This is the giant Banyan tree in Lahaina, Maui. It shades a city block. It’s been burned but not destroyed in the fire that has leveled Lahaina, the cultural capital of Hawaii for over 300 years. There are untold numbers of dead and burn victims, thousands of homes and businesses have been incinerated … this is a tragedy unparalleled since the 1960 tsunami.

This is much more than a local catastrophe. Maui exists as a special place for millions of people all over the world, from those who revere it as one of the world’s sacred sites to tourists who come to reboot their lives. It’s also personally significant. My wife and I met there in 1993. We were married and lived there for seven years, moved back two years ago, enjoy a wonderful community of loving friends there and our rental home is currently sublet to a friend while we’re here in our cabin in the Oregon woods. We will return in October/November, to a very different island than the one we left.

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