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msfledermausIt's going to be really really hard to leave Hawaii. I have this fantasy in my head of calling my job, yelling "So long, suckas!" and devoting all my energies to building a gothic tiki bed and breakfast in the lush volcanic jungles of the Big Island. I'm currently staying in the scenic village of Volcano, next to, yes, the volcano--Mauna Kiluaea, the home of Pele the fire goddess.
I went to see her crater this afternoon, and it's an intensely beautiful place. I couldn't get enough of just standing at her altar stone with the lei and the fruit on top and watching the steam come out of the immense caldera. There was a lot of steam everywhere, actually--it had been raining on and off and the ground had lots of steam vents along the footpaths. Between the sulphuric mists and the rivers of gray ropey pahoehoe...well,it was spooky. Really spooky. I had no problem accepting Pele was still in there, doing the things huge elemental goddesses do...
We went into the lava tube nearby as well...it was huge and dark and cool and surrounded by ferns and mysterious roots growing in the roof. Fantastically beautiful. Then we drove down to the extremely new and fairly dangerous coastline where the lava vents were still slowly pouring out into the ocean. You could see the steam rising up for miles. I'm just in awe, complete awe at the lava fields. They're huge--picture just can't do them justice. It's one of the most humbling things I've ever seen...I'll link to some pictures my friends took later on this trip; my connection isn't the best right now. Hell, I'm lucky to have any connection at all--I'm on the slope of a volcano in the middle of a tropical rainforest!!! I'm lucky I don't have to hack my way to Kona with a machete!! It is INTENSELY tropical here where I'm staying. There's bamboo trying to lean into the porch and maybe steal our shoes. There are ferns bigger than my living room. (Okay, that's not hard. But still!) There are mysterious and spooky noises in the jungle--could be dogs, could be...pigs? some guy playing a nose-flute? A group of headhunters? I really have no idea...
*sighs quietly at the thought of going home*
Maybe I could do a gothic tiki b&b at home in lovely Minneapolis. We could use a shot of that; last time I checked it was still bitterly cold. Psycho Suzi's can't do everything, after all...
Your faithful Goth-in-Paradise, Ms Mausi...who just bought a nice book called "Horror in Paradise" about true-life ghost stories about the Islands. All that blue oceany artwork and stuff was starting to get to me a little. There's a pirate and cannibal section I can't wait to read. Yarrrr!
I went to see her crater this afternoon, and it's an intensely beautiful place. I couldn't get enough of just standing at her altar stone with the lei and the fruit on top and watching the steam come out of the immense caldera. There was a lot of steam everywhere, actually--it had been raining on and off and the ground had lots of steam vents along the footpaths. Between the sulphuric mists and the rivers of gray ropey pahoehoe...well,it was spooky. Really spooky. I had no problem accepting Pele was still in there, doing the things huge elemental goddesses do...
We went into the lava tube nearby as well...it was huge and dark and cool and surrounded by ferns and mysterious roots growing in the roof. Fantastically beautiful. Then we drove down to the extremely new and fairly dangerous coastline where the lava vents were still slowly pouring out into the ocean. You could see the steam rising up for miles. I'm just in awe, complete awe at the lava fields. They're huge--picture just can't do them justice. It's one of the most humbling things I've ever seen...I'll link to some pictures my friends took later on this trip; my connection isn't the best right now. Hell, I'm lucky to have any connection at all--I'm on the slope of a volcano in the middle of a tropical rainforest!!! I'm lucky I don't have to hack my way to Kona with a machete!! It is INTENSELY tropical here where I'm staying. There's bamboo trying to lean into the porch and maybe steal our shoes. There are ferns bigger than my living room. (Okay, that's not hard. But still!) There are mysterious and spooky noises in the jungle--could be dogs, could be...pigs? some guy playing a nose-flute? A group of headhunters? I really have no idea...
*sighs quietly at the thought of going home*
Maybe I could do a gothic tiki b&b at home in lovely Minneapolis. We could use a shot of that; last time I checked it was still bitterly cold. Psycho Suzi's can't do everything, after all...
Your faithful Goth-in-Paradise, Ms Mausi...who just bought a nice book called "Horror in Paradise" about true-life ghost stories about the Islands. All that blue oceany artwork and stuff was starting to get to me a little. There's a pirate and cannibal section I can't wait to read. Yarrrr!
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Date: 2007-02-17 04:57 am (UTC):-)
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Date: 2007-02-17 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 06:48 pm (UTC)I wonder how many bath bombs it would take to fill the big crater, and what would happen if I tried. I think Pele might enjoy a scented bath between eruptions:)
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Date: 2007-02-17 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-17 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-18 03:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-20 03:13 am (UTC)You could make a great GothTiki B&B. Skull mugs with orange juice and a little dry ice would be good with just about any breakfast...