Lahaina Noon

If’n yer not doin’ nuffin fer lunch t’morrah, wanna join me? It’s gotta be a little early because I have something to show you at 12:28 p.m.

Friday is one of only two days a year when the sun will be directly overhead. So when we stand outside, we won’t have a shadow (shades of Peter Pan).

Let’s get outside a little early and find a spot where there aren’t too many people around. If there’s a crowd standing shoulder to shoulder, that defeats the whole purpose, right?

The cool thing about this solar phenomenon is that it only happens twice a year in the tropics (the next one, according to Mr. Sun’s schedule is 12:37 p.m. July 15), and Hawaii is the only state in the Union where you can experience it.

Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the Big Island have already had theirs. Molokai’s precedes Honolulu’s by four minutes, and Kauai residents will have their Lahaina Sun seven minutes later.

“Lahaina,” by the way, means “cruel sun” in Hawaiian. “Lahaina Noon” is the result of a 1989 contest.

So, see you there? Oh, and don’t forget your sunglasses!