Makani...

there are so many Hawaiian words for wind I wouldn't even

know where to start to describe the last 24 hours.

Crazy, strong wind with gusts.

There were saying that it's southwest, which it could be, but

it's so windy hard to say.  Except for it being warm, it

doesn't feel like a Kona wind that brings the VOG with it.

slamming doors could be heard all over school yesterday.  

Papers flying no matter how careful kids were when opening the doors.

Crazy for sure.

During the middle of the night, every strong gust seem to send something

else blowing down the street.

Hope for a quieter night tonight.

Vog, Vog, Go Away...

the south winds are here (hoping for trades later today)

and with them comes VOG!

I hate it!  Everything looks hazy and you can't get a clear view of

anything in the distance.

We couldn't even see Mt. Ka'ala the other day!

I know that there are places on the Big Island were they have VOG

every single day.  I don't know how they do it.  

The air and everything just seems dirty.  Which I guess it really is because

vog is actually particles from the volcano.

We'll be glad when the trades come back and clear out the air and we

can see blue sky again.

Feels Like...

I know that it seems like everywhere is roasting right now.

Hubby is on the mainland working.  He thought that at least over

there he'd be able to escape  the heat/humidity that we've been 

having here...but no such luck.  Been horrible over there with

record breaking heat.

The other day when I was getting to school I looked at 

the weather on my phone...

it had rained during the night but the sky was clear without

any clouds...

my phone was showing 100% humidity!

It was going to be another hot day, the steam was already in the air.

it's been so hot that the ceiling fans are just spreading hot air and

the only time it's actually cool is about 2:30 am, when I finally pull a sheet on.

There aren't any trade winds, so our natural air conditioning is off.

It's too hot actually to go to the beach even.  I swam the other day and have to 

admit, it wasn't that cooling.

When I listen to the weather, they just say more of the same...

ok, I'm done!

Iselle and Julio, Isolated...

the Hawai'ian Islands are the most isolated group of islands in the 

world.  In a lot of ways this is a good thing...the protected beauty of

these islands, much slower pace, and the aloha spirit.

 There are times like now with hurricanes, Iselle and Julio bearing down on

us that we realize just how isolated we are.  People here take

things like this very seriously.  If the power goes out (like it did once for 3 days) that

means no water pumping at the treatment stations.  So we buy water and 

fill bathtubs with water to flush the toilet.  Always fill up the gas tank because

if the ships can't get here there won't be gas.  People laugh "it's an island, where 

are you going to go?".  Might be, but it could take over a week for gasoline

to get here.  That's why there's always a run on toilet paper.

Being so isolated has made the state put together emergency plans.  These plans

really do seem to work.  I think one of the biggest reason is that people

take it seriously and they work together.

We live on a very small speck in a HUGE ocean,

but being so isolated has taught us...

"plan for the worst, hope for the best"

I'm glad that's exactly what we did.

Iselle and Julio, We're Ready...

last night a couple of boys from church (thanks Stuart & Max) came by

and took down our tarp.  Lawn chairs are put away.  Got extra propane.

Rubbish cans will be taken in.  I think we're ready.  We haven't boarded

windows, hope that's ok.

Iselle and Julio continue their march towards Hawaii.  Thinking about our

friends on the Big Island.  They're going to get hit the worst.  Praying for them.

A few observations...

I can't figure out why they haven't cancelled school over here on Oahu. Bus service

is cancelled starting tonight at midnight.  We were told yesterday to un-plug everything

today before leaving.  Not sure what they're waiting for.

Water and Spam have disappeared off the shelves.  That and toilet paper.

People wonder why tp?  If the ships can't get here because of stormy seas...

no tp

Different than tsunami.  Right away start loading and getting out and the sirens...

With this there's so much time to prepare, there's no reason not to be or not

to take it seriously.

About 8 years ago, there was a big storm one December.  The winds came on

suddenly.  Terry and I were out in the middle of the night taking down the tarp.

The next morning, the reports were that there were gusts of 85 mph coming down

off Mt. Ka'ala.  I remember what it looked like the next morning and

the sounds of it that night.

Praying for Hawi'i

Iselle and Julio, Expecting The Worst ...

Yesterday hubby got us some more water, new batteries and 

a few more cans of soup.  We'll get bread and fill up the cars today.  We're good.

On the news last night they showed the long lines at Costco.

People take this very seriously.

