Definitely not the Other California: Dispatches from Paradise

Several of you correctly surmised my destination from the obscure clue I provided in yesterday's post. That strange object in the hand is a piece of Pele's Hair. Pele is of course the deity that lives in the actively erupting volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands. When globs of basaltic material are tossed into the air as bubbles pop during eruptions, some of it stretches into long glassy fibers. They literally are strands of obsidian.

I could lie and say I am on some kind of noble research into the volcanism of the lovely isles, but it has been a very long time since Mrs. Geotripper and I have had a real vacation. So posts may be a bit sketchy for a few days. On the other hand, Kilauea has been unusually active in the last few weeks, and if houses aren't being threatened, we may just go take a look at what is going on with the lava flows.

Y'all hold down the fort back there on the mainland (or off-island as they say around here). Here is the view from our lanai on the windward side of Oahu. More later!