Easter egg hunts go back to Rapa Nui

Here’s your Interesting Pacific Easter Fact for 2012: There were traditional egg hunts on Easter Island, long before the southeastern Polynesian isle even got that name. Rapa Nui was and is the indigenous name of the island, famous for its monumental statues, discovered by the Dutch on Easter Sunday 1722.

Anyway, the aim of the ritual competition was to collect the first sooty tern (manu tara) egg of the season. The winner had to swim to a nearby islet to get it, swim back and climb a sea cliff with it. These days we settle for children clasping baskets, pawing through the grass for colored eggs, real or fake. Much more civilized, but less exciting.

What, me worry about climate change?

Hawaii is doing as well or better than most states in preparedness for climate change, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, released Thursday.

The council study ranked the island state in Category 2 for its work so far. It suggested that, despite the development of a preparedness plan, Hawaii "should engage in more robust planning and implementation to prepare for climate change."

As an aside, more political than scientific: The states in the lower half of the ranking are invariably more conservative, while it’s the "blue" states generally that have run with this preparedness stuff.