I am such a big fat liar. This shouldn’t surprise you—after all, I am a writer. But it does occasionally surprise me. What did I say in my previous blog post? No more lava updates. Well, that’s not exactly what I said. It was more like, no more regular lava updates. And even though talking about lava in the very next post might seem like a regular update, it’s not. It’s an irregular coincidence. Pinky-swear. Whatever. It may damage my reputation for veracity, but I cannot remain silent. I have to share. Because, as some of my distant friends have Read more…

Thank you to every one who keeps asking about our safety (and that of our dogs), but this will probably be my last regular lava update. I’ll pop in from time to time if something changes, and I’ll still post the occasional picture on Facebook, but honestly we’re at the “same old, same old” stage now. My husband spends many of his working hours and a fair number of his non-paid ones dealing with the impacts of the current eruption, and he dislikes the term “new normal.” It sticks, though, probably because it’s simple and we don’t have a better Read more…

Not to be anticlimactic, but yes, the lava is still flowing out of Lower Puna, specifically out of Fissure 8 all the way to the sea in a lava river. The beginning of this USGS video from yesterday (June 14, 2018) shows standing waves in the lava, like a beach day in Hell. In fact, I spent way too much time this morning trying (unsuccessfully) to find my pictures of a place that no longer exists, as if Pele wiped out all digital evidence, too. Perhaps a later blog post… Sometimes it’s sunny and sometimes it’s raining, but this is Read more…

You’re leaving us alone, aren’t you? Alone to face the lava and acid rain… That’s what my dogs’ faces said to me this morning as I closed windows. Let me be clear. We do live in lower Puna, but approximately eight miles from Leilani Estates. We are in no danger of being engulfed by lava. And I’m pretty sure the dumping rain outside was not acidic, or at least not of the Raiders of the Lost Ark, face-melting variety. But those were my dogs’ words (and not me projecting, I swear). Kilauea 2018 (I know, lousy T-shirt) continues here on Read more…