Hang loose, Brah!   We returned from our second trip to Maui recently, and I was educated again!

We made a circular trip around West Maui one day. What a gorgeous, relaxing drive! It's true that the roads were bumpy and narrow in places, but not bad; we were never nervous. That day a beautiful, serene woman at a roadside stand overlooking cliffs and wave-beaten rocks and beaches informed me that bananas aren't ripened on the tree. She said they should always be picked when they're mature but still green, and ripened afterward! Naïve me, I didn't know that happened anywhere in nature. I had this woman pick me out a pineapple, and it was so sweet and flavorful that it almost didn't taste like the same fruit I've bought all my life.

When we got to Kahakuloa, a lush, quaint little village, we went to the famous Julia's Banana Bread Treehouse, and her banana bread really was the best I've ever had. Such a cute roadside stand -- here it is:

Only a few miles from there, on a cliff overlooking the far northeast shore, we pulled over to deeply inhale the completely clean air, which we were told had traveled in the breeze for weeks without passing over land or man until it was ours to breathe.

There were many roadside stands, both in West Maui and on the Road to Hana, that served fruits and foods on the honor system -- just leave your money here. I thought that maybe Hawaiians were morally superior beings. On the other hand, I thought, where are they going to run to if they steal? It's an island.

On these mountain roads, seemingly miles from the next village, colorful chickens and roosters walked along in the road without a care in the world. Where do they live? Doesn't someone have to feed them, or does the Maui wild provide them with sustenance?

One thing seems certain: The people who live here surely don't need to learn transcendental meditation; their surroundings seem to inspire perfect serenity.