We went searching for this tree when we were on Maui.
Banyan tree of some repute!
There is only one banyan tree in Banyan Tree Park in the middle of Lahaina. But it is the largest banyan tree in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Lahaina’s giant banyan tree is 60 feet high and 200 feet wide, filling most of the block that makes up Banyan Tree Park on Front Street, behind the Lahaina Harbor.
Here is my video to try to capture just how enormous this tree is!
Of course, Wikipedia had lots to say about this tree. Here is a portion
The banyan tree in Lahaina, in Maui, Hawaii, United States, was planted on April 24, 1873, in Lahaina to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of first American Protestant mission. The banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) known in Hawaiian as paniana, located in the Courthouse Square, which was renamed Banyan Tree Park covering 1.94 acres, is not only the largest in the state but also in the United States. The tree was a gift from missionaries in India. A mere 8 feet (2.4 m) when planted, it has grown to a height of about 60 feet (18 m) and has rooted into 16 major trunks, apart from the main trunk, with the canopy spread over an area of about 0.66 acres (0.27 ha).
In 2023 Lahaina will have a birthday party to celebrate the Banyan Tree being planted 150 years ago.
I have been wanting to look up this story and share it with since we returned from Hawaii. This is located at the black sand beach on the big island of Hawaii.
The mystical turtle, Kauila, makes her home in the Ka’ū district at Punalu’u Bay according to Hawaiian Mythology, Kauila was empowered with the ability to turn herself from a turtle into human form and would play with the children along the shoreline and keep watch over them. The people of Ka’ū loved Kauila as the guardian of their children and also for her spring that gave them pure drinking water.
The presence of Kauila can still be felt today by the sea turtles that inhabit this special place. The Hawaiian Honu (Green Sea Turtle) can be regularly seen in the bay feeding on limu (a type of seaweed) growing in the shallows. In addition the Honu’ea (Hawksbill Turtle) sometimes enters the bay at night to crawl ashore and deposit eggs in the black sand. Both species of sea turtles are fully protected under the U.S. endangered species act and wildlife laws of the State of Hawai’i. Enjoy watching these marvelous creatures but do not touch or disturb them
The above words can be found at Punalu’u Beach Park, inscribed on a borne plaque along with the beautiful image of a child sleeping on the back of a sea turtle.
Punalu’u Beach Park, in the district of Ka’ū, is a delightful stop, just moments off highway 11 between the towns of Nā’ālehu and Pāhala. The county park is open 24 hours a day and there is no park fee.
The word Punalu’u means diving (lu’u) spring (puna) and comes from the tradition of diving to the bottom of the bay with upside down containers and filling them with the fresh spring water seeping from the bay floor.
Here is the plaque below the memorial. Salt air does tears things up!
Now you know why the quotes are from on line information!
and roosters, and chicks. They are every place you go. I even stopped at a grocery store Starbucks. When I came out the people on the porch sipping their beverages were amazed at the hen and chicks that were passing through looking for bakery crumbs.
We stopped at one overlook to take some photos. There at our feet was a rooster. Bob captured this portrait.
Chickens have been on the islands for decades. Storms caused many of their coops to be destroyed. After their escape they have found life on the islands rather easy. There are no natural predators in residence! Talk about free range chickens!
We even walked the jungle trail to Honolua Bay on Maui where the snorkeling is said to be tremendous. Guess what?
You can easily see 7 chickens here! There were many more around our feet!
I often wondered if I caught a chicken and took it to a restaurant would they kill, clean and cook it for me for lunch? Does any one harvest the eggs?
Some of our neighbors here in Ohio keep chickens. The crowing of the rooster always makes me smile. The by-laws of our subdivision prohibits the keeping of chickens on our property. I wonder how these residents would view free range chickens!
I wonder if Jesus told every church leader in the greater Cincinnati area that Christians were to keep chickens, how that would go over? His words in the New Testament are
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34
Jesus longs to gather us to Himself. Just as in Isaiah 30:15 there is that haunting phrase, “But you would not.” Are you resistant to Jesus’ call to come to Him?
All four Gospels refer to the crowing of the rooster when Jesus is speaking to Peter about denying Him. Can you imagine how Peter felt when He heard that crowing?
So the next time you hear a rooster I want you to ask yourself if that is Jesus calling you to His side like the hen gathers her chicks or is it a reminder that each of us has the propensity to deny knowing the Lord Jesus? Either way I urge you to be willing to go to His side. He will lead you in paths of righteousness. Do not be a free range chicken. We, unlike the chickens in Hawaii, do have an evil predator seeking to destroy us and our faith.
