Friday, May 11, 2018

earth, wind, fire and our son

Dale's on the big island in Hawaii.  He bought some land there a couple of years ago and has been developing it to live "off grid".  He's built a home, which is not what I would have ever imagined.  We are quite proud of his energy, spirit and tenacity.  He really does love the earth and nature.  He built this three story, generator operated home.  He blows his glass and grows whatever he wants on this volcanic land and is happier than we have ever known him to be.  It's been fascinating to watch.  Willow is living with her mother, in California, and he misses her tons.


Right now, his life is pretty insane, as his property is only a few miles from all of the volcano and earthquake events. The 6.9 earthquake had his home rocking and shaking and totally trashed the inside.  He said that it picked his car right up off the earth and moved it over four feet.  It literally dumped his refrigerator's contents on the ground.  Broken glass everywhere.  Two of his glass kilns and three computer monitors were tossed to the ground and bookshelves overturned.  He said he was holding on!  As he was telling me about the whole thing, an aftershock occurred and things started rocking again.  But.  He was fine!


There are people who say that he should move and get out of Dodge, but he's holding out that there will be enough warning for him to go when it's time, if it's time.  Personally, it would have been time for me, at the first sign of danger!  But, Dale loves living life on the edge and he told his dad that if he's gonna go, he wants to go out in style.  And he's almost 40 years old.  It's not like he's gonna listen to his parents say, "Get the heck out of Dodge."  Dale has always been our adventurer!

Here's what he had to say yesterday:
Tired of the fear mongering. 🀨It’s true, as always, that none of us know what’s going to happen and the world will eventually kill us. Living on a volcano doesn’t make you any more likely to be in harms way than any other place on the planet. I think tornadoes are way more unpredictable and destructive.  People still live in the Midwest and we don’t call them idiots for it. 

Having an emergency plan and supply grab bag ready is smart no matter what. People actually choose to live IN THE CITY! Yuck! 🀒 The air quality there is way nastier than anything I’ve been exposed to, here, yet.

There is no abnormal amount of seismic activity worldwide. There’s always hundreds of earthquakes every day of the year and 6.0’s or greater at least weekly, on average, so nothing to worry about, yo.
This notice today is real; the lava could decide to vent from a new location along the ridge soon, because both craters drained and the cracks went quiet; which would mean we’d have to adapt again once we see where; so it is definitely best to be ready, at least. That’s it; be ready. 

If the water causes explosions at Halemaumau, the danger will be flying rocks within a mile, falling ash for a few miles, and sulfur dioxide steam for a few days for umpteen miles in concentrated amounts. So pretty much ‘Don’t go to the crater!’ (& Have a gas mask.) 

And if new fissures open and cut roads off; we’ll evacuate and then after, fix the roads or at the worst wait it out a week or 2 while they reroute. This is normal for people that have lived here a while.
Go with the flow, yo! πŸ€™

(I actually think the lava found a few new routes to escape off the coast under the ocean, judging by the quake activity, which would explain the drop in pressure in all sectors. A new vent may come, but it could take years.)
Aloha! 🌨πŸ’₯☄️⚡️πŸ”₯πŸŒͺ🌊⛈

So, we continue to watch and listen and pray for his safety.  At this point, he's not planning on going anywhere.  Just thought I'd share this update for my journal's sake.  Continued good thoughts and vibes for Dale are appreciated.  Prayers in our behalf for Dale are appreciated as well!  Life is good!  Hot, volcanic and good!