Aloha !
As always, breakfast conversations are full of much laughter. As I was getting my morning coffee , Sunshine came up to me and said, " How do you always look so purty , especially so early in the mornin' ? " I laughed . I wake up, wash my face , brush my teeth , put on sunscreen and a flower in my hair. Nothing special . I wear absolutely no make up . " My hair gets all tangled in the morning ! " Sunshine said as he runs a frenetic tangle motion with his hands over his completely bald head . We both laughed.
There was an article in the Hawaii Tribune Herald ( a local newspaper ) today about Big Island beef Boom and it referred to Parker Ranch . Here's the link to the daily paper and the article. Arno said that it was bad news for the Big Island. Soon , there will be no trees as it would be cut down to grow grass to feed the cows. " Ch " Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch " Arno imitates a chainsaw slicing across trees . " Crandle shakes his head and said that would never happen , the Hawaiians won't allow it. " Well, we'll see in 50 or 60 years when there is not one tree left on the Big Island because of ranching grass fed cows ! " Arno replies. What a sad thought .
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/
I hope to go horseback riding at Parker Ranch. Kumu loves to ride horses too. " Perhaps one day, we will go riding together, Molly, " Kumu said to me. I would love that very much .
And as I sat down for breakfast directly across from Karl , I smiled at Karl and Karl smiles back at me and said , " I always love a beautiful half asleep woman smiling at me in the morning ! " I just shook my head and laugh . " Even if she is sitting across from me at the breakfast table ! " he adds , smiling and raising his bushy eyebrows like Groucho Marx. He really made me laugh as he can move them eyebrows very rapidly and in all kinds of contortions. Oh, the innuendos that go around. Karl is an attractive man and he doesn't look like Groucho Marx , but he does have thick eyebrows.
Bud , an older man, was sitting across from me too. He reminds me of Willie Nelson , minus the long white hair and the long beard , with old tattoos everywhere on his body. Bud's hair is fuzzy white buzz cut. In his raspy voice, he peers at me over his glasses , " Are you Hawaiian, Molly ? " I love his voice. Its hard to describe Bud's voice. I shook my head. " I bet you you're Hawaiian and just won't confess ! I know you're Hawaiian ! I've lived on this Island for 17 years . I know you are an Island Girl ! " I get that all the time.
Oh, yesterday morning , Gary left for Las Vegas for the World Poker Championship. He is apparently a really good poker player and he is going there to play . I mean, he's really really good . He apparently has won some big bucks . He was sitting beside me at breakfast yesterday and I wished him luck with Lady Luck. I told him that when I first saw him , I said to one of the volunteers , " Gary has a poker face. you can't read him. I bet he's really good at poker , if he plays. " Gary laughed when I told him this. Funny enough, he did a rap video that will soon be on Kalani's website. It would be really funny, I'm sure , to see and hear Gary rap and dance, with his poker face ! He really has a dead pan face ! " Should we be getting your autograph now before your head swells up from all your winnings ? " one of the guys said to Gary yesterday morning. Another one starts rubbing his elbow on Gary. " Hey, guys, I'm rubbing elbows with a famous poker player ! "
D ( his name is Donald and he goes by D ) was heading down to the lower Lanai and he said to Crandle , " I'm going down . " Crandle yells out " Who are you going down on ? " Yep . Typical male.
Arno, as usual, was reading his horoscope . Julia read his horoscope out loud and said to Arno, " Arno, you are suppose to flirt, as you do it so well. Tonight will be your night ! That's what your horoscope says ! " Arno looks across from me at the breakfast table and said , " Molly ! " He smiles at me and winks at me , winking like he's got something in his eye and he had me laughing . " Are you flirting with me , Arno ? " I said through my laughter. He's so funny . " Am I doing good ? " He asked . He's too sweet . " You're a natural ! " I replied, still laughing.
I have a hectic day ahead . Kumu is coming to work with me to fine tune three kahikos that I will be performing this weekend at Kona. I will be meeting her on my lunch break as I will be working at Hale Aloha all day . Yesterday,.I scooped 100 ice cream cups of ice cream, which, I believe is an all time record for scooping ice cream !
Hale Aloha. Hale means house/ home . Aloha means Love. Venetia said to me one day, " Molly, we work in the House of Love ! "
Yes, Hale Aloha , House of Love !
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Tuesday 26 June 2012
Sunday 24 June 2012
My Friend Joel
Aloha !
This evening when I was in the line for dinner , Joel came up behind me and gave me a shoulder rub . " Ow ! " I winced . " OOOOo, Joel , I have a really bad sunburn on my shoulders and back ! "
" Oh , I should have seen " said Joel , as the dress was I wearing did expose my shoulders and my back , and my hair was put up. He took a closer look at me back. " OOooooOOOO " he said. : That looks painful ! Owie ! " I nodded with a pout. Poor guy, he felt so bad . I gave him a gentle hug and he was mindful not to touch my back .
During dinner, we talked about stuff. He asked me if I was going to Improv . Improv classes started recently at Kalani . I told him that definitely was not my thing. I would freeze up. " Well, that's why there are classes ! " he said. " No thank you. " " Well, you might like it ! Try it ! " " No thank you ! "
While I was eating dessert , Joel said to me " I'll be right back ! Don't go anywhere ! " He was gone for a while and I didn't think he would come back. All of a sudden , I see him from the corner of my eye and he was standing behind me . I felt a cooling sensation on my shoulders and back. The sweetheart went to get aloe for me. He went to look for a wild aloe plant for me. He cut several leaves from an aloe plant ( they are huge here at Kalani ) and was gently putting aloe on my shoulders and back . It feels so much better. He also cut me some extra leaves to use later .
I got the bad sunburn from weeding in my bathing suit and sarong yesterday , at the cleansing. I forgot to put sunscreen on .It was so painful I couldn't sleep on my back last night . It hurt sleeping on my side also as my the back of my shoulders were sunburned too. :( Well at least, I didn't get sunburned on my first week at Kalani ! I am very tanned , a nice warm soft earthy brown . Now I really look Hawaiian .
Joel is one of the sweetest guys here at Kalani . He is so incredibly thoughtful and gives amazing hugs. I am so blessed to have Joel in my Life.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
This evening when I was in the line for dinner , Joel came up behind me and gave me a shoulder rub . " Ow ! " I winced . " OOOOo, Joel , I have a really bad sunburn on my shoulders and back ! "
" Oh , I should have seen " said Joel , as the dress was I wearing did expose my shoulders and my back , and my hair was put up. He took a closer look at me back. " OOooooOOOO " he said. : That looks painful ! Owie ! " I nodded with a pout. Poor guy, he felt so bad . I gave him a gentle hug and he was mindful not to touch my back .
During dinner, we talked about stuff. He asked me if I was going to Improv . Improv classes started recently at Kalani . I told him that definitely was not my thing. I would freeze up. " Well, that's why there are classes ! " he said. " No thank you. " " Well, you might like it ! Try it ! " " No thank you ! "
While I was eating dessert , Joel said to me " I'll be right back ! Don't go anywhere ! " He was gone for a while and I didn't think he would come back. All of a sudden , I see him from the corner of my eye and he was standing behind me . I felt a cooling sensation on my shoulders and back. The sweetheart went to get aloe for me. He went to look for a wild aloe plant for me. He cut several leaves from an aloe plant ( they are huge here at Kalani ) and was gently putting aloe on my shoulders and back . It feels so much better. He also cut me some extra leaves to use later .
I got the bad sunburn from weeding in my bathing suit and sarong yesterday , at the cleansing. I forgot to put sunscreen on .It was so painful I couldn't sleep on my back last night . It hurt sleeping on my side also as my the back of my shoulders were sunburned too. :( Well at least, I didn't get sunburned on my first week at Kalani ! I am very tanned , a nice warm soft earthy brown . Now I really look Hawaiian .
Joel is one of the sweetest guys here at Kalani . He is so incredibly thoughtful and gives amazing hugs. I am so blessed to have Joel in my Life.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
I am performing at Puuhonua O Honaunau in Kona !!!!!!!!!!
Aloha !
Wow ! Its a dream come true ! I have always wanted to learn Hula in Hawaii and perform Hula in Hawaii ! This weekend, I will be doing just that ! I will be performing at Puuhonua o Honaunau in Kona !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It happened so very fast. I joined a hula halau on Monday , June18th , ( today is June 24th ) and now I am going to Kona to perform with them on the weekend of June 29th, 30th and July 1st !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right now , I have gathered 3 dozen brown ti leaves and I will be braiding them into 2 x 10 feet ropes and 2x 25 feet ropes to make slippers to wear at Puuhonua O Honananu .
I have also gathered 3 dozen fresh green ti leaves and I will be taught to make my own set of leis , for my head, around my neck, for my wrists, and my ankles. Thank goodness there is no time to make a lauhala skirt out of fresh lauhala leaves . The hala tree has long spiky leaves that you have to strip before using. Really major intensive work required to make a skirt . The spikes are very sharp . Here's a link to see what this tree looks like. The picture isn't that great as this tree can be huge and you cannot see the spikes on the edges of the leaves. .It is also known as the walking tree, so google that too. .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauhala
So, yes, I am performing at Puuhonua O Honaunau Cultural Festival ! Puuhonua O Honaunau was a place of refuge in ancient Hawaiian times. It is deeply sacred and spiritual . I feel incredibly humbled and honored to be performing there . Thank you Kumu Ehulani for this privledge and honor . Mahalo is not enough to express how I feel. I will be part of the Royal Court. Isn't this simply AMAZING ?????? I love how I am performing in a place of Forgiveness and Peace. It is/ will be good for my heart and spirit. It will be incredibly grounding .
http://www.gohawaii.com/big-island/regions-neighborhoods/kona/puuhonua-o-honaunau-national-historical-park
Yesterday , the hula halau did a special cleansing in preparation for the performance at Puuhonua O Honaunau . We went to Maia's ( I believe that was her name ) house and did weeding on the long lava steps that went down to a thermal pond. The place looked like a deep quarry leading down into the pond . It was incredible. The thermal pond was crystal clear and emerald green . The water was 89 F . We were so hot from weeding in the sun and the thought of getting into an 89F water didn't exactly appeal to me. I jokingly said that were we going to take a warm bath after getting baked by the sun . After the weeding , we went into the thermal pond for cleansing. Kumu Ehulani did three Hawaiian chants , as we stood on the lava steps. We then all went quietly into the thermal pond water and did a full dip . After that , we meditated for 5 minutes . In olden times , I was told that the cleansing would be done over 5 days . While we were meditating in the water , beautiful blue and green dragonflies were flying around us . Two of the dragonflies were mating in flight . It was deeply spiritual and magical !
Maia made us a sumptuous BBQ lunch . I ate baked purple sweet potatoes for the first time ever . The colour of the sweet potato was so beautiful. The purple was a deep amethyst . It felt like I had a jewel in my mouth . It was so yum !
This truly is a dream come true. I am now immersed in Hawaiian culture . I feel so very lucky and blessed ! Oh happy happy day ! :)
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Wow ! Its a dream come true ! I have always wanted to learn Hula in Hawaii and perform Hula in Hawaii ! This weekend, I will be doing just that ! I will be performing at Puuhonua o Honaunau in Kona !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It happened so very fast. I joined a hula halau on Monday , June18th , ( today is June 24th ) and now I am going to Kona to perform with them on the weekend of June 29th, 30th and July 1st !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Right now , I have gathered 3 dozen brown ti leaves and I will be braiding them into 2 x 10 feet ropes and 2x 25 feet ropes to make slippers to wear at Puuhonua O Honananu .
