As the director of the Wyland Gallery on Front Street in Lahaina, I wrote a sort of “love letter” to the historic banyan tree (“Efforts underway to revive 150-year-old banyan tree in Lahaina,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Aug. 15). Here it is:

With the lights all gone, historic plaques charred, and rose-colored callouses removed from my eyes — I finally see you.

No more birds chattering at dusk, traffic miles away, and stillness all around — I finally hear you.

I too was planted here and allowed to grow strong; every branch a new journey supported by local soil, a community holding me up when I needed it most.

For years I walked by you in a hurry; on my way here or there and now, with all that static come and gone, I feel you — still standing — stronger than all those things that masked themselves as “important.”

I feel you, Lahaina. You can never be taken by mere elements because no one part of you stands alone — your community is rooted in the soil of pure love of aloha. I see not a burnt tree but something beautiful, as if for the first time. What do you see?

Jock Armour

Lahaina

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