Storm in the Channel © lynette sheppard

Ua or rain is considered a blessing in Hawai`i. Small wonder when we are the most remote geographical area (farthest from any other land mass) in the world. Water is life and islanders celebrate it wholeheartedly. Wai wai nui. Great waters. The most precious gift on earth.

We have been blessed with abundant ua this year, so we are pretty much filled with gratitude. OK, I haven’t been to the beach to sun or swim lately, but I have admired the raindrops on ti leaves and the also abundant spiderwebs. (Seriously, we are surrounded by spiders this winter/spring. All of us are doing the spider dance, which involves waving our hands frantically in front of our faces, trying to dislodge the sticky silk after walking through multitides of webs.)

Molokai diamonds © lynette sheppard

My laundry hangs sodden on the line and our plants are growing so fast you can almost see them sprout by inches a day. It sometimes feels like living in the old timey scifi film “Day of the Triffids”. (For those of you too young to remember it, plants took over the world and the final scene has them growing up and over a house.)

And the ua is…quite simply glorious. Squalls in the channel lit by the last rays of the sun, diamond drops on agave plants, the sound of a shower on the tin roof lulling you to sleep. And the rainbows! Vibrant slashes of color, double rainbows, full arches, and the rare but beautiful night rainbow. So lucky we live Moloka`i. Remember: no rain, no rainbows.