Saving the Honu

Well, I'm back home now. Arkansas home, anyway. It's difficult to have two homes because no matter where you are, part of you is always missing the other home. I must admit that I didn't realize that I missed Arkansas. Of course I missed my cats, but I forgot about the charm of crunchy leaves underfoot, a cup of hot coffee on a cold morning, and the frosty anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I came to Hawaii expecting to help save the turtles, which I did, and that is magnificent. I am so honored to have been able to help them and to leave a positive mark on the environment. I did not expect to grow and change so much as a person. I've noticed that people on the mainland socialize by complaining. One person will gripe about some aspect of their life, and then someone across the table will try to one-up them with a bigger complaint. "You think that's horrible? Well today my boss asked me to do something that I don't think I should have to do! L...

Today we went to Volcano National Park. One of my most vivid childhood memories is watching LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow, standing on a lava field, explaining the difference between Pahoehoe and A'a lava. I became obsessed with volcanoes. I wanted more than anything to see all those things for myself. (Well, okay, maybe I wanted a pony more than anything. Pahoehoe and A'a were next.) And today, twenty years later, I got to do just that!!!!! We arrived late on purpose, because the lava flows are most spectacular at night. We set out across a huge expanse of hardened lava, trying to reach a flow in the distance. The hardened lava is iridescent and it sounds like breaking glass as you walk. Steam rose from the ground. We stepped over deep crevices in the ground and as it got darker, I looked down in a crevice and was terrified to see a thin line of glowing red lava. Well that explains the hot ground. At that point I realized that I was basically playing a live action plat...