KAUAI PLUS COLORADO/OREGON

   

JULY 2021

My last post was just about a year ago when we were dealing with the start of the pandemic and the nation was also hoping for an end to all the political madness.  Much has occurred in this last year including a new White House, and significant world suffering from catastrophic heat, fire, flooding, and death due to viral infection.  We watch as it continues.

In July 2020 we had a serious hurricane evacuation notice on Kauai’s North shore; we pulled everything movable inside and boarded up the house and went to a friend’s that had even better hunkering equipment.  Luckily it missed us, again.

Evacuated, really strange skies

While, no Covid deaths occurred in our family, thankfully, we suffered a major loss from the East Troublesome Fire in Colorado in October. It blasted through our property taking our beloved log cabin along with the entire forest.  The loss was not monetary (as it was priceless) but gut wrenchingly emotional.  

We watched from thousands of miles away while those within a couple miles were just as helpless due to the winds forcing the wall of fire up and over mountains, through valleys, and jumping rivers. Randomly changing course, it sometimes bounced along to leave alternate green and black patches before wreaking yet more widespread devastation. 

Cabin at arrow point on October 22nd

Cabin at arrow point by the 24th

            Firefighters, then and now, say it was unlike anything they had ever seen, faster than anyone thought possible, it created its own enormous wind.  The fire would not be thwarted by humans and the snow came a few days too late. 

                 Confirmation that it was over.  With the long winter ahead, we would have to wait for the spring/summer melt to go back.

                 We painfully got through the winter on-island, staying home, Gil painting in the garage and me cooking.  He paddled his one-man along with other soloists when ocean conditions allowed but when not, he spent hours on the river.

OC1 (Gil bought Yella Fella from a friend that had left the island) 

We converted our spa room on the back lanai to a gym, much better use of the space and giving us more room on the front lanai when we will someday have dinner guests again.

 

            Gil did a series of small paintings on smooth board and perfected his framing technique.  He’s done a few commissions and has another going, but these are ours. 

            Not much of a baker since the 70’s when I made all my own bread, I got into playing with dough.

Apple and basil French Galette

First of several Italian “Garden” Focaccia

Nordic holiday rolls

             It has been fun to take time (plenty of it) to give attention to individual ingredients and experiment with spices.  I’ve ordered peppers from Calabria, Italy and sea grapes from SE Asia (instead of fish roe for sushi bake).  Love my new Cocoa Beer chili.

 

Salmon zucchini pizza on crème fraiche

Delish red long beans

            I did some refuge work in Hanalei, looking for (hoping to not find) native birds dead or dying from botulism.  The valley is a gorgeous place to tromp around, rain or shine.  

Pink legged Hawaiian Stilts posing

Hanalei Valley

I also volunteered to review over 100,000 (!) time-stamped digital photos of native Moorhen nests for a predation study.  It was pretty cool to see day/night, water levels change in the taro, etc.  There were some interesting activities.

Nest at night in infra-red

Hatched with both adults attending

Three of the four chicks are swimming, last hatched, last in the water

So, while the moorhens are foraging away from the nest, a native Koloa Duck brings her brood in for a rest

Interlopers abound 

While the moorhens are out, the Koloa duck comes by again only to find a frog/toad (?) with her young on the nest.  NOTE:  the moorhens return to the nest at night to sleep, after the adult repairs the nest from all the sloppy housemates.

DECEMBER

            In December we took two of Gil’s outriggers to Anini for a little lagoon cruise.  I had a great time watching the turtles from above, instead of in, the water.

    Yella Fella and Honu

  Christmas came and went, quietly. 

Local Christmasberry and Rhambuton fruit

Home made gingerbread

Santa in a mask

Local trade snowman

 

KAUAI 2021 

On shopping days in Lihue, we eat our lunch in the car at one scenic location or another.

Opaeka’a Falls

New bridge at the arboretum (built after the 2018 flood)

Ahukini, near the airport, always windy

Between Nawiliwili Harbor and Kalapaki Bay, kite boarders are very entertaining

            While zooming was prevalent for most of the country, we only used it to meet up with far flung Aikido friends around the country about once a month (Nevada, Northern and Southern California, Montana and Hawaii).  Some nostalgic pictures that came out of this were from a camping trip in Mexico.

Gil and his Datsun, camping with several Aikido families in Baja circa 1980 

Might be Shawn catching the wave

            Meanwhile, on Kauai, we had so much rain we discovered the fun pastime of jigsaw puzzles, quite addictive. The patterns are meditative and the scenic ones are work!

            Gil surprised me for my birthday with a couple days in Kokee.  It was wonderful to be in the forest again, at altitude.  I love it.

Waipo’o Falls

Flowers from the yard

The plum trees were budding but it was chilly. 

Island weather continues and just as the island started a slow opening, more rain brought a devastating mudslide between Princeville and Hanalei.  Four months later, the road is still in limited use as the work continues to reinforce the mountain above.  No one was hurt!

Mudslide, you can just make out the bridge in upper right, where water and road meet.

