I have lived on Crater Road-Haleakala Highway for 34 years, and during that time, the number of cars and bicycles using the road has increased more than tenfold.

I am told that the number of cars which pass my house daily, for almost 24 hours a day, now exceeds more than a million a year, if you count the round trip. I do not miss the cars, the constant underlying noise, and I surely do not miss the bicycle tours that daily endanger both the untrained riders and me as well.

Gone are the almost daily sirens of police cars and ambulances, replaced the past five weeks with the songs of birds, the crowing of roosters, and the sounds of relative silence that now embraces me all day!

My environment is heavenly, surely temporary, but nonetheless most gratifying, given that I live upcountry, not in an urban setting.

Of course, the cars will return, but hopefully at a much slower pace, and that they will reflect the return to a healthier local economy. I am fully aware and empathetic to the social costs of my bliss. I do ask, however, as I see the 18,000 rental cars choking the airport, if indeed we have learned any lessons given our opportunity to do so. Can we collectively achieve some type of appropriate environmental balance for our unique island community?

Vincent Linares

Kula