I lost the game

little. fucking. baby. chickens.

peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep peep

Here, Dave shows Matt and I where to stand and not to stand near the beehives.Don't stand here.

I never had to spend a summer planting trees. I never worked my way through a forest inch by inch doubled over on my hands and knees.

I was explaining to Rachel that my favorite job thus far has been collecting Ohia tree babies. They grow in special places, on mossy Hupu'u trunks, which are these tree ferns that fall over and rot. You have to lay down in the dirt and carefully cut them out, and draw the roots out without breaking them. They are these tiny little things. Then you take them to the greenhouse and set them in soil. Also, there are very few bugs.

I've heard all that stuff about nature being interconnected but seeing it first hand is eye opening. See, when cattle were brought here they gobbled up Koa tree babies. Koa is the other powerhouse tree. They don't live long, so without new plants to replenish, the forest dies out. Koas suck tons of nitrogen into the soil, as well as keep radiant heat from escaping. This is important because the Ohia tree seeds cannot germinate if they have been hit by frost. So the health of the forest floor is important for Hupu'u, which are important for Ohia, as well as are Koas important for the soil on the floor, and Ohia. Here the seedlings will grow big enough to be outplanted. We have roughly 30 different species that are important to cultivate in order to ensure the health of the forest system. So the work is a lot more than just putting trees in the ground, you have to link together the inter-dependent organisms so they can survive.
Once things get rolling again, the land acts as a water purifier.

This is the sunrise in Kailua-Kona, where I wait at what I think is a bus stop. Turns out it isn't a bus stop and I'll end up coming back to my hostel and posting these pictures. I complain about the CTA but here you wait 8 hours between buses. I'll make sure I'm in the right spot next time!

Honor your word and the magic happens

Ahu Lani's garden at sunrise.


John tapes insulation on the new fridge. Standing fridges let all the cold air out when opened, so he converted a chest freezer (beer aficionados led the way on this one.) However, after checking the fridge with the kilowatt monitor, and doing more research, John finds that we've reduced efficiency by adding insulation anywhere but on the top. Apparently the heat coils are in the walls, too, so we were just trapping heat in...

Found this in the Ahu Lani library. Maybe if I had it a year ago I wouldn't have had to run to Hawaii...

Happy Mothers Day

Gotta give nod to mom, who always believes in me and gives me the courage to take risks. I love you, mom.

The cards on the wall was a gift from some good friends. Hawaii bingo!

"Evolution suddenly favored nature's mistakes and mutants."

I worked in this greenhouse yesterday; mostly weeding. We're growing Koa and Ohia trees to replant the native forest.

This is my new desk! This is the center of the horseshoe of Ahu Lani's main building. The building straight ahead is the Round Room, which is used for body work, meditation, drum circles.. stuff like that.

I'm wrong every day

Says Dave.




Took sweet potato cuttings and planted them in the Hawaiian garden in the national park nearby that Dave volunteers with. Spent some time with the locals and Dave took me to see Waipiʻo, the cliff beach.

New home

There are jasmine plants hanging outside my room. This morning I woke at 3AM from jetlag and watched the land wake up. Every 10 minutes all the light changes, and new animals come out. Including Dave, my host.

I met a mongoose

Dave caught this mongoose. It killed his second favorite hen this morning. It will be taken care of tomorrow. Welcome to Ahu Lani! Sleep...

Made it