I have also gathered 3 dozen fresh green ti leaves and I will be taught to make my own set of leis , for my head, around my neck, for my wrists, and my ankles. Thank goodness there is no time to make a lauhala skirt out of fresh lauhala leaves . The hala tree has long spiky leaves that you have to strip before using. Really major intensive work required to make a skirt . The spikes are very sharp . Here's a link to see what this tree looks like. The picture isn't that great as this tree can be huge and you cannot see the spikes on the edges of the leaves. .It is also known as the walking tree, so google that too. .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauhala
So, yes, I am performing at Puuhonua O Honaunau Cultural Festival ! Puuhonua O Honaunau was a place of refuge in ancient Hawaiian times. It is deeply sacred and spiritual . I feel incredibly humbled and honored to be performing there . Thank you Kumu Ehulani for this privledge and honor . Mahalo is not enough to express how I feel. I will be part of the Royal Court. Isn't this simply AMAZING ?????? I love how I am performing in a place of Forgiveness and Peace. It is/ will be good for my heart and spirit. It will be incredibly grounding .
http://www.gohawaii.com/big-island/regions-neighborhoods/kona/puuhonua-o-honaunau-national-historical-park
Yesterday , the hula halau did a special cleansing in preparation for the performance at Puuhonua O Honaunau . We went to Maia's ( I believe that was her name ) house and did weeding on the long lava steps that went down to a thermal pond. The place looked like a deep quarry leading down into the pond . It was incredible. The thermal pond was crystal clear and emerald green . The water was 89 F . We were so hot from weeding in the sun and the thought of getting into an 89F water didn't exactly appeal to me. I jokingly said that were we going to take a warm bath after getting baked by the sun . After the weeding , we went into the thermal pond for cleansing. Kumu Ehulani did three Hawaiian chants , as we stood on the lava steps. We then all went quietly into the thermal pond water and did a full dip . After that , we meditated for 5 minutes . In olden times , I was told that the cleansing would be done over 5 days . While we were meditating in the water , beautiful blue and green dragonflies were flying around us . Two of the dragonflies were mating in flight . It was deeply spiritual and magical !
Maia made us a sumptuous BBQ lunch . I ate baked purple sweet potatoes for the first time ever . The colour of the sweet potato was so beautiful. The purple was a deep amethyst . It felt like I had a jewel in my mouth . It was so yum !
This truly is a dream come true. I am now immersed in Hawaiian culture . I feel so very lucky and blessed ! Oh happy happy day ! :)
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Arno , the Pig and the Donkey
Aloha !
I had such an amazing day today , but I will write about it on the next blog post. Tonight , when I sat down for dinner , Arno came and sat down beside me. He had already finished his dinner . He asked me about my day and I asked him about his. " I almost had a head on collision with a pig today, Molly ! " Arno said .
I started laughing . It was already funny without him going any further . " I was riding my bike , and I think I scared the pig , and the pig scared me . We didn't see each other and I think we were startled both at the same time. Well, instead of running away from me, I think the pig got confused and he ran straight at me ! That really scared me ! I had to swerve so fast otherwise, I would have hit it for sure ! " I could totally visual the whole scenario . We were all laughing hard.
" Oh, and another time , I hit a donkey ! " That really had me laughing . " A donkey ? Where in the world did you hit a donkey ? "
" In Bonaire . I was riding my bike and it was really dark. There were no lights. All of a sudden , I see this stopped car with its headlights on. It blinded me . I hit something and went flying over it. I had hit a donkey ! The jackass in the car had stopped and was feeding a donkey from his car window. Good thing I was wearing my helmet ! I was badly scraped up but the donkey was fine ."
Oh, he had me in stitches. This one, I totally visualized second by nano second. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe . Arno rides his bike a lot. Someone told me he rides at least 30 miles a day . Riding his bike is a passion and he once rode the Tour de France route before it started. That would have been quite a thrill for someone who loves biking. And yes, he did stay and watched the Tour de France !
This morning at breakfast , Arno asked Barcus " May I have a piece of newspaper ? " Barcus started handing over the newspaper to Arno , and then took it back. He then tore a tiny corner piece of newspaper about 2 inches big that had no print on it and gave it to Arno. Arno looked at it and handed it back to Barcus " I'm finished ! May I have another piece ? " Everyone laughed . " Arno, didn't you need translation with that ? " I teased him . He smiled . " No , I've become a very fast reader . I just demonstrated that ! " He was such a great sport. Everyone was laughing .
I will miss Arno when he returns back to Bonaire . He told me that people drive around Bonaire without their headlights on in the dark , with the donkey experience being an exception to the rule. That's really dangerous. " When I take a taxi , I have to pay the taxi driver extra to put his headlights on in the dark , Molly ! " The things that most of us take for granted.......
I will truly miss all the laughter with Arno when he leaves in a few weeks.
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
I had such an amazing day today , but I will write about it on the next blog post. Tonight , when I sat down for dinner , Arno came and sat down beside me. He had already finished his dinner . He asked me about my day and I asked him about his. " I almost had a head on collision with a pig today, Molly ! " Arno said .
I started laughing . It was already funny without him going any further . " I was riding my bike , and I think I scared the pig , and the pig scared me . We didn't see each other and I think we were startled both at the same time. Well, instead of running away from me, I think the pig got confused and he ran straight at me ! That really scared me ! I had to swerve so fast otherwise, I would have hit it for sure ! " I could totally visual the whole scenario . We were all laughing hard.
" Oh, and another time , I hit a donkey ! " That really had me laughing . " A donkey ? Where in the world did you hit a donkey ? "
" In Bonaire . I was riding my bike and it was really dark. There were no lights. All of a sudden , I see this stopped car with its headlights on. It blinded me . I hit something and went flying over it. I had hit a donkey ! The jackass in the car had stopped and was feeding a donkey from his car window. Good thing I was wearing my helmet ! I was badly scraped up but the donkey was fine ."
Oh, he had me in stitches. This one, I totally visualized second by nano second. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe . Arno rides his bike a lot. Someone told me he rides at least 30 miles a day . Riding his bike is a passion and he once rode the Tour de France route before it started. That would have been quite a thrill for someone who loves biking. And yes, he did stay and watched the Tour de France !
This morning at breakfast , Arno asked Barcus " May I have a piece of newspaper ? " Barcus started handing over the newspaper to Arno , and then took it back. He then tore a tiny corner piece of newspaper about 2 inches big that had no print on it and gave it to Arno. Arno looked at it and handed it back to Barcus " I'm finished ! May I have another piece ? " Everyone laughed . " Arno, didn't you need translation with that ? " I teased him . He smiled . " No , I've become a very fast reader . I just demonstrated that ! " He was such a great sport. Everyone was laughing .
I will miss Arno when he returns back to Bonaire . He told me that people drive around Bonaire without their headlights on in the dark , with the donkey experience being an exception to the rule. That's really dangerous. " When I take a taxi , I have to pay the taxi driver extra to put his headlights on in the dark , Molly ! " The things that most of us take for granted.......
I will truly miss all the laughter with Arno when he leaves in a few weeks.
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Friday 22 June 2012
More Breakfast Conversations With Men
Aloha !
As usual , morning conversations around the breakfast table ends in much laughter with the men. Today , I was having granola with maple yogurt , blueberries , papaya and pineapple , minding my own business when I heard Gary say, " Yes, Arno is special alright. Like in Special Ed , special needs ! " The men were all laughing. Arno had it coming as he was acting goofy, waving his hands widely and wildly in the air when he saw Gary sit down across from him . Men are merciless when it comes to teasing other men. Absolutely no mercy . " He doesn't know what that means, guys. Be nice . Arno, there's no need for this to be translated " I responded. " What did they say ? " Arno asked. One of the men said, " Arno, you're too young to be going deaf . " " What? " Arno said. I laughed and they were all laughing. " You just confirmed what Clint said. He said that you're too young to be going deaf . Don't pay attention to them ."
And Arno was all excited because his horoscope had a five star rating. " I'm going to have an excellent day. Five stars . Don't anybody ruin it for me ! " " Crandle, you better not speak to Arno, then ," I replied. Crandle has a way of goading Arno . They all laughed .
" None of you read the horoscope completely. If you read the explanation below all the horoscopes , it will tell you the meaning of the star rating. Five stars doesn't necessarily mean a great day . It means a dynamic day. Dynamic can be good or bad. Read it properly ." Barcus voiced out without looking out from behind his newspaper.
" I don't care ! My day is going to be five stars ! " said Arno.
" Did you say hi to the Basinji on Barcus's t-shirt ? " I said to Arno. ( I had written about this on an earlier blog post . ) Barcus looks out from behind his newspaper at Arno, his eyebrows raised . Arno shrugged and smiled at the Basinji on Barcus's t-shirt.
" Shit, I went to buy cigarettes for a friend the other day and a carton costs more than 50 bucks ! I can't believe how expensive it is ! I remember when cigarettes costed 75 cents a pack ! " Gary adds, changing the subject. Clint starts howling and we were all laughing. " Boy, are you ever dating yourself, Gary ! 75 cents ! That would have been a loooooong time ago ! " Clint says.
" Hey Sunshine ! Did you put Arno up on the ladder yet or is he still painting standing on the ground ? Has he graduated yet ? " one of the men asked. Sunshine and Arno are painting the exteriors of some of the Hales in Kalani.
" Nope. Today might be the day I put Arno on the ladder, " Sunshine laughs as he continued eating his breakfast. " I think he's ready. "
Gradually they all dispersed , going to start their day 's work . I did not start working until 1:30 p.m. as I worked the late kitchen shift today. I sat there for a while , trying to juggle my next week's work schedule to make it work for me to go to Kona . I have several scenarios worked out. Now I will have to present it to 3 managers . It gets so friggin' complicated. And so I wait for a few more days. For now, I will continue on as if I am going to Kona for sure. I have studied the info given to me and tomorrow, Ayako is coming to practice the kahikos with me . I have to start gathering ti leaves tomorrow to make special slippers to wear . Mayumi showed me today during my break how it is to be braided and it has to be 2 x 10 feet ropes and 2 x 25 feet ropes of ti leaves. She had me laughing as when she started to show me , she put one of her feet on a chair . " Oh, I have to get a chair to do this ? " I asked. " Yes " she replied. She placed one foot on the chair and then stuck 3 strands of ti-leaves between her big toe and her second toe. I started laughing . " Are you serious ? " " Yes, this is how you do it . " Well , putting the strands of ti leaves between her toes were simply to anchor it to start braiding . " I just learned how to braid , " said Mayumi . " Oh, I braid my hair all the time . My hair is in two braids right now and then fold into fourths and an elastic to keep it all in place ! " This is how I do my hair when I work in the kitchen . There's no way any hair is going to fall out . How can it ? My hair is down past my waist , braided into 2 braids , elasticed together, then fold into fourths, then elasticed again. Ain't nothin' s gonna fall out ! And of course, I have to wear a bandanna to cover my hair.
I have to attend a special cleansing this Saturday before we go to Kona next week. This event will definitely be one of the most interesting cultural events I will ever have participated in. I am so looking forward to it !
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
As usual , morning conversations around the breakfast table ends in much laughter with the men. Today , I was having granola with maple yogurt , blueberries , papaya and pineapple , minding my own business when I heard Gary say, " Yes, Arno is special alright. Like in Special Ed , special needs ! " The men were all laughing. Arno had it coming as he was acting goofy, waving his hands widely and wildly in the air when he saw Gary sit down across from him . Men are merciless when it comes to teasing other men. Absolutely no mercy . " He doesn't know what that means, guys. Be nice . Arno, there's no need for this to be translated " I responded. " What did they say ? " Arno asked. One of the men said, " Arno, you're too young to be going deaf . " " What? " Arno said. I laughed and they were all laughing. " You just confirmed what Clint said. He said that you're too young to be going deaf . Don't pay attention to them ."
And Arno was all excited because his horoscope had a five star rating. " I'm going to have an excellent day. Five stars . Don't anybody ruin it for me ! " " Crandle, you better not speak to Arno, then ," I replied. Crandle has a way of goading Arno . They all laughed .
