I will be frank.  I am not an "old-timer" of Hilo.  So, I cannot claim to have witnessed the hundred-year flood of 2000.  Nor can I recall the legendary  knee-deep flood waters on Kamehameha Avenue after a marathon tropical deluge.

I was however treated to my first ever East Hawaii waterfall-filler this past Saturday and Sunday, February 2nd and 3rd.

The super water-spectacle heralded itself with a louder-than-usual pounding on our metal roof on Friday evening as I was just drifting off to sleep.  Throughout the small hours of Saturday morning, I was lulled into a blissful slumber by the persistent percussion of rain and the guttural rumble of thunder.

Hilo is blessed with a tropical climate conducive to growing a huge range of tropical fruits.

With that in mind, we have assembled a collection of some of the tropical fruits commonly found in farmers markets, sometimes in stores, or as gifts from friends. Some of the photos are of fruit we found growing in the wild.

[A highly biased note: many of Hawaii's tropical fruits commonly found in mainland US stores , such as mangos, papayas, avocados, pineapples, and bananas, are far more flavorful than their mainland counterparts. To some extent it is because a different variety is favored (white pineapple vs gold, or apple banana vs cavendish, etc., or maybe it is because the fruit is picked at a later stage of ripeness...a good topic for debate. ]

It is only fitting that the first significant mention of Hilo in America's newspaper of record was of its impending doom.

Sharing space with three volcanoes, rocked by earthquakes, swamped by tidal waves, infested with diseased bugs, and under the very real threat of attack by a foreign power, the Hawaiian island town of Hilo has endured much hardship over the decades.

But what turned Hilo into a low-ranking destination for most mainland visitors was not a catastrophe, but something that happens every week, sometimes every day — the rain.

In Hilo, it rains a lot — about 129 inches a year. [ mostly at night, though…most days are sunny…]

I want to make a prediction.

In 10 years, when most affluent Mainland baby boomers who want to retire to Hawaii already have bought their condos, the next big thing in Hawaii real estate will be Honolulu kamaaina forsaking Oahu for Neighbor Island locales, chief among them Hilo.

Hilo still has an Old Hawaii ethos. But it has big shopping centers and most of the key retail chains that Honoluluans are used to. It is one of the few Neighbor Island towns with a few alternate routes for getting around. It has a nice University of Hawaii campus offering four-year degrees. It has all the requisite coffee, book and clothing chains, but it also has a wonderful farmer's market.

Hilo citizens already are doing everything necessary to make their town attractive for Oahuans seeking a return to an old-fashioned community feel -- it's what they're doing for themselves, nurturing local theater and music, supporting a wider selection of retail, and lobbying for better health care.