The rainbow. To Hawaiians, the rainbow — Anuenue — signified the presence of the gods. According to Judeo-Christian tradition, the rainbow was Yaweh’s promise to Noah that the great flood was abating and the earth would never again be so inundated.

Maui enjoys an abundance of this spectacular natural wonder because rain showers occur with such frequency here, at various locations and elevations throughout the island.

The scientific definition of a rainbow states, “An optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the sun shines through droplets of moisture in the Earth’s atmosphere, refracting the color spectrum into individual ribbons of red, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Red appears on the outside and violet on the inside of the arc formed (rainbow).”

Science and religion aside, the true magic of the rainbow,  painting its ribbon of colors against the palette of a gray sky,  has always been to inspire our fondest hopes and dreams with its stark, ephemeral beauty.

 The sun shining into and through these shower droplets graces the Valley Isle with this spectral apparition at almost any time of day. Maybe it’s easy to take rainbows for granted simply because they are not rare here at all — they are almost commonplace. But let’s not fall into that way of thinking. What a glorious gift. Look up, appreciate  and enjoy.

It’s bright. It’s beautiful. It’s Maui.

– Haole Anna, Paia