April 04, 2008
Wherein I Inflict Yet More Maui Pictures on My Readers
Oh, you poor, patient dears! I'm afraid I’ve stumbled across three more Maui photos, giving me an excuse to streeeeeeetch the travelogue out a little more. Surely your life wouldn’t be complete without seeing amateurish images of Maui lava fields, would it?
Eyes forward, class.
In the middle of the lava fields, everything as far as the eye can see looks like this (dunno what the hose/pipe thingy is). This stuff, straight from the ninth circle of hell, makes very short work of flip flops, which actually explains why I had to be rescued from the shallow surf by the park ranger. What was tripping me up was my flippers, but I couldn’t take them off because this was what was under your feet in, granted, slightly rounded, eroded form but still toothy. (I just noticed that, in the picture of me being rescued by the park ranger, I am actually carrying my flippers, which meant I was indeed walking on this stuff. Yowzah.)
I was enchanted by this bright green and ever-so-brave little plant determined to grow in such a devastated, desolate area. Growth, life, evolution, and survival of the fittest in a nutshell.
Give me a P! Give me an L! Give me an A! Give me an N! Give me a T! What does it spell? PLANT! PLANT! PLANT! Gooooooo, PLANT!
And here we have the culprit, the lava dome that the lava came from. It was actually quite small as lava domes go, more like a geological pimple than a beefy, oversteroided, beach bully of a volcano, but you can definitely see that the lava splorked right out of the middle of it. And splorked and splorked and splorked until it had covered many miles with black lava.
From…
To…
There is hope for me yet.
After these, I immediately threw some more Trekking on the needles and discovered a new world: Self-splotching yarn:
I have no idea what the design concept is behind this yarn. I think they’re trying to go for a Southwestern motif, but it’s just lost on TMK, who calls them the “Oops, I Spilled The Bleach” socks. God only knows what’s going to happen when I get into the back and forth of the heel and decreases for the gusset where the color scheme, on a good day, goes haywire. Color 159, for the curious.
What I call my “treasures,” the dishcloths from the Cotton Club, are starting to come in, and I love every single one. I’ve received solids, variegateds, muted colors, bright colors, just a happy bouquet of remarkable offerings. Here, are a couple of photos of the way my employee plans to bundle the soap and cloths for sale:
This is just the best project. I couldn't be enjoying it more.
It's a'a lava, which did in my hiking boots when I went to Hawaii. (Geology field trip: we saw one, count it, one beach. Versus at least 15 different lava deposits. And one observatory.)
Posted by: Wren on April 4, 2008 12:28 PMWe lived on the Big Island for a while where my geologist husband was in 7th heaven playing at vulcanology.
My mother came to visit and we took her on a tour of the Volcano Park which surrounds the giant crater at Halemaumau. Lava fields stretch as far as the eye can see.
My mother's response was "Oh, my, such devastation! I wonder what it covered?"
Guess what, Mom. It covered . . . more lava! That's how we got the island ;o)
You can look at volcanoes, in Hawaii at least, as either a very destructive power, or a very creative one. I prefer the latter--as long as you stay out of the path of the molten lava on it's way to the ocean.
DH accompanied a bunch of U of Hawaii geology students up to active lava flows. They were walking on freshly hardened lava that had been molten just a few weeks before. In the cracks, you could see the bright red flow of hot lava down to the ocean (it's amazing to watch the lava hit the cooling ocean waters!) inches from your feet. One of the students started to complain her feet were hot--and, sure enough, her shoes were MELTING! She had to be carried down--everyone else was smart enough to be wearing hiking boots.
Posted by: Janknitz on April 4, 2008 02:56 PMI completely agree with TMK on the bleach socks. In college I had some Levi's with similar markings.
The treasures are lovely, how do the soaps smell?
Posted by: PICAdrienne on April 4, 2008 03:03 PMOK. My cloth is going in the mail tomorrow!! What beautiful bundles they make. Thanks for your hard work on this wonderful project, Ryan.
Posted by: Cynthia on April 4, 2008 03:12 PMI'll confess that I'm one of those geeks who loves seeing other people's travel pics, so bring 'em all on! On another note, yesterday I dug out the yarn I want to use for my washcloth... That's the closest I've managed to get yet.
Posted by: Kristen on April 4, 2008 03:16 PMOh, I hadn't read the Wren's comment when I posted mine about melting shoes. LOL!!!! Maybe it was you, Wren!
I hope you were wearing nice handmade socks ;o)
Posted by: Janknitz on April 4, 2008 05:23 PMI shall bring you my cloth, if you're around on the 21st or 22nd. I'm coming down to see Stephanie's book tour thingie and will be staying with Elaine and Leslie that night.
Posted by: Rabbitch on April 5, 2008 01:25 AMI got some of that self-splotching yarn, the same color as you have -- isn't it great? I have a story.
I often can't tell from looking at unknitted sock yarn what it will look like when it's knit up, so I home in on color at the LYS. One night I was working on the s-s-y socks, watching the news on TV and admiring the pretty colors developing on the needles, when I looked at my feet (propped up on the coffee table) and realized I was already wearing a pair out of that exact same yarn! Duh. So I gave the new ones to my daughter, who lives in another state, so the socks don't get mixed up in the wash.
I, too, am a geology student who did a field school in Hawai'i, and that a'a will chew the shoe soles into oblivion. It was a lovely trip, though, like Wren, we also only got one beach day out of 9 days of hiking across lava. And let me tell you, hiking across lava fields (even long inactive ones) is HOT. It's like walking across huge expanses of very shiny asphalt, except that lava has no give to your feet. The black lava absorbs and radiates heat, and the shiny surface reflects the heat and sunshine back up at you.
I must have enjoyed it though (I did, really) because I'm taking volcanology now, and my thesis is on a volcano in Colorado.
Anyway, it looks like your trip was lovely! Next time go to the Big Island, and you'll be able to learn all about the lava under your feet!
hmmm, I just finished a pair of trekking socks that did that, color 150. TMK, that's exactly what I said about them! They were for Dave though, and he likes them so I guess I"ll get over it:)
Posted by: EricaLynn on April 5, 2008 10:46 AM"Splorked" is one o' them technical geology terms, yes?
Posted by: Rachel H on April 5, 2008 04:33 PMUm, this is really interesting, Aunt Ryan, and thanks for the Ruffles and onion dip, but can I be excused to go play in traffic now?
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on April 5, 2008 04:52 PMOK the bleach spot socks are funny. I eagerly await a photo of the heel flap...
Posted by: CarolineF on April 7, 2008 06:36 AM