When I think of August 2012, I think of wedge-tailed shearwater chicks. I think of fledgling red-footed boobies circling happy trails of the Alakai Swamp. The sweeping views atop Kuliouou Ridge Trail. The white sands of a Kailua beach walk. When I think of August 2012, my mouth remembers the tastes of KCC’s Saturday Farmers’ Market--sweet potato on a stick, ginger lemonade and sea asparagus sushi. My taste buds salivate at the thought of Kahuku Farms’ Lilikoi Joy smoothie and Lilikoi Jelly—I love the taste of passion fruit.
Hawaii’s high temperature for the month was 85 and our low was 67. Elsewhere, August is one of those “dog days of summer” months, and relative temperature numbers aside, Hawaii had a few rather warm days last month. That’s not dictated as much by the temperature as the lack of trade winds. A few preternaturally calm days last month prompted me to head to a coffee shop in the afternoons for a cold drink and air conditioning. Typically, August is one of our driest months of the year. The Pacific Islands Water Science Center reported that Kauai, Oahu and Maui all received below average amounts of rain in the first half of 2012 at 76 percent, 70 percent and 96 percent, respectively. I haven’t seen the results for August yet, but based on the number of times I roused myself out of my office chair to close a window across the room, I’d say we might have been above average for rain for the month of August. Good thing.