Thinking of my island paradise

The island of Kauai is the most beautiful place I've ever been. I know, it's a cliche about how beautiful Hawaii is, but I'm serious, it is magical. The air feels soft and the smell of it makes you feel relaxed and happy. The light is different there, somehow. The sleepy little island of Kauai has inviting sand beaches and thundering volcanic rock pools, red-rock canyons and towering ocean cliffs, steep waterfalls and enormous unwalkable swamps, and lush forests with the mysterious remains of civilizations from long ago. While I'm hardly the most experienced world traveler, I've seen some stuff. I've seen the Aleutian Islands and the highest peak of the Andes, stood on the lip of a volcano and hiked for days into the desert, seen Kodiak bears and Guatemalan monkeys, visited Mayan pyramids and French chateaus. But Kauai takes the cake, so far, for sheer magic.

So my heart is sad for tiny Kauai, flooded by a burst dam that killed people and cut off the island's only road and left a gash of red mud and crumpled trees in its wake. May the rains let up soon.