A Volcanic Curveball
Hello there and welcome to my first ever blog post! As some of you may know Hannah and I recently celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary on August 22, 2025. Over the past year we had big goals to celebrate with a trip to the UK. Life, however, had other plans that honestly were and are not fun to deal with. Don't worry, this blog is not meant for venting, but rather to express how life's curveballs can strike you out and also gift you a grand slam. Fun fact, I only hit one home run in varsity baseball and it was grand slam from a hanging curveball and got sent over the right field fence. I won't mention how many times I struck out on curveballs, but I will note I don't remember any of them as single events, unlike the grand slam.
As my wife says, 'Otis was not on the bingo card for 2024' (Otis is our now one year old Dachshund). Well, in 2025 neither was celebrating our tenth anniversary by watching and listening to 2,140 degrees Fahrenheit lava spew out of the Earth's crust in front of my camera lens and forever in our memories. I'm talking of course about the relatively safe viewing of the Kilauea volcano and crater that has been fairly active since this past December. While the massive crater dwarfed the size of the active eruption area, it failed to diminish the shear power, magnitude, and amazement we experienced as onlookers. Hearing the constant roar of liquid rock coming up from the Earth's Mantle was something I wasn't able to capture with my camera. It was an unexpected sense that added to the gravity of what we were watching. If you find your way to Hawai'i during an active period, drop what you're doing and go to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. If you can't make the trip, the USGS has multiple live cams of the vents on their website and on YouTube.
Now then, back to life's curveballs. As of two months prior to our anniversary we had zero plans in place to celebrate. Maybe we would go out and have a nice steak dinner and watch a movie, while simultaneously in the back of our minds try to dispel the grand image of a UK adventure that was out of reach. Enter curveball one. For the sake of brevity, a close relative took an unplanned trip to the Big Island to fill the role of minister or pastor for one month. Fortunately for us, we have a good relationship with her and she was kind enough to invite us to the Island for the 8 days we were able to visit. Between a free place to stay and Hannah's credit card travel points used for the flights, the trip was super affordable and we had very few reasons to turn it down. Within a couple of weeks we blocked our schedules and booked the trip. Hawai'i here we come! For a little backstory this was my first time on the Big Island and the second ever to the islands. Hannah, on the other hand, had visited 4 of the islands and as for the trips taken over the pacific to Hawai'i in total, I've lost count. Needless to stay, it’s a special place.
With logistics out of the way I'd like to appreciate all the life events across dozens of people and over decades that made this one trip possible and so amazing. I apologize but this next bit is going to be a bit of a ramble. Families moved to Hawai'i, relatives of those families somehow became intertwined in our lives, on my side through marriage, and on Hannah's side through friendship. Independently and over the course of 7 years(for Hannah, decades for my relative), a love for Hawai'i grew and this trip was a culmination, summation, and celebration of that love. It is something so delicate, on a knifes edge, dared to be disrupted or in this case fabricated by the simplest of things, such as an individual’s sickness requiring a last minute substitute, or a friends family member getting stationed in the islands. Each event creating a chain reaction of love for Hawai'i that goes something like this: Military member stationed in Oahu > brother moves there to be close > brother's Aunt visits Hawai'i > Aunt's daughter visits > daughter is best friends with Hannah and decided to get married in Maui > Hannah and I visit the islands for the first time in 2018 for their wedding > Hannah has been back many times. Hannah's love for Hawai'i is tied in part to this chain of events. This is just one of an infinite list of examples showing us how unique life can be, and interconnected it is. I am so thankful for all these seemingly normal life events that led us to see a freaking volcano eruption! And all the other stuff is cool too.
Special thanks for the kindness, love, and support of said relatives that hosted us. Regardless of how amazing the Big Island is, it was family that made this trip extra special. Until next time...
Please enjoy the photos from the first few days our experience below! More photos to come later and potentially another blog post.