" None of you read the horoscope completely. If you read the explanation below all the horoscopes , it will tell you the meaning of the star rating. Five stars doesn't necessarily mean a great day . It means a dynamic day. Dynamic can be good or bad. Read it properly ." Barcus voiced out without looking out from behind his newspaper.
" I don't care ! My day is going to be five stars ! " said Arno.
" Did you say hi to the Basinji on Barcus's t-shirt ? " I said to Arno. ( I had written about this on an earlier blog post . ) Barcus looks out from behind his newspaper at Arno, his eyebrows raised . Arno shrugged and smiled at the Basinji on Barcus's t-shirt.
" Shit, I went to buy cigarettes for a friend the other day and a carton costs more than 50 bucks ! I can't believe how expensive it is ! I remember when cigarettes costed 75 cents a pack ! " Gary adds, changing the subject. Clint starts howling and we were all laughing. " Boy, are you ever dating yourself, Gary ! 75 cents ! That would have been a loooooong time ago ! " Clint says.
" Hey Sunshine ! Did you put Arno up on the ladder yet or is he still painting standing on the ground ? Has he graduated yet ? " one of the men asked. Sunshine and Arno are painting the exteriors of some of the Hales in Kalani.
" Nope. Today might be the day I put Arno on the ladder, " Sunshine laughs as he continued eating his breakfast. " I think he's ready. "
Gradually they all dispersed , going to start their day 's work . I did not start working until 1:30 p.m. as I worked the late kitchen shift today. I sat there for a while , trying to juggle my next week's work schedule to make it work for me to go to Kona . I have several scenarios worked out. Now I will have to present it to 3 managers . It gets so friggin' complicated. And so I wait for a few more days. For now, I will continue on as if I am going to Kona for sure. I have studied the info given to me and tomorrow, Ayako is coming to practice the kahikos with me . I have to start gathering ti leaves tomorrow to make special slippers to wear . Mayumi showed me today during my break how it is to be braided and it has to be 2 x 10 feet ropes and 2 x 25 feet ropes of ti leaves. She had me laughing as when she started to show me , she put one of her feet on a chair . " Oh, I have to get a chair to do this ? " I asked. " Yes " she replied. She placed one foot on the chair and then stuck 3 strands of ti-leaves between her big toe and her second toe. I started laughing . " Are you serious ? " " Yes, this is how you do it . " Well , putting the strands of ti leaves between her toes were simply to anchor it to start braiding . " I just learned how to braid , " said Mayumi . " Oh, I braid my hair all the time . My hair is in two braids right now and then fold into fourths and an elastic to keep it all in place ! " This is how I do my hair when I work in the kitchen . There's no way any hair is going to fall out . How can it ? My hair is down past my waist , braided into 2 braids , elasticed together, then fold into fourths, then elasticed again. Ain't nothin' s gonna fall out ! And of course, I have to wear a bandanna to cover my hair.
I have to attend a special cleansing this Saturday before we go to Kona next week. This event will definitely be one of the most interesting cultural events I will ever have participated in. I am so looking forward to it !
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Thursday 21 June 2012
Spending the Day With Kumu Johnathan
Aloha !
As always, breakfast conversations with the " Mens ' table are very funny and entertaining . Yesterday , when I was planning to go to Hilo on the county bus , Dominic suggested that I hitchhike . He said that people hitchhike all the time . Sunshine looked at him and said , " Not a good idea. Look at Molly . She's so purty she will be picked up for sure . She's too purty to hitchhike. There's bad people out there . Something happened to one of the girls last year that was hitchhiking . Not safe. Now, if you have a mug like me or Dominic , then , yes, go ahead . " I laughed when he talked about his mug. I had absolutely no intention of hitchhiking . Those days are way over for me and its not safe, no matter where you are. I was willing to take the 2 and a half hour bus ride into Hilo .After breakfast , I was dashing off to catch the county bus and Johnathan was just sitting down for breakfast. I gave him a good morning hug and told him that I had to run . He asked me where I was off to and I told I was taking my bus adventure into Hilo. Well, it just happened that he was going into town and the sweetheart gave me a ride to Hilo ( and back. ). I spent the day in Hilo and with Johnathan.
" You don't want to ride the bus, Molly ! There are crazies that get on the bus, and whoowee , they are smelly ! It will take you 2 and a half hours to get to Hilo as the bus stops everywhere . Come, I 'll take you in to town! " said Johnathan. I was so happy ! On the way to Hilo , we passed a lot of hitchhikers. Johnathan looks at them and said , " Sorry , I already have a hitchhiker ! " referring to me, of course. I smacked him. On the 50 minute ride into Hilo , Johnathan and I learned a lot about each other . He has such a beautiful loving heart and spirit underneath a cool exterior. A truly beautiful soul. He dropped me off at Prince Kuhio Mall and went to make his leis for a dance competition that was happening in Honolulu this weekend. We met for lunch , he dropped me off by Hilo Bay , I wandered , he picked me up at Hilo Bay and took me back to Kalani. He was making leis at his friend's house and was happy as he used me as an alibi to leave for lunch and to leave early to pick me up !
" Don't you have to get back to lei making ? " I asked Johnathan as we were having such a leisurely lunch full of laughter . " Oh, no. I will just tell my friend that tutu eats very slowly and that I had to wait. " He told his friend that I am tutu ( grandmother ) , and that I was 70 years old and visiting Kalani. The rascal. When he dropped me off at Hilo Bay , he asked me to call him at 4:30 so that he could leave lei making. " I will tell my friend that tutu is tired from walking and shopping and I have to take her home ! " Yes, as if . He's such a rascal. His friend would be surprised if he ever meets me to find out what ' tutu ' looks like ! Too funny !
On the way back to Kalani, he serenaded me with a beautiful Hawaiian song sung in English . " Hawaii is calling , calling me......." He has such a great voice. Yes, he can raise the roof when he chants. When Johnathan does his Hawaiian chants , it comes from deep within him. His chanting resonates through him and explodes with power and spirit . I love to hear him chanting.
Johnathan speaks somewhat in pidgin . I understand him totally but he was making fun of himself . He was telling me how no one understands him when he says budda . I know he means brother. So he says, " yes, you want budda ? Would you like some brown sugar budda , honey on the budda , spread some budda on da bread ? " So, people think he's talking about butter when he says budda. He had me in stitches. You have to also see him as he becomes very animated . Its not just the words . Its also the actions to the words as he speaks. Such an entertaining man and so very funny .
Today , Dominic brought me some beautiful shells in all sizes. There were some big ones that apparently are really hard to find. I have forgotten the name of the shell but the inside is like a delicacy for the Hawaiians. Life and limb is risked in getting these shells as apparently , these shells cling to the rocks that large waves come crashing upon. So, Dominic went over the weekend to get me these shells ...... Crandle told me that he broke a rib one time getting the shells . They both told me that if you sand the shell , every layer of sanding brings out a new colour , with each colour being pearly and iridescent . Iridescent is my word to describe it as Crandle brought a ' finished ' product to show me today , knowing that Dominic was going to be giving me the shells. The colours range from pinks, browns, purples, greens , and oranges . Maybe in a few weeks, when my hula Life settles down a bit , I will get Crandle and Dominic to help me sand the shells, revealing their beautiful hidden colours. Pearly shells.
And so , I am still trying to work out my work schedule to go to Kona next weekend to perform and be part of the Royal Court......Wish me luck ! The kitchen schedule is rigid .I know scheduling can be a real challenge . I have to let the Kitchen know 2 weeks in advance if I want any special days off. Beth is trying to get me to switch to another volunteer department . I am thinking on this. Crap. There has been so many obstacles and challenges.
Oh well. Focus focus focus .
That reminds me of something that happened today when I was working at Hale Aloha . Jym was getting off shift and was having a rough day . Shelly was replacing him . As Jym was heading out the doorway , he turned around to Shelly and me and started dancing . He did a beautiful pirouette , some kicks in the air with his long legs , big jazz hands dramatically flung up high while Shelly and I were laughing with delight.
" Fosse Fosse Fosse ! " said Shelly . It was funny and most entertaining . Jym use to do musical theatre and I bet he was really good at it too ! Yes, Fosse Fosse Fosse !
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
As always, breakfast conversations with the " Mens ' table are very funny and entertaining . Yesterday , when I was planning to go to Hilo on the county bus , Dominic suggested that I hitchhike . He said that people hitchhike all the time . Sunshine looked at him and said , " Not a good idea. Look at Molly . She's so purty she will be picked up for sure . She's too purty to hitchhike. There's bad people out there . Something happened to one of the girls last year that was hitchhiking . Not safe. Now, if you have a mug like me or Dominic , then , yes, go ahead . " I laughed when he talked about his mug. I had absolutely no intention of hitchhiking . Those days are way over for me and its not safe, no matter where you are. I was willing to take the 2 and a half hour bus ride into Hilo .After breakfast , I was dashing off to catch the county bus and Johnathan was just sitting down for breakfast. I gave him a good morning hug and told him that I had to run . He asked me where I was off to and I told I was taking my bus adventure into Hilo. Well, it just happened that he was going into town and the sweetheart gave me a ride to Hilo ( and back. ). I spent the day in Hilo and with Johnathan.
" You don't want to ride the bus, Molly ! There are crazies that get on the bus, and whoowee , they are smelly ! It will take you 2 and a half hours to get to Hilo as the bus stops everywhere . Come, I 'll take you in to town! " said Johnathan. I was so happy ! On the way to Hilo , we passed a lot of hitchhikers. Johnathan looks at them and said , " Sorry , I already have a hitchhiker ! " referring to me, of course. I smacked him. On the 50 minute ride into Hilo , Johnathan and I learned a lot about each other . He has such a beautiful loving heart and spirit underneath a cool exterior. A truly beautiful soul. He dropped me off at Prince Kuhio Mall and went to make his leis for a dance competition that was happening in Honolulu this weekend. We met for lunch , he dropped me off by Hilo Bay , I wandered , he picked me up at Hilo Bay and took me back to Kalani. He was making leis at his friend's house and was happy as he used me as an alibi to leave for lunch and to leave early to pick me up !
" Don't you have to get back to lei making ? " I asked Johnathan as we were having such a leisurely lunch full of laughter . " Oh, no. I will just tell my friend that tutu eats very slowly and that I had to wait. " He told his friend that I am tutu ( grandmother ) , and that I was 70 years old and visiting Kalani. The rascal. When he dropped me off at Hilo Bay , he asked me to call him at 4:30 so that he could leave lei making. " I will tell my friend that tutu is tired from walking and shopping and I have to take her home ! " Yes, as if . He's such a rascal. His friend would be surprised if he ever meets me to find out what ' tutu ' looks like ! Too funny !
On the way back to Kalani, he serenaded me with a beautiful Hawaiian song sung in English . " Hawaii is calling , calling me......." He has such a great voice. Yes, he can raise the roof when he chants. When Johnathan does his Hawaiian chants , it comes from deep within him. His chanting resonates through him and explodes with power and spirit . I love to hear him chanting.
Johnathan speaks somewhat in pidgin . I understand him totally but he was making fun of himself . He was telling me how no one understands him when he says budda . I know he means brother. So he says, " yes, you want budda ? Would you like some brown sugar budda , honey on the budda , spread some budda on da bread ? " So, people think he's talking about butter when he says budda. He had me in stitches. You have to also see him as he becomes very animated . Its not just the words . Its also the actions to the words as he speaks. Such an entertaining man and so very funny .
Today , Dominic brought me some beautiful shells in all sizes. There were some big ones that apparently are really hard to find. I have forgotten the name of the shell but the inside is like a delicacy for the Hawaiians. Life and limb is risked in getting these shells as apparently , these shells cling to the rocks that large waves come crashing upon. So, Dominic went over the weekend to get me these shells ...... Crandle told me that he broke a rib one time getting the shells . They both told me that if you sand the shell , every layer of sanding brings out a new colour , with each colour being pearly and iridescent . Iridescent is my word to describe it as Crandle brought a ' finished ' product to show me today , knowing that Dominic was going to be giving me the shells. The colours range from pinks, browns, purples, greens , and oranges . Maybe in a few weeks, when my hula Life settles down a bit , I will get Crandle and Dominic to help me sand the shells, revealing their beautiful hidden colours. Pearly shells.