Since we don't have any "picture windows" just jalousies, windows should be good.

A few of the boys from church are coming today to take down the tarp for us.

Last night my friend Laura posted a picture of her supplies.

She asked the question, "who eats this stuff?" my answer,

"Hawaiians getting ready for a natural disaster".

Times like these are when canned food is appreciated.

last nights sky was so pretty.  We were watching it change colors

in our kitchen.  My friend Gloria got the perfect picture of it.

Is this the calm before the storm?

this morning the sky is cloudy with maybe the first clouds on the 

edge of it.  Surf on the east side is going to be 20+ feet they say.

Big Island is going to get pounded.  

"Expect the worst and hope for the best"

this is what we're doing.

Hurricane Iselle, Better Safe Than Sorry...

well we're in the middle of hurricane season and we've got

a big one headed our way.  Iselle is picking up winds as she heads this 

way.

They're expecting Thursday into Friday to be bad with the winds and rain.

I'm so thankful that Terry is home.  This will actually be the first

time that he's been home for anything like this.  The 3 tsunamis he's been on the 

mainland and hasn't had to go through that.

Today we went through our supplies.  Just a few things that we need, mostly water.

We don't have a lot of room here for food storage (and what I did have from Bishops 

storehouse rusted through).  We've got two big plastic containers with plenty of 

food.  We don't want to have to go into that if we can help it.  With all electric

appliances, we have to think about how we're going to cook/heat food.

We've got our emergency kit ready to go and all of our important

papers in a handy binder.

We were looking at the Civil Defense website that shows the shelters...only 1, 

Waialua High School, for all of the No. Shore (Kahuku to Kaena Pt.) now

that's crazy.

Someone said any hotel or building above the 2nd floor is good.

Wonder if we should check into Aulani?

Could they have special "hurricane rates"?

I'm just so thankful that Terry's here.  At least we'll be together.

Air At Last...

air conditioning has come to A-9!

Last week when I had to drop off some stuff in the classroom, right away

I saw these two very large boxes.  

I had to take a picture.

There had been some fund raising going on to get air conditioning to

the "A building" and we were told that A-9 and A-10 would have to

wait.( I guess some years ago the upstairs had all 

the upgraded wiring put in, but for some reason not downstairs.)

 OK, we had resigned ourselves to it, when it was really hot we'd

just go spend time in the other classrooms (just kidding).

So as I was leaving I saw the principal and asked him about it.  Yes, it

was true...those air conditioners were for our room and it wasn't some 

cruel joke (oh lets store these in here for now).  

I texted Arlette right away, we were doing the happy dance for sure.

over the weekend I drove by the school and saw this!

Yesterday, Tumua told me to try them out...

I turned them on (they were set at 60, I didn't do that)...cool air!

A blessing... really appreciated!

Until I went outside to leave...

81 degrees (feels like 92 with 79% humidity)...

when it gets hot like it has been the last few days, I know where I'm spending the night!

Hot, Hot, Hot...

the last 4 days have been so HOT.  I hate it.

I know it was more humid other places, but without our trades, 

it's almost unbearable.  Everyone is feeling it.

then today this happened...

Guy Hagi was right!

and the trades are back!

No Words...

to describe the most beautiful sunset last night.

Guy Hagi the weather guy called it, so lots of people were ready.

between Instagram and FB I had 50 different views, each 

one as beautiful as the last.

A Cool Escape...

we love fish tacos,

but haven't really found a good one close to home.  

For Mexican food in general, we always go to El Palenque, but they really don't do fish tacos.

our neighbor Billy, told us about the fish tacos at LuiBuenos in Haleiwa.  Since he's 

from San Diego, he knows fish tacos.  

LuiBuenos has been open for a couple of years in the same spot that the old "Rosies" was.

I'd been there once a long time ago, but hubby hadn't ever been.

A few weeks ago we decided to give them a try...

Billy was right.  These fish tacos a very good!  It's really about the sauce and theirs

is good.

One of the best things is that if you eat early, like we do, as part of a "Happy Hour", they

are only $3/each.  

Another plus is that they have good air conditioning...so when it's hot, no trades, so wind, yucky,

Lui Buenos is a very cool retreat with good chips and ok salsa.

Red Moon...

last night was such a rare occurrence, we had to stay up...

a lunar eclipse (The Tetrad) has only happened 3 times in over 

500 years! It will happen 3 more times before the end of 

2015.

