Last Post, Last Sunset of 2008

Most amateurish web presence? NOT!

Doug at Poinography!, having looked at Hawaii County's website, asks "Is there a County with a more amateurish web presence?" Certainly within the 50th state, the answer is clearly "no." Maui, Kaua'i and Honolulu, while not spectacular, are at least adequate, while Hawaii County seems stuck in about 1994. The "copyright 2001" at the bottom is sad enough. It's not like there've been any advances in the internet since 2001, right?

OK, so we're clearly the lamest county in Hawaii, but can we compete on the national scene? Or will it be another Georgia vs UH wipeout? Well, Mississippi County, Arkansas (chosen because it's in the poorest congressional district) looks pretty bad (copyright 1997, but revised in 2006) but I think ours still looks lamer. Hancock County, Georgia is supposed to be the poorest county in Georgia, but even those inbred, no-teeth, cousin marrying hicks have a better looking website. Wikipedia says that the poorest county in the US is Buffalo County, South Dakota. They're apparently so poor that they don't even have a website, so there's least one county worse than Hawaii County (their population is only 2032, so we should probably be restrained in our victory dance).

HECO finds out whether there's no such thing as bad publicity, plus the usual flowers.

Hah! Now the nation and the world know how bad Hawaiian Electric's service is. Maybe they'll ask for a bailout, like the automakers, since producing a defective product seems to be a requirement, not a handicap, in that regard.

High above the world where power supply matters, I found these voluptuous lehua blossoms on a little shrub about 2 feet high, in the windswept scrub at 6900':

And in keeping with our theme of native Hawaiian plants having small flowers, here's pukiawe:

A Ludicrously Beautiful Day in Kona

As always after a storm passes through, today was clear, sunny, and postcard gorgeous at Honokohau:

Hualalai basked in the bright sun:

so did Mauna Loa's snow cap:

Panorama of Kona from Keauhou to Honokohau on a stormy day

I just got back from walking six miles, and boy, are my arms tired!

See, because of the walking sticks. It's a reference to that old joke "I just flew in from....." Never mind.

Anyway, it was looking stormy up on Hualalai, so I decided to see if the ohia were in bloom out at Pu'u Wa'awa'a or Pu'u Anahulu, because there are quite a few yellow and orange flowering trees. But the ohia down around 2000', unlike those up at 5000', were almost devoid of blossoms. Having driven 10 miles out that way, I decided to hike the Ohia Trail at Pu'u Wa'awa'a
Pu'u Wa'awa'a means furrowed hill, the adjective coming after the noun in Hawaiian.

The dryland forest around the pu'u is one of the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. There are rare plants throughout the forest. Here's Hawaii's endemic member of the rose family, U'ulei:

Many native Hawaiian plants have tiny flowers, like this Kolea (also the Hawaiian name for the plovers that fly 5000 miles non-stop from the arctic to spend the winter here):

Here's a plant that played its tragic part in Hawaii's history, the 'Iliahi (sandalwood):

The Hawaiian dodonaea, A'ali'i, has small flowers:

But the seed pods are often quite spectacular:

Merry Christmas

'Tis the season to force our pets to wear antlers.