Tropical Fall!

Eloise and I took our usual Tuesday jog around Lanikai enjoying the sights and sounds of fall—vibrant foliage in yellow, amber, crimson, soft burgundy and maroon, a mellow range of orange tones. Tropical flowers that begin pale yellow with a maroon center and mature to brick red before fluttering to the ground. The whisper of approaching rain tapping the leaves around and above us, making every smell sharper.

The misting rain hung around like gauzy curtains, even as the sun shone brightly. We searched the sky…there! The corner of a rainbow peeked over the street and trees in front of us. I skipped our usual ocean access point where we greet the a’ama (black crabs) and offer our blooms to the waves and pushed on up the hill hoping for a better view of the rainbow. And so it was: beginning in Kailua Bay and arching over to end somewhere near my house, a shimmering rainbow.

As the year dies in crispy browns and pumpkin spice elsewhere, our rainy season begins and paradise is again reborn.