And so , I am still trying to work out my work schedule to go to Kona next weekend to perform and be part of the Royal Court......Wish me luck ! The kitchen schedule is rigid .I know scheduling can be a real challenge . I have to let the Kitchen know 2 weeks in advance if I want any special days off. Beth is trying to get me to switch to another volunteer department . I am thinking on this. Crap. There has been so many obstacles and challenges.
Oh well. Focus focus focus .
That reminds me of something that happened today when I was working at Hale Aloha . Jym was getting off shift and was having a rough day . Shelly was replacing him . As Jym was heading out the doorway , he turned around to Shelly and me and started dancing . He did a beautiful pirouette , some kicks in the air with his long legs , big jazz hands dramatically flung up high while Shelly and I were laughing with delight.
" Fosse Fosse Fosse ! " said Shelly . It was funny and most entertaining . Jym use to do musical theatre and I bet he was really good at it too ! Yes, Fosse Fosse Fosse !
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Wednesday 20 June 2012
Performing Hula And Being Part of the Royal Court in Hawaii
Aloha everyone !
Wow ! My world is spinning so darn fast ! The last several days chain of events has me taking deep breaths and pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming !
On Monday ( June,18th ) I took a two and a half hour class with Kumu Ehulani Stephany . I have now been asked to perform with her halau in Kona , on June, 28, 29th 30th and July 1st , during the Annual Cultural Festival - Pu'uhonua O Honaunau . I will be travelling with her Halau and be part of the Royal Court . I have a week and a half to learn 3 dances , all of them kahiko , the ancient Hawaiian chants. I learned one dance completely on Monday and now one of the dancers is going to show me the other 2 dances. Hmmmmmm, its gonna be challenging. As it is, I am still trying to work out my work schedule and getting people to trade shifts with me so that I can go. I have to believe that this will happen . I really want to do this. I have dreamed of being in Hawaii and performing hula in Hawaii . This truly is a chance of a Lifetime , a dream come true and a great honour. Yes, I am to be part of the Royal Court , although, I am not sure at this point what that means . This whole thing is so dreamlike . I have been given stuff to read and I haven't looked at it yet as I have been so busy today . I will read it before I go to bed, which will be in a few minutes. As I am part of the Royal Court , there is information for me to learn so that if people ask me , I will know the answers. All I know for now is that there are several single space typed pages for me to study about the history of the area . :) . At the Cultural Festival in Kona, I will also be participating in a hukilau , in the old Hawaiian way ! That will be really fun ! At this point , I am suppose to be gathering ti leaves and weaving them into strips to eventually make footwear for me to wear. I will be shown how to do that tomorrow., the weaving of ti leaves into strips, that is. This whole thing is very surreal and I feel incredibly honoured to be dancing and performing with Ehulani 's halau . So, here's some information about the Cutural Festival that I will be performing in.
June 30 to July 1, 2012
ANNUAL CULTURAL FESTIVAL - PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
The Park will be hosting its 51st Anniversary Cultural Festival from Friday, June 29, through Sunday, July 1. This event is free to all (park entrance fee waived). The event will begin on Friday with a Royal Court and Ho'okupu Ceremony, and the fun activities will be held on Saturday and Sunday, with dozens of hands-on craft activities and hula. On Saturday only, there will be canoe rides in Honaunau Bay. On Sunday only, there will be Hawaiian food tasting and a Hukilau demonstration. Pack a picnic with plenty of food and drinks and spend a day of fun at the festival. Take home craft items that you learned to make with your own hands. Time: 9 AM to 3 PM. Free to the public.
More to come on this ! It may be a somewhat stressful but fun week and a half ahead. The costumes haven't even been mentioned yet , so that in itself will be interesting as all the leis , head leis , wrist and ankle leis are made with fresh greenery . I know first hand that this is labour intensive as Johnathan has been making the whole set of leis over these past few days and has been telling me about it . He is making 32 sets of leis ( neck , head , wrists , ankles ) Johnathan is flying to Honolulu tomorrow to help a Halau from Japan with their leis, performances and costuming. King Kamahemaha Hula Competition is happening in Honolulu on June 22nd and June 23rd. I spent a wonderful day with Johnathan today in Hilo . He went Lei making while I spent the day wandering in Hilo. We met for lunch and had much laughter and silliness . He went back to lei making while I wandered some more , and then drove me back to Kalani where we had Chef Mark Ceranski's amazing yummy delicious Coq au Vin for dinner ! Johnathan called me his Chinese sister. I call him my Hawaiian brother. I cannot dance with Johnathan, Kumu hula , while I am dancing with Ehulani. I cannot dance with two kumus at the same time.
Off to bed I go. It is about 11:15 p.m. , Kalani time and the air is cool right now. perfect for sleeping.
With much aloha ,
Molly
Wow ! My world is spinning so darn fast ! The last several days chain of events has me taking deep breaths and pinching myself to make sure I am not dreaming !
On Monday ( June,18th ) I took a two and a half hour class with Kumu Ehulani Stephany . I have now been asked to perform with her halau in Kona , on June, 28, 29th 30th and July 1st , during the Annual Cultural Festival - Pu'uhonua O Honaunau . I will be travelling with her Halau and be part of the Royal Court . I have a week and a half to learn 3 dances , all of them kahiko , the ancient Hawaiian chants. I learned one dance completely on Monday and now one of the dancers is going to show me the other 2 dances. Hmmmmmm, its gonna be challenging. As it is, I am still trying to work out my work schedule and getting people to trade shifts with me so that I can go. I have to believe that this will happen . I really want to do this. I have dreamed of being in Hawaii and performing hula in Hawaii . This truly is a chance of a Lifetime , a dream come true and a great honour. Yes, I am to be part of the Royal Court , although, I am not sure at this point what that means . This whole thing is so dreamlike . I have been given stuff to read and I haven't looked at it yet as I have been so busy today . I will read it before I go to bed, which will be in a few minutes. As I am part of the Royal Court , there is information for me to learn so that if people ask me , I will know the answers. All I know for now is that there are several single space typed pages for me to study about the history of the area . :) . At the Cultural Festival in Kona, I will also be participating in a hukilau , in the old Hawaiian way ! That will be really fun ! At this point , I am suppose to be gathering ti leaves and weaving them into strips to eventually make footwear for me to wear. I will be shown how to do that tomorrow., the weaving of ti leaves into strips, that is. This whole thing is very surreal and I feel incredibly honoured to be dancing and performing with Ehulani 's halau . So, here's some information about the Cutural Festival that I will be performing in.
June 30 to July 1, 2012
ANNUAL CULTURAL FESTIVAL - PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
The Park will be hosting its 51st Anniversary Cultural Festival from Friday, June 29, through Sunday, July 1. This event is free to all (park entrance fee waived). The event will begin on Friday with a Royal Court and Ho'okupu Ceremony, and the fun activities will be held on Saturday and Sunday, with dozens of hands-on craft activities and hula. On Saturday only, there will be canoe rides in Honaunau Bay. On Sunday only, there will be Hawaiian food tasting and a Hukilau demonstration. Pack a picnic with plenty of food and drinks and spend a day of fun at the festival. Take home craft items that you learned to make with your own hands. Time: 9 AM to 3 PM. Free to the public.
More to come on this ! It may be a somewhat stressful but fun week and a half ahead. The costumes haven't even been mentioned yet , so that in itself will be interesting as all the leis , head leis , wrist and ankle leis are made with fresh greenery . I know first hand that this is labour intensive as Johnathan has been making the whole set of leis over these past few days and has been telling me about it . He is making 32 sets of leis ( neck , head , wrists , ankles ) Johnathan is flying to Honolulu tomorrow to help a Halau from Japan with their leis, performances and costuming. King Kamahemaha Hula Competition is happening in Honolulu on June 22nd and June 23rd. I spent a wonderful day with Johnathan today in Hilo . He went Lei making while I spent the day wandering in Hilo. We met for lunch and had much laughter and silliness . He went back to lei making while I wandered some more , and then drove me back to Kalani where we had Chef Mark Ceranski's amazing yummy delicious Coq au Vin for dinner ! Johnathan called me his Chinese sister. I call him my Hawaiian brother. I cannot dance with Johnathan, Kumu hula , while I am dancing with Ehulani. I cannot dance with two kumus at the same time.
Off to bed I go. It is about 11:15 p.m. , Kalani time and the air is cool right now. perfect for sleeping.
With much aloha ,
Molly
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Honouring the Old Ways of Hawaii
Aloha !
June,17th, 2012
Yesterday, ( June, 16th ) I was going to go to a workshop called " Games For Writers And Social Creators." It was free for Kalani volunteers. Early in the morning , a guest had signed up for an all day excursion for Sunset Viewing of the Volcano at Volcanoes National Park . As a volunteer , I get a
' preferred ' rate and it was too good to pass up so I went for the excursion iinstead. Boy , absolutely no regrets on this choice ! The excursion was amazing. We were out from 2:00 to 10:00 p.m. , a long day indeed . Ehulani was our guide.
Ehulani is Hawaiian and it was wonderful to be guided by a native born Hawaiian who has lived on the Big Island for 36 years. We went to Akasuka Orchid Gardens where I saw a rare orchid that cost 20,000.00 . Yes, that's the right amount of zeros . Twenty grand. Here's the link for you to see the orchid that is worth
20,000.00 !
http://www.akatsukaorchid.com/store/pg/7-About-Us.aspx.
When we arrived at Volcanoes National Park , it was misting rain . The temperature was cooler. I think it was the same temperature that Vancouver is currently experiencing, which would be about 17 Celsius. We viewed the various craters , went to the steam vents , Jagger Museum , Thurtston Lava Tube , etc , etc. Basically what you see on the website below , I saw . .Volcanoes National Park is like a place out of prehistoric times. The jungle is dense with trees and ferns . There are ohia lehua trees everywhere , especially on the lava fields. This picture on the following website ( beside ' SUMMIT ' ) was what I saw at about 9:00 p.m. There was a huge reddish orange glow amidst a black sky. It was awe inspiring . The temperature had dropped to about 10 Celsius ( 50 F ) and was very windy. In 2006, the last time I was on the Big Island , I did the 5.5 hour hike across the lava fields.
http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm
Before we went back in the evening to see the glow of the volcano , Ehulani took us to the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail , only , we did not go along a trail . Ehulani knew exactly where to go , and we followed her, single file. We were walking so fast over the lava fields so that we would not be out there in complete darkness when we headed back. It was very uneven terrain. We did bring our flashlights .Here is the website to tell you more about the ancient petroglyphs . I felt so incredibly honoured and humbled as I stood looking at the pertroglyphs. Ehulani had picked some lehua blossoms along the way . And as we stood there , surrounded by the petroglyphs , she did a Hawaiian chant to Pele , to guide us and keep us save , with the lehua blossoms raised in offering to the sky , her head bowed as she chanted . The sun was just setting . The beautiful red tangerine sunset in sharp contrast to the black lava fields is freezed framed in my mind and my heart forever. It was so very spiritual and sacred as Ehulani chanted. I felt so very connected to the aina .
( the land......)
http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Hikes.petroglyph
The petroglyphs were definitely the highlight of my trip thus far. The holes in the petroglyphs were created in the lava rock to put a baby's piko ( umbilical cord ) in. Read about it on the website. It was /is an incredibly powerful spiritual place.