Most of my life my mother worked at a florist in Norwood, Ohio called Dorl & Fern. I met Mr. Dorl a few times. For years my mother told my sister and I how much she wanted to visit the Hawaiian islands in order to see the flowers. (Also, her only sister lived there.) Many times the arrangement designers in the shop would use flowers shipped from Hawaii. She was delighted with those arrangements. She especially like the idea of orchids growing along tree trunks. There was much delight as she worked with the local California florist to design my wedding bouquet. Sadly, she died before she was able to go to Hawaii.
Our wedding 1970
When we were planning our visit to Hawaii (the Big Island) and Maui we told our friends Dan and Betty that we definitely wanted to see the flowers. They directed us to the Botanical Garden just north of Hilo, officially called the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.
The folder they gave us when we paid our admission describes the place as “a garden in a valley on the ocean.” The land is ‘held in reserve for future conservation, protecting the beautiful Onomea Bay forever.’
I was not disappointed. The beginning of the trail was a downhill boardwalk among fascinating plants, many of which we had never seen before. We were also entertained by tiny colorful geckos along the way.
Anthurium I have seen in floral shops in Ohio but never in lavender!
Geckos often lose their tail when fighting, but can grow them back!
“Pink Maracas”
Bob and I were amazed later when we compared our photos. Some were duplicates and some were things the other had not noticed. My photos of the orchids were the most abundant of all the photos I took. If you are familiar with house plants you may see some growing in the photos. So here is photo album of my still shots. By the time I would learn to make a video from still shots I could likely write 3 blog entries. Hard to teach old dogs new tricks!
If you paste the link below into your browser you can see slides from the garden posted on the Bioreserve website. Sadly, they do not identify the plants.
And then there were the orchids! You have most likely seen orchids in grocery store floral departments or big box discount stores. They are nothing like these orchids!!
See photo to rightOrchid rooted on treeWhat we know as house plant called Peace Lily.Anthurium rooted on tree truckBob’s favorite orchid on treeI do not know all the namesrooted some place on that tree!delicate colorsSplatter painted?Splotched white area unlike belowMy thumb is to show you how tiny this one is!Not identical to white ones above.
Okay, so by then I was weeping. Truly weeping over the beauty my mother missed. Weeping over the beauty of God’s creation and how He arranged for us to have the privilege to see it. I swear at one point it was as if the man who walked away from me in the garden resembled Ted Dorl. I cried because in some way this has been a deep link with my memory of my mother. And now, I had completed it. We sat on a bench while I tried to compose myself. Two women walking past surely looked bewildered by my tears. Bob gladly indulged me while I walked among the orchids again, then I found more plants and started taking photos all over again.
My Christmas tree wishLook closely!There she is, tucked away!At first glance looks like a pansy to me!
You know how people print photos on mugs and phone cases and all sorts of things? I think I want this printed like that!
The flight over the volcano was stunning along with flying over the coast and the waterfalls, but this is my best memory. It was hard for me to leave. It was getting very hot and humid. I was wrung out from the emotional experience. Rarely have I felt so close to my mom since she passed. Our daughter turns 48 this week. That means mom died 48 years and two weeks ago. May she be surrounded by Jesus and flowers in all of heaven!
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it, for he has founded it on the seas and established it on the rivers.
When our children were young I purchased a poster from American Bible Society that had portions of Psalm 95 around the edges. Every night before they went to sleep I would read it to them after stories and before prayers.
I came across Psalm 95 when reading and praying Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer was my practice. In my personal copy of Common Prayer I wrote the definitions of Meribah – STRIFE or CONTENTION and Massah – TEMPTATION. A few verses of the Psalm are repeated in Hebrews 4. I had studied Hebrews 4 in depth tying to understand the concept of entering God’s rest.
O that today you would listen to his voice! 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’ 11 Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’
Psalm 95:7b-11 NRSV
Strife and temptation. Yes, I am so prone to those two! Likely, you are also?
What lead me to this Psalm again was an attempt to express the wonders of the LORD I have found over the past six weeks. I will just let you read it.
Subtitle: A Call to Worship and Obedience
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice! 8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.’ 11 Therefore in my anger I swore, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’
Psalm 95 NRSV
I pray you rejoice over the LORD. Make a joyful noise to Him. Give Him thanks. Understand that He is the Great King! The depths of the earth, heights of the mountains, the sea and dry land – all are His for He made them! We are the sheep of His hand. LISTEN to His voice and be renewed in life and strength and grace.
