nothing seemed to be severe. At some point we did here that the quake reached as far as Honolulu. Once we arrived at the Volcano we got a bit of a history lesson which is exactly what I needed.
It seems earthquakes happen all the time. Sometimes the shift goes unnoticed. It explained why sometimes when we are walking and there are no cracks or uneven spots in the pavement that we might stumble. It's because of the slight shift. So we aren't always losing our sense of balance.
The lava flow is what makes the Big Island continue to grow. There is another island forming that at that time it was estimated it would take 153 years before it will be visible.
We found out that the quake was a 6.5 on the Richter scale. I had gotten a copy of the seismograph to show the actual movements. It was such a cool thing at the time. It was also the largest quake on the Big Island at the time. The Big Island is the 75th largest island. It takes about 8 hours to drive all the way around the Big Island at a speed of 60 mph. So after the education lesson we took the designated path to walk up to the top. Looking at large craters and seeing the gases seeping through. As the evening turned into night, we only had our flashlights to guide us along. There were signs indicating that if you got off of the path you were at your own risk.
(I always think of that scene in Rocker Horror Picture Show when the sign pops up and everyone shouts, "Take the risk!")
So we got off the path and walked toward the spewing lava. I had a small digital camera, of good quality, but the zoom was not that great. The sight of the lava and the sounds were just incredible. It's one of those things that is hard to describe, you have to experience it first hand. We were the only two people at times walking toward the sound of the ocean and the sparks.
I then remember something I had learned earlier in the day. At any moment the side of the volcano or shelf as it is called could fall off into the ocean.
As much as I wanted to get close enough to get a great shot, I didn't want to take that big of a risk.
The entire day is an experience I won't forget. It was enlightening, a bit disturbing, but definitely something to write about.
I had hoped to return to the Big Island and take pictures of the volcano, but I don't think that will happen. The plan was to go early in the day that way I could see where I was going and then by night fall have a spot to take pictures.
Since I am not on my laptop I don't have any images of the volcano to post. The previous year I had taken pictures and video inside of the lava tubes. There are so many terms that are a part of the volcano. Lava, earthquakes. toxic gas, magma, fissures and sacred offerings.
The islanders see the volcano as a sacred thing. I remember hearing or reading that a person is not supposed to remove the volcano rocks. I of course being a tourist in 2005, always collected rocks from different places, had brought a few rocks back to NOLA. In my subconscious I thought maybe that had something to do with Katrina. One will never know.
Since my friend had moved back to Seattle, I had forgotten I even knew anyone on the Big Island and then I remembered my friends who's condo I stayed in that second month while I was there. I kept thinking good thing I was not there when this happened and there wasn't a tsunami because I definitely would have freaked out.
Thanks for stopping by; keep an open mind and do come back again.
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