November 4, 2007
Stormy day in Hawaii
I love a stormy day. I like the pounding rain and the lightning and thunder that woke me several times last night. I like that the rain continues, with intermittent let-ups so I can take pictures of our beautiful mountains. We’re experienceing a drought, you know, and it’s especially dry on the leeward coast of Oahu where I live. We need the rain, much more rain than we’ll get before this storm blows out to sea.
As I look towards town I see that more clouds are held in abeyance behind Gorilla Mountain (can you see his profile at the right end of the mountains?) I don’t think he’s big enough to hold back the weather. My only regret about this storm is that the streets out here are flooded and likely to be worse before it clears. Today is bookbrunch day. My friends are probably ordering dessert about now at the Mexican restuarant where I had planned to join them. I’ve just finished a pastrami and swiss on an onion bun right here at home instead. I couldn’t face that drive. Cars going down my street are throwing up fantails of splash, and traffic on the highway will be moving at a slow creep past lane-closures and flooded spots. It would have taken over an hour just to get off of the coast, and at least another hour to get to town. Buddy and the storm gave me a very sleepless night and I just don’t have the stamina today to face that traffic nightmare.
Looking over my neighbor’s rooftops and beyond the government lot behind them I see that more storminess is moving towards us from Lualualei. Poor old Buddy! He can’t hear the thunder anymore, but I had to get up and calm him several times last night as the lightning flashes and the wild winds and rain un-nerved him and turned him into a quivering mass. More is on the way, sweet Bud. Mom and Lance are here with you, so it will be okay.
Looking towards Makaha, I can’t see “Wizard’s Peak” very well today. Dad and I used to judge what kind of day it was going to be by whether or not the smaller, conical mountain in the front and center of the photo above was clearly defined as we had our morning coffee out on the lanai. We knew that a day of sunshine was ahead when we could see the resemblance to a wizard’s hat. Not so much today. You could easily hide the signs of malignant mesothelioma in the cloudiness that masks the magic.
Since I can’t gather with the book gals, I’ve decided to do my own private salute to literature today. There’s a chill in the air. I may drag a quilt into the living room and make a cup of cocoa before I settle on the couch with my latest read. Buddy can find me easily there and won’t have to haul his panic and his aching joints down the hall to my bedroom when the storm revs up again.
I don’t know the real names of those mountains. Hawaiians had/have names for each peak, but I’ve never found a map that gives that information for “my” mountains. The local kids named Gorilla Mountain. I think “Wizard’s Peak” came from me and Dad alone.
Technorati Tags: Hawaii, mountains, photos, rain storm
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November 4th, 2007 at 1:21 pm, Ann Says:
cool pics. I can almost feel the storm from here.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to drive in that mess. I stalled my car out in a flash flood last year. It was oh so embarrassing!
Better to stay home with a book and some cocoa.
November 4th, 2007 at 1:56 pm, skeet Says:
The first “company car” I ever had? Lost it in a flooded intersection just a mile or so from my home in Metairie, lol! It was a little Chevy hatchback. I didn’t realize just how low the intersection dipped until it was too late, and I was too young and stupid to know that I shouldn’t have tried to re-start it and suck water into the carburoator, lol! Oh, the boss was furious with me!
November 4th, 2007 at 2:13 pm, CyberCelt Says:
Hey, Skeet!
In answer to your question, anyone may join Blog Village that has a family-friendly website.
Go here: http://blogvillage.gotop100.com/members/signup.php
and submit your blog and banner. Grab a graphic BV banner and put it on your site. Rosemary will notify you when you are live.
If you do not want to join, we have quarterly carnivals and you can submit a post by linking to the BV blog and putting their membership number in the Blog Carnival site.
November 4th, 2007 at 10:54 pm, Barbara Says:
I’d love stormy days, too, if I lived where you do!
November 5th, 2007 at 1:46 am, ONwebcheck Says:
WOW, some really great shots!
November 5th, 2007 at 4:29 am, rebecca Says:
Cool pictures. I was going to ask you if it’s really called Gorilla Mountain, and there you answered my question.
Happy NaBloPoMo.
November 5th, 2007 at 1:21 pm, KarinGal Says:
Hi, Great to meet you through NaBloPoMo’s Island Bloggers group. You have a beautiful view from where you live…what an amazing storm that was yesterday. I loved it!
November 5th, 2007 at 2:44 pm, Whim Says:
Rainy days are meant for reading aren’t they? What beautiful pictures! We haven’t seen a decent rain here in months. If you lived a little closer I’d ask you to send some mt way.
November 5th, 2007 at 7:39 pm, hyphen8 Says:
Missed ya, but we all understood. Rivers are NOT fun to drive through. Add gridlock and sometimes it just isn’t worth the stress.
Example of just how wet it was Saturday/Sunday: while we were winding up lunch, dustyflint got an emergency phone call (about 1:10): theater flooded + all costumes sopping + 2:00 matinee = where are you because someone is coming to pick you up RIGHT NOW.
Still don’t know the end of that story.
Be sure to ask ghir about her new t-shirt from purple58 some time.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:03 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo CyberCelt! I’ve made a note of the BV info & will spend some quality time there soon!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:05 pm, skeet Says:
We don’t get a lot of storms, Barabara, especially the ones that come with a sound and light show. The last two days were actually pretty nice, except that they put the damper on a few activitites. I do love a good storm!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:07 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo, Onwebcheck. The storm was a refreshing change of pace.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:08 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo Rebecca. Hope you’re enjoying NaBloPoMo as much as I am!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:10 pm, skeet Says:
Wasn’t it exhilarating, KarinGal? I love the year-round sunshine, but the occasional stormy day gets my blood pumping!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:11 pm, skeet Says:
We’ll get you over here eventually Whim, for a mostly sunshiny vacation with an occasionaly stormy day thrown in.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:15 pm, skeet Says:
Glad to hear that some of y’all could make it and had a good time, H8! That’s terrible news about the theater. Hope they were able to salvage the costumes and get the show going. I’ll ask G about the shirt.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:10 am, Pua Says:
yes, we love it when we finally get the long awaited rain. appreciate it when it does not come down in buckets and causes the flash floods. so many places in hawaii have been much too dry. hard though for hawaii visitors to accept. who wants to have rain on their one week hawaii vacation?! but i always tell them that it’s still better to be in warm hawaii - the sun comes back soon! - than on the cold mainland. aloha, pua
p.s.
and no snowcovered mountains in hawaii without rain!!!