Lauhala Tears

Friday, Sept , 7th ,2012

Aloha !

Well , that long long 6 yards of braid that I spent a long time on was useless for the lauhala hula skirt . Jonathan came this morning to help me put me lauhala hula skirt together. "  I'm not making it for you, I'm just going to show you , " he said. That was all right. I didn't expect him to ' make ' it for me. I had only needed guidance as to how to tie the lauhala leaves onto the waistband properly. Kuane showed me several weeks before , but this was all new to me and I wanted to make sure that it was right from the get go . I didn't want to tie all my lauhala leaves onto the waistband and be told later that it was done wrong. And, of course, there was always some sort of protocol involved.

When Jonathan arrived to the Loft, he started looked around my room as to where to set up to start.
 " There's no where in here " I said. " No, you can tie one end of the waistband to a door knob and the other end to the back of the chair "  he replied. " " Neither will be tall enough for the lauhala leaves . We need to go outside . Kuane showed me. He told me to tie a clothesline between two trees, tie the waistband on the clothesline , and then I can start tying on the lauhala leaves onto the waistband , working at a comfortable height , without the lauhala leaves touching the ground. "

We went outside. I went walking to look for the perfect tree and I found it. So, of course, the discussion went around whether or not I needed a clothesline . The tree was so perfect that all I had to do was to tie my waistband between the two branches with the trailing hemp string that I had left on each end. Hallelujah ! Simplified .

Jonathan looked at the 6 yards of hemp braid that I handed him to tie on the lauhala leaves. " That's too thick ! You can't use this ! "

" I was told to braid a six stranded  hemp rope. That is exactly what I did . It took me a long time to braid 6 yards  with six strands and  you are telling me that I can't use this ?  "  I  could feel the tears pooling in my eyes..

Max drove up and was walking by . " Wow ! Your skirt is looking great ! "  I shook my head .   " Hi Max . Could you please call Ayako for me so that I can ask her how the thickness it should be  for the tying ? I just want to make sure as Kuane told me 6 strands of braided hemp . Jonathan said it was too thick  I need to be 100% sure . " I went into Guest Services with Max  to borrow the phone from Guest Services . Max called his wife Ayako , talks to her for a bit and hands me the phone. After a bit of discussion, Ayako offered to come down to Kalani to see if the thickness was o.k. or not.

When I handed the phone back to John ( Guest Services )  he  mouthed the words " You need a hug ? " as there were people around us. He saw the tears in my eyes. I shook my head and silently said "  Thank you " to him , knowing that he could read my lips.

When I went back to Jonathan , who was waiting for me back at the tree he said " Why are you crying,
girl ? "

" Jonathan, I worked so hard in making this 6 yard braid . When you said that I couldn't use it ,  I felt so frustrated and discouraged and drained .I have put so much time into making this already.  Its all the stress leading up to the performance too . All the stuff that I have to do , that I still have to make , and there really isn't much time to do it as I am working. "

When Ayako arrived a little while later, she agreed with Jonathan that the 6 yard braid was too thick. She had  brought a sample of the thickness it should be. Well, that settles that.  At least , it was definitive. I felt relieved.

" The single strand is thick enough " Ayako said. " Where did you find such thick hemp string ? " Great , I didn't need to braid 6 strands. All that time spend and the strands kept twisting .

" Karen went to buy it for me when she went to Hilo.  I guess the problem was that there is obviously different thicknesses of hemp string and no one was none the wiser for telling me . "

Jonathan felt bad for me. " I will help you tie these on, Molly ."  And so , he started , tying them ever so tightly . He helped me tie a few on and then left , asking me if I wanted to join him and Barcus for a burger as they were heading out of Kalani.

" No, I want to finish this . I want to finish tying on all the lauhala leaves that I have. I know I don't have enough leaves , but I will finish with what I have. "

When Jonathan left, my tears came flooding down.............the picking of the lauhala leaves , the cleaning and removal of all the spiky pokies off the leaves , knowing that it ain't over till its over, knowing that I still have to go pick some more brown lauhala leaves and not knowing when I will have time to do this. The leaves should be picked freshly fallen , no bug holes, all even in colour , no rips or  tears on the leaves . Once gathered, they have to be cleaned and stripped.

I stood there for a while , and watched the wind blow through my lauhala hula skirt ,  lifting the leaves up ever so gently. The lauhala leaves made a soft woody sound. I watched the play of sun and shadow as my hula skirt danced in the wind , anchored between the two branches of a beautiful tree. It truely was a perfect spot and the perfect tree . The tree gave me much needed shade while I worked in the hot summer sun.

My tears continued to fall  freely , thankful for the release of all the stress and disappointment so far . Mostly and finally , I felt a wonderful peace and full of thanksgiving , as I watched appreciatively of my hula skirt being gently lifted by the trade winds blowing off the ocean.........dancing in the wind........

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly