[Rockhounds] Re: roughing it (was) streak plate (was) Darwin, CA Pyrite RATED PG-13

Mon Dec 8 13:03:15 PST 2008

NOTE:  The following is mostly off-topic, but the rock interest part is 
in the second and last paragraphs.

John, you got the "old" part right, but "hippies" we never were.  
Perhaps you got that idea because I told you we built our own house and 
lived off-power for 10 years.  We were starving graduate students in 
Honolulu from 1972, and we moved to the Big Island in 1981. Bill's job 
as Support Scientist for the University telescope plus my job teaching 
at a private prep school did not produce enough income for us to buy a 
home.  So we sunk all our money into 12 acres of land, and built our own 
cottage from materials salvaged from an old sugar plantation house.  It 
was so old that the nails we removed from the boards were square.  The 
wood was cedar, so there was no termite damage (apparently termites 
don't like cedar). 

When we dug the holes for our cesspool and outhouse, the soil was the 
typical red clay found in the older parts of all the Hawaiian islands 
(the newer parts are various products of volcanoes, and will take a few 
thousands of years to become soil).  Part way down we dug through a 
yellow-white line that occurs over much of the Big Island which is 
probably the Uwekahuna Ash of about 2500 years ago, and then further 
down a thicker line of red, possibly the Pahala Ash of 30,000 to 40,000 
years ago.  These were Phreatic Eruptions of Kilauea and Mauna Kea.  See 
the following URL for explanation of that kind of eruption, which is 
similar to that of Mt. St Helens in 1980:

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1994/94_05_06.html

For ten years we lived in that cottage we built, which was 20 feet wide 
and 28 feet long.  We only used the outhouse for the first year (and 
you're right, lime works for an outhouse.  We learned that in 1969 when 
we worked for the Forest Service as fire lookouts on a tower above Lake 
Coeur d'alene.  We also learned that it was wise to limit one's liquid 
intake--especially of an alcoholic nature--in the evening, because going 
to the loo entailed walking out the door, down a 40-foot high stairway, 
across a parking lot to the outhouse, and back).  Here on the Big Island 
the outhouse was not as hard to reach and it was kind of neat to look up 
at the stars going out there at night.  Not as much fun when it was 
raining or cold and windy   We built a water catchment system of 
corrugated metal roofing sheets laid out on a slope funneled into a 
Doughboy Pool;  with about 200 inches of rain annually, we never had 
trouble keeping the pool full.  We installed this above our house so we 
had gravity flow and no need for a water pump.  Power came from solar 
panels for small needs, and a gas-powered generator for big ones.  
Kerosene lamps---about 15 of them---provided lighting. Refrigerator and 
stove were the type used in motor homes, fueled by propane tanks which 
we periodically hauled into town to refill.

Eventually a couple built a house as close to ours as they could, set up 
their rock band in their garage, and played "music" at top volume at all 
hours of night and day.  It was so loud it made our walls and floor 
vibrate.  We couldn't bring the police in to make it stop...I guess 
there are no noise regulations in the country.  About that time we came 
into inheritances as both our sets of parents died within a few months 
of each other.  So we sold the land and it's little self-sufficient 
cottage and moved into the "Big City" (Hilo, population about 40,000).  
We bought three acres and built a nice home with all utilities.

Several members of the Rockhound List have visited us and will attest to 
the pleasant location and view from our home.  We can see Mauna Kea 
behind us, Hilo Bay below, and on a clear day we can see three columns 
of smoke and steam to the south:  one from Pu'u O'o where the lava has 
been active for 25 years, one from the Halema'uma'u eruption which began 
last March, and one from the location (Waikupanaha) where lava is 
entering the ocean.  Beside our front door is a large bell from the 
engine of a train on the Great Northern Railway;  it was rung at our 
wedding on Orcas Island in Puget Sound 42 years ago.  We have mounted it 
on a large (about two feet tall) chunk of Mauna Kea bluestone, a very 
dense basalt with a slate-blue color.  That's our doorbell!

Aloha, Kitty (Not roughing it any more)

John Siebel wrote:
> Ah Kitty,
>
> Aren't you guys old hippies? You should be used to roughing it!. The 
> outhouse isn't so bad. Lime (on topic!) keeps it fresh as a daisy. 
> Although I did get stung in the butt by a wasp the other day. Sucker 
> snuck up my long johns while I was wasn't looking.
>
> JDS
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kitty & Bill Heacox" 
> <kahako at hawaiiantel.net>
> To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
> collectors" <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 3:33 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Re: streak plate (was) Darwin, CA Pyrite 
> RATED PG-13
>
>
>> John Siebel wrote:
>> Well, Bill and I were thinking about going to visit you next summer, 
>> but now I'm not so sure! ;-)
>>
>> Aloha, Kitty
>>> Kitty,
>>>
>>> Fortuately we have a streak plate that came with our hardness points 
>>> since our toilet is an outhouse. :-)
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kitty & Bill Heacox" 
>>> <kahako at hawaiiantel.net>
>>> To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem 
>>> collectors" <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
>>> Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 11:18 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Re: streak plate (was) Darwin, CA Pyrite 
>>> RATED PG-13
>>>
>>>
>>>> Just a note for those who don't have a streak plate:  use the 
>>>> underside of the tank lid on your toilet, provided it is ceramic 
>>>> (I'm talking about the tank cover, not the seat lid).
>>>>
>>>> Aloha, Kitty
>>>
>>>
>>
>> -- 
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>
>