Ehulani is a kumu hula. I will be taking hula classes with her at Hawaiian Sanctuary . She has agreed for me to come as a visiting student ! Yay !!!!! I know there will be bigger things to come ! She is so very full of ALOHA . She told me about Puna , Uncle Robert's son who recently passed away from a massive heart attack . ( Uncle Roberts Kava Bar ) Puna's voice is as smooth as Izzy's .So beautiful . Listening to his music brought tears to my eyes. His ukelele playing was amazing too. She told me that over 1000 people came to Puna's memorial service and Puna's Celabration of Life lasted for more than 4 days , with Uncle Robert feeding 1000 people breakfast , lunch, dinner , at his own expense, for 4 days. This is the Hawaiian way .
Ehulani has also invited me to go to Kona at the end of June . I am praying that I can work out my stringent work schedule to go away for 4 days to Kona. Fingers and toes crossed as I know that will be a big hurdle . ! I want to go to Kona with Ehulani's Halau !
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
June,17th, 2012
Yesterday, ( June, 16th ) I was going to go to a workshop called " Games For Writers And Social Creators." It was free for Kalani volunteers. Early in the morning , a guest had signed up for an all day excursion for Sunset Viewing of the Volcano at Volcanoes National Park . As a volunteer , I get a
' preferred ' rate and it was too good to pass up so I went for the excursion iinstead. Boy , absolutely no regrets on this choice ! The excursion was amazing. We were out from 2:00 to 10:00 p.m. , a long day indeed . Ehulani was our guide.
Ehulani is Hawaiian and it was wonderful to be guided by a native born Hawaiian who has lived on the Big Island for 36 years. We went to Akasuka Orchid Gardens where I saw a rare orchid that cost 20,000.00 . Yes, that's the right amount of zeros . Twenty grand. Here's the link for you to see the orchid that is worth
20,000.00 !
http://www.akatsukaorchid.com/store/pg/7-About-Us.aspx.
When we arrived at Volcanoes National Park , it was misting rain . The temperature was cooler. I think it was the same temperature that Vancouver is currently experiencing, which would be about 17 Celsius. We viewed the various craters , went to the steam vents , Jagger Museum , Thurtston Lava Tube , etc , etc. Basically what you see on the website below , I saw . .Volcanoes National Park is like a place out of prehistoric times. The jungle is dense with trees and ferns . There are ohia lehua trees everywhere , especially on the lava fields. This picture on the following website ( beside ' SUMMIT ' ) was what I saw at about 9:00 p.m. There was a huge reddish orange glow amidst a black sky. It was awe inspiring . The temperature had dropped to about 10 Celsius ( 50 F ) and was very windy. In 2006, the last time I was on the Big Island , I did the 5.5 hour hike across the lava fields.
http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm
Before we went back in the evening to see the glow of the volcano , Ehulani took us to the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail , only , we did not go along a trail . Ehulani knew exactly where to go , and we followed her, single file. We were walking so fast over the lava fields so that we would not be out there in complete darkness when we headed back. It was very uneven terrain. We did bring our flashlights .Here is the website to tell you more about the ancient petroglyphs . I felt so incredibly honoured and humbled as I stood looking at the pertroglyphs. Ehulani had picked some lehua blossoms along the way . And as we stood there , surrounded by the petroglyphs , she did a Hawaiian chant to Pele , to guide us and keep us save , with the lehua blossoms raised in offering to the sky , her head bowed as she chanted . The sun was just setting . The beautiful red tangerine sunset in sharp contrast to the black lava fields is freezed framed in my mind and my heart forever. It was so very spiritual and sacred as Ehulani chanted. I felt so very connected to the aina .
( the land......)
http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Hikes.petroglyph
The petroglyphs were definitely the highlight of my trip thus far. The holes in the petroglyphs were created in the lava rock to put a baby's piko ( umbilical cord ) in. Read about it on the website. It was /is an incredibly powerful spiritual place.
Ehulani is a kumu hula. I will be taking hula classes with her at Hawaiian Sanctuary . She has agreed for me to come as a visiting student ! Yay !!!!! I know there will be bigger things to come ! She is so very full of ALOHA . She told me about Puna , Uncle Robert's son who recently passed away from a massive heart attack . ( Uncle Roberts Kava Bar ) Puna's voice is as smooth as Izzy's .So beautiful . Listening to his music brought tears to my eyes. His ukelele playing was amazing too. She told me that over 1000 people came to Puna's memorial service and Puna's Celabration of Life lasted for more than 4 days , with Uncle Robert feeding 1000 people breakfast , lunch, dinner , at his own expense, for 4 days. This is the Hawaiian way .
Ehulani has also invited me to go to Kona at the end of June . I am praying that I can work out my stringent work schedule to go away for 4 days to Kona. Fingers and toes crossed as I know that will be a big hurdle . ! I want to go to Kona with Ehulani's Halau !
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Friday 15 June 2012
Being Raised By Wild Mastodons
Aloha !
Today was another beautiful sunny day . I had a funny conversation during lunch today .
Victoria was telling us that her Dad used to tell her that she was raised by wild mastodons. Whatever possessed a parent to say things like that ? Crazy sense of humour , if at that. She never really found out what a mastadon was but she remembered the word . Juanita said excitedly , " Oh, I know, I know ! That's a giant dog . " " No, Juanita, you're thinking about a mastiff. Now , that's a giant dog ! A mastodon is like a mammoth , its extinct . " I said.
" No, you're wrong, its a giant dog. "
' Ain't no dog, Missy , its an extinct mammoth like creature , like a ginormous elephant with long tusks ." I stood my ground. " You really are thinking about a mastiff. "
" I think its a dinosaur ," said Ashley . " I know, I know, we will ask Will . Will would know."
Will walks by . " Hey, Will, what's a mastodon ? "
" Oh, I know this as I use to work in a museum ! It like a saber tooth tiger, but with long fur . Kinda like a bull . " Will says .
" See, I knew Will would know !" Ashley said as Will walked away .
" Ah , were you paying attention? First he said like a saber tooth tiger , then a bull. Tiger or bull ? Those are two completely different animals. Capice ? " I smiled . I started laughing as this was getting ridiculous . They were all clueless .
" No, its a giant dog. " Juanita insisted.
" Alright. I will Google it on my break and give you the definition and describe a mastodon in full detail for
you . Its not going to be a giant dog, nor a dinosaur or a saber tooth like tiger or a bull , I can tell you for sure."
And so, I did just that. I knew I was right. I know my animals. If I didn't know, I would say that I didn't know. I would not make something up.
So, here's the link to tell you about mastodons .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon
Strange, huh ? I am writing a blog about Hawaii and I am talking about mastodons.
To all you parents out there with young children , please do not tell them that they were raised by wild mastodons unless you know what a mastodon is. ! :) And for those of you that think there were ' domesticated ' mastodons , I hate to break it to you but there 's no such thing . All mastodons are wild. But I guess to a child , to add the word ' wild ' to something that already is makes it that much more exotic and exciting. I still shake my head in response to Victoria's Dad telling her that she was raised by wild mastodons when she was very young.........
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Today was another beautiful sunny day . I had a funny conversation during lunch today .
Victoria was telling us that her Dad used to tell her that she was raised by wild mastodons. Whatever possessed a parent to say things like that ? Crazy sense of humour , if at that. She never really found out what a mastadon was but she remembered the word . Juanita said excitedly , " Oh, I know, I know ! That's a giant dog . " " No, Juanita, you're thinking about a mastiff. Now , that's a giant dog ! A mastodon is like a mammoth , its extinct . " I said.
" No, you're wrong, its a giant dog. "
' Ain't no dog, Missy , its an extinct mammoth like creature , like a ginormous elephant with long tusks ." I stood my ground. " You really are thinking about a mastiff. "
" I think its a dinosaur ," said Ashley . " I know, I know, we will ask Will . Will would know."
Will walks by . " Hey, Will, what's a mastodon ? "
" Oh, I know this as I use to work in a museum ! It like a saber tooth tiger, but with long fur . Kinda like a bull . " Will says .
" See, I knew Will would know !" Ashley said as Will walked away .
" Ah , were you paying attention? First he said like a saber tooth tiger , then a bull. Tiger or bull ? Those are two completely different animals. Capice ? " I smiled . I started laughing as this was getting ridiculous . They were all clueless .
" No, its a giant dog. " Juanita insisted.
" Alright. I will Google it on my break and give you the definition and describe a mastodon in full detail for
you . Its not going to be a giant dog, nor a dinosaur or a saber tooth like tiger or a bull , I can tell you for sure."
And so, I did just that. I knew I was right. I know my animals. If I didn't know, I would say that I didn't know. I would not make something up.
So, here's the link to tell you about mastodons .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon
Strange, huh ? I am writing a blog about Hawaii and I am talking about mastodons.
To all you parents out there with young children , please do not tell them that they were raised by wild mastodons unless you know what a mastodon is. ! :) And for those of you that think there were ' domesticated ' mastodons , I hate to break it to you but there 's no such thing . All mastodons are wild. But I guess to a child , to add the word ' wild ' to something that already is makes it that much more exotic and exciting. I still shake my head in response to Victoria's Dad telling her that she was raised by wild mastodons when she was very young.........
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Wednesday 13 June 2012
My Hawaiian Blessing from Johnathan
Aloha !
This morning , Johnathan , kumu hula , came and blessed my room . He said several days ago, " I'm going to raise the roof ! " as he threw his hands up into the air. I laughed as he is capable of raising the roof with his Hawaiian chanting. The loft where I live is right above Guest Services . Yes, if he raised the roof , the guests at Kalani would wonder what the heck was going on upstairs .
So, as requested by Johnathan , I got all my ' people ' ( all the ladies that lived in the Loft ) together and met in the Loft at the appointed time. Beth started by burning sage . We left the Loft together while Johnathan was ' clearing ' and blessing the stairs leading up to the Loft. Johnathan had a small bowl of pink salt granules that we each took a few grains of, and placed it in our mouths. As the pink salt dissolved in my mouth , I felt that the darkness too was dissolving into the Light. One by one , he anointed us with water , dipped with an arrangement made from ti leaves and ferns . He anointed us on the tops of our heads , our shoulders , brushing lightly along our bodies , and our feet . Yes, we got wet ! He anointed the door way leading into the Loft , touching around the door frames , splashing cleansing water everywhere. As we entered into the Loft , he started chanting and sprinkled water everywhere with his ti leaf bouquet. He anointed all the door ways to our rooms , the common area of the Loft , and went into my room . He sprinkled cleansing blessed water on the floor and on bed .
We all sang and chanted this prayer together in Hawaiian .
E ho mai
E ho mai ( i ) ka 'ike mai luna mai e
O na mea huna no 'eau o na mele e
E ho mai, e ho mai , e ho mai e ( a )
Give forth knowledge from above
Every bit of wisdom through this song
Give forth , give forth , oh give forth
( Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole )
Yay !!!!!!!!!!!! My living space is cleared . My room is completely cleared of the darkness that was there from the first second I stepped foot into the doorway on May, 14th, 2012 . The intense darkness was suffocating . The physical presence of the darkness left several days ago and now , my room is flooded with intense loving Light . Beautiful pure gentle loving Light.
I feel so very honoured that Johnathan gave me this Hawaiian blessing. He blessed and cleared my living space. I am experiencing Hawaii the Hawaiian way.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
This morning , Johnathan , kumu hula , came and blessed my room . He said several days ago, " I'm going to raise the roof ! " as he threw his hands up into the air. I laughed as he is capable of raising the roof with his Hawaiian chanting. The loft where I live is right above Guest Services . Yes, if he raised the roof , the guests at Kalani would wonder what the heck was going on upstairs .
So, as requested by Johnathan , I got all my ' people ' ( all the ladies that lived in the Loft ) together and met in the Loft at the appointed time. Beth started by burning sage . We left the Loft together while Johnathan was ' clearing ' and blessing the stairs leading up to the Loft. Johnathan had a small bowl of pink salt granules that we each took a few grains of, and placed it in our mouths. As the pink salt dissolved in my mouth , I felt that the darkness too was dissolving into the Light. One by one , he anointed us with water , dipped with an arrangement made from ti leaves and ferns . He anointed us on the tops of our heads , our shoulders , brushing lightly along our bodies , and our feet . Yes, we got wet ! He anointed the door way leading into the Loft , touching around the door frames , splashing cleansing water everywhere. As we entered into the Loft , he started chanting and sprinkled water everywhere with his ti leaf bouquet. He anointed all the door ways to our rooms , the common area of the Loft , and went into my room . He sprinkled cleansing blessed water on the floor and on bed .
