Allogenic Dance

  The Water Pollution Control (WPC) Viewer has migrated:  https://wpc-viewer.doh.hawaii.gov/   EHA Connect has also migrated:  https://eha-cloud.doh.hawaii.gov/connect/

Sticker Shock When we seriously started to decide to move here (it was a half-year process, and we still weren't convinced when we got here - we spent 2.5 months in a 1bedroom, 1 bathroom suite in the Navy Lodge with 2 small children - not conducive to happy thoughts), EVERYONE including the Oahu residents told us it is too expensive, more expensive than anywhere on the mainland.  Not true if you are moving here from the DMV (District of Columbia-Maryland-Virginia megalopolis).  We predominantly shop at Costco and Sam's Club and everything including gas at Costco is comparable to or cheaper than the DMV.  And I mean everything: surf boards, poke, ukeleles - oh wait, you don't get those at Costco on the mainland.... Side story: we go to Costco and outfit ourselves for the beach the second weekend we are here.  We get Tommy Bahama chairs (only 2 will fit in the trunk of our rental car), a Tommy Bahama umbrella, a set of sand toys in which everything is packaged in the buc

Originally Published August 10, 2020.  Updated September 23, 2020. Mililani Town Center has a Walmart and a City Mill, the local hardware chain.  There is a Home Depot on my way to work.  These 3 shops are where I get most of my gardening supplies including seeds.  You will find the usual racks of Burpee seeds, some Ferry Morse (a Massachusettes-based company that I had only seen on the Eat Coast offered in catalogs and never tried), and a local company: Aina Ola Seed.  Given how completely different Hawaii is from the other States in the Union, I tend to prefer the locally grown seeds.  I just don't see something produced in Massachusettes doing well 6 USDA zones south of its origins. Aina Ola Seed is apparently only available in stores, the company is based on Hawaii Island.  I could not find a website for them, so I have no idea what their complete catalog is.  I have successfully started their artichokes and papaya.  And I recently started some Toscano Kale, Brocolli, Chinese P

UPDATED 7/20/2020 Please Read Governor Ige's Tenth Supplementary Emergency Proclamation The mandatory 14 Day Quarantine for anyone arriving from out of state is still in place.  The pre-travel testing option has been postponed. Requirements to wear masks in public are extended.  If you are in a building and/or less than 6 feet apart, wear a mask. For more information on Hawaii's COVID-19 response please see  https://hawaiicovid19.com/ As some of you may know, I was a chemical hygiene and safety officer as part of my collateral duties in a laboratory-based former work life.  I have taken PPE (personal protective equipment) training, including face masks and respirators, for roughly half my life.  I have mostly avoided using these things by designing the work environment and protocols to avoid the risk in the first place. As many of you know, I also sew. And I am still an Essential Worker, of the civil service variety.  My work brings me in potential contact with, among other fun

6 Years on 0.6 acres In Maryland I progressed through the history of gardening ideas from the Victory gardens of my grandparents, in something of a revival today with several twists, through organic, to polyculture, and intensive rotational companion planted urban farming on an acre.  Arriving at permaculture (growing perennial and woody plants for food to reduce resource requirements and soil disturbance) and the related edible landscaping (intermixing edibles throughout the entire landscape) by way of xeriscaping (focusing on native or ecologically appropriate plants to reduce water, pesticide and fertilizer applications).  Finally arriving at regenerative agriculture and the idea of improving or creating a soil ecology that supports the plants with such diversity and biological activity there is not room for disease or pests.  This had spawned the need for garden planning software that incorporated basic facts about fruits, vegetables, and other plants; the ability to map out th

Updated July 8, 2019 for 2019 hurricane season As an island chain in the center of the Pacific Ocean, 5000 miles from anything, Hawaii is understandably concerned about sustainability, resiliency, and independence in the face of disasters.  And the potential disasters are many: cyclone, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, nuclear missile impact... Hawaii Hazards Awareness and Resilience Program (HHARP) I lived or worked in every state on the East Coast.  I've visited every state in the union except North Dakota.  I have never encountered a State sponsored neighborhood Disaster Preparedness Team before, nor a statewide training program.  Hawaii has 2 statewide training programs.  The first is HHARP.  This is the training and planning process every neighborhood Disaster Preparedness Team (DPT) goes through.  Most DPTs are on Oahu, we have the highest concentration of people and state and federal resources that would have to be mobilized to the other islands in