Whatever. The Weather.
Paradise is great. Until it's not. There are subtle changes to the landscape throughout the year, but the weather? Not so much. Perfection can be a bit...monotonous.
To be fair, the temperatures have cooled a bit over the past month or so. And I appreciate how the clear skies and isolation made it possible for me to see the SpaceX Starlink satellites on my early morning walk a week ago. (If you haven't seen them, check out this video. It's really rather freaky to look up and see this moving across an otherwise dark sky.)
But what I've enjoyed most this year so far has been the rain. So far we've had nearly five straight days of it, and even though Maui has been under flood watches and brown water warnings, the rain has tamped down wildfire concerns, enabled the upcountry part of the island to lift drought restrictions, and brought some variety to a seemingly endless summer of weather.
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| I'm going to credit the recent rains for the glorious sunrise this morning |
And unlike our time living in sunny LA, where we were amazed to find the city slide into panic when water fell from the sky, it's business as usual here. With some precautions.
I volunteered for a reef-protection planting project last week but roads around the planting site were impassable, so we shifted focus to make repairs at the nursery site. (Wind gusts accompanying the rain were up to 80 mph a couple of days last week!)
Last weekend, Larry and I went on a night snorkeling trip. Of course, we were in the water so wet from the rain wasn't so much a concern, but winter brings big swells. Thankfully the water was calm and clear and we got to see several eels, an octopus, and (my favorite of the night) a large porcupine fish.
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| Me,after my morning walk a few days ago |
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| A screenshot of the forecast, seconds after I came inside from 45+ minutes of rain |
Who knows if the coming days will be equally clear or bring more storms? (Inaccurate rain forecasts are just as baffling here as I've found them to be everywhere else I've lived.)
But just these few days with different weather seem to have woken me from a stupor. Now I feel ready to take on the challenges of the new year/new decade!
