American Graffiti--Hawaii Style

What better way to celebrate both Marquee Monday and my recent family vacation than with a nod to our 50th state?

On the Big Island of Hawaii, fields of black lava rock fringe the "highway" (often a two-lane road with max speeds of 35 mph). To shake up this sometimes barren landscape, people will write messages in the lava rock with white coral (see above). The messages are typical minor-league vandalism--names or initials, religious shout-outs (i.e, ACCEPT JESUS), roadside memorials, links to MySpace pages.

You know, the usual.