house of the rising sun

sometimes a trip to another island leads to a surge in creativity.

though i try not to fly too frequently or far (i recently learned from a fellow writer that it takes more than 50 barrels of oil per person to fly one way from hawaii to the west coast!!), i felt the need to check something off my bucket list - a haleakala hike on maui.

while the decent into the valley of haleakala (yes, it's a valley and not an actual crater) was something i shall not forget, it admittedly left me longing for shade, new legs and larger lungs. heading downwards was, of course, no problem, it was the ascent up the sandy trail (akin to walking through concrete) at an altitude of some 10,000 feet that was literally breath-taking.

the endangered silversword plant at haleakala

aside from seeing the always-stunning mauna kea in the distance and walking through the moon-like landscape of the house of the rising sun, the most inspiring part of the hike were the silversword (ahinahina) plants, hanging on by a thin thread to life on this planet, just like so many other flora and fauna in the world. still, even though their numbers continue to decline, they push on, living in the moment and never giving up - a lesson i can always use.