They are only playing

Ben writes: Joanna mentioned, I believe, that I was at a soccer game recently. Of course, due to my ankle (which is feeling much better but not yet well, to those concerned) I just sat and watched. These fantastic dogs befriended me, and I got great pictures of them playing with each other. I also met some nice humans, one of whom gave me a ride down in his VW bus, complete with cabinets, a guitar, and pictures of Hawaii on the celing.
Things are just moving along nicely here. It's our last week on this farm, and we will miss everyone quite a bit, but we're already getting excited for the farm in Pahoa, and to get to New Zealand.
We had a great snorkeling trip this weekend, our best yet, and it was at the same bay where I had a terrible time our first weekend. Clear afternoons are much better for snorkeling that cloudy evenings. Don't forget that. The reefs were full of fish, and we saw dolphins playing in the water, though every time I went out to greet them, they were elsewhere.
I updated some picture titles on our flikr account (see the pictures like at the right), and we'll try to do a big upload at Phyl's house before we leave.
In the farm, we are working continually to get the beds into shape, and it really is amazing what a difference our work has made. Maybe Jo mentioned that, too, I have not actually read her last posting.
We miss everyone, and we think about home a lot.
Aloha!

Earthquake and a Cow Break

Joanna writes:

Well, according to the news, we've had quite a week here in Hawaii. Yes, folks, Ben and I have now bravely and valiantly Survived an Earthquake. Well, perhaps 'groggily' would have been a better adverb there. As it happens, the earthquake had only a minimal effect on us. It did wake us up early on Sunday morning and break a couple of the glasses in our house and keep us out of the ocean for a little while, but that's about it. That and the fact that the cows got a bit spooked and wandered off into the neighboring property, and Ben and Tom and Phyl had to go fetch them. (Ben could probably give a better account of that, but he's off trying to hitch a ride to a pick-up soccer game he learned about from a couple girls he met in town.) Amazingly, we didn't even lose our water, which we're getting quite used to due to the frequency with which Phyl runs over water pipes with the tractor.

After things had settled here on the farm, we walked down to a nearby cafe to scope out the scene and get Esther a muffin, as it was her last morning here, and apparently they don't have proper muffins in Germany. We had to wait a while for the power to come back on (we had gotten ours more quickly because we're right next to the hospital), but it ended up being a lovely morning with the entire farm family coming down to join us. Now Esther is gone, which is very sad, but at least we have a great excuse to visit Germany.

The only thing that has really changed since the earthquake (and may be totally unrelated to it) is the weather. It used to be pleasantly cool in the late mornings and afternoons, but now it's hot and sunny all day, and the air is much clearer, too--we got our first view of the mountain, which is usually shrouded in clouds. It's a nice change after the torrential downpours we had last week, but I've had enough, especially after getting my first sunburn today. We've been working a lot in the garden, hauling compost, preparing beds, planting, watering, mulching, and fighting the weeds. It's hard work, but rewarding.

We also got our first real experience with the biodynamic aspect of the farm. Well, the whole thing is biodynamic, but now we've actually helped to make the biodynamic compound, which is the lifeblood of the operation. We add it to all the water for new plantings. To make BC, Phyl put a pile of cow manure on a slab, and we all took turns turning it with shovels, four at a time, walking around it in a circle, for an HOUR. Luckily we had a high school class here to help with it. Then Phyl put the manure in a buried wooden box, added some special treatments (like calendula flowers that had been buried underground in a stag's bladder for a year), and covered it up. It will be ready in about three months. We're still not totally sure what we think of all the biodynamic principles, but they certainly seem to work. Luckily, Phyl and Catherine are both quite down to earth, and make it seem very normal and reasonable. I think a pretty representative quote for Phyl was when he was looking at some of the seedling flats, and exclaimed, "Woo-hoo! Look at those cabbages! In a couple moon cycles we're going to be kicking ass!"

In other news, the male baby goat is being castrated. With a rubber band. Apparently this is really how it's done. He doesn't actually seem that upset. Both of the babies will have their horns removed Friday, and then we'll probably begin to separate them from their moms at night so we can start milking again. Poor kids. I still love feeding them and playing with them, and am growing fonder of the donkey, too.

Well, hope all's well on the mainland or wherever you may be! There are a few more pictures on flickr--promise we'll really get that rolling as soon as we get some more time on a computer.

We were in Hilo for the weekend

Joanna writes:

Hi everyone. As Ben mentioned, we went to Hilo (the biggest city on the island, pretty much directly across from where we are) last weekend. It was a darn good time, even if it didn't include very much sleeping.

Catherine is taking classes in Hilo to become a Waldorf teacher, so she offered to give us a ride over (us including Esther and Killion). We drove across the northern part of the island, took us through many interesting landscapes. After Kona, the road enters a vast black moonscape of old lava flow where hundreds of people have left graffiti in pieces of bleached white coral. There are occasional stands of palm trees that look very out of place, but apparently the beaches are great, so lots of rich people live there. Then the road goes through Waimea in the northern part of the island, where the weather is absolutely ridiculous. One moment it will be beautiful and sunny, and the next there will be horizontal rain. The landscape changes to bright green honey pot hills where cattle graze, and the trees grow bent over from the wind. Then the vegetation gets much lusher and rainforesty towards Hilo, which often gets the distinction of being the rainiest place in the U.S.