We laid in bed and watched it rise.

I wanted to wait until it got high enough to try and take some photos

finally at almost 10:30 we stepped outside onto the front lanai and could watch it

over the mango tree.

It was so pretty!  Especially as the trade winds blew clouds in front of it

every so often.

I do think that in October, I'll take the time to set up my tripod to

get a little clearer photo.

Still such a wonder.

Enough Already...

the last couple of days have been cold!

It's the wind that's making it feel colder than what the

weather app on my phone says.

We were watching the news last night and the weather girl

was talking about how cold it was feeling.

We've brought out our extra blanket.  Turned off the ceiling fans.

Wearing long sleeves.  Kept the classroom windows closed. 

Wearing a jacket or sweater and making soup.

I really believe that thing about when you live in the tropics and

your blood thins out... when it's like this it just feels colder!

We really do having changing seasons here in Hawaii, cold ad hot.

Crazy Wind...

for the last few days we've had some crazy winds.

Not hurricane force, but way stronger than our usual trades.

…and it's been cold!

66 degrees the middle of Saturday afternoon is 

cold for us.  The extra blanket didn't seem to help.

We had all the windows closed, and it was still drafty.

my friend, Dale, took this short video up on the Waianae Iki

trail on Sunday.  They couldn't finish their hike because it

was too windy.

The Hawaii Kai carnival was even closed down

due to the fear the rides might start blowing apart.

thanks again Dale for the great video.  Good thing you didn't go on.

Clouds...

we've had a lot of clouds and rain.

the other evening I was driving back home from Wahiawa

and the clouds were so pretty.

they were sitting so low on Mt. Ka'ala I couldn't even see the top.

cloud cover towards Kauai.

no rain for the good part of the day, but

sure enough rain that night and into the next day.

Ka Ua...

we're in the middle of winter here, which means rain.

In the Hawai'ian language there are over 100 words that describe rain…

where it comes from, if it's coming down slanted or straight, pouring or light,

down the mountain or across the water and when it comes.

I don't mind the rain all that much.  It makes me want to cook/bake when it's 

been cold, rainy and blustery like the last few days.

I think it was 6 years ago when the rain was really bad.  12 inches an hour at

Scholfield…that's a lot of water coming down.  

That's when it gets dangerous with the rivers over-flowing and Lake Wilson

filling up.

but it seems like even when there's just a little break in the rain and the sun comes out

there's always a rainbow to be seen.

no rain…no rainbows.

Never Fails...

just had our windows and screens washed/cleaned in the whole

house on Friday...

this morning after church,

this is going on...

never fails…

car washed it rains,

windows washed it rains.

Super Swell...

today brought some crazy stuff on the North Shore

50+ foot waves, rain, crazy wind, traffic, the air smells like salt and tons of water everywhere …

so many people were taking photos all over the North Shore.

I borrowed some to try and show a little bit of what was going on today.

It doesn't really give the feeling of what it's like.  I don't think even film would.

water coming onto Kam Hiway at Haleiwa Beach Park

a little spot called "Chocolates" by Surf & Sea thats normally flat was the only place surf able today

this mornings paper

on shore winds and tons of water

Rocky Point houses fighting a battle 

water washing over the wall at Haleiwa

crazy winds

my friends Lala and Jamie selling shave ice at Waimea

3 tables closed out

parking lot at Haleiwa Beach Park covered in sand and water

not sure if this is 50 feet but it's HUGE

so far the houses are still standing thank goodness

it really was a crazy, awe-inspiring day.

Storm...

we had a big storm that came through Saturday and into Sunday.

At one point I got an alert on my phone about Kam Hiway being closed in 

Haleiwa.  Later found out that it was a downed power pole.  

Went by there today and saw that even though they got the road opened and 

power back on…the wires were still drooping.

                     you can see the broken pole leaning.  Not sure when they'll get the new pole in, but

it's amazing what lightening will do.

Autumn in Hawaii...

the changes are subtle…

getting dark by 6pm,

not as many tourist around,

can hear the roar of the surf more,

more rain,

cooler at night (even an extra blanket),

thinking about baking,

thinking about wearing a sweater,

kids wearing tennis shoes instead of slippers,

beautiful sunsets just because,

not able to swim in calm water on the North Shore,

everything seems greener some how…

yes, we love the autumn in Hawaii!