weather or not

We're tossing around the idea of buying some land with friends and all building our homes near each other. Talk about choosing your neighbors!

The place I'd like best is called Kaloko. When I first came to live on the Big Island, I came here from a huge ranch in New Mexico (10,000 acres, with neighboring ranches as large or much larger.) All that to say that I was accustomed to elbow room.

Hawaii is compact. Not like Japan, I hear, but cozy. You don't want to bend over at the same time in this town, 'cause we all live pretty close and something could get bumped. So, coming from lots of air space to an island led me to what I called Cabin Fever, and later heard someone call it Rock Fever. Whatever fever it was, it got me bad. I searched maps for any road that led away from civilization. I found one (there are many, but I didn't find them yet). It was the road up into Kaloko.

It's a rainforest trek right up from the desert heat of Kona. All of a sudden, you're in the woods, and then you're in fog, and then you're up there with the bird noises and clouds below you. It's magical.

Within 30 minutes of where I now live and sizzle in the Kona heat, I could potentially be living in the 65's and wearing the things I've knitted for mainland family or trips. That's Hawaii and the weather here for you. There are so many climate zones and regions that vary both by altitude and geography. You can find it all here, if you know where to look (and are willing to pay for the more popular of it.)

I wonder, would living in a cool elevation change my love of Hawaii and the air that feels like a hug? Would the humidity moulder my affections? And what bugs prefer the higher climes, where my centipedes and scorpions (hopefully) will not go?