I only have been to Hawaii once. On that trip I was serving as a chaperone for youth participating in the Western Regional Youth Event of the United Church of Christ. We visited only one island, Oahu. My attention was focused on the youth enough that I remember only the activities we did with them during our visit. I don’t remember having time to take a night walk or look at the stars. I suspect that by the time I made sure all of the youth were safe in their rooms I was tired enough to fall quickly to sleep. Still, it was a wonderful visit and I have fond memories of the beautiful places we visited and the rich cultural diversity of the congregations where activities were held. If I were to return to the state, it would be fun to visit other islands and I would like to take time to gaze into the sky.

A friend of a relative lives on the big island where he works at one of the observatories on Mauna Kea, the large dormant volcano that is at the center of the largest and most southern of the islands in the state. Mauna Kea is a cluster of large telescope observatories and astronomical research facilities located on the mountain where they take advantage of the low level of light pollution to make observations of the cosmos. I don’t know if it would be possible, but I have thought that if I were to make a trip to Hawaii, I would investigate getting a tour of the Mauna Kea complex.

We have friends who travel to Hawaii frequently. The husband of the couple grew up in Hawaii and they own a vacation property on Maui. They have frequently said to us that if we planned a vacation to Hawaii they highly recommend a visit to Maui where they say life is a bit more laid back and a bit less tourist focused than other parts of the state.

Although summer isn’t the high tourist season in Hawaii, the first part of August might be a good time for a visit because of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Every August I pay attention to the night sky and enjoy seeing the bright flashes known as shooting stars. It doesn’t require a telescope. You can see the meteors with your naked eyes. But it does help to be in a place where you can see the night sky. Our home here in Washington is a bit too close to the bright lights of city of Vancouver for really good night observations, but the meteors are bright enough to be seen from our deck.

The phenomenon can produce up to 100 meteors and hour. The earth, in its yearly journey around the sun, travels through a trail of debris left behind from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle and the result is the annual natural display. The peak of this year’s show was supposed to occur last night. I didn’t go out star gazing as I was fairly tired from a few days’ camping with our grandchildren. I’m confident that there will be plenty of meteors to see tonight.

But I doubt that the people on Maui are finding much time or energy for stargazing this year. 93 are confirmed dead and the Governor has warned that the number of victims will rise significantly as workers search for missing persons and forensic experts identify additional victims. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for. Many of those who survived are staying in shelters after their homes have been destroyed. The historic town of Lahaina has been razed with the debris of collapsed buildings and burned out cars making the search for the missing challenging.

It is easy to see photographs of the devastation on the internet, but the photos cannot convey the weight of grief and uncertainty that must be sweeping the island. Part of the journey of grief is shock and disbelief and that must be part of what the survivors must be feeling. Such dramatic devastation in such a beautiful place! So many people involved in continuing fire suppression and search and rescue work! The scenes from drones show an other-worldly scene of destruction. It must be overwhelming to be present in that place. Grief and disbelief and worry for those missing are a powerful trio of emotions that threaten to overwhelm people before they have time and emotional energy to face the feelings that are sure to follow which include survivor’s guilt and post-traumatic stress.

This is the kind of thing that will forever remain a part of the lives of those who are witnessing it. As I have often said to trauma survivors, “This isn’t something that you get over. It is something that you get through.”

I hope that those of us who live far from Hawaii can become part of the support system that helps people get through these trying times. Recovery will be slow and difficult and it will require more than a puff of emotion and temporary compassion from those of us who live in other states.

A disaster has been declared. Some federal assistance has already arrived and more is on its way. One of the first bases of the newly-formed United States Space Force is located on Maui. the Maui Space Surveillance Complex contains a high performance computing center along with an optical observatory. The complex, known locally as AMOS for Air Force Maui Optical Station, has been in operation for several decades. The designs were developed in the early 1960s with construction completed in 1967 and the Air Force taking over operations from the University of Michigan in 1969. One of the jobs of the facility is tracking all of the satellites in orbit around our planet.

I can only imagine what the people of Maui are going through, and I know that my imagination is nowhere close to the real experiences of real people in that place. But I hope that somewhere among all of those people experiencing all of those powerful emotions there are a few who have an opportunity to look at the night sky and remember the beauty that has been a part of island life and witness the ongoing power of the universe’s constant motion. Perhaps they will make a wish on a shooting star. Certainly there is no shortage of wishes that need to be made in Maui.