mauna kea snow

                                photograph taken today by my sister from her home

Near the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island stands the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), as seen on the left. Altitude 13,793 feet. The tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states is Mt. Whitney in California at 14,505 feet. There is snow on Whitney year-round, but not on Mauna Kea. Pele, or Pelehonuamea, is the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, rumbling, shaking, and spewing, both destroying and creating land.