Time For Action

I don't really have time to be writing right now, but I hear there's not much in the mainland news about the lava flow heading to Pahoa, and us... It's huge! It's the real deal.
And we are in the path.

Mike took this where our road meets the highway, about 4 miles from home. The lava steam and smoke created the big cloud in the center, more smoke rising in the foreground beneath it.

The anxiety is overwhelming at times. This long drawn-out drama, while affording everyone time to get things done and arranged and moved, is also very taxing on everyone's nerves. They (officials, not just gossip) say Pahoa town is likely to disappear the way Kalapana did, and Kapoho before it. If not in the next couple weeks, then months... or agonizing years (like Kalapana).

Thank goodness there is work happening now, full speed ahead, opening up the old Railroad right of way and Beach Road. Huge trucks, graders, and enormous Cats roar by at all hours... and that's okay. These roads will be the lifeline to Hilo and all that implies.

Several of our friends who also live in this neighborhood in the direct path of the flow are moving their furnishings and stuff into storage; then it’s wait and see if we have to leave our homes. Others are leaving the area, or even the islands, entirely. Our ohana is breaking apart. Those who are staying in Puna District now talk in terms of "which side will you be on", meaning the division that the lava flow will make once it cuts off the highway... then Railroad... then Beach Road, between 'our side' and the Hilo side. (The l-o-n-g way 'round through Chain of Craters and into the back side of Volcanoes National Park will only be opened up after Beach Rd is over-run.)

(click to enlarge photo)

I hate that Lori and I will be on opposite sides of this instead of only 17 minutes away from each other. I cannot quite believe that we are likely going to lose our home, our piggery barn, and our farm. We've already canceled reservations for our vacation rental and issued refunds to incoming guests. We've already stopped selling animal feeds because we will be unable to get more before the predicted highway overrun time frame. We are down to one pig now and deciding about the laying flock. Less to move, more time for us to be doing what needs to be done right now.

We are counting ourselves fairly lucky in that we do have somewhere to go if it comes to it. Our new land has an old building on it that used to be a banana packing shed. I admit it won't be quite so bad once the place is gutted, deep-cleaned, painted, and fixed up for living in and storage of our furnishings, etc. Two rooms for us, two for storage, and a feed room of sorts with a washer. These preparations are in full swing. Soon we can start moving stuff, lighten our last-minute load here. It would have been high adventure at 20-something--and it was, doing stuff like this!--but at 50-something, not so much.

Yesterday, we finally got a chance to get to Hilo for supplies. It's another world, a more 'normal' world. Took a while to adjust. Best find of the day: empty boxes at Home Depot. They were stocking shelves and I was helping them clear the aisles.

I was a bit disappointed that we didn't see any glow from the lava as we drove home. I mean, if it's going to put us in such danger, we should at least get to see the beauty of it, too, right?