The Climax

Aloha !

Wow !  I am lost for words..............

Today , I danced ancient hula at Volcanoes National Park , on a grassy stage , facing Halema' uma' u  Crater ,in my own lauhala hula skirt , made with my own hands !!!!!

I woke up at 5:30a.m. to get ready for my last performance in Hawaii . I wandered over to the Lanai to eat some toast before I headed off. Chef Mark gave me a good luck have fun hug . As I was sitting at the Lanai all by myself at 5:50 a.m. ( breakfast is served  at 7:30 a.m. )  , eating my toast, Mark came out to give me some bacon.  Yummmmm!  I needed the protein ! I love bacon. So, breakie was toast with butter and apricot jam , 4 slices of bacon , and a hot steaming  strong cup of English Breakfast Tea. And, I was off ! I  headed down to Hale Aloha as I was to meet Malia there to let her car through the gate.  It was such a lovely morning. Nothing was open . Hale Aloha does not open until 7:30 . I gazed up at the morning sky and saw a beautiful rainbow !  What a wonderful way to start my morning. The rainbow representing God's promises , and His Gifts to me , unspoken with words but heartfelt and deep in heart song and dreams  becoming true and unfolding like a beautiful flower .

 I was enjoying the rainbow when I heard the crunch of footsteps on the  volcanic rock path coming towards me. One of the guests was heading down in my direction. . She was waiting for a Chi Qong class that started at 7:00 a.m. . No one was there yet either. Stevie and Craig taught the Chi Qong class.  They are such a fun couple . I had written about them in one of my earliest blog posts . The funky old V.W.  with the interior held together with duct tape and them giving me a ride on a bumpy gravel road to the lanai one rainy morning in May.

I pointed out the rainbow to her and we watched it for a few minutes before it faded away into the blue sky. I told her why I was down there, standing by the gate , about my hula performance at Volcanoes National Park this morning at 10:30 . She was going to try and come watch the performance. ( I did see her there later. ) It was her last day at Kalani .

Malia finally arrived and she drove us up to the Loft where all my regalia ( costumes ) were . I had a lot of dance stuff to pack. I also had 7 dozen chocolate chip cookies that George baked for me , for the potluck lunch that followed our performance. George is such a sweetheart. George is Kalani's master dessert maker and an amazing baker . I felt really special when he said that he would make the cookies for me without hesitation.

" Where's Hank ? " I asked.

" Oh, I don't know  " Malia responded.

" I thought he was coming too."  Hank is Malia's boyfriend.

" Well, I thought maybe we could drive back to my place to see if he came by or if he is waiting there . Maybe I will drive by his place too to see if he's there. "

And so, as we were heading back to Malia's place, we saw 3 cars go by us , all of them dancers heading towards Volcano. A lot of the dancers live in Seaview.

" Oh, good, we're not that late ! As long as Kumu  arrives after us , we're good ! " Malia said with  relief .
So we drove by her place, no Hank and went by Hank's place, and there he was.

" I thought you may have slept in ! " Hank said to Malia.  Time is so loosey goosey here.

Hank jumps into the car. " Oh, it going to be cold up there, right ? " He jumps out of the car and grabs a sweater , and off we went. The weather pattern changes quickly up at Volcanoes National Park.

" I'm  making  salad for the potluck, Molly. I have sliced the onions , cut the carrots. I am missing the key ingredient , lettuce. We are going to have to get some on the way. "  yes, a key ingredient indeed for the kind
salad she is making.

I laughed. Malia is really funny.She started telling me  about trying to buy  kava  plants to give to Kumu and to  three of the dancers .