We all sang and chanted this prayer together in Hawaiian .
E ho mai
E ho mai ( i ) ka 'ike mai luna mai e
O na mea huna no 'eau o na mele e
E ho mai, e ho mai , e ho mai e ( a )
Give forth knowledge from above
Every bit of wisdom through this song
Give forth , give forth , oh give forth
( Aunty Edith Kanaka'ole )
Yay !!!!!!!!!!!! My living space is cleared . My room is completely cleared of the darkness that was there from the first second I stepped foot into the doorway on May, 14th, 2012 . The intense darkness was suffocating . The physical presence of the darkness left several days ago and now , my room is flooded with intense loving Light . Beautiful pure gentle loving Light.
I feel so very honoured that Johnathan gave me this Hawaiian blessing. He blessed and cleared my living space. I am experiencing Hawaii the Hawaiian way.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Breakfast Conversations With Men
June, 12th, 2012
Aloha !
Well, this morning at breakfast , there was a bit of a brouhaha with the men . The guys from the maintenance
department was going to leave work early and go play paintball. Well, lets just say that one of them was in disagreeance with taking the time off as he felt that they could all go on Friday when they all have the day off .To him, work is work . You put in your full time . Period. The maintenance crew is lucky as they work 4 days straight and have Fri, Sat, Sun off. Me, I get every other day off and often , I work on the weekends .
So, lets just say that this person ( Man A ) was voicing out his disagreeance about the timing of this outing . And, another ( Man B ) was feeling resentful about man A voicing his opinion as he ( Man B ) was starting to feel guilty about going . Along comes Man 'C ' and starts chiming in his two bits about going to play paintball. Man A got really annoyed and Man B appeared to be overwrought with guilt that it pissed him off
and he was withdrawn from the conversation by burying his face into the newspaper . hmmm.....Resentful and withdrawn . Two words that I have recently given the definition to , for one particular person who is part of the Man A,B,C . This is a fine example to use those words in today's context and verbal discourse/disagreement.
Whoowee ! There was almost a fight .I found it really funny . Here I am , sitting among a whole bunch of men , and they were having a verbal aggressive ping pong ball of words , fighting about the work ethics of going to play paintball when they are really scheduled to be working versus that they were overdued for an outing .I ended up mediating for them. They listened. Go figure. I thought the whole thing was very funny and my laughter diffused some of the heated conversation. " We should bring you along, Molly , to keep the boys civil " said Sunshine. Yes, his name is Sunshine. Yes, and one of them was going to wear a hard plastic drinking cup on his crotch as a makeshift jockstrap .He even demonstrated by unzipping his shorts and placing the 5 inch tall plastic drinking glass in his groin area. " You're gonna have to stuff yourself in there ! " one of the guys yelled out.through his laughter . " You got long pants ?" another one said . " I think he's going to wear his speedos " I said. The men just howled ! They thought that was really funny.
The laughter diffused the tension. Yes, apparently, some of them were practicing how they were going to shoot . " It not just that you hit the target , you have to look good doing it too. I 'm going to shoot like Bond. James Bond " Man B said. And he demonstrated. Boys will be boys and men will be boys too. I know that they will have a great time playing paintball.
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Aloha !
Well, this morning at breakfast , there was a bit of a brouhaha with the men . The guys from the maintenance
department was going to leave work early and go play paintball. Well, lets just say that one of them was in disagreeance with taking the time off as he felt that they could all go on Friday when they all have the day off .To him, work is work . You put in your full time . Period. The maintenance crew is lucky as they work 4 days straight and have Fri, Sat, Sun off. Me, I get every other day off and often , I work on the weekends .
So, lets just say that this person ( Man A ) was voicing out his disagreeance about the timing of this outing . And, another ( Man B ) was feeling resentful about man A voicing his opinion as he ( Man B ) was starting to feel guilty about going . Along comes Man 'C ' and starts chiming in his two bits about going to play paintball. Man A got really annoyed and Man B appeared to be overwrought with guilt that it pissed him off
and he was withdrawn from the conversation by burying his face into the newspaper . hmmm.....Resentful and withdrawn . Two words that I have recently given the definition to , for one particular person who is part of the Man A,B,C . This is a fine example to use those words in today's context and verbal discourse/disagreement.
Whoowee ! There was almost a fight .I found it really funny . Here I am , sitting among a whole bunch of men , and they were having a verbal aggressive ping pong ball of words , fighting about the work ethics of going to play paintball when they are really scheduled to be working versus that they were overdued for an outing .I ended up mediating for them. They listened. Go figure. I thought the whole thing was very funny and my laughter diffused some of the heated conversation. " We should bring you along, Molly , to keep the boys civil " said Sunshine. Yes, his name is Sunshine. Yes, and one of them was going to wear a hard plastic drinking cup on his crotch as a makeshift jockstrap .He even demonstrated by unzipping his shorts and placing the 5 inch tall plastic drinking glass in his groin area. " You're gonna have to stuff yourself in there ! " one of the guys yelled out.through his laughter . " You got long pants ?" another one said . " I think he's going to wear his speedos " I said. The men just howled ! They thought that was really funny.
The laughter diffused the tension. Yes, apparently, some of them were practicing how they were going to shoot . " It not just that you hit the target , you have to look good doing it too. I 'm going to shoot like Bond. James Bond " Man B said. And he demonstrated. Boys will be boys and men will be boys too. I know that they will have a great time playing paintball.
With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
Monday 11 June 2012
Flattery class 101
Aloha !
Meal conversations are often very lively, especially over Breakfast , when all the 40 somethings and older men are sitting around , reading the newspaper and shooting the breeze .
Yesterday was Arno's Birthday . He is now 46 years young. When I sat down for breakfast , he smiled at me and said, " Molly, you're ah ......." as he encircled his hand over his face and over the top of his body. His regular sign language as English is not his first language. " Yes, what ? Ah , what ? Hmmmm ? " I replied.
" You look nice " he said , repeating his hand gestures over his face and upper part of his body. . I laughed and said, " Your hand gestures were very interesting , before the words came out ." And Clint, sitting beside Arno , said , " Arno , you have to learn how to give a girl a compliment ! You could have said " Molly, you look very lovely today . You have to let the women know that they look pretty . You have to compliment them on what they are wearing . You have to give small gifts if you can . You have to offer to help them do stuff too ! Arno, you will have to come to my flattery class later on in the afternoon ! "
It was quite funny. Yes, Clint will be giving impromptu flattery classes. Clint is verrry smoooooth .
Karl was sitting across from me at breakfast this morning. " You look very pretty today , Molly . Your dress is nice . You have a nice frame . " Hmmmm, a nice frame . English is Karl's first and only language. I started laughing. Elan , sitting next to Karl , hits Karl in the arm , is laughing too and looks at me and said " You can tell he works in the Maintenance Department First , he will tell you that you have a nice frame, and then will say that you have a great foundation , and then he will go and talk about your great plumbing ! Ooops , lets not go there ! " Yes, there was raucous laughter all around. Men.
Arno passed me the newspaper , pointing at a word on his horoscope. Elan said , " Arno , do you need subtitles ? Are you asking Molly to translate ? " " Which word are you asking about Arno ? " I asked as I was quickly reading his horoscope to figure out which word he didn't know the meaning of. He pointed at the word ' resentful . ' I gave him the meaning and it was nice that others joined in to give their version of the meaning also. " Molly, what does it mean to burn the candle at both ends ? " Arno asked as he finished reading his horoscope. : It means that you are wasting energy. Think of this visually. If you burn the candle at both ends, before long, you will have no more candle. So, apply that to yourself. It can be energy , intent . work . many things. What your horoscope is saying to you to to focus your energy and not have it scattered all over the place , because if you do , you will be like the candle that has been burning at both ends . Soon, there will be nothing left. "
" Ahhhhhh , yes, I understand. " Arno replies. " Don't get this mixed up with burning bridges at both ends ! " adds Gary , laughing heartily at his own wit. I laughed . " That's quite the visual , Gary ! Don't pay attention to what Gary just said. There is no saying ' burning bridges at both ends. ' There is a saying that goes ' Don't burn your bridges .' And so , I explained to Arno about not burning ones' bridges.
Gus was passing around his yummy blueberry loaf that he made . Crandle bought Arno a great Hawaiian shirt , the colour of the ocean , like Arno's eyes. Crandle beautifully wrapped Arno's gift with the morning newspaper funnies, and wrote in Hawaiian " Happy Birthday , Arno. " Arno took out a huge exacto knife out of his pockets and carefully sliced away at the tape . Sentimental guy. He was going to save the wrapping . " Just rip it . Its newspaper ! " said one of the guys.
I too, would have saved the newspaper wrapping . Crandle is one of the most generous souls I have ever met. Arno was very blessed to have spent his birthday with much comraderie and love from his friends here at Kalani.
I gave Arno licorice that I bought at Long's drugstore . I had asked Sami if she could stop at Longs yesterday , on our way back from a morning excursion to the Maku'u Market . Arno loves licorice.
Simple pleasures. Much laughter.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x
Molly
Meal conversations are often very lively, especially over Breakfast , when all the 40 somethings and older men are sitting around , reading the newspaper and shooting the breeze .
Yesterday was Arno's Birthday . He is now 46 years young. When I sat down for breakfast , he smiled at me and said, " Molly, you're ah ......." as he encircled his hand over his face and over the top of his body. His regular sign language as English is not his first language. " Yes, what ? Ah , what ? Hmmmm ? " I replied.
" You look nice " he said , repeating his hand gestures over his face and upper part of his body. . I laughed and said, " Your hand gestures were very interesting , before the words came out ." And Clint, sitting beside Arno , said , " Arno , you have to learn how to give a girl a compliment ! You could have said " Molly, you look very lovely today . You have to let the women know that they look pretty . You have to compliment them on what they are wearing . You have to give small gifts if you can . You have to offer to help them do stuff too ! Arno, you will have to come to my flattery class later on in the afternoon ! "
It was quite funny. Yes, Clint will be giving impromptu flattery classes. Clint is verrry smoooooth .
Karl was sitting across from me at breakfast this morning. " You look very pretty today , Molly . Your dress is nice . You have a nice frame . " Hmmmm, a nice frame . English is Karl's first and only language. I started laughing. Elan , sitting next to Karl , hits Karl in the arm , is laughing too and looks at me and said " You can tell he works in the Maintenance Department First , he will tell you that you have a nice frame, and then will say that you have a great foundation , and then he will go and talk about your great plumbing ! Ooops , lets not go there ! " Yes, there was raucous laughter all around. Men.
Arno passed me the newspaper , pointing at a word on his horoscope. Elan said , " Arno , do you need subtitles ? Are you asking Molly to translate ? " " Which word are you asking about Arno ? " I asked as I was quickly reading his horoscope to figure out which word he didn't know the meaning of. He pointed at the word ' resentful . ' I gave him the meaning and it was nice that others joined in to give their version of the meaning also. " Molly, what does it mean to burn the candle at both ends ? " Arno asked as he finished reading his horoscope. : It means that you are wasting energy. Think of this visually. If you burn the candle at both ends, before long, you will have no more candle. So, apply that to yourself. It can be energy , intent . work . many things. What your horoscope is saying to you to to focus your energy and not have it scattered all over the place , because if you do , you will be like the candle that has been burning at both ends . Soon, there will be nothing left. "
" Ahhhhhh , yes, I understand. " Arno replies. " Don't get this mixed up with burning bridges at both ends ! " adds Gary , laughing heartily at his own wit. I laughed . " That's quite the visual , Gary ! Don't pay attention to what Gary just said. There is no saying ' burning bridges at both ends. ' There is a saying that goes ' Don't burn your bridges .' And so , I explained to Arno about not burning ones' bridges.
Gus was passing around his yummy blueberry loaf that he made . Crandle bought Arno a great Hawaiian shirt , the colour of the ocean , like Arno's eyes. Crandle beautifully wrapped Arno's gift with the morning newspaper funnies, and wrote in Hawaiian " Happy Birthday , Arno. " Arno took out a huge exacto knife out of his pockets and carefully sliced away at the tape . Sentimental guy. He was going to save the wrapping . " Just rip it . Its newspaper ! " said one of the guys.
I too, would have saved the newspaper wrapping . Crandle is one of the most generous souls I have ever met. Arno was very blessed to have spent his birthday with much comraderie and love from his friends here at Kalani.
I gave Arno licorice that I bought at Long's drugstore . I had asked Sami if she could stop at Longs yesterday , on our way back from a morning excursion to the Maku'u Market . Arno loves licorice.
Simple pleasures. Much laughter.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0x
Molly
Blanket Folding 101/ Hawaiian Blessing
Aloha !
Sat, June, 9th , 2012
Its my day off today and this morning , I went to a 2 hour Restorative Yoga class . It truly was restorative.
We used a lot of props . I had a yoga mat , 4 blankets , 2 yoga blocks and a chair. One blanket was placed on my yoga mat for extra cushioning. The other 3 blankets were folded to various shapes, rolls, and thicknesses to use as props for forward bends, backward bends , side twists , etc , all in a sitting or lying down position. I have never folded so many blankets in my Life in non-traditional folds in the span of 2 hours. Cathy, the Yoga teacher , just as I was thinking ' This is blanket folding 101 ' said exactly what I was thinking.
At the end of the yoga class, Cathy said , " Think of one person or one thing you are grateful for , and send them blessings . " One name immediately came to my mind. This person was full of intense darkness . Even if you could not see her darkness, you could feel it all around her. This person has taught me a lot over the last month . Because of her, I understood where my boundaries are , how to stand up to a bully , and also to have compassion and love for her in spite of her continuous meanness from the first second I met her. It is so very sad to see someone with so much anger and hate for everything around her. Because of her, I experienced such beautiful Love and Support from my friends here at Kalani. I feel so incredibly loved and blessed.
And so now, when I make my bed in the morning , as I fold my bed blankets, I give THANKS , for a day without darkness. I give thanks for the beautiful sunlight that floods my room in the morning and wake me with the break of dawn. I give thanks that the moonlight can now shine into my room without being overshadowed by a darker presence.
I have progressed beyond Blanket Folding 101 . I have begun anew in my Life Journey in Housekeeping , The Darkness has been swept away , all cobwebs removed . My room will be blessed by Johnathan , Kumu Hula , this week. I am honoured that he will come and clear my room of any possible residual negative energy left by previous Life forms. He will do a Hawaiian Chant , say blessings in Hawaiian , and will end with a Hawaiian Chant. I look forward for my space to be blessed in the old tradition Hawaiian way...........My room has been saged , singing bowls have been played . In this beautiful sacred Land , my room will be blessed on Wed, June, 13th , 2012 , in the ancient customs of Hawaii .
The past is behind me. Today is beautiful . The future holds wonders waiting to start .
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Sat, June, 9th , 2012
Its my day off today and this morning , I went to a 2 hour Restorative Yoga class . It truly was restorative.
We used a lot of props . I had a yoga mat , 4 blankets , 2 yoga blocks and a chair. One blanket was placed on my yoga mat for extra cushioning. The other 3 blankets were folded to various shapes, rolls, and thicknesses to use as props for forward bends, backward bends , side twists , etc , all in a sitting or lying down position. I have never folded so many blankets in my Life in non-traditional folds in the span of 2 hours. Cathy, the Yoga teacher , just as I was thinking ' This is blanket folding 101 ' said exactly what I was thinking.
At the end of the yoga class, Cathy said , " Think of one person or one thing you are grateful for , and send them blessings . " One name immediately came to my mind. This person was full of intense darkness . Even if you could not see her darkness, you could feel it all around her. This person has taught me a lot over the last month . Because of her, I understood where my boundaries are , how to stand up to a bully , and also to have compassion and love for her in spite of her continuous meanness from the first second I met her. It is so very sad to see someone with so much anger and hate for everything around her. Because of her, I experienced such beautiful Love and Support from my friends here at Kalani. I feel so incredibly loved and blessed.
And so now, when I make my bed in the morning , as I fold my bed blankets, I give THANKS , for a day without darkness. I give thanks for the beautiful sunlight that floods my room in the morning and wake me with the break of dawn. I give thanks that the moonlight can now shine into my room without being overshadowed by a darker presence.
I have progressed beyond Blanket Folding 101 . I have begun anew in my Life Journey in Housekeeping , The Darkness has been swept away , all cobwebs removed . My room will be blessed by Johnathan , Kumu Hula , this week. I am honoured that he will come and clear my room of any possible residual negative energy left by previous Life forms. He will do a Hawaiian Chant , say blessings in Hawaiian , and will end with a Hawaiian Chant. I look forward for my space to be blessed in the old tradition Hawaiian way...........My room has been saged , singing bowls have been played . In this beautiful sacred Land , my room will be blessed on Wed, June, 13th , 2012 , in the ancient customs of Hawaii .
The past is behind me. Today is beautiful . The future holds wonders waiting to start .
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Once in a Lifetime viewing of Venus Transiting across the Sun
Aloha !
Yesterday, June, 5th Venus transited across the Sun. It was a once in a Lifetime event as this will not happen again for another 108 years . I was in Hale Aloha when some guys from the maintenance crew drove up in their pickup trucks. Roy brought a welding helmet and we all looked through it to view Venus transiting across the Sun. The black dot was at 3 o'clock , on the 3 hand , when I saw it . It was cool . A small black dot in the sun , viewed through a welding helmet. I don;t think many people in this world viewed the transit of Venus across the Sun through a welding helmet. It was a smart move on behalf of Roy !
Here it is on u-tube as taken from Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory , on the Big Island of Hawaii , which is where Kalani is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpnFfYeYpbM
It was funny as Karl jokingly said that that he used a permanent marker and put a black dot on the welding helmet. He actually didn't do that, but he did think about doing that as a joke . Lets just say that there are a lot of "older " boys here . There are a lot of shenanigans here also.
Crandle and Arnold came by Hale Aloha too to get something to drink. It was perfect timing as a new volunteer was walking down to Hale Aloha, tripped and fell on the lava rock path.. She had a big gash on her leg, along with some serious road rash . Good thing Arnold knew first aid . He patched her up real good . She may still need to go to the hospital though as it looks like she might need some stitching together .
Today at breakfast , when Arnold was reading his horoscope , he asked me what being ' withdrawn ' meant . I told him that it was a behaviour , meaning dis-engaging , not participating , not responding . Often when someone is withdrawn , they are sad , unhappy or depressed . It does not mean withdrawn as in taking out something . " Yes, like taking money from the Bank. Yes, withdrawing money from the Bank ! " Crandle chimes in . " Yes, that is not what withdrawn means . This ' withdrawn ' has nothing to do with taking money from the Bank ! " I replied. " OOOohhhh " says Arnold. " I get it ! " " So, don't be withdrawn , go paint the town red ! " I said . I had written about ' painting the town red ' in another previous blog.
I joined a writing club in Kalani yesterday . So far, there are only 3 of us , headed by Will . Will is an amazing yoga teacher and I found out too that he is also an amazing writer. It was wonderful . We wrote and we shared for almost 2 hours . I hope our little club stays small and intimate . Right now, among the three of us, there is a huge circle of raw honest beautiful trust . We are so very comfortable with each other to write some painful stuff and share it with each other. I can see that as it get bigger and grow , it is unlikely that there will be such open hearted sharing .I can't wait until next week's meeting for our writing club .
I painted with a credit card last week ! More about that another time. It has been a really long day and I am tired and sleepy right now. The last two days had been very draining on me due to a ' situation ' that I cannot write about as this blog is full public access afterall. Suffice it to say that hopefully soon , this drama that has somewhat traumatized me in a way , will end soon . I am so very blessed to have so many new friends here in Kalani that are looking out for me and looking after me. I am so very blessed of all their love and support . Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all my friends in Kalani , especially to Beth , Calen , Jackie and Barcus. Mahalo.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Yesterday, June, 5th Venus transited across the Sun. It was a once in a Lifetime event as this will not happen again for another 108 years . I was in Hale Aloha when some guys from the maintenance crew drove up in their pickup trucks. Roy brought a welding helmet and we all looked through it to view Venus transiting across the Sun. The black dot was at 3 o'clock , on the 3 hand , when I saw it . It was cool . A small black dot in the sun , viewed through a welding helmet. I don;t think many people in this world viewed the transit of Venus across the Sun through a welding helmet. It was a smart move on behalf of Roy !
Here it is on u-tube as taken from Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory , on the Big Island of Hawaii , which is where Kalani is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpnFfYeYpbM
It was funny as Karl jokingly said that that he used a permanent marker and put a black dot on the welding helmet. He actually didn't do that, but he did think about doing that as a joke . Lets just say that there are a lot of "older " boys here . There are a lot of shenanigans here also.
Crandle and Arnold came by Hale Aloha too to get something to drink. It was perfect timing as a new volunteer was walking down to Hale Aloha, tripped and fell on the lava rock path.. She had a big gash on her leg, along with some serious road rash . Good thing Arnold knew first aid . He patched her up real good . She may still need to go to the hospital though as it looks like she might need some stitching together .
Today at breakfast , when Arnold was reading his horoscope , he asked me what being ' withdrawn ' meant . I told him that it was a behaviour , meaning dis-engaging , not participating , not responding . Often when someone is withdrawn , they are sad , unhappy or depressed . It does not mean withdrawn as in taking out something . " Yes, like taking money from the Bank. Yes, withdrawing money from the Bank ! " Crandle chimes in . " Yes, that is not what withdrawn means . This ' withdrawn ' has nothing to do with taking money from the Bank ! " I replied. " OOOohhhh " says Arnold. " I get it ! " " So, don't be withdrawn , go paint the town red ! " I said . I had written about ' painting the town red ' in another previous blog.
I joined a writing club in Kalani yesterday . So far, there are only 3 of us , headed by Will . Will is an amazing yoga teacher and I found out too that he is also an amazing writer. It was wonderful . We wrote and we shared for almost 2 hours . I hope our little club stays small and intimate . Right now, among the three of us, there is a huge circle of raw honest beautiful trust . We are so very comfortable with each other to write some painful stuff and share it with each other. I can see that as it get bigger and grow , it is unlikely that there will be such open hearted sharing .I can't wait until next week's meeting for our writing club .
I painted with a credit card last week ! More about that another time. It has been a really long day and I am tired and sleepy right now. The last two days had been very draining on me due to a ' situation ' that I cannot write about as this blog is full public access afterall. Suffice it to say that hopefully soon , this drama that has somewhat traumatized me in a way , will end soon . I am so very blessed to have so many new friends here in Kalani that are looking out for me and looking after me. I am so very blessed of all their love and support . Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all my friends in Kalani , especially to Beth , Calen , Jackie and Barcus. Mahalo.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
Saturday 2 June 2012
Sommersprossen
Aloha !
A few days ago , I learned a new word . Sommersprossen. Seeing this word in its written form , my guess of the meaning of the word would be summer sprouts . Summer ( sommer ) sprouts ( sprossen )
Not that I speak German , but some of the words you can make a fairly accurate guess by reading it and also saying it .
