August 26th

Ack! Ack! Ack! I’ve been so busy doing da 365 days da kines that I totally forgot that I left you guys stranded just past the Blue Bridge in Kennewick!! And before that I left you stranded in the Palouse! Let’s see if I can’t get you back to Damascus during the next few days. And I still have our 2013 trip to document! Sheesh.

I’m writing this post on August 14th, where the temperature outside is going to be well over 100°; yesterday it was 103°…and our heat pump/ac unit has quit on us. Sheesh. Of all times for it to go out!! Even though I called our a/c company on Saturday, they can’t get out here till tomorrow afternoon. I’m grateful they’re squeezing us in, though. Our house faces makai (west), and the late afternoon sun comes beating hot and heavy through our windows, even with the Mylar shades pulled down. The bedroom/bathroom also face makai, and by midnight, when I took a cool shower, it was hottest of all. Even just after my shower, I got sweaty. It was hard to get to sleep.
As I tried to fall asleep, with the fan blowing hard on me, I reminded myself that I was in my own home in my own bed, and not in a shelter. I was grateful that my ʻohana is safe, that I wasn’t living in the midst of devastation, that I hadn’t experienced the kind of horror that all those in Lāhainā are going through. I’m grateful that my friends on Maui are safe. My heart is still so heavy about this terrible tragedy, and expressing gratitude helped me get to sleep for a few hours. I sent in two donations to Maui Strong in memory of my beloved friend, Carol, and also in memory of my dad, who used to work for the Kahului Railroad.
It helps to post beautiful photos here, too. But I do so knowing that people on Maui, both in Lāhainā and Kula, are still suffering.
August 5th

All day long I’ve been watching the news from Maui and seeing the images and videos of the devastation in Lahaina. I spent many, many, happy hours there, sitting on the lānai at Pioneer Inn with my friend, cooling off and eating shave ice under the banyan tree, and holoholo through town. My heart is aching. Pioneer Inn, all gone. The library, gone. Homes and livelihoods destroyed overnight.
Maui nō ka ʻoi…its people are strong and resilient. It’s going to take awhile, but they will survive.