" So, I was trying to phone around to all the gardening stores, and no one had any. I had to look on line and I found this place that was advertising  kava plants for sale. I called them up and got their address and told them I was coming right over. When I got to their house , I knocked on the door . Someone on the other side of the door asked me what I wanted and why I was there.  I expected someone to come walking out with a shot gun !  I  told him that I was the one that spoke to them about buying kava plants. Then, Molly, I heard a woman's voice inside saying " Papa, get me my t-shirt " in a heavy southern accent . '"  Next thing I know, an old woman opens the door , wearing granny underpants , with a t-shirt on top. Boy, was  I grateful that she put on a t-shirt. It would not have been a pretty sight ! " She had me laughing , especially when she was imitating the woman's voice. The visual she gave me also was not a pretty sight.

" Oh, but they are the nicest people evah !  The old man came out too wearing these weird shorts and a wife beater t-shirt , his huge belly hanging out.  Man, was I glad he put clothes on too as he would have been a worse sight for my eyes if he was naked. "  Too funny . Malia bought four kava plants .

" And you know, Molly, there was a beat up old red fire truck in their front yard. This place is really off the grid. The fire truck is probably made in the 50's and something you would see in a Beatles' movie. I asked one of my neighbours if that area had a fire department and she said probably. What do you mean probably , i asked . Oh, and she told me that they had a fire truck but they don't know if it works or not. Well, it turns out that the place I got the kava plants from, well, that's the fire truck they use in case of  fire. Only thing is, that man has been taking showers with the fire hose, out in his front yard , stark naked, in full view . I don't think there's much water reserve left in the fire truck ! "

Yes, off the grid , for mainland hippies to come and live off the land .  There are definitely some ' interesting ' people that are not Hawaiians that live around here.  " Papa, get me a t-shirt . "

Malia had me in stitches all the way to Volcanoes National Park. We almost went to a hunting store to get lettuce. but her boyfriend Hank talked her out of it . I shook my head and laughed. A lot of things are really off the grid. " There's these strange dead animals mounted on the walls. Not like deer heads  or bear heads that you would normally see mounted on the walls. I think there's a pig on the wall. They probably found it on the side of the road. "

Malia ended up going to a regular supermarket . Thank goodness for that. She dashed in and within a minute, she was out with a head of lettuce. She was thinking about going up to the Army barracks in Volcanoes National Park to buy lettuce.  Apparently, there is a general store up there. I did not know that. I would think that the lettuce there , if they had any , would be a premium price.

When we arrived at the Visitor's Centre at Volcanoes National Park ,  we quickly unloaded and walked to our performance area , trekking our stuff, taking about three trips in all to get out stuff to a grass wooden hut
where we would change and put all our personal belongings. It was such a cool hut. I felt as if I had stepped back into time , at least several hundred years.

The stage that we danced on was a grassy platform. It was outdoors and the view was spectacular from the grassy stage. We were facing Halema'uma'u  Crater , the home of Pele , Volcano Goddess.  I could see the volcano smoke plumes rise from the Crater  as I danced. It was softly misting gentle rain when we arrived and when the performance started, the sun came out and the sky turned from gray to blue , with big fluffy white clouds. It was most magical. The whole time I danced, I looked out to Halema'uma'u , mesmerized , hypnotized , so drawn to its power . It was incredibly spiritual , magical and powerful . We were dancing for Pele , and not so much for the several hundred people that were sitting on the grassy area below , watching us dance.  The sun became intense.

The last dance we did was Halema'uma'u .  E como.  Come to me......It was a dance of procreation . The dance was a visual of beckoning movements and , lets just say procreation movements.

Ayako came to me after our performance and said, " Well, how was your climax ? " I laughed. She did not realize what she said was a double entendre.  I know what she really meant was how was my last big performance , the reason why I extended my stay in Hawaii , to perform on the Volcano......

She realized what she said and laughed. A dance of procreation . My last dance. The moves require no translation. It was ancient hula in its most primal state. I love the dance .

" On both levels , my climax was amazing and out of this World ! " I replied with a happy smile on my face.

And now, I bask in the warm soft afterglow of my amazing journey these past four and a half months here in Hawaii.......... with much much gratitude and feeling so incredibly loved and blessed......

with much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0
Molly