My friend Jackie asked what the spots on people's faces were called, those little brown spots that come out especially during summer. I told her that they were called freckles . And, well, I have a lot of freckles too right now from the sun. She thought that was an interesting English word. So, I asked her how do you say freckles in German . Sommersprossen . Sommersprossen meaning summer sprouts. Exactly what I guessed. That's cute. Yes, I have a lot of summer sprouts on my tanned face . It would have been nice to also call them summer blossoms . Jackie thought that the word sommersprossen sounded so cute when I said it.
Yesterday, there was raucous laughter around the breakfast table. I was sitting with the ' older ' men ( 40 + ) and they were all reading the newspaper. The older boys . We had a lot of laughter about many things. Did you know that you can buy a 2 acre property with a very small bungalow on it for 50,000 USD ? That was on one of the want ads in the newspaper. Barcus , the horticulture specialist was wearing a T-shirt with a Basenji on it. I know about Basenji dogs . They are wild dogs from Africa , an ancient breed that dates back to ancient Egyptian times . You can see the Basenji on old Egyptian hieroglyphics. Well, Barcus has owned a few.Basenjis. They are known to not bark and are quite cute.
So Arnold comes up from behind me as I'm sitting there for breakfast and two arms rest around my chair and whispers in my ear , " Good morning Molly , Good morning, good morning ! " in a very happy soft voice. Very sweet . Then Arnold goes to sit across from me , ( there were two people already beside me on each side ) and sits beside Barcus . He gives Barcus a hard slap and punch on his shoulder. " What's this ? You croon in Molly ear and you hit and punch me. What kind of greeting is that ? " Barcus said. And so, the converation about Basenjis start again. Arnold looks over to the side, beyond Barcus and said " Youhoo , hello doggie ! " I started laughing and Barcus started laughing . " I said to Barcus, " No, Arnold is not talking to the Basenji on your t-shirt. He is talking to Po , who is right beside you , begging for food. " " Oh good, I'm glad that you can see Po . I thought Arnold was losing it , talking to the basenji on my t-shirt ! " It was really funny. " Her name is Po , Arnold . She will respond to anything as long as there is food involved " I said.
Po is the resident dog who is partially deaf and partially blind . She is 14 years old . Sweet dog . Lucky dog. She gets to roam all 120 acres of Kalani . She even goes to the Point . Several days ago , we had a scary moment as she almost lost her footing along the cliffside edge on the Point . Po was so very close to the edge . She was there for Jai's memorial service. It was nice to see Po at Jai's service.
Arnold was reading his horoscope the other day . It told him that he should " paint the town red. " So, he asks what that means . English is not his first Language, Dutch is. " What, are they encouraging vandalism ? Am I suppose to go around with a paint brush and paint every where red ? " " No, Arnold . Its just a saying. What it means is to go and enjoy yourself. Go party . Go have fun ! " " Why don't they just say go party, then ? " Yes, that would make good sense.
So today, I was trying to tell Arnold what ' gristle ' means . We were having steak for dinner tonight . Steak with blueberry sauce. A very interesting combination. And, there were gristly parts. Arnold fed Po some steak that had blueberry sauce on it. " Hmmmm, Arnold , not sure about giving Po the blueberry sauce. It might be a great laxative for her ! " Well, we'll find out tomorrow morning !
And while I had finished dinner, I sat for a while , waiting for Richard to finish his dinner in the Lower Lanai . I wanted to tell Richard that I was going to figure drawing class tomorrow. So, I as was talking about figure drawing , Crandle starts and says " They draw naked people . Molly, are you the model tomorrow ? " " No, I'm not the model. " Arnold, hearing the tail end of the conversation " You're going to be a model tomorrow ? naked ? " Oh, for goodness sakes. " No, I am not the model. I drew Greg last time. Greg was the model." " Greg , the Greg I work with in maintenance? " Arnold asked. " No, Greg, the flight attendant for United Airlines. I worked with him in the kitchen. He left Kalani a few days ago. " So, Arnold was trying to picture Greg. " Well, when you are by the loft next time, I will show you my sketches . You may recognize him then . " " Did you draw his face ? I would recognize him by his face. " " No, I didn't draw his face. "
" Oh. I wouldn't recognize him if you have focused on certain parts . " I started laughing . Janet chimes in, " Arnold's not gay . He wouldn't look below the neckline . " I already knew that . " Well, no, I didn't focus on specific parts , such as the private parts . I drew his whole body . You might still recognize him ! :) " It was quite funny. Greg apparently swims in the nude in the pool all the time. Arnold quickly changed the subject.
" Did you know Molly offered me money for my ' services' " he said. Oh, here we go again. He's been telling everyone that I was offering him money for ' special services .' What really happened was that Victoria bought me a flashlight when she went into Hilo , and I had $12.00 in my hand, waiting for her , to pay her back . I won't go into the full story but I ended up sitting beside Arnold , right where I saved my spot with my cup of herbal tea when I dashed back to my Loft to get the money for Victoria. . He saw the fistful of money in my hand and started teasing me . " Is that money for me, Molly ? Are you asking me to do something ? " " Its to pay for a flashlight that Victoria bought for me. I think you're worth more than $12.00 , don't you think ? ." Well, lets just say the conversation expanded into costs versus ' services ' and all is negotiable and even 12 dollars will get a special service. Well, I'm not into that , all teasing and laughter aside.
And often, there are hilarious conversations going on . You would normally hear the same things two or more times as the conversation gets repeated as people come and go or catch the tail end of a conversation. We sit at long tables . Susan left the table tonight, all excited as she found someone to show her how to play the nose flute. I went into Hilo with her yesterday and we were able to find a nose flute . She was looking for this for a while. I was laughing earlier as she was in my room , trying to playing it with her nose ( its a breathing technique and yes, it is played with your nose) and she couldn't get a sound out of it. " I won't tell Jane( ? I can't remember the name ) that I blew a few boogers out of my nose into the flute " Susan said as she left , hearing my laughter trail behind her.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0
Molly
A few days ago , I learned a new word . Sommersprossen. Seeing this word in its written form , my guess of the meaning of the word would be summer sprouts . Summer ( sommer ) sprouts ( sprossen )
Not that I speak German , but some of the words you can make a fairly accurate guess by reading it and also saying it .
My friend Jackie asked what the spots on people's faces were called, those little brown spots that come out especially during summer. I told her that they were called freckles . And, well, I have a lot of freckles too right now from the sun. She thought that was an interesting English word. So, I asked her how do you say freckles in German . Sommersprossen . Sommersprossen meaning summer sprouts. Exactly what I guessed. That's cute. Yes, I have a lot of summer sprouts on my tanned face . It would have been nice to also call them summer blossoms . Jackie thought that the word sommersprossen sounded so cute when I said it.
Yesterday, there was raucous laughter around the breakfast table. I was sitting with the ' older ' men ( 40 + ) and they were all reading the newspaper. The older boys . We had a lot of laughter about many things. Did you know that you can buy a 2 acre property with a very small bungalow on it for 50,000 USD ? That was on one of the want ads in the newspaper. Barcus , the horticulture specialist was wearing a T-shirt with a Basenji on it. I know about Basenji dogs . They are wild dogs from Africa , an ancient breed that dates back to ancient Egyptian times . You can see the Basenji on old Egyptian hieroglyphics. Well, Barcus has owned a few.Basenjis. They are known to not bark and are quite cute.
So Arnold comes up from behind me as I'm sitting there for breakfast and two arms rest around my chair and whispers in my ear , " Good morning Molly , Good morning, good morning ! " in a very happy soft voice. Very sweet . Then Arnold goes to sit across from me , ( there were two people already beside me on each side ) and sits beside Barcus . He gives Barcus a hard slap and punch on his shoulder. " What's this ? You croon in Molly ear and you hit and punch me. What kind of greeting is that ? " Barcus said. And so, the converation about Basenjis start again. Arnold looks over to the side, beyond Barcus and said " Youhoo , hello doggie ! " I started laughing and Barcus started laughing . " I said to Barcus, " No, Arnold is not talking to the Basenji on your t-shirt. He is talking to Po , who is right beside you , begging for food. " " Oh good, I'm glad that you can see Po . I thought Arnold was losing it , talking to the basenji on my t-shirt ! " It was really funny. " Her name is Po , Arnold . She will respond to anything as long as there is food involved " I said.
Po is the resident dog who is partially deaf and partially blind . She is 14 years old . Sweet dog . Lucky dog. She gets to roam all 120 acres of Kalani . She even goes to the Point . Several days ago , we had a scary moment as she almost lost her footing along the cliffside edge on the Point . Po was so very close to the edge . She was there for Jai's memorial service. It was nice to see Po at Jai's service.
Arnold was reading his horoscope the other day . It told him that he should " paint the town red. " So, he asks what that means . English is not his first Language, Dutch is. " What, are they encouraging vandalism ? Am I suppose to go around with a paint brush and paint every where red ? " " No, Arnold . Its just a saying. What it means is to go and enjoy yourself. Go party . Go have fun ! " " Why don't they just say go party, then ? " Yes, that would make good sense.
So today, I was trying to tell Arnold what ' gristle ' means . We were having steak for dinner tonight . Steak with blueberry sauce. A very interesting combination. And, there were gristly parts. Arnold fed Po some steak that had blueberry sauce on it. " Hmmmm, Arnold , not sure about giving Po the blueberry sauce. It might be a great laxative for her ! " Well, we'll find out tomorrow morning !
And while I had finished dinner, I sat for a while , waiting for Richard to finish his dinner in the Lower Lanai . I wanted to tell Richard that I was going to figure drawing class tomorrow. So, I as was talking about figure drawing , Crandle starts and says " They draw naked people . Molly, are you the model tomorrow ? " " No, I'm not the model. " Arnold, hearing the tail end of the conversation " You're going to be a model tomorrow ? naked ? " Oh, for goodness sakes. " No, I am not the model. I drew Greg last time. Greg was the model." " Greg , the Greg I work with in maintenance? " Arnold asked. " No, Greg, the flight attendant for United Airlines. I worked with him in the kitchen. He left Kalani a few days ago. " So, Arnold was trying to picture Greg. " Well, when you are by the loft next time, I will show you my sketches . You may recognize him then . " " Did you draw his face ? I would recognize him by his face. " " No, I didn't draw his face. "
" Oh. I wouldn't recognize him if you have focused on certain parts . " I started laughing . Janet chimes in, " Arnold's not gay . He wouldn't look below the neckline . " I already knew that . " Well, no, I didn't focus on specific parts , such as the private parts . I drew his whole body . You might still recognize him ! :) " It was quite funny. Greg apparently swims in the nude in the pool all the time. Arnold quickly changed the subject.
" Did you know Molly offered me money for my ' services' " he said. Oh, here we go again. He's been telling everyone that I was offering him money for ' special services .' What really happened was that Victoria bought me a flashlight when she went into Hilo , and I had $12.00 in my hand, waiting for her , to pay her back . I won't go into the full story but I ended up sitting beside Arnold , right where I saved my spot with my cup of herbal tea when I dashed back to my Loft to get the money for Victoria. . He saw the fistful of money in my hand and started teasing me . " Is that money for me, Molly ? Are you asking me to do something ? " " Its to pay for a flashlight that Victoria bought for me. I think you're worth more than $12.00 , don't you think ? ." Well, lets just say the conversation expanded into costs versus ' services ' and all is negotiable and even 12 dollars will get a special service. Well, I'm not into that , all teasing and laughter aside.
And often, there are hilarious conversations going on . You would normally hear the same things two or more times as the conversation gets repeated as people come and go or catch the tail end of a conversation. We sit at long tables . Susan left the table tonight, all excited as she found someone to show her how to play the nose flute. I went into Hilo with her yesterday and we were able to find a nose flute . She was looking for this for a while. I was laughing earlier as she was in my room , trying to playing it with her nose ( its a breathing technique and yes, it is played with your nose) and she couldn't get a sound out of it. " I won't tell Jane( ? I can't remember the name ) that I blew a few boogers out of my nose into the flute " Susan said as she left , hearing my laughter trail behind her.
With much aloha ,
x0x0x0
Molly
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