Hawaiian Clouds

The first things to strike me about the island of Hawaii were the clouds. The airplane from Oahu cruised past pillars-chimney stacks-and castles of white. All of these amazing shapes looked solid enough to walk on.

I watched shape after shape pass by and began to imagine them all as bed pillows just for me. I was just about to doze off into their softness when I caught sight of a hint of gold. It rode up from behind a pillowy mountain range in the distance. Within seconds, it grew like a wild fire and became a spectacular sunrise.

Another hint of gold flashed before me as the seat belt sign was illuminated. No time to sleep now; we were beginning our descent into Hilo. I looked down over the island and everything below me was covered in a blanket of sunlight.

By time we landed it was too late to sleep, or perhaps it was too early (I'd lost track). John got a rental car, and at the recommendation of someone at the airport, we headed to Ken's Pancake House for breakfast (or maybe it was for dinner - who knew).

At some point in the late morning hours, we drove into Volcano National Park and set up our tent. We crawled in, despite the sun and went to sleep. Sometime during the three hours that we slept, the previous tomorrow melded with the current today and I awoke feeling a bit more normal.

When I emerged from the tent, I looked up. The clouds were miles away. Higher than I had ever seen clouds with such distinct form. They were stretched like elastic across the sky.