The second photo is impossible to take in, while the first improves the appreciation some. These trees are growing on a forbidding slope. I would be surprised if anyone has made a general search of the area. It is in fact a gulch north of Hilo near the coast. Note the first pic has about 1/8 coverage of the second. This is a mature forest with palms as tall as found anywhere. You are only looking at the VERY TOP of each TREE with a river at the bottom in the shadows. It takes a tremendous amount of rainfall to sustain this vegatation.

Clearly I feel as though I have failed to give you a true sense of how grand the view, how steep the slope, and how tall the trees are here.






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The trade winds are bands of winds around the Earth's equatorial region and are the prevailing winds in the tropics, blowing from the high-pressure area well north and south of the equator towards the low-pressure area around the equator. The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the northern hemisphere and from the southeast in the southern hemisphere. Thus, they blow toward the equator.

Now, if we had a 4 year old in the room, she would interrupt with the well practiced question, "Why?" Well, my Geckoette, the sun warms the air over the equator more of the time than other places, causing it to rise. The rising air then proceeds south and north toward the poles, replacing air at altitude that is cooler. From approximately 20° to 30° North and South latitude, the air sinks. Then, the air flows along the surface of the earth back toward the equator. In the area where the air rises over the equator, this place has been aptly named the "Doldrums". It is also called the intertropical convergence zone because seasonally their relative latitude changes. The import of this zone is the fact that the trades from the south and the trades from the north collide and rise into powerful storms. As you might imagine, these storms are not interrupted from day to day, simply because the dependable trades will dependably collide. There you have it Geckoette

Over time, these Trades have nearly completely defined the Hawaiian Island vegatation and beaches. The northeastern coast, the coast I live on, is where the trades come up against landfall. It is here where orchids and heavy rain forest dominate. Traveling over the top of the Big Island most of the moisture has already dropped. The western side of the Big Island is relatively dry.

Now things get a bit nasty, so all children need to go play.

If the air goes up it must come down at a predictable latitude further north and south of the equator. When air plummets it creates weaker air currents without moisture. These conditions are called the horse latitudes. Sailors would find themselves in sailing ships that would more likely be stalled at sea with little rainfall. The cargo would frequently include horses. Because of the great amount of water that horses drank, they would be thown overboard. So, we have the Horse Latitudes.

I just wish there was a region further from the equator called the politicians' latitudes.

For the purpose of emphasis, I type this at 4 AM and the rain is pounding the roof...but not with the force I have heard it at other times. Still, our plants welcome it.

Their name derives from the Middle English translation 'trade', meaning "path" or "track," and thus giving meaning to the phrase "the wind blows trade," that is to say, on track. Being the prevailing wind here, it can be depended upon.