COLORADO

Once the holiday season passed, I started a project to gather the history of our lost cabin.  I had already taken the bulk of old photos to the cabin so that as family visited, they could review the early and ongoing times. Of course, all of that was lost in the fire as well.  I spent four months putting together an album titled A Hundred Years in a Bit of Forest: The Cabin Story. I burnt out my printer and ended up making only four copies which I sent off to the recipients.  It was an emotional ride intended to purge the pain. That done, we began to figure out how to get the site cleared of debris so we could move on.

            Like everyone else, we had canceled planned trips (Europe in 2020 and Alaska summer 2021 as conditions were unknown).  Once vaccinated, we booked flights to Colorado.  I went early to help friend, Therese, with a move. It was very cold when I arrived in June, the front range had fresh snow. 

Front range

             Once that last storm disappeared it became unbearably hot.  I had to make my morning walk/jog earlier and earlier to the nearby park to check out the birds before the ordeal with the boxes began.  Red wing black birds (courting), mallards, lesser scaup, western grebe, Canada geese with goslings, cormorants, one blue heron with pollen bearing cottonwoods, oak and aspen along shore.

Cormorants

Mallards and Canada geese

            I had a nice visit with niece Jackie, planning the memorial.  We also visited the neighborhood where we had lived as kids.  Once Gil arrived, we visited Kauai friends that also have a home in Aurora and had a great catch up with them.  We went to Denver Botanical and, while we were prepared for the rain, it really poured – but was gorgeous as always.

           We had made arrangements with a volunteer group doing disaster cleanup in the Grand Lake area.  We booked a cabin at Shadowcliff Lodge, on our road in, for easiest access.  It involved a lot of logistics with both people equipment.

THE MEMORIAL

             This effort was combined with an overdue memorial for my late brother-in-law. Thick green grass had grown in the lowest areas that held the last of the snow. It was a stark contrast with the burnt trees still standing. 

             We elected to scatter Jack's ashes at the river with the vibrant new growth as backdrop and to acknowledge his passion for fishing.  All the little ones had shirts that said Grand Love (a play on Grand Lake).

Jack’s kids, grandkids, and great grandkids

Grand love

DEBRIS REMOVAL

            The next day we coordinated with a church/college group that had come (from Missouri) as a service project for disaster relief.  It was not possible to bring in their usual large equipment and we made multiple trips with smaller rented trailers.

Heartbreaking to recognize bits that had exploded in the fire

             I worked up the mountain from the large site, with 4-5 of the college kids.  It had been where in the distant past, cans and glass were tossed behind a large rock.  While much of it had already been removed, what remained was now exposed.  It was an opportunity to clear away human intrusion so the forest could reclaim the land in its own time.

Metal was separated from other debris and hauled away first.  Concrete from the foundation was last to go while everything else, including the ash, was taken to another site.  Then the leveling began.

Gil, Jeff, Colin, and Brian offloaded the metal at the reclamation station

           Where we stayed at Shadowcliff was a great respite from working in the “ash tray.” We were so grateful to get it done in one day. 

From our deck at Shadowcliff: 

Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Reservoir, a little snow still on Indian Peaks

The sound of the river directly below us made for peaceful sleep

             The debris clean up had evolved into a family reunion.  It was great to see everyone, even under the extremely sad circumstances; we shared the experience to the end. Coincidentally, the town of Grand Lake put together a series of photos and stories for the community to share regarding the East Troublesome fire and we were invited to visit a few days before it opened to the public. . 

It reminded us that others had losses even greater than ours.

 OREGON

           Once we no longer had a second home, we realized there isn’t a safe location anywhere.  Between fires, hurricanes, tornados, volcanoes, flooding rains, and snow bombs we decided we needed to be mobile for our excursions on the mainland.  We bought Lucille (the truck we had borrowed repeatedly in Colorado).  Sight un-seen, we also bought a little trailer in Oregon so we could do some camping with Gil’s brother and wife, Dennis and Darlene.  

Our vintage Forester, named Pully

            We drove Lucille through Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho in 100 plus degree heat, without AC to get there.  Had a nice stop-over in Salt Lake City to see friends.  And stopped to say hello to a friend's Mom (90 1/2) in Wyoming. No masks were required anywhere we went. It was bizarre to see all the naked faces!  

           While Gil got Lucille registered and new Oregon plates, fixed the AC, and numerous other improvements I went on a wildflower expedition to Mount Ashland with nieces and nephews.

The views weren’t what they could have been because of fires

The flowers weren’t as usual either because of the crazy heat

We still had a lovely day together including a picnic and the cousins got to visit

             We will go back in September to bring everything up to par and head out for Olympic National Park in upper Washington.  If we like it enough, we will upgrade the vehicles at some point and continue our adventures.

Planning the camping trip to Olympic, even for mid September there weren't many sites left and we couldn't risk wingin' it.

 HOME UNDER QUARANTINE

            Though vaccinated, it was suggested that Kauai residents test for Covid if returning from travels.  We did just that and Gil was notified that he did, indeed have it!  So, our most recent adventure was segregating the house into OK zones and No-Go zones for Gil for ten days.  He had such allergy symptoms from all the pollens and smoke everywhere we went he could not distinguish onset.  He slept more and felt groggy for about a week and then it shifted and he felt like himself.   Everyone we had been close to tested negative so it must have been some random gas pump or something at a parts house I didn’t visit. 

It isn’t over yet folks, please take care.  And, YES, he is back on the water.