We had decided to camp at a hostel just outside of Hilo, but when we got there it was, of course, raining, and the prospect seemed pretty dreary. Luckily, though, Killion had some friends attending UHilo who were having a party, and offered to let us stay on their floor. It was very strange to be at a college party again. I guess I'll just leave it at that. The next night we camped at the hostel, and were very lucky to avoid much rain.

During the day on Saturday we rented bikes and went to a large and wonderful farmers' market in town, and then to a little beach with decent swimming. In the evening there was a free shuttle to the big music festival, which turned out pretty much the whole city, I think. Some of the music was pretty good (I think we liked the buskers in the food tent better than any of the big acts, though). Afterwards we went to the $1 (!) movie theater.

Catherine had gone back on Saturday, and we were very unsure of how we were going to get back to Kealakekua. However, as Esther says, everything just works out in Hawaii. We met a couple (Rick and Isabel) at the hostel who were going to Kona anyway, and took us along in exchange for sleeping on our couch. We even got to see some of the sights around Hilo with them that we never would have gotten to, like a couple of waterfalls and a lava tube, not to mention Volcano National Park. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any lava, as the flow had moved too far away from the viewing area. We'll try to get back there before we leave.

I'm afraid I've run out of time, and haven't even gotten to mention anything about the farm! Things are good, though--lots of planting this week. Last night we went to a party at a lettuce farm down the road (and I do mean DOWN like at least 500 feet)that also has WWOOFers. A very nice place with a big bonfire, and a beautiful night, but a little too much hippy for us in the long term. Well, I've been kicked off. More soon!

We are still in Kealakekua, and have been other places, too

Ben writes:

Hi there. We don't have any neat pictures for you today, but we have a lot of things to tell you about. Last time we promised that we would fill you in on our time in Honolulu Chinatown. Well, the pictures (which will eventually be on flickr, promise) tell the story better, but here's a little: we took the bus from the airport, and got off when some other people did. We ended up not near the beach as we had intended, but near this port area, with some old naval ships, and when we looked down over the side, there were amazing colorful fish, and crabs magically climbing up the walls. We were like "We are in Hawaii! There magical creatures in the very first place we looked!" Then we walked to Chinatown, which has lots of neat food, and strange advertisements (be patient, they're coming), and a beautiful smallish park in which we would have eaten lunch, but every single area was commanded by a person with a shopping cart, and we were obviously tourists. We sat near, but did not go into, a botanical garden, and Ben took a crack at beautiful accordion music.
Then we got the bus, and the plane, and Catherine picked us up, and left us at a Starbucks (because of reasons) where Killion and Esther got us in a stick-shift pick-up, which Joanna then had to drive (because of reasons). Despite what she might say when asked, Joanna did a fantastic job driving on the dang highway, and then up the crazy rocky dirt road to the farm, after traveling for like 16 hours. Good work.


This truck is very old (93,000 miles), and Joanna drove it a bunch our first weekend out, when Phyl was gone, and Esther kept persuading us to go to beaches (good idea, Esther). We drive it all up and down the farm road. Maybe a picture is really what we need here. This truck is important, but words are not doing it justice.

We promised updates in other areas, too. So:
There is also a dog. She was an early fifth birthday present for Mikey, and she is named Happy Fairy. Guess who named the dog. We call her Happy, for short. She is extremely rambunctious, much like Mikey, and she always jumps on people, which Mikey does not do nearly as often. She is fun to have around, though Phyl is sometimes exasperated by her.

In the evenings, we mostly stay on the farm, or may make it as far as this here library. The librarian is horribly stereotypical, in that every little request or abberation is a Very Big Deal, but the facilities are nice, and they have a good collection of Hawaiian music here. We often stay around the house reading or writing in our journals. Ben tries to get up to the gardening shed to practice accordion. We spent much of the second week (this is #3) playing spades with Killion and Esther.

Of course, things have changed now, with the arrival of FOUR more WWOOFers. Perhaps it is too soon to tell you much about them, but Tom is an older fellow who is recently divorced, and taking a step back from things. We were a little nervous about the age difference, but he is also easy to get along with, and good at things like mechanics, which Phyl appreciates. The other 3 are some young ladies from New York state, by the names of Ann, Katie, and Kanya. They are maybe a year younger than us, and very friendly, and enthusiastic cooks. The house is now quite crowded, but so far we are making do.

We have not even gotten to the other neat places we went. We spent the weekend in Hilo, on the other side of the weekend, for a music festival. This may also have to wait, as this entry is gettin quite long. We will have wonderful pictures for you next time, dear friends.
Aloha!