Haysmers' Holiday Preparations

Last year at this time we were hoping to move into our new home before the holidays, but it didn't work out that way.

Fast forward one year later with escrow closed, we have the joy this year of holiday preparations in our own home.

Realizing all of our treasured Christmas ornaments were part of Pele's collection after the volcanic event last year in Puna, we were happy to receive many ornaments from friends -- plus a few from after holiday sales.

Treats?  Presents?  Cookies? Stockings?  -- WE ARE READY

Last week, we discovered there was a tree farm just down the highway and today, we got to set it up and decorate it.

No, Phil, not
that kind of "skirt!"

At our house blessing last month, attendees brought a variety of gifts including amaryllis, and a very special antique hand-made Persian Bakhtiari rug. The word Bakhtiari is the name of the town where the rug was made. The word Bakhtiari is a combination of two small Iranian words: Bakht (luck) and Yar (companion.)

POKO, LANI, AND TUDOR were most curious about the process and wanted to know where their "stockings" were.

TIS THE SEASON....

...yes, 'tis the season...in many traditions, for family, friends, gift giving and celebration. For many years we have had a special place in our home for a statue of Ganesh – beloved elephant deity of many people, but most particularly people of the Hindu faith. And, of course this particular event coincides with other religious and cultural celebrations at this time of year -- dating back centuries and millennia. 

Our (previous) home altar

Are we Hindu?  No, but the teachings of Lord Ganesh go far beyond a spiritual practice and include adaptations and relevant components of philosophy, psychology and thoughtful heart/mind wisdom.  Some people only know of Ganesh as the “remover of obstacles” – but he is also Lord of Word and Light.

Pancha Ganapati is a modern Hindu festival of the Five-Faced version of Ganesh (pancha means “five”.) This festival lasts for five days – from December 21 through 25. Pancha Ganapati is a Hindu season of worship, gift giving and celebration much like many other faiths and traditions: Christian, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and more. 

Another typical altar for this seasonal event

The idea is that family members work together, in forgiveness and good spirit, and bring Lord Ganesh’s blessings of joy and harmony into five realms of their lives, welcoming in a wider circle of their lives each day: family, friends, associations, culture, and religion. The family creates a shrine in the living room, decorated for the occasion.

This BLUE is the color
 of our new sapphire rings

In learning and using Sanskrit chants in meditation practice for many years, perhaps the most important teaching I have learned is that in all actuality “I” am the biggest obstacle I will ever meet.  You don’t have to ascribe to a Hindu belief system to appreciate that “getting out of our own way” is a valuable life teaching.

When we lost our Leilani Estates home in May (fire/lava) several of our friends, knowing our appreciation for this charming deity, gave us Ganesh statues -- all of which will be thoughtfully placed in our new home. Maybe while Ganesh could not save our home  he DID (along with the help of our attorneys) manage to "move" Lloyds' of London to pay up!! And here we are, today, bruised but not broken, moving into a house the same color as one of the most famous statues of Ganesh!

"Waiting Is - I Grok"

Mid-right you can see the ship in the open nook.

"Steady there wahine."

Admittedly the title of this blog will connect with a certain group of people.  Then again, it also ties in with some of the PUNATIC philosophy like "Go With The Flow," or, "It's Just a Matter of Time."

When we bought our Hawai'i hale (house) early in 2012, Phil saw a little triangular open space in the high wall between the open plan living area and the kitchen. He felt that his model sailing ship, a British Frigate (HMS Victory) would fit perfectly there -- and so it did (see photo.)

Inset shows detail 

I on the other hand, felt that the long beam (16' high) running the length of the house and through the living area would be the place for my own very special piece -- a hand made Hindu wedding canopy we bought from a trader when we owned Many Hands Gallery in Eureka.

It has hand embroidery, tiny mica "mirrors," scenes of Ganesh, dancing wedding couple, Krishna playing his flute, peacocks, Sanskrit blessings and other traditional scenes of India.

For many years it hung in our (built-in 1860) Victorian -- and I had always planned --- to put it up here in our Hawai' house..

(waiting is....) Four years later, we find we ourselves changing all the many light bulbs in the house -- to make our now full-house solar set up the most efficient and thus, now have the appropriate ladder to ALSO (finally) hang up the wedding canopy....kind of a perfect thing for this year's Christmas

Celebrating Christmas with FOUR generations!!!  Grandma REBA-BO-BEBA standing on the side, I"I LANI watching baby TASHA on GREAT GRANDMA's lap.  What a family!!

Remember to "CLICK" on any photo to enlarge.

Colorful Hawaii Holiday Traditions

There's a whole generation of folks our age who remember when getting an orange in our Christmas stocking was a treat, along with a new box of color crayons, or a roll of Life Savers.  This morning (Christmas Eve Day) the dogs watched lazily while I went out to our little orchard to harvest a crop of fruit to make fresh juice.  We have been experimenting with using lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes, lilikoi and ginger. The lilikoi and ginger offer a real snap that needs just a touch of local lehua blossom honey.

Card Art by Thor - "Spambiance" 

So while thinking about old family traditions, I also remembered SPAM!!  Our working family made do; mom was very thrifty (although at the time I didn't fully appreciate that.)  I remember her slicing SPAM (spiced-ham) soooo thin one can fed our family of five.

According to the SPAM website, the island's love affair with Spam began in World War II, when GIs were served the salty luncheon meat because it didn't require refrigeration and had a long shelf life. The Hormel Corporation, which manufactures Spam, provided 15 million cans to Allied troops every week. Between 1941 and 1945, Hormel had shipped over 100 million pounds overseas.

Snow?  While snow may fall on Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa, at our elevation of 750 feet, we have to settle for our annual blooming "Snow Bush" which is covered with tiny little white flowers -- a member of the Poinsettia family.

Speaking of our local volcanoes, each year members of our tribe respectfully gather natural materials from the slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa for wreath making.  We all meet at someone's home, bring pupus and gather for munching and "talk-story" as we create our wreaths.  Finally, each season (Equinox and Solstice) we decorate our family altar with appropriate symbolic reminders of our connection to friends, family and our nearly 30 years together.

Happy Holidays EVERYONE!!

(Early) Happy Holidays

Hau'oli Lanui  --  Happy Holidays

Several friends noticed that we did not send out our annual illustrated holiday letter last year -- but there was a good reason.

EVERYTHING WE OWNED WAS PACKED... and on its way to Hawaii!  We bought our retirement home in February 2012, returned home to begin the complicated process necessary for our relocation.  We sold our 22 year gallery business in October (to our great gallery manager) and our 150 year old Victorian house in November, so by Thanksgiving, our favorite holiday, everything was packed.   We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving saying sad farewells to our supportive dear friends.

We spent Christmas last year in our new (but empty) house, as the container with all our goods didn't arrive for several weeks after we did.

We just designed the art for our holiday letter that we WILL be sending out this year.  As you can see it is filled with all the new "ornaments" of our surroundings -- here on the Big Island of Hawaii.  (PS  You'll notice that our "Partridge in a Pear Tree" has been replaced by a pair of Ne Ne, the Hawaiian state bird -- Hawaiian Goose; best evidence supports their arrival on the islands about a half million years ago.)