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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

A WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN"

GOING ON

A swarm of small earthquakes have hit the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes Natonal Park area for more than 24 hours now. The quakes range from undetectable micro quakes to locally felt tremors of 3.2 to 4 on the Richter Scale. All of the quakes have been centered at Kilauea Volcano’s upper rift zone several miles above the current, active eruption.

As a precaution, park rangers evacuated a handful of campers within the national park and closed most of the park yesterday.

The earthquake swarm could be a signal that a change may be happening with the current eruption and that a new eruption could begin. Scientists are not exactly sure and say this is unusual activity for the volcano. The earthquakes also mean that hot lava is moving fairly close to the surface, about 1 to 2 miles under the volcano.
I thought I had "sensed", not really "felt", a few small temblors this weekend.

***
My son, Rob, called me last night from California, just as I was getting ready to head over to Judy's. Everybody is doing well and I got a kick out of him towards the end of our conversation. He was "walking" his dog, Harley, but Rob wasn't walking. Instead he was riding his new "long" board. Which is a larger than normal skateboard. He'll be 39 next month and I can't think of that many men his age who can still ride a board. He has enjoyed skateboarding for almost 30 years now.

God! I AM getting old.

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Dinner tonight was at Aroma d'italia. We shared an antipasto salad and some cheese raviolis. Our first time out to a restaurant in a couple of months. As always, the food was ummm, ummm good. Our usual server, Robin, had seen her pic on this blog from the last time we were there. She liked that I mentioned that diners should tip her well. These past few months have been slow for her too.

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"Queen" Nora is now 3 months old! This a pic of her, being held by my sweetheart Alissa, "Auntie Lissie".

More pics available at The Swarty Family. Link on sidebar.

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Judy mentioned that she had seen a story about Lori Stewart's (This just in) efforts to get "beanie babies" and soccer balls to the GI's stationed with her son in Iraq, These young guys are giving them to the children there. Make a kid happy and you make a friend of the parents. A universal "law". Lori posted about having done a TV "interview" and now the national TVnews networks are beginning to pick up on the story.

Think you might be able to help? Toys For Troops is her website dedicated to this most generous cause. Now, if only some politico with power can step up to the plate and allow free postage on letters and packages being shipped to Iraq and other military points in the middle east.

If this grass roots movement saves just one GI's life, it'd be worth it.

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Everyone have a great day!

Talk to you tomorrow. After work.

Mahalo

Aloha


THE PICTURE GALLERY

Haleakala Sunrise
Double Rainbow
"Lets Go Surfin' Now..."
A Kihei Beach
Humpback Whales
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"Let's all be careful out there!"