Watching for centipedes

I have really enjoyed our visit to the big island. We spent a bit over a week on the Kailua-Kona side, getting our fill of sand and sun. We have a bit under a week on the Hilo side, and have enjoyed sunny days here as well. This morning we are finally enjoying some of the rain that makes Hilo famous – and provides all of the water for the house we are renting.

Yesterday we headed to the coast and enjoyed tide pool snorkeling, volcanic hot pools, and steam vents. Today we are headed out to volcano park. Unfortunately there isn’t much lava flow right now, and a lot of sulfur dioxide at the caldera – many trails are closed. I’ve got a feeling it will still be pretty amazing.

Squid run

squid squid squid
Photos of squid at La Jolla

We headed into the water at sunset and swam out to the canyon. Dead squid were scattered about the edge of the canyon like confetti after a parade. I was worried we had missed the party. It was not quite dark yet when we saw a few live ones, which promptly squirted ink and ran away when we got close. We were buzzed by a group of sea lions a few times before it finally got dark. We started to see groups of squid milling about and coupling. We saw a few more, then a couple big groups. They were busy coupling, scooting around, and dancing in our lights.

This time they didn’t seem to care that we were near them, in fact, they would swim right up to your mask and light. A few actually seemed to be offering to place their egg sacks on me, or maybe they were just lost. Either way, I assured them I wouldn’t raise their squidlings right, and shooed them away. We spent about 30 minutes at depth before swimming back in. This was a great dive. Even without the squid, there was lots of life out on the sand as well.

Which way will it tip?

Housing seems to be reaching a tipping point in perceptions anyway; it is tough to see when it will play out. With money falling from the sky, the govt (via Fannie May) willing to take on loans up to $729,750, and the Fed on track to keep lowering interest rates, this all seems a bit familiar to some people:

One day after the Fed slashed its benchmark interest rate to head off a possible recession, a small minority of economists warned on Wednesday that the central bank was in danger of invoking the same remedies that it did after the bubble in dot-com stocks burst seven years ago.

… Beyond the danger of higher inflation, some analysts warn that the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, could also lose credibility by appearing to act in knee-jerk response to plunging stock prices.

“They risk being seen as bailing out equity investors,” wrote Adam S. Posen, deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “It makes it look as though stock market fears are driving the Fed to action.”

Then again, perhaps we are headed down Japan’s path – deflation. The Fed can lower rates, but can’t force anyone to take the loan. As housing and credit (both consumer and business) continue to shrink or stagnate, there is a good chance that people and businesses will be leery of taking on debt. Which doesn’t sound like a bad thing, until you realize that much of the current value of the US and world economy is built on the assumption of constant debt and growth. But maybe I’m giving too much credit to the average consumer and trader, which seem to be prone to veer in the instant gratification direction.

I can see arguments for both inflation and deflation. All I’m sure of is that I’m happy Anna and I are debt free.

Lodgepole pine death

Like Canada, Colorado and Wyoming have a massive fight on their hands with mountain pine beetle outbreaks due to drought and warm winters.

Every large, mature lodgepole pine forest in Colorado and southern Wyoming will be dead within three to five years, killed in a mountain pine beetle infestation unprecedented in the state….

A lack of soil cover and the potential for forest fires as the dying trees dry out could leave reservoirs and rivers clogged with sediment more likely to pour off the landscape.

Recreation, too, is jeopardized, as campers and skiers are faced with spending their vacation time amid red-needled trees, or those with no needles at all.

It makes me wonder if we will see Solastalgia here soon.