Lava Tube cave, road to Hana, Maui, Hawai’i

 The Hana Lava Tube, also known as Ka'eleku Cave, is the main lava tube cave on the Road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii. It's the largest lava tube in Maui and is a must-see for those interested in geology and caves. The tube is about 1/3 mile long, and visitors can take a self-guided tour that takes about 40 minutes. The rest of the tube is off-limits.

The Hana Lava Tube was formed approximately 960 years ago when molten lava spewed up from underground and flowed toward the ocean. The tube contains rare lava stalagmites, and stalactites that almost seem to be dripping chocolate from the cave ceiling. 

Road to Hana

I like the word “Hana”, or Japanese flower, from my tropical stay in Okinawa where hibiscus was everywhere.

The hibiscus, also known as akabana, is the official flower of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The hibiscus symbolizes the island's year-round blooming and is used in many products. 

The hibiscus is a strong, fast-growing tree that can reach 10 feet tall and has straight branches used as hedges around homes. 

For the same reason, hibiscus is often used in graveyards, family tombs. The hibiscus is also known as "After Ages Flower" (Gusohbana).

Hana is also a girl's name with Spanish origins that means "happiness" or "flower". It has many different meanings in different cultures, including: 

• Japanese: "Flower" or "flower blossom" 
• Hawaiian: "Craft" or "work" 
• Maori: "To shine", "glow", "give out love", or "radiance" 

Avi Kiriaty art

Avi Kiriaty  

 

Maui, Hawai’i

 

Kids were so happy to find a coconut, unfortunately it is old and dry

I explained to girls that the moist ocean air as it is forced up and around the mountain, cools down with upper elevation and looses the moisture as rain. The other side of the mountain, being in lee of the prevailing trade winds is dry.

The dark yellow sand after each wave looks like a bight-work wood with multiple layers of quality varnish.

These trees were glorious.

Molokini crater is a very turisty place, but still it is my dream to visit and free-dive. Not likely it will happen on this trip as it is a long sail and my crew it not into it.

The following picture is the view from our hotel room in the evening as we arrived.

This wind chart shows how the island created a wind shadow the lee, exactly where we are staying.

Hawaiian is a Polynesian language that shares many features with other Polynesian languages, including grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Hawaiian is closely related to other Polynesian languages, such as Samoan, Marquesan, Tahitian, Māori, Rapa Nui, and Tongan.

common Hawaiian phrases:

• Aloha: A greeting that can also express kindness, respect, or positive intentions 
• Mahalo: A fundamental expression of gratitude 
• 'A'ole pilikia: Means "you're welcome" or "no problem" 
• A hui hou: Means "until we meet again" 
• Ke aloha mai: Means "with love" and is often used as an invitation to come in 
• Aloha kakahiaka: Means "good morning" 
• Aloha ahiahi: Means "good evening" 
• Malama Pono: Means "take care to nurture truth and rightousness" 
• Shaka!: A friendly greeting, parting, or hand sign of approval 
• Onipa'a: Means "stand firm in your heritage and culture" 
• Ma'a: Means "accept, understand, adapt

A Beautiful Mind - movie and reflections

 I just finished watching movie “A Beautiful Mind” with Russel Crowe and Jennifer Connelly with tears running down my cheeks. Quite embarrassing, as I am sitting in the aisle seat of a busy airplane.

The movie is about Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, Dr. John Forbes Nash, a 1994 Nobel Price winner, of the Game Theory fame.

The movie touches me deeply on many levels. 

I feel a deep loss of unfulfilled lifetime intellectual potential, sadness, as those, nearest, treat me for an old fool I probably am, and I am longing for kindness and love that was shown by Jennifer in that movie.

It is very well known, that inside, we all have an image of ourselves when we were young, but looking at my aged hand typing this note on a phone, I wonder, is this it? 

Let’s suppose, I do not kick the early bucket and live out my life, I hope to be mentally acute till 75, or longer, because after all, we do live healthier lifestyle than my parents and grandparents did. In next 25 years, will I accomplish anything that is above the mediocrity of comfortable middle class lifestyle?

I am burying myself in my hobby studies, deep dives in various areas of interest to escape this mediocrity, with no one to share or discuss, but I am also aware that all of that produces little progress. 

People asked retired Captain Joshua Slocum, “Will she pay?”, when he was restoring his free, but rotten, sailboat. He did sail her as the first solo circumnavigator and wrote the most famous book about it. She did pay, a thousand-fold.

I do not know who I will become when I finally grow up, but I know it is still a long ways from now. I hope my life will be worthwhile in the end.

Like Captain Slocum, I want to do something grand and write about it. 

“A man should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” 

~ Robert A. Heinlein

Mr. Heinlein should have added “… and write a book about it”, but considering he was a famous author, I guess it is implied.

After all of that, what is left on the list, is to comfort the dying and to die gallantly. 

We talked about it the next day, it is far better to die in a volcano eruption (Hawai’i or Cascades) than on a bbq patio while watching a football game.

Stribog - Slavic god of winds

 

Stribog is the Slavic god of wind, sky, and air. He is also the ancestor of the winds of the eight directions. Stribog is depicted as a wise elder with a long, grey beard who can transform into a magical bird called Stratim. He is believed to reside on an island at the center of the Earth, and to control the direction and strength of the winds. Stribog is believed to have immense power over climate and natural phenomena, and can: Summon storms, Bring forth favorable winds for sailing