Bob Morris @ Jul 20th 2008 20:19 - Category: Unfiled ;
Our favorite goat ranching, gun collecting, peace worker DJ Mitchell (who comments here often) now does weddings, as he officiated over and helped write a semi-Buddhist ceremony for friends in Utah.
Bob Morris @ Jul 20th 2008 16:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
Ok, it wasn’t as dramatic as this shot of a shark jumping in the water behind surfers, but a few minutes after Sue got out of the ocean yesterday here in Hawaii, our friends spotted a tiger shark swimming nearby. Look they said, pointing at it. Oh, it’s a big one. Sue and I, being landlubbers, saw nothing, but everyone else agreed it was a tiger shark. (No, they weren’t just having fun with us.)
I can read traffic patterns on a freeway with great skill and find a mountain trail where it seems to have disappeared. But I’m clueless when it comes to the ocean.
Bob Morris @ Jul 20th 2008 12:31 - Category: Unfiled ;
The deficit in California was $14 billion, but now it’s $17 or $20 billion, or maybe more or less, thanks for asking. Isn’t it reassuring that no one apparently has a clue how big the deficit is? You may remember that Governor Schwarzenegger swept into office by promising to balance the budget. Well, the Banrupterator plans to do this by borrowing against future lottery revenues. Those revenues are mandated to be spent for education so the state, under his wise and prudent plan, will replenish that money from the general fund, which in turn will be repaid from, ta da, lottery proceeds. Only the truly cynical, or perhaps those with basic math skills, would say this is a desperation shell game that will probably just make things worse.
Bob Morris @ Jul 20th 2008 07:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
The Big Island of Hawaii is built by lava. Seriously. If you start from the bottom of the ocean where the island of Hawaii starts to the top of Mauna Kea, which is 13,700+ above sea level, then it would be higher than Everest by far.
On the south side of the island, lava flows are everywhere. Some are ancient, some just a few decades or centuries old. The entire island is created from lava. Over countless eons, the lava breaks down into soil, aided by seeds that somehow can germinate in the lava rock. They split the rock and deposit organic matrials which aid in the turning of lava rock into soil.
As shown in the photo, trees can grow in lava. These are coffee trees. A Kona grower told us that, yes, coffee can grow in lava - after you break the lava into small pieces, that is.
Parts of the island are dry, others, like Hilo, are extremely wet. Drive round a bend and the geography, climate, and plant life can change quickly and drastically. There are huge open pastures for cattle as well as rain forests.
And it all originally had its birth in lava.
Image is Pele, Hawaiian Goddess of the Volcano, from the museum at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Do not trifle with her.
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