In Celebration of The Falls at Reeds Island

Looking out into the jungle that surrounds The Falls, I feel engulfed in a sea of green.

As my eyes focus and scan the coconut palms and ferns and monstera, I notice just how many shades of green exist here - from deep, bluish tones to almost yellow.

And I begin to see the yellows and browns - places where green once was, now aged, some fallen to the ground or dangling from a branch, some falling violently to the earth.

I notice the green is punctuated with the reds of bromeliads and lehua blossoms, yellow, white and purple flowers, and the orange of lilikoi fruit ripening.

I see yellow birds playing tag with red cardinals, dashing through the air in search of food, and I see the proud rooster strutting through the yard, all bright feathers, loud crow, and cocky attitude.

My focus shifts to the darkness behind the colors, the volcanic rock supporting everything, providing a shadowy backdrop for the bright, living colors.

And on the rocks I notice more dashes of color - a scurrying gecko, a bright green anole basking in the sun, slowly changing to grey to disappear, a dragonfly resting for a moment before taking to flight again, a striped skink rustling under a leaf.

I see the grey lichen growing in the crevices of the rocks, giving tiny plants a foothold, so they too will someday grow to enormous sizes, replacing the fallen leaves, and making this place more green.

Watching all this around me, I'm reminded why we chose this place for our wedding, and why there was no question that we would return a year later to spend our first anniversary here. This place is the definition of the Hawaiian word uluwehiwehi - lush, beautiful, alive, and green.

We are so grateful to David Morton and Thomas Cordell for imagining this magical place and making it a reality, and to Jack & Jane, for again sharing their unrivaled hospitality, aloha, and home with us.