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