A Well-Behaved Eyeball, A Yawning Volcano

 [Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

1/16/21

Aloha, everyone.  Well, as the saying goes, “We live in ‘interesting’ times.” I’m trying hard to stay positive, but my memories of traveling in countries with violent political upheaval, harsh economic disparities, and armed soldiers ringing government buildings to protect lawmakers keep coming to mind. Those experiences used to make me appreciate the uniquely positive situation here at home and to feel fortunate to return to the U.S. Not so sure about that at the moment. Anyway, maybe I can be more hopeful and positive this time next week. We’ll see.

As I mentioned previously, I had an appointment for a retina checkup for last Saturday afternoon. Happy to say it went very well!  No injection needed – the longest interval since my problem began about 6 years ago.  I will go back in 5 weeks for another check up.  My doctor warned that it is very likely I will still need injections in the future, but possibly only one every six months. Note – my vision loss in the right eye is permanent, but I’ve finally come to accept that, and the longer interval is way, way better than the once-a-month trip to the doctor for another injection. Oh, and somewhere down the line I may need cataract surgery.  Geezerhood may have its upside at times, but the overall reality is that it sucks.......

Kilauea volcano has settled down to a steady ooze feeding the lava lake at the summit. The level of the lake is very slowly rising, but it has hundreds of feet to go before it overflows. And since the caldera is wider at the top, it takes more and more lava to raise the level.  The SO2 emissions are much lower than at the beginning of the current eruption, and our vog has subsided considerably, though conditions are not nearly as clear as during the two quiet years we had.  But those were historically unusual – this volcano has been erupting more or less continuously for hundreds of thousands of years.  Mauna Loa, also to our south, has been very active over that time but more intermittent in terms of human time scale, as has Hualalai, the volcano we live on. We knew this before moving here, and we’re prepared for the consequences.

The main geological event of the week was on Thursday, when there was a 4.0 earthquake down south.  We didn’t feel it but I guess some people as far away as Oahu did.  Earthquakes are common here, but not because of tectonic plates and fault lines.  Ours are due either to the movement of magma below the surface or to the settling of the island as it compacts under its own weight.  This seismic activity is very helpful to the volcanologist for forecasting where and when there will be eruptions and our island is “wired” to the hilt with monitors to detect the activity.

Had a good workout at PF on Thursday, though I kept mine light because I’ve been fighting something like a cold this week – no, not what you’re thinking.  As usual, we rewarded ourselves after with a nice lunch at Foster’s Kitchen, an open air restaurant on the bay. No doubt we totally nullified the benefits of the workout....

Ok, it's a bit rainy this morning, but we're still off to beach breakfast (maybe under a pavilion) and a bit of shopping.  Take care and stay physically and mentally healthy if you can.