An Awe of Nature Could Save Our Lives

But only if we act now

Aloha Lovelies,

As you can imagine, I’ve been thinking a lot about the wildfires on Maui and the apocalyptic destruction of the town of Lahaina, being just a stone’s throw away from the island. On a clear day, you can see Maui from the west side of the Big Island.

The Big Island has had a few fires too. But they were small, well-contained, and far away from where I live.

I find it hard to take in the horror of what occurred in Lahaina. Naturally, I’m reminded of the 2018 lava eruption on the Big Island that took hundreds of homes, including mine.

The eruption felt traumatic and devastating for many. But it didn’t happen all of a sudden like the fires in Lahaina. Because lava in this context moves slowly, we were able to evacuate days and even weeks in advance. We lost our homes and our possessions, but not people.

The horrific destruction of Lahaina and growing death toll remind me to celebrate and appreciate all that I have right now. We never know what will happen next and in these times, it seems untold dangers lie around every corner. As I write this Hurricane Hilary rushes towards California, an almost unprecedented event for the state.

My heartbreaks for the people of Lahaina. And I ask myself:

• Am I taking life for granted or am I seeing it as a miracle each and every day?

• Am I expressing love and respect towards my family and friends, my neighbors, and everyone I see from store clerks to the guy who fills my propane tank to strangers on the street?

• Am I living in my head, churning out thought after thought, or am I mindful of and appreciating the vibrant life that surrounds me right now?

Enjoy this moment now. You never know when it will be stolen from you.

Restoring an Awe of Nature

Equally important, we need to know the mile-a-minute wildfires that took out Lahaina weren’t due to downed power lines or the fierce wind of a distant hurricane alone.

In an article in “Honolulu Civil Beat,” Naka Nathaniel explains how the Hawaiian islands have been “disrespected for centuries.”

“Hawaii’s lands and waters have been devastated by extractive agriculture, overdevelopment and militarization. 

The consequences of raising non-native crops and livestock in Hawaii have ravaged our lands and made us the planet’s extinction capital.”

Lahaina was once a lush area that became a tinderbox due to the greed of corporate agriculture. On top of that, luxury homeowners and wealthy individuals arrived in Hawaii and decimate the land by changing according to their preferences rather than respecting it as it is.

The real estate boom on the Big Island, which occurred over the past few years, illustrates the point. Contractors frantically threw up new homes. One contractor build three homes on my street simultaneously. With each new build, contractors invariably clear cut the property—one acre lots in my division.

New homeowners come in and plant edge to edge lawns with just a few ornamental bushes and trees.

What happens to the birds, insects, and rodents that lived on that land when it’s so rudely cleared. And how does this repeated clear-cutting change the eco-system going forward?

I’m fortunate because two-thirds of my one-acre remains wild. It will never be touched while I’m here aside from maintenance, like removing invasive and hazardous tree species. Many native Ohia trees dot the natural landscape, affording unlimited spots for birds to perch and sing.

When I lived on 5-acres, prior to this, about one-fourth of the land was cleared for the house and the orchard. Wild pigs and other creatures roamed the rest. ‘Io (Hawaiian hawks) circled in the sky. Now and then I’d catch a glance of an Hawaiian owl quietly sitting atop a tree branch.

But my adjacent neighbor had cleared his full 5-acre parcel.

There’s no need to clear-cut land and replace it with ecologically questionable lawns. Why do people do it?

“Simple ecosystems, like monoculture lawns, support very few other species. In fact, lawns have been called biological deserts because of the paucity of other species they support. They are prone to disease, insect outbreaks, and invasive species. Nutrients are lost when clippings are removed, requiring large amounts of chemical inputs to sustain them. This type of system cannot sustain itself, but requires constant attention.”—EcoSystem Gardening

Lawns also require ginormous amounts of water.

“According to the Natural Resource Defense Council, grass lawns consume nearly 3 trillion gallons of water a year, 200 million gallons of gas (for all that mowing), and 70 million pounds of pesticides. A challenge to maintain in some areas considering that some rivers out west are facing historically low levels—it means water shortages for residents out in Western states. The U.S. has experienced a “megadrought” this year, and hot dry conditions are also worsening the incidence of forest fires in various states across the West Coast.”—Popular Science

People who seed lawns on cleared lots in Hawaii aren’t bad people. They’ve just lost their connection to the land in a world that values plastic more than trees.

If you want to help the world, let your lawn grow wild. Follow the tips listed in the Popular Science article linked in the above quote.

We Can Learn from the traditional values of the Hawaiian People

Traditionally, Hawaiians felt a sacred connection to the land and the sea, which they collectively call the “aina.” This quote from the Office for Hawaiian Affairs explains the meaning of this sacred relationship:

“Land is not a commodity to be exploited, it is a relative that is respected and cared for and, who, in turn, cares for us. Mālama ʻāina expresses our kuleana [responsibility] to care for the land and to properly manage the resources and gifts it provides. Aloha ʻāina expresses our love for this land and beyond that, our love of country — the sovereign nation stolen away but ever in our hearts.”

As humans, we’ve lost this deep sense of connection with and respect for the land, and sea. As a result, catastrophic events occur more and more around the world. We lose our loved ones, our homes, and years of our precious life dealing with the aftermath.

But we’ve not innocent victims. Our actions, including the overuse of destructive resources like oil and plastic, initiated and fed this cycle of destruction. We are self-destructing. Catastrophes are only a mirror reflecting our own destructive tendencies.

Please share your thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

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Until Next Time

I’ll be counting my blessings today! I hope you will count yours too.

Thanks for reading. It means a lot to me!

Much love to you. Wishing you well, always.

xo Sandra

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