With all the destruction and loss of human life we’ve seen from the Hawaiian fires, it was a tree that finally sent me to the fetal position. It was one tree in particular—the 150-year-old banyan tree in Lahaina, which is somehow still standing with some live tissue in its cambium (whatever that is). There is a man who loves the tree and has taken care of it for years who is now by its side, tossing fertilizer and washing it down with water; he will do so for several months, until enough time has passed to see if the tree has the strength to come back or if the damage is just too much to bear. All the leaves are gone, and it looks so… dark.
It's because in your heart, you know that the tree represents the people, the community, and generations of their life in Lahainia. You are in mourning.
Lahaina's Banyan Tree
It's because in your heart, you know that the tree represents the people, the community, and generations of their life in Lahainia. You are in mourning.