The Moaʻa are back

We played our league frisbee games at Waimanalo beach last weekend. This is what a typical day at Sherwoods looks like:


This is how it looked last week:



Notice how you can't see Rabbit island. Or the top of the ridge.

Was it a storm? A forest fire? Industrial pollution? No, it was vog. The Kilauea crater has been spewing sulfur dioxide gas now for weeks. When the Moa'a- the northeast trade winds- are not present, the gases collect over the islands instead of blowing out over the Pacific. Last week the levels got higher than usual, and many people, as written about in this NY Times article, have trouble breathing. Despite the air quality, we played three games of beach Ultimate, and even managed to win one after being back by 5 points and playing savage.

Speaking of Ultimate, this Friday's game included the allotment of game points to the fastest sprinters on each team. Each person would have to run the length of the Ulti-field, against the tradewinds that had since reemerged, uphill. Lo' and behold, our practice team race was won by K, which meant that he would run against the fastest guy on the other team. It turns out that the gentleman he would be running against was not only the fastest man on the red team, he was also recently voted as the fastest guy on the island by an unofficial poll done by the women on the island, myself included.

You probably know where this is going, but I could hardly believe it. I have NEVER seen K run so fast, or so well. He came from behind and charged ahead, winning by at least 2 feet. Boy, was he excited, and, admittedly, I was pretty excited for him. Later he informed me that he almost puked beforehand (thank goodness no blueberry bagels or purple gatorade were involved), remembering all the jitters of mountain bike races of the past. But he swallowed his puke, ran that race, and WON that race.

Good job! Way to be a winner. They'll always remember you on Oahu.