Aloha !
Another week has come to a close and another one begins . Several days ago, there was a blue moon. The full moon was so bright that the evening sky looked like early morning all night .
This past Friday ( Aug 31st ) some of us went on a staff trip driving along the scenic Hamakua Coast to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens , Akaka Falls and Laupahoehoe Beach Park .I was sitting in the front seat. Kami reminded me that a giant cockroach lived in the van that we were in. Yes, I remembered. I went to Hilo in this van, sitting in a lotus position, with my dress all tightly tucked under me . This was after I saw the giant cockroach scurry across the dash board . When Kami reminded me, my feet immediately went up.
There were so many exotic plants and flowers at Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Gardens . We spent an hour and a half there and I took many pictures . One could spend all day there. It was a very full day and we were all tired by the time we went back to Kalani for dinner. I will have many beautiful photos to paint from. I had taken a lot of pictures of the ocean surf. at Laupahohoe Beach Park. I love painting the ocean.
Tonight ( Sept 2nd ) it was vegetarian lasagna for dinner. Dessert was almond cake with strawberry sauce.
The almond cake was vegan , sugar free and gluten free . I was sitting at dinner with Elsa and Wendy and we were all thinking the same thing , that dessert looked like meatloaf with ketchup. Vegan meatloaf with ketchup. The strawberry sauce really looked like ketchup. We were all laughing about it. " Mom ! The meatloaf ! " a line from the movie the Wedding Crashers . " Go ask Oliver for more meatloaf , Elsa ! " Wendy said. " Yeah, we will get Oliver all confused ! " Oliver was serving dinner tonight. I once confused him when I said " I want a cup and a bowl on a plate. " When you serve , it starts with the plates and the bowls. Kalani has bowl soup bowls and cup soup bowls. Well, I wanted a small bowl of soup ( cup size ) and I want the bowl to put Coq au Vin in so that I will get all the yummy wine sauce for dipping my bread.
Well, Oliver thought I said " I want the Coq in the bowl on a plate. " No, cup, bowl , plate and then the food selection begins.
One day, while the kitchen staff was sitting around eating our lunch before we serve , someone asked Oliver ' What's happening in the outside world ? " Oliver lives outside of Kalani . " Same as the inside world " he answered. Good answer. He is very funny. Deadpan .
" Go ask Ryan for more meatloaf and ketchup ! He's doing Hobart ." ( Hobart is the name of the dishwashing machine and there is a busing station where the dishes get bused. ) " Go ask him Molly ! " We were all caught up in the silliness of it all. " O.k. I will ! " I replied. " Oh, this is going to be good ! I'm gonna watch Molly ! "
So, I went to the dish busing station where Ryan was working Hobart. I had Elsa's plate in my hand , her plate with leftover crumbs and strawberry sauce. It really did look like meatloaf and ketchup , especially since it was getting dark and the dining area was dimly light with candles.
I went up to the window where Ryan as he was spraying down the dishes . I showed him my plate. " Ryan, can you sneak me some more meatloaf with ketchup ? " Ryan leans forward to take a closer look . " That's not meatloaf and ketchup ! That's dessert ! " I could hear Elsa laughing herself silly behind me. I too was laughing hard , and so did Ryan. " Was that an initiation ? " he asked. Ryan is new in the kitchen. " No, we were just being silly . You have to admit, you had to take a second look ! "
This morning , when I was on shift and we were sitting around having our lunch before we served , I was eating purple sweet potato salad. It was quite good. Marianna had made it without any mayonnaise. " Its good, Marianna " Elsa said. " Yes, there's only mustard in the salad. " Elsa 's face turned red and she was feeling ill. " I'm allergic to mustard " she said solemnly . " I swear, I'm not trying to kill you ! Not only did I put mustard in it, I put two mustards in it ! " Marianna laughed .While initially, we were all laughing , it was soon apparent that Elsa really had an allergic reaction . She wasn't joking around this time.
We work really hard in the kitchen. That is partly dued to low staffing in the kitchen right now. There were times that it is so hot in the kitchen that it made me feel ill and feel like passing out. We really sweat in the kitchen too. Kami said to me the other day , " I've done boot camps in 130 F and I sweat more in the kitchen than I ever did in the boot camp. That says it all.
There will always be those who work hard and help others and there will always be those that are slackers. Kalani is no different than anywhere else in this regard. I do very much enjoy with with my Kitchen Ohana. It doesn't worry me when I know there are newbies being trained or that I am unofficially in charge of a shift. The operation and routine is now second nature to me. If and when I come back to Kalani , I think I would work in Horticulture . I like Horticulture's work hours better. They don't have to start work at 6:00 a.m. , they get Fri, Sat, Sun off every week , and their work day ends at 4:00 p.m. , and not at 8:00 p.m. like the kitchen. Horticulture is hard work . The only thing is the cutting down of trees and thick vines with small hand saws. I don't know if I can handle that . Cutting 12 Hau branches was more than I wanted to do several weeks ago. And of course , the heavy down pour of rain and the hot heat of mid day . You are working outside after all. Horticulture folks smell much more than us kitchen folk after their shift.
Nah . If I come back to Kalani , I will stay in the kitchen. I will negotiate my hours before I come back ! Within reason , of course.
The days are going by quickly. I have less than 3 weeks here . While I was very tempted to extend a wee bit longer again because of a Lomi Lomi course being offered in October, I am ready to go home. School starts for me the day after I get back home...............
I have worked out my name plate to introduce myself to class. That is one of the assignments , how to make one memorable upon first intro. I bought two beautiful wood sculpted hands at Maku'u Market . Tonight, I was working on drawing on autograph leaves . I have inscribed " Kou inoa Molly " ( my name is Molly ) on the autograph leaf along with ocean waves and a palm tree. I am working on several leaves, drawing a hula girl on one, a honu ( sea turtle ) on another, a horse running through grass , and a plumeria flower with the word ' aloha .' The leaves turn a beautiful soft brown when it eventually dries. Where it is drawn with something sharp , it remains light.
Several of the leaves will be placed on the open hands . This will be my intro to my classmates to my course ' The Business of Art Practice. " It will be memorable and I am sure no one else will have an intro like this.
Only a few more weeks and still so much for me to do. I am making a ukelele this coming week ! Beth has promised to take me up to Mauna Kea to see the sunset before I leave.
And the world spins madly on as I sit here and contemplate what else I should draw on the autograph leaves before I go to bed......
shanti.....
With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0x
Molly
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