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This is part two of a three-part series about Hawai'i. The Saddle Road to Mauna Kea In my last post, I shared some of the Big Island's ocean wonders. Today’s post geeks out on geology, habitat, and wildlife on the Big Island of Hawai’i. The Big Island of Hawai'i, like all the Hawai'ian islands was formed as the Pacific tectonic Plate moved over a volcanic hotspot under the plate.

Hawaii's Big Island ocean wonders

Happy Halloween, all. Have a safe and fun celebration of this special day. Mr. EndlessSeeker and I just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Hawaii (more on that soon) and were thrilled to come home to crisp, cool temperatures and the beautiful fall colors in our woods. I walked through our labyrinth with gratitude for the rain, the leaves under my feet, and the peaceful quiet of our land.

As I walked through the garden in the cool morning air, this seed head of the Joe Pye weed lit from behind by the autumn sun caught my eye. I was drawn to the light, but noticed the beautiful, intricate pattern of seeds swirling around spent flower heads. If I moved my head just right, I could see all the details of seeds, how they connected at the base of the flower, supporting each other in their journey toward maturity and freedom.

It's raining. A slow, steady, light rain. A trailing edge of wetness brought to us by Tropical Storm Imelda, which is spinning off the Atlantic coastline, ready to be pulled eastward later today by the bigger, stronger Hurricane Humberto. We're in the middle of the most active part of hurricane season - that time of year when the tropics give birth to spinning rainmakers while cold fronts attempt to push further south.

This week, we have watched caterpillar after caterpillar crawl off their host plants and wrap themselves into chrysalises. Green and brown packages hung by threads of silk now dangle throughout the gardens. Tucked safely away in their self-made containers, they will change during the next few weeks through one of the most amazing phenomena of the natural world - metamorphosis. Within these containers of their own making, the caterpillars will literally dissolve and reform their bodies into butterflies.

Last week I saw a movement near our wood chopping block. I carefully uncovered the block and found this fella, a dapper Eastern fence lizard. It was his bright blue neck and side belly that truly caught my eye, but he was also possibly the largest fence lizard I've seen here in NC at about 8 inches long.

Hi all. Several readers told me they could not comment on the coyote video because of an error with the comment section. I checked settings, and they all seemed fine, but I opened it up for comment without email for now. If that happened to you, please let me know here. And if you still want to comment, try again.

We've seen some changes to our woods since the flooding from Tropical Storm Chantal in mid-July. The ground is bare where water sluiced down the hill in torrents, finding the paths of least resistance and creating waterfalls and rivulets through the leaves and soil. The creek bed, now much wider and deeper, feels stripped naked as exposed roots dangle from the edges of the banks.

It's late July, and it feels like it! Hot, hot, hot. Our weather station recorded 90+° F on 19 out of the last 29 days, with heat indexes over 100°F on 15 of those days and an astounding 127°F "feels like" reading just a couple of days ago. July has been all about floods and heat this year, a tell-tale sign of a warming planet.

Yesterday morning, as we sat on the porch watching the gray of dawn fade, rain began to patter across the deck and stairs leading down to the backyard. The air was thick and sticky. After a while, the patter turned silent as clouds moved on. The sticky air lingered. Bluebirds chortled, cardinals called, Carolina wrens split the air with their ear-piercing…

July is the month when the gardens begin to ebb. The early summer burst of blooms is giving way to ragged, browning seedheads, a sign of the doldrums of midsummer. The heat is oppressive. The weeds are winning. And after 11 inches of rain from TS Chantal last week, the first signs of waterlogged plant stress are showing up. It's a time of transition.

"My mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world." - Fred Rogers During the days since Tropical Storm Chantal slogged through central North Carolina last Sunday and left catastrophic damage in her wake, ranging from flooded homes, schools, and businesses to municipal water systems torn apart and personal well-water contaminated, so many helpers have shown up to put impacted people's lives back together.

Back in April I posted a little teaser and now here's the big reveal... Thank you for being a reader of EndlessSeeker. For over 16 years, I've been writing this blog, exploring topics ranging from public education to natural history as well as how to live well and do good in this sometimes crazy, messy world. Now, at the request of some of you readers and with encouragement from Mr.

The Haw River from the old Bynum Bridge just after it crested at 22.49 feet on July 7, 2025 (photo by Deb Hanson) Yesterday, to cap off the 4th of July weekend, we experienced a “500- to 1000-year storm” here in central North Carolina. Tropical Storm Chantal came ashore in South Carolina and then crawled up through central NC at a snails’ pace, circling and dumping rain all afternoon.

When we are not down in our woods observing changes in the plants, listening to birds, or looking for newborn deer, critters who prefer to remain unseen come out to play. Our trail camera captured a couple of them this week. First, a barred owl seems to be munching on something on the ground... Then, a gray fox is seen carrying something in its mouth.

In the morning light, spring flowers bring A colorful sight, a feast on the wing. For the bugs and the bees, lured by nectar to sip They move pollen with ease, on their wild fleeting trip.