Writing about Glaciers on Molokai

Though my feet were planted in Maunaloa on Molokai in 2023, I was sometimes far away in Denali National Park where the mighty Ruth Glacier holds forth on her 33-mile-long journey in those mountains. Or lost in thought over Glacier National Bay and John Muir's journey there in the late 1800s. I knew something strange about myself in such an action but had no choice if I wanted to get finished and have a peaceful place to lay out the glaciers. 

While here, I also went on journeys to connect with this incredible island. The photo above is from the leprosy colony at Kalaupapa where Father Damien (1840-1889) attained sainthood for his earthly care of the shunned people who contracted that disease, better known as Hansen's Disease.

I wrote this article here for a national Catholic publication. Molokai's leprosy settlements — the 'ohana' of two Catholic saints — faces historic transition- Detroit Catholic

Is there a connection between glaciers, I wondered, and this incredible island? Nothing, it seemed, but Molokai was a great place to wonder and chronicle my 800-page research obsession with the massive bergs of ice. It was here that my husband and I drew ever curious about the heavens and constellations so plainly visible, and I first read about the Snowball Theory of Earth. This theory suggests that at least two extreme cooling events occurred between 2.4 billion and 580 million years ago, covering the planet's oceans and land surfaces with ice from the poles to the Equator 

Then I found yet another oddly fascinating clue in an article about finding glacial remnants on the big island of Hawaii from about 25,000 years ago: Ancient Hawaiian Glaciers Hold Clues to Past Climate Change | Live Science So, I found my connection between home in Alaska and these islands out in the Pacific Ocean. 

Now I am here again. Alas, I'll try to be present in the tropical island that periodically faces severe struggles with drought.