I know that it is easy to exaggerate the severity of events, but a bush fire here on north shore of Maui this afternoon has set phones buzzing with alerts, road closures and stores closing in the town of Paia. I have been nowhere near that area today, so cannot speak to what is exactly happening on the ground (though friends live and work nearby). However, I can see smoke rising over the hills to the west. The town of Paia, which is just north of the fire, is only twenty minutes drive away.
🌅 This morning it is just so still and quiet. The Trade Winds, which keep the temperatures down in Hawaii, have been blowing very hard the last few days. That’s welcome, and I have wished that they could dial it down a bit. This morning they have. Just stillness now, which rests my heart. ⚘
Reading this recent story by Robert Birming reminded me of a story from when I was in my teens and going to school in England.
I use to cycle to school, enjoying the freedom it gave me, being able to dodge in and out of the traffic as the cars sat waiting at junctions and roundabouts during the early morning rush hour.
I remember one day passing one of the school’s physical education teachers who was walking to work.
Yesterday evening we had a rain shower. The skies darkened quickly, the rain fell and with that, as the sun set on the other side of the island, a rainbow formed. 🌈
The rainbow started off as just a part rainbow sitting in a cloud,
and then it formed a complete ark across the sky.
☁️ Can anyone recommend a small book or simple website that explains what causes different cloud types? I’m not looking for a meteorological tome, just something simple and brief that explains what the presence of a given cloud formation is saying about the weather. Thank you. ⚘
If I am walking around a museum, you will probably find me quietly taking in what I am looking at. If I am walking through or looking out on a landscape or wilderness, I will no doubt be doing that in silence. Just taking in what that scene is saying to me, how I am seeing it, how it is moving me. I don’t need in that moment to create an external commentary on what I am looking at.
With the return of the rains, it looks as though the rainbows are returning. I saw a couple of partial rainbows nestled in clouds while out driving yesterday. Then this rainbow greeted me this morning. 🌈
📖 I love picking up old books, ie previously read but long since put away, off the bookshelf. Opening the chosen book and reading through the pages feels like revisiting with an old friend. Such was my experience yesterday when wanting to look something up and I reached for Laurie Helgoe’s Introvert Power. It is now sitting by my bed. ⚘
☔ I’ve been mentioning rain a lot here recently on my blog, and with conversations with friends online. The reason? It has been so dry here on Maui. The west part of the island has a stage 2 drought and a PGA tournament was canceled due to the poor conditions of the course. Now I feel as though things are beginning to change, at least here on the north east shore. We drive home from my birthday dinner last night to pouring rain. It rained through the night. There are threatening clouds in the sky this morning and rain is forecast over the next few days. Fingers crossed. ⚘
Another jigsaw puzzle completed. This one was 500 pieces and made by the French company, Maison Joliette. They use minimal packaging, with the pieces sitting in a bag instead of a cardboard box. I enjoyed this puzzle and would do another of theirs. 🧩
🎂 Happy Birthday to me - 62 today. Another year older. Much to be grateful for. I have spent early morning catching up with family and friends from afar. I feel full. ⚘
I returned home from our day in Honolulu with some thoughts that I wanted to write about. For me writing is a way that I can explore what is coursing through my head. I wanted to explore some observations from being in the city for a day.
But I’m just too tired.
For now this is all that I can write. I need to put my head down and get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow?
🏙️ I’m heading to the big city, Honolulu, today with my wife. She has an appointment and I’m going over to support her. Getting to the island of Oahu, even for a few hours, entails going through all the rigmarole of airports - security, etc. - though having no luggage makes it a little easier. ⚘
🌅 The sun sets on another day, and I find myself exhausted for reasons that I am not completely clear about? I did some work outside today, but really not a lot. I think that it is mainly a mental, emotional exhaustion. I’d like to find some space to just sit, be, still my body and mind, and write. ⚘
I think, I hope that the rains are slowly returning to Maui. More clouds. More short showers. We have had a couple of sprinkling showers already today. Next I would like to order a heavy downpour and then an overcast day peppered with plenty of rain.
At the end of last week one brief evening shower produced a very faint rainbow. You might have to look hard to see it, but it is there. I’ll claim it to add to the collection of rainbows on this blog. 🌈
I love doing puzzles. One thing that never fails to happen to me when I’m doing a puzzle is time spent on one area, one particular pattern. I’ll spend time looking for pieces connected with that area, successfully fitting some together, but never them all. And so the search continues for those elusive pieces.
Well Kiko didn’t produce the rain that I hoped for. We had some showers, but no heavy downpours, at least not in our part of the island. Kiko moved further to the north as she passed the islands, taking her entourage of surrounding cloud, wind and rain with her. It must have fallen somewhere out over the ocean.
It still feels hot and humid here. Clear skies from this morning are being replaced with cloud building up off the mountain, Haleakala. The clouds are creeping out towards us. My hope is that they will reach us and have some rain to drop on us. Fingers crossed, though feeling a little pessimistic right now.
🌧️ It’s 9:30pm and it is raining, finally. Thank you Kiko. Short lived, but it was something. Please keep it coming over the next couple of days.
Well today has gone from clear blue skies this morning to a slow build up of cloud from late afternoon. Hurricane Kiko approaches. Currently a category 1 hurricane, having weakened from a category 4 as it has crossed the Central Pacific Basin, it might still weaken further to a Tropical Storm … still not something that you want to be standing right in front of.
😮💨 Phew! After an hour or so of back and forth, installing one node/satellite at a time, I now have a new mesh system installed between a couple of buildings. This is our third configuration over…hhmmm, maybe 5 or 6 years? The other two started working fine, and then started playing up. Fingers crossed for this setup. It feels the most robust to me.
