Aloha 'Oe -- Memorial Day

It seems the older we get the more significant Memorial Day becomes; not surprising that we now have a better appreciation for how our parents used to habitually read the obituaries. I remember a visit to Ohau's famous National Memorial Cemetery over 45 years ago set in Pouwaina Crater and home to thousands of veterans and their families.  ("click" on photos for larger view)

Small Puna Cemetery

Here in rural Puna on the Big Island, we have found several small unnamed cemeteries. Yesterday, flowers in hand, we visited three, all tucked back a little from the road...all with ocean views!  (I also offered a halting, newly learned song, "Hawai'i Aloha.) "Hear this lovely mele!!

Each setting is like a window in time -- each grouping seems to carry its own personal, quiet ambiance. Every year local people (relatives and not) caravan down to Puna's famous "Red Road" to be sure that grave sites are cleaned and decorated -- some elaborate, some simple. These humble clusters of graves, found along the side of the road, offer reminders of village life 100 years ago.

One of our fondest memories during a Michigan visit to Phil's mom was a stroll with Margaret through the local cemetery where she pointed out plots with names going back on both sides for many generations.

Our home altar - those loved and lost

This year we set up our family altar as a shrine of remembrance of those we have known, loved and lost including parents and "best persons" from our wedding; from baby Kummar who lived only 100 days, to much loved and respected teachers and elders who reached nearly 100 years.

One of the many interesting cultural differences here in Hawai'i is the very obvious respect given to elders -- the Kupuna, who are the carriers and teachers of tradition, language and culture. 

"OLA NA IWI"  (The bones live!)

30 Years at High Noon

Us -- then.

His ad in the personals column said he wanted a “woman who would inspire his creativity and he hers…and who was ready for the love of a lifetime." In her journal she wrote “this is a man I could spend the rest of my life with.”   That was 30 years ago!  On May 18^th we celebrated that auspicious first meeting in Santa Cruz. 

May 18^th was marked by another auspicious event here on the Big Island of Hawaii. Called “Lahina Noon,” this phenomenon is evident only in the tropics when the sun passes directly overhead and when no shadows are visible.  Because the islands are not exactly at the equator, this happens twice…once before and once after the summer solstice.  At our beautiful Imiloa Astronomy center in Hilo, the atrium window directly over this beautiful tile mosaic causes the pie shaped shadows to fall directly on the center of the design. Imiloa Astronomy Center

We celebrated with a lovely dinner on the lanai of a favorite local restaurant that featured views of BOTH Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa followed by a lively evening of live blues music by Sugar Ray & the Bluetones ***.  I decided to create an art piece for our anniversary using 15 of Phil’s hand carved koa fish that now hangs above the hot tub on our lanai.

Us - now.

So, 30 years later, we show the same wear and tear as everyone else in our age group.  We are thankful that Phil's suit coat is no longer required, and that Lunel's wedding dress featured an elastic waistband.  All in all, life is good and we feel truly blessed and grateful for 30 years we have spent together.

*** Locals!! If you don't know about Lazar Bear Productions -- check out this website!  Lazar Bear Productions

Phil's Koa Root

Ancestor Root of Koa - P. J. Haysmer

Photo by Kim Kornbacher (kimkornbacherphotography.com)

Part of fun of the art process Phil and I share is seeing the before and after -- for this one I really regret not having a "before" photo to show how Phil brought out the beauty of this gnarled koa tree root.  The Koa tree here on the Big Island is held in high esteem culturally.  


In the Hawaiian language (one of the two "official languages of Hawai'i) KOA has many meanings, but the first is brave, bold, fearless, valiant with the second meaning of soldier, warrior, and the third meaning being the largest of native forest trees...formerly used for canoes, surfboards and calabashes.

Ke Mole o Koa

A familiar story: Trees in Trouble -- For 22 years we lived in Humboldt County, the land of the giant Redwood trees that helped built major cities all along the West Coast.  Decades of clear-cut logging created a significant decline in the number of ancient giants with lives spanning 2,000 years and more. Here in Hawai'i 10% of the original Koa forest ecosystem is still intact.




The ancient Hawaiian delicate ecosystems evolved without any grazing mammals. Therefore, the native plants developed no natural system to resist the development of grazing lands for cattle in the 1800's. Since Koa is a legume and is a nitrogen fixing species, it is highly desirable to non-native grazing animals such as pigs, cattle, goats and sheep.  Deforested cattle grazing areas also impacted many bird species whose ground nest building was negatively impacted as well.

There is a Hawaiian proverb that says:  I ulu no ka lala i ke kumu which translated says, "The branches grow because of the trunk."  It is part of the consciousness we have found here in Hawai'i that honors heritage, lineage, and the malama o ka 'aina. the care of the land.

(Phil's piece is for sale:  $800)



  

Gone Holoholo

This last week we went "holoholo" which is the Hawaiian equivalent to a "ride-to" but the "to" may be unknown, similar I think to the Australian "walk about."  Part of the tradition is that you don't tell people where you are going -- the idea being that the time is for a true get away.

On our list of things to explore was the above pictured ancient fish pond located on the Honokohau Bay just south of Kona's airport. Kaloko, the name of the pond area comes from the Hawaiian word LOKO whose meaning includes within/inside, interior, pond, lake, pool.  The fish pond seawall (kuapa) is constructed of porous lava allowing the water from the ocean to flow through.

The Honokoau National Historic Park is home to a number of interesting features rich in ancient Hawaiian history: house platforms, stone game boards, petroglyphs, stone enclosures, heiau (sacred altars) freshwater ponds, ancient Hawaiian slide, Queens Bath, and a small boat basin loaded with fishing boats. There is an excellent article about this area you can read by going to this link: KALOKO FISH POND INFO



Over 80 species of birds (manu) have been identified along the series of ponds, many are endemic to Hawaii. The photo above here is of a Black Headed Heron we saw.  We also saw a pair of Hawaiian Coot who were building a floating nest near the reeds.  (Our photo did not turn out as well as this one by Mike Neal.)

Recently an article was published about West Nile Virus and the disastrous effect it could have on Hawaii's already at-risk bird population.  If it isn't hurricanes, tsunami's, tree fungus, or lava -- it may be something else:  WNV and Hawaii's birds

STAY TUNED TO OUR BLOG!  Our holoholo also included a visit to Napo'opo'o, Pu'u Honua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge) and a drive up the Kohala coast to hike and explore the Puako Petroglyph trail.  WATCH our BLOG for further stories from these historical/cultural Hawaiian sites!!

Tumeric Kicks Ass!!

REBA says, "I'm not eating that!"

TUMERIC KICKS ASS!!!  

CLICK on chart to read benefits

when it comes to your overall good health!!

A year and a half ago we got a few tubers of tumeric and put it into pots in one of our several staging areas because a friend said, "it is so good for you."   Well, it was sitting in the midst of 20-30 other plants including lots of other ginger-type plants and without any tag I lost track of which was which.

A few months ago, however, I saw some of the orange colored tubers sticking up above the ground. Realizing what it was, I gave the pot a professional gardener's "thump" and out fell several "hands" of tumeric!  Finding both pots again, I labeled them for future reference, and replanted some of the tubers.  Today, I went out to harvest and found another nice clump.

CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT TUMERIC!! Our homeopathic physician here in Pahoa recommended that we both begin to add it to our diets as a regular supplement and several friends (in our age group) also recommended it saying it had massively relieved many of the symptoms listed on the chart above.  Some people prefer to grate it for many on-the-spot recipes and cooking, but we also like the convenience of being able to add a capsule to our daily supplement regime.  CHECK IT OUT!