Sensing My Place by Bike- Riding in Iao Valley

This is the view toward Iao from Ka'ahumanu Ave.  In the afternoon, sometimes the clouds and setting sun combine to focus the last rays of intense light into the back of the valley.  I wonder how many of my fellow Maui people are as completely spellbound by this phenomenon as I am.  I find myself noticing more and wondering about what that noticing can tell me.  I find myself wondering what other people notice and why. I had an hour to ride my bike from Waihe'e up into the back of Iao Valley this week.  It was an experience on a sensory, cognitive and spiritual level.  Here are some thoughts I put down when I got back from my ride:

Riding through Iao. The road gets steeper, the pace slows. Grind and crank from the gears, breath coming harder. Relax the jaw, drop the shoulders, pull up and push down.
Sun is hot and intense, still for a moment an then a breeze- just for an instant but, ahh so grateful.

Look to the right, wall of the valley is just off my shoulder. Look left and the road falls away to the steep bank below which gives way to the kahawai.  Looking back as far as the clouds will allow to glimpse the grand architecture of Kahalawai, to see, the valley wall rises sharp and steep.
Aia i hea i ka wai?  Ma ō a'e!

Water made this place.

The water is there in the trickling falls seeping out from rock or tumbling over the cliffs, the clouds having been snagged by Pu'u Kukui. There are the dries up tracks showing the path of old water and where new flows will run again.
The water is evident in the patterns, textures, shades of green foliage. Dense and tall where water collects, sparse and low where the water runs away. Kapilau where the clouds are pushed ahead by the Kololio wind.
The work of water over tens of thousands of years is revealed in angled ridges and valleys that draw the eye and beckon the imagination toward the heavens. Pali tilt almost vertically and are mostly bare- wind and erosion mean only the toughest ground-covers and shrubs can survive here.
I'm thinking about water in its many forms. How has water shaped this place, where is the water today, how is it different from the last time I was here, what happens to the water after it leaves this valley?

Water is making this place.

So many people drive past me along this road, some are in a hurry to get to ...the "end"? Park, get out, take a picture of Iao Needle (formed by water). Maybe brave the paved pathway and tricky riverbed to the stream and appreciate the cool, refreshing, rejuvenating water.

Ride a bike or walk and you will see the water, without even looking down at the stream.
Aia i hea i ka wai?  Ma 'ane'i. Eia nā wai 'eha.

Water damage, Iao Valley August 2016
https://mauimagazine.net/na-wai-eha/