{"id":40021,"date":"2017-02-22T02:26:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T09:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=40021"},"modified":"2017-02-22T02:26:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T09:26:12","slug":"case-big-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/02\/case-big-island.html","title":{"rendered":"A case for the Big Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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\"Steam<\/a>
This is how Kilauea\u2019s caldera looked today. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kilauea<\/a>
Several years ago, it put out this gusher, about twice the height of the Empire State Building. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Hawaii's<\/a>
The lava lake in Kilauea\u2019s caldera can rise or fall in a matter of hours. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) And its lava is continually flowing into the Pacific Ocean, making the Big Island a little bit bigger every year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been told by several people that they don\u2019t much like the island of Hawaii, the confusingly named \u201cBig Island\u201d of the island chain and state of Hawaii.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

They think it\u2019s boring.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
A view of the Kohala Coast. Visible in the distance, from left to right, are the gently sloping ancient \u201cshield volcanos\u201d Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai. The photo was taken from the slopes of Kohala, itself a volcano, the first part of today\u2019s island to emerge from the waves. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, it\u2019s true, Hawaii lacks the abundant sand beaches of Maui and Oahu. \u00a0(I suppose it\u2019s not old enough to have developed them yet.) \u00a0The Kona coast of Hawaii cannot claim anything remotely like\u00a0the lush tropical vegetation of Kauai, \u201cthe Garden Isle.\u201d \u00a0Neither Hilo nor Kailua-Kona boasts the nightlife and bustle of Honolulu (for which, frankly, I\u2019m grateful).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Kona or windward side of the Big Island is distinctly dry, almost (in some places) desert like. \u00a0And the vast fields of a\u2019a<\/em> lava along the Kohala shore north of Kona-Kailua are very inhospitable \u2014 except, strangely, to wild donkeys.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"in<\/a>
In the Big Island\u2019s Waipi\u2019o Valley, near Honokaa (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Big Island turns lush and green starting up at Hawi on its northwestern promontory and remains so all along the windward coast where Hilo sits. \u00a0In fact, the island of Hawaii\u00a0boasts all manner of climates and landscapes, including an almost-English countryside around Waimea, rain forests, and the winter snow atop 13,802-foot Mauna Kea (which is, appropriately enough, Hawaiian for \u201cWhite Mountain\u201d).<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/a>
The twin telescopes of the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea are far from alone up there.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the life of me, I can\u2019t see how any visitor could find this island boring. \u00a0The fascinating geology of the place would be enough for me by itself. \u00a0(We spent much of today looking around atop Kilauea, the most active volcano on the planet.) \u00a0And then there are the remarkable observatories on top of Mauna Kea, which, unfortunately, we won\u2019t have the time to visit on this go-around. \u00a0They\u2019re surrounded by snow at this time of year, visible from down on the coast. \u00a0My interests in geology and astronomy \u2014 had my life gone just a little differently (e.g., had I not been severely nearsighted as a kid), I could easily have become an astronomer or a geologist \u2014 are tantalized when I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then there is the endless fascination of Hawaiian myth and lore, and of the Polynesian languages. \u00a0(I always bring a book on Hawaiian with me, or, alternatively, buy yet another one here, along with a book on local geology. \u00a0Usually, I purchase some sort of dictionary. \u00a0I enjoy trying to figure out pan-Polynesian words and comparative sound shifts, based on Hawaiian and, especially, Maori. \u00a0Not that I know much. \u00a0I just think it\u2019s fun.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Kailua-Kona, on the slope of the ancient volcano Hualalai, looking northward
(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And we went whale-watching out of Kailua-Kona. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t our best such expedition \u2014 a few years ago, we had some spectacular sightings just off Lahaina, in Maui; a couple of months ago, we did quite well out of Point Loma, California \u2014 but, still, we saw a number of spinner dolphins,\u00a0a few bottlenose dolphins, and a couple of\u00a0humpback whales.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boring?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, I guess it depends on what you find exciting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

To me, sitting out by the surf and reading is pretty darn pleasant. \u00a0(I\u2019ve just about finished Cornelius Ryan\u2019s The Longest Day<\/em>, about the Normandy invasion in World War Two, and I read a nice mystery novel the other day, as well as working on H.A.L. Fisher\u2019s history of Europe and editing\u00a0my way through a few academic papers.) \u00a0You can keep your nightlife, thank you very much.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
And then, for some of us, the Kona Hawaii Temple is an added attraction. (LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tonight, we had an excellent dinner at Pineapples, a restaurant in downtown Hilo that promises \u2014 and delivered \u2014 \u201cfresh island cuisine.\u201d \u00a0Earlier this afternoon, we revisited Tex Drive In, in Honokaa, where they make a wonderful but lethal Portuguese filled doughnut called a malasada<\/em>. \u00a0My wife\u2019s brother introduced us to these several years ago.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m legendarily supposed to have an insatiable hunger for Krispy Kreme doughnuts. \u00a0It\u2019s actually a myth; I seldom think about them and I can and do go for years at a time without eating any. \u00a0And, anyhow, they can\u2019t hold a candle to the Honokaa malasadas.<\/em> \u00a0(Fortunately, I\u2019m only in a position to get one of those on very rare occasions.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure that I have a favorite Hawaiian island. \u00a0They\u2019re all different. \u00a0But I certainly do enjoy the Big Island.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Hilo, Hawaii<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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