With the season change has come the corresponding weather change. Living in a tropical climate that means something a little different to the more northerly latitudes that I am more accustomed to, and where I have spent most of my life.

First is a rise in temperature. It is gradual, but as my wife said a couple of evenings ago, the bite has been taken out of the air.

There is less wrapping up to do. It is just more comfortable being outside whatever time of the day or night it might be.

Second is a drop off in rain. Winter is definitely the wet season here, and this year has been particularly wet. Now the precipitation has dropped right off and days are drier.

Third is the wind. The wind is what keeps these islands cool. Cool is relative. It can still be hot, but when the Trade Winds blow the edge is taken off that heat. A couple of summers ago the winds did not blow…and it was hot.

But something else can happen at this time of year, and I love it. The mornings and evenings can be ever so still and quiet. The mornings, as the sun rises, is punctuated by the dawn chorus. After waking up to the birds singing their hearts out during my years living in South Wales, I was so happy to hear the dawn chorus on Maui. But until the winds pick up, the air is still and quiet. The distant ocean is calm. For me this brings a stillness to my mind, a peacefulness which I can reach back to through the day.

Then as the day turns to dusk, the heat and breeze from the day settles, and again the air returns to a stillness. Some evenings I am loathed to go anywhere. I just want to sit outside at home, looking out to the ocean, and allow the quiet air to settle my mind after a busy day. And as my mind settles, I feel my body and heart let go of concerns and return to that still, quiet place which underlies all of our busyness and thinking.