In Hawaii we would begin the day at sea level them go for a drive. Before too long we were at 3,000 feet. My ears began to pop! Then suddenly we could see the snow atop Mauna Loa where the observatory sits. No, my photos did not come out. Just imagine palm trees and flowering shrubs, geckos running around and then seeing snow. Made me go yikes. At first Bob did not believe me. Then he saw with his own eyes and he too was amazed.
USGS reports on Mauna Loa: “Its long submarine flanks descend to the seafloor an additional 5 km (16,400 ft), and the seafloor in turn is depressed by Mauna Loa’s great mass another 8 km (26,200 ft). This makes the volcano’s summit about 17 km (55,700 ft) above its base! The enormous volcano covers half of the Island of Hawai‘i and by itself amounts to about 85 percent of the area of all the other Hawaiian Islands combined.” https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa
online Flicker photo- those look like sheep beneath the trees!
You might have noticed I was not finished writing about our trip to Hawaii when I left on the 6 day retreat. Now I find myself seeing a Hawaii photo and wanting to tell you about it. Then coming across a retreat experience and wanting to expound on that. So, in short, for the next week or so I will be mixing up my themes.
My husband would tell you I have always been slightly mixed up. I tease him he is not hysterical, he is historical!
When images like this come up, what else am I to do?
His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him …. such a sacred heartGod used splatter paint method on orchids in the foreground!
And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.“
My husband Bob was a bit uneasy about going on vacation on an island, totally surrounded by water, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Besides learning that practically everything sold on the Islands must be imported, we learned this valuable history lesson.
The History channel reports that on April 1, 1946 ,”In the middle of the night, 13,000 feet beneath the ocean surface, a 7.4-magnitude tremor was recorded in the North Pacific. (The nearest land was Unimak Island, part of the Aleutian chain.) The quake triggered devastating tidal waves throughout the Pacific, particularly in Hawaii.
4-1/2 hours later the Hawaiian destruction was amazing. “The wave was heading toward the southern Pacific at 500 miles per hour.” The Laupahoehoe schoolhouse was crushed by the tsunami, killing the teacher and 25 students who were inside. Some reports say more than one teacher died.
“In Hawaii, 2,400 miles south of the quake’s epicenter, Captain Wickland of the United States Navy was the first to spot the coming wave at about 7 a.m., four-and-a-half hours after the quake. His position on the bridge of a ship, 46 feet above sea level, put him at eye level with a “monster wave” that he described as two miles long.” {I was unable to find the name of his ship.}
There is now a park there to memorialize the tragedy. We visited the beach briefly. The school is totally gone due to the tsunami destruction. It was rebuilt in 1947 on higher ground. It is a gorgeous location and we could understand why people would want to live there.
The History channel continues with: “This tsunami prompted the U.S. to establish the Seismic SeaWave Warning System two years later. The system, now known as the Pacific Tsunami Warning System, uses undersea buoys throughout the ocean, in combination with seismic-activity detectors, to find possible killer waves. The warning system was used for the first time on November 4, 1952. That day, an evacuation was successfully carried out, but the expected wave never materialized.” I believe the deaths of those students and teachers should be remembered when the Pacific Tsunami Warning system is discussed in schools. There is a YouTube video where the local people gave honor to their friends and family who died there 75+ years ago.
Below is part of the park grounds.
Caution Beware of falling coconuts and fronds.
The location certainly commands respect and honor.
We have been home for well over a week, but I am not exactly back in the swing of things. In fact, I think the movement of the swing is changing. We were gone for almost 2 weeks. Then adjusting to the time change between here and Hawaii (think 6 hours difference). I have booked a 6 day private retreat for next week and will meet a new spiritual director. I had a spiritual director many years ago and truly benefited from the experience. I believe it is time to restart that practice.
So I will be gone again June 4-10. I am uncertain if I will write the blog then or not. This is meant to be time with God. Please pray for me during that time especially!
Did we enjoy Hawaii? Certainly. Did we eat and drink? Well, yes! Below is my BLT pizza. The lettuce was on top (after baking) in the form of a Caesar salad. Yum.
Kona Beer “A liquid Aloha” was recently introduced to the Cincinnati area. I was not impressed when I tried it here. Man oh man was this one at the brewery different! A wonderful stout, smooth, and dark, and cold!
I wanted the glass but they did not sell them. Likely not room in the suitcase anyway.
Took this photo to give our son Jeff some ideas for the pizza restaurant where he will return to work soon.
You can also see some prices on here!
The Hawaiians love their geckos and we had fun watching them, too. I was surprised to see them decorating this wooden bar!
