Recently, my husband and I took up residence on the Big island of Hawaii, just in time to witness firsthand the eruption of Mauna Loa. We set our alarms for 3am, packed a picnic and drove about an hour to the site that the local authorities had turned an old road into a one-way, 15mph, one lane, 7 mile crazy awe-inspiring roller coaster ride. Every turn gave us new views of Tutu Pele's grandeur and beauty. We pulled over and parked numerous times to just stand there, everyone around us mute with wonder, as we were too. Orange lava streaming down the mountain and huge fountains of fire! There were literally no words to speak. Near the end we pulled over, ate our snacks and fell asleep. We awoke to the rising sun, with Mauna Kea on one side and the lava flow on Mauna Loa to the other. We talked it over, and decided that this experience was right up there with Birth (and I have seen a LOT of birth, having been an Labor and Delivery Nurse, he having only witnessed the birth of our son), Death, and the Solar Eclipse we witnessed in 2017. I can only say that in these moments, your heart cracks open in your chest, and you are filled with joy and hope. Suddenly there is nothing mundane about life on this spectacular planet, which shelters us and provides for us. It also raised lots of deep questions for me: like why do we worry about stupid stuff, and how can we allow narcissistic megalomaniacs (exclusively men) to run the show all the time, usually strait into the ground? Big stuff.

Recently, my husband and I took up residence on the Big island of Hawaii, just in time to witness firsthand the eruption of Mauna Loa. We set our alarms for 3am, packed a picnic and drove about an hour to the site that the local authorities had turned an old road into a one-way, 15mph, one lane, 7 mile crazy awe-inspiring roller coaster ride. Every turn gave us new views of Tutu Pele's grandeur and beauty. We pulled over and parked numerous times to just stand there, everyone around us mute with wonder, as we were too. Orange lava streaming down the mountain and huge fountains of fire! There were literally no words to speak. Near the end we pulled over, ate our snacks and fell asleep. We awoke to the rising sun, with Mauna Kea on one side and the lava flow on Mauna Loa to the other. We talked it over, and decided that this experience was right up there with Birth (and I have seen a LOT of birth, having been an Labor and Delivery Nurse, he having only witnessed the birth of our son), Death, and the Solar Eclipse we witnessed in 2017. I can only say that in these moments, your heart cracks open in your chest, and you are filled with joy and hope. Suddenly there is nothing mundane about life on this spectacular planet, which shelters us and provides for us. It also raised lots of deep questions for me: like why do we worry about stupid stuff, and how can we allow narcissistic megalomaniacs (exclusively men) to run the show all the time, usually strait into the ground? Big stuff.

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