Ongoing Maui Wildfires

Oh, wow! What a month! Into every writer's life, it seems, Life-Its-Own-Self intervenes.

Three fires are still burning on Maui. The most devastating one was in our beloved Lahaina, on the West Maui Mountains, where five square miles of the island burned hot. It has gotten a lot of attention in the press and on social media.

Two other fires still burn on the slopes of Haleakala. Either one of them -- the one in Olinda and the one in Kula -- are both smaller than the biggest one. Either one would have been considered a "disaster" if the cataclysm on the West Side had not happened.

We all learned that "contained" does not mean "extinguished" when you're a fireman and a first responder. As of today, more than three weeks after the fires started burning on August 8, they say the Lahaina fire is 95% contained.

The containment stats for the Upcountry ones have hovered around 85% or so for some days now. (Too many gulches, too much rough terrain, and so on.)

We are all learning again about heartache and heartbreak.

We all are processing the realities and the pain of loss and looking at past decisions and choices that had consequences which intersected disastrously.

We are all trying to get a handle on how to deal with future uncertainties.

Many of us are trying very hard to help our families and friends impacted by the blazes. Most of us are grateful that the people we love are alive.

When Life-Its-Own-Self intervenes, a writer has to bend in the circumstances and go live for a bit.

I'll eventually finish my Time/River series, I am sure. First, though, there are these other things....

Be well.