We ate more reasonably then we thought. Each morning we would have coffee in the room. The hotel coffee on Hawaii was great. (Maui, not quite as good.) At the Westin Resort on Hawaii would would go downstairs to Pico coffee shop to get fresh-brewed coffee, a sweet roll, perhaps fruit cup or yogurt. Once Bob purchased a breakfast box with eggs and meat. It was quite reasonable.
We would eat at a restaurant for lunch. When we landed we went to the grocery and bought bread and cheese for in the room. That would serve as our dinner. The in-room refrigerator was great for storing insulin and foods! Each day we would either pick up fresh bread or a cookie, etc. This is our usual pattern on vacation, but we were not certain how it would work on the Hawaiian islands. Between Foodland and Whole Foods we did fine!
Certainly need dessert! One day I found that at a little chocolate shop! (I should have bought more!!)
Thank You Lord, Mahalo, for a wonderful celebration!
One thing Bob really, really wanted to do was take the helicopter ride over the volcano. Kilauea is not currently spewing lava, but there is still steam rising from the vents and the crater is impressive.
The helicopter seated 7. The crew decided where each person would sit based on body weight. We literally had to get on the scale so they could determine that. No lying about your weight there!
It was hot outside and not cool within the helicopter. Keeping the air vents open was a challenge.
Here is our pilot. The red reflection is Bob waiting to board.
He was very informative about the land use, facts about the volcano, age of the lava flows, plant life, where the best waterfalls were located, etc. We had a great time! Our hotel was at Haupuna beach and the heliport was just above our location, minutes away, Sunshine Helicopter.
If you see shadows on the photos they are most likely reflections from my skin and hands, etc. Tried to crop most photos to remove them, but cannot possibly get them all.
White line is the road cutting through the lava.
Approaching the ” Culdera” According to Wikipedia “is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is gone. The ground surface then collapses into the emptied or partially emptied magma chamber, leaving a large depression at the surface. “
Though Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has a hotel and cabins I cannot say I would EVER want to camp in this area. Just the idea makes me feel too vulnerable. “The crater rim drive leads for 4 miles through steaming vents and rainforest,” says the national park folder. We were amazed that we could cross the street from the visitor center, walk into the Hawaii Volcanoes lodge and be at an overlook of the crater we saw from the air! We ordered our lunch there for carryout and ate in the car. The dining room was packed for Mother’s Day.
From this angle the steam on the left reminds me of waves breaking.
The Kīlauea Caldera , officially gazetted as Kīlauea Crater, is a caldera located at the summit of Kīlauea, an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. It has an extreme length of 2.93 mi , an extreme width of 1.95 mi, a circumference of 7.85 mi and an area of 4.14 sq mi . It contains Halemaʻumaʻu, an active pit crater near the caldera’s southwestern edge.
Learning to stop and be still is absolutely necessary before we can listen and respond fully and gratefully to Life—moment by moment.
BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST
When in a new state that actually feels like a new country it was difficult to stop and be still. We got our rental car and made our way to the road that would take us to our hotel. As Bob drove I was watching the fields of lava. Some were smooth. Most were blocks and stacks of slabs. I saw what I thought was an animal and thought no, my mind is playing tricks on me. And when I saw the second one I declared to Bob, “I just saw a goat!” He has learned to come alongside me when I blurt out things like that. When we saw more he became a believer. What in the world?
Eventually we learned there are feral goats on the island of Hawaii. Once thought to be a gift to the people they have become destructive and out of control. They decimate native plants, overrun certain areas, run across busy roads, prove a challenge to control and there are no natural predators on Hawaii.
The British brought most of them. The idea was to populate the island with a food source for sailors on future expeditions. Cook was killed during this final visit. However, British Captain Vancouver explored the islands in 1792 and introduced one male and one female to Kaua‘i. The islanders cared for these animals and used them for meat, milk, and skin. Goat reproduction was rapid, and some animals escaped into inaccessible terrain, founding wild colonies of ibex goats on seven islands. (The article says these are not true ibex.)
The Hawaiian government has encouraged culling the herds through hunting. So no, I wasn’t seeing things when I spotted that first brown goat atop brown lava. Whew! Had me wondering there for a minute.
One day we were driving down Mamalahoa Highway. Trotting along the side of the road, facing traffic, two goats came towards us, beards blowing in the breeze. They cracked me up! They acted as if they know they own this island. It all happened too fast to get a photo. Some of you might be remembering hearing in the Word about goats and sheep.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Matthew 25:31-33 NIV
I saw a great quote just before we left Ohio. God says “Love them all. I will sort them out later.”
So be still. Watch for goats and other animals you might not expect. Respond gratefully to life moment by moment! God will sort out the people at the end, whether you consider them sheep or goats doesn’t really matter. It is up to our Holy Judge.
For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 