And Then There's Love

Love comes in all forms and types. This blog entry talks of the love of legends and the love one can have for a an area and a beautiful plant that graces it.

Of all the beautiful places on this island, my favorite is The Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. I walk into this land of Tutu Pele with a feeling of love, awe and thankfulness that I am able to be there. It is beautiful no matter what the weather or her moods.

Recently we were able to spend time in the park on two different occasions and it just underscored for me how much I love to be there.

Pele has been very active of late and I'm sure many of you have seen footage of the recent flows. This picture was taken in September of 2009 at an early stage in the recent activity in the Halema`uma`u crater. The day was rather dark and stormy and I was walking along the edge of the crater rim during a break at a retreat. There is no more spiritual place for me than this location.

There is a tree of legend that adds so much beauty to this island, to Pele's park, and to my life. The legend goes something like this:

There was a young Hawai`ian man, some say a chief, whose name was Ohia. This young man was very much in love with a beautiful girl named Lehua. But as happens in many legends, their love was not to be. The Goddess Pele found the young man Ohia to be very handsome and desired him for herself. But Ohia was true to his love for Lehua. In her anger, Pele, turned Ohia into a twisted tree with gray bark and gray green leaves. When Lehua discovered what had been done to her love, she begged the other gods to please change him back. But Pele's magic was powerful and they were unable to do so and it looked like Lehua was to be forever parted from her beloved. But the gods had a solution: They turned Lehua into a beautiful red flower and placed her among Ohia's leaves. And to this day the two lovers are together in the form of the beautiful Ohia Lehua tree.

I never get over my love and fascination with the beautiful Ohia Lehua tree. When we walk in the park, I will say to myself that this time I won't take pictures of it. After all, I have hundreds. But with every walk, I add to my collection because it is so lovely in all its forms. Here are few recent pictures from my collection:

This lovely specimen was growing out of a crack in the lava on the trail to the Petroglyphs. The Ohia is usually the second plant to grow in the lava fields after an eruption. The first is the fern.

This close up shows the blossom in all its stages: the bud, the bloom, a recent seed pod, and an older seed pod. And in the background you can see the edge of the crater of Kilauea with the Halema`uma`u crater just inside it.

The trees are even beautiful in death.

And the lava from which all this beauty grows.

And so we have love: love of place, love of tree and the love of legends. Each one special and perfect for it's time and season.