Hawaii – a Land of Extremes
Hawaii is a place of spectacular beauty with a fascinating cultural history.
My first visit to Hawaii was with Sandy Hames in 1986. We felt very adventurous and visited Oahu and Maui.
Gary and I fell in love with Hawaii and have made five trips – each trip completely different from the others. We’ve created many memories. One of our favorite activities is going to a luau. Each one has been a totally different experience where we ate authentic island food and “witnessed the true spirit of Hawaii and Polynesian culture.”
Our latest trip was a Norwegian Cruise around the islands in March 2023. We started out in Oahu where we spent three days then it was on to the ship. We spent two days in Maui, two days on Hawaii, the “Big Island,” where we had a wonderful excursion in Hilo but were unable to tender to Kona due to high seas, two days in Kaua’i, ending with a view of the Na Pali Coastline. We saw some absolutely incredible scenery and had a wonderful time.
Gary and I spent a day exploring Lahaina. We did some shopping on Front Street and discovered a quaint Italian restaurant a block off of Front Street where we had lunch. Gary bought a ukulele; while he was deciding which one “spoke” to him, I had ice cream in the little store connected to the music shop. And right across the street was the star of the town – the 150 year old banyan tree which as the largest banyan tree in the United States covers 1.94 acres (Lahaina Banyan Tree). We got a couple of good photos of this amazing tree.
On August 8, 2023, disaster struck Lahaina and much of Maui. Drought, low humidity, high winds due to Hurricane Dora to the south of the islands, and high pressure to the north of the islands created an unbelievable weather event that combined with downed power lines caused a horrendous fire that destroyed historic Front Street as well as much of Lahaina and other communities in Maui.
According to an account in the Las Vegas Sun on August 16, 2023, “The smoke was starting to blot the sun. Winds were howling, and heat bore down as flames licked the trees on the horizon. The power had been out all day so Mike Cicchino thought he’d drive to the hardware store for a generator. He turned off his street, and in an instant, his Lahaina neighborhood seemed to spiral into a war zone.” As of August 26, 2023 there are 115 confirmed dead and 388 people remained unaccounted for.
One of our former Desert Springs Middle School colleagues is currently living and teaching in Maui. I’ve texted with her and she’s okay, but her school burned down and many of her students and some of her friends lost everything. This really makes it personal.
There are moments of hope. People have been very generous and caring but the recovery will take a long time and the grief is certainly overwhelming for many of these people. They will need our continued support.
Now back to that banyan tree…it was scorched and damaged in the fire but experts expect it to recover, a resiliency that the people of Maui also have.
On our 1990 trip to Hawaii we saw firsthand another Hawaiian disaster. We were on the Big Island during the eruption the Pu’u O’o Crater. This volcano erupted in 1986 and continued for 35 years. We happened to be there in 1990 during its most destructive phase. This volcano completely destroyed two villages.
The Hawaiian people rely on land and nature even when it is harsh. Their lives are steeped in culture and tradition. They believe in Ohana or Family and accept all as Ohana. Appreciate all that we can learn from these philosophies.
Sources
Galofaro, Clare, et al. “‘Pandemonium’ in Paradise.” Las Vegas Sun, Associated Press, 16 Aug. 2023, digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/odn/reviewjournal/default.aspx.
“Lahaina Banyan Tree.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahaina_Banyan_Tree.
“Puʻu ʻŌʻō.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu%CA%BBu_%CA%BB%C5%8C%CA%BB%C5%8D.