Can we go to a party without hula dancing?

We keep having those "I can't believe I'm actually in Hawai'i" moments. Last week, I drove about 60 miles around the south side of the island (see map),
to the lovely subdivision of Kona Paradise. After exceeding the speed limit around 20 miles of hairpin curves, I turned left and drove, virtually, straight down a cliff. Albeit, a paved cliff, bordered by lovely houses perched on roads to either side. I was going to see my friend, Bobbi, who I met at the Women's Retreat in Waimea back in August. Her house is down at the bottom of the cliff, right across from a private beach. Even though the beach is all 'ili'ili (smooth black stones-they use them in hula dancing like castanets), we set up our beach chairs and looked out on a beautiful cove, with deep, clear water and sailboats anchored about 250 yards out.

The surf is pretty treacherous because the shore is so steep. The waves grab you and pull you out. But once you're out, it's calm. I snorkeled around looking at the fish then rode a wave back to the shore. Bobbi's house is made out of lava rock, it's one big room inside with very high ceilings, tres Polynesian. We had a great time talking, and she fed me a delicious greek salad before I had to turn around and race back to Volcano to get Dash by 2:15. I got fried just from one hour in the sun. It had been raining all week in Volcano and I was turning into a mushroom. Turns out it was sunny barely a half mile from our house. So there I was, lounging on the private beach, having the "I can't believe I live here" moment.

Another moment was the birthday party we attended just around the corner. Can we go to a single party without people breaking out into hula dancing? I love it, I do, it's just surreal, that's all. That's our next door neighbor, Jay, in front. Behind him is Linda and Jeanette. They've been doing hula for years. If I could clap and sing at the same time I might try it. But, alas, I'm cursed with the honky-ain't-got-no-rhythm gene. Yes, that's Dash trying to learn the moves with the 'ili'ili.

Then there's this wonderful couple around the corner that remind me of my grandparents. Dr. Miller is always bringing me plant cuttings and stunning bouquets from his garden. He's from Louisiana so all the plants are azaleas, fig trees, dahlias and peonies.

Here's Dean co-leading the "Wild Cave" tour in the National Park. And all the tourists who were lucky enough to get on this very exclusive tour.

And finally, after months of patience, I finally met someone I can swim with! Turns out Dash's Japanese teacher is also a novice youth swim coach. I overheard her say "Master's Swimming" at a community meeting the other night. I didn't even know who she was, I just bolted over and said, "Swimming? Do you swim? Where do you swim? Can I come swim?" So, three weeks later I've finally found a pool that isn't straight out of the third-world. It's a REAL pool at the exclusive, Hawaiian's Only, private school. They let us riff-raff haoles in after hours because they have a community "outreach" program (oh the irony!). And they have a HOT TUB!

Other news: our new dog, Lele, is fattening up nicely. She and Chuck actually romp and play together. But Lele is slippery. She can open the screen door. She pulls all of Dash's stuffed toys out and chews off the noses. Not short on personality, this dog.

**Educational/Cultural Sidebar: The hula they are dancing above is to the tune of "Aloha No'o Ka'u." Ka'u is the district we live in. Here's the Hawaiian and the English to the song:

Ke `ike aku wau
Ka nani a`o Ka`u
Me ka nani a`o wai `o Palahemo
Aloha no `o Ka`u

Nanea i ka ho`olohe
Ka nalu nui e holu ana
A he shua Kaulana Bay
Aloha no `o Ka`u

Kaulana `o Kalae
E kû nei e
Ka hala ipu kukui mâlamalama
Aloha no `o Ka`u`

Ike `ia mâkou
Wai `ahukini
Me ke one wai kaulana
Aloha no `o Ka`u

Puana ka inoa
Ka nani a`o Ka`u
Ua piha me ka hau`oli
Aloha no `o Ka`u

Behold and see
All this beauty here in Ka`u
The beauty of the water of Palahemo
With love an affection for Ka`u.

Relax and listen to
The waves that break at the beach
I am sure the bay is Kaulana
With love and affection for Ka`u

Famous is Kalae
And there stands
The lighthouse that shines
With love and affection for Ka`u

Everyone was able to see
The currents of Ahukini
This water current makes this point famous
With love and affection for Ka`u.

This is the end of my song
The beauty of Ka`u
I am filled with happiness and
With love and affection for Ka`u

Night Sky Wonders

It's a good thing I take a lot of pictures because I tend to forget the details. "Oh yeah... we stayed up until midnight and watched a total lunar eclipse." Not the greatest pictures in the world, but proof nevertheless.


I guess my theme for this post is things you see at night. We went to dinner at some friends Dean met through work, who live down near Pahoa, where the coqui frogs roam. After dinner we drove to the very end of the Kalapana road and watched the glow of the new lava flow. Try to imagine the glow from a forest fire. I can see it from my front yard too, even though we must be 20 miles away from it. My camera was unable to capture any of it, I have a lot of black pictures. If you Google -lava glow pahoa- you can see some good pictures.

Dean is right this minute driving up the Mauna Loa road to the lookout, at about 6000 feet. From there you're high enough to see the lava flow. It was too late for Dash and I to go, we'll try it another time. ( He just got back and told me they could see fountains of lava--why did I stay home?)

I've been getting up at 4:30 in the morning to take our new dog out and I noticed a huge planet on the eastern horizon (must be Venus). It's not just bright, it's distinctly round and planetlike. I've never seen it like this before.

This picture reminds me that we have a new dog! A neighbor down the street (who already has 3 dogs, a gross of cats, and a feral goat) came knocking on the door to tell me about a half whippet who had been chained up in the yard its whole life, and now the owner was going into assisted living. We made a provisional agreement that the dog would have to pass Chuck's inspection. Chuck is a complete snob. The best I was hoping for was for Chuck to ignore her. Well, three days later, I caught them frisking and playing together. The poor thing has an indentation around her neck where the chain sat, she was totally neglected and half starved. She has a whippet body, but never got any exercise so her legs look atrophied. She's so skinny she looks like an insect with a thorax. We have cleaned her up, killed all the fleas, and fed her alot. Her name is Lele, short for 'ukulele' which means jumping flea. She prances around like a lipizzaner.

If it wasn't for this picture I would have already blanked out on my Rotary Club's annual Lobster fest (see lobster at left) and we got to make a huge mess eating with our hands. We shipped in 150 live Maine lobsters and boiled them to order.

I was driving around taking pictures of the area restaurant signs to re-do their ads for the community newsletter and this one is blogworthy. Rain? What rain? I don't see any rain. This is one of the only affordable places to eat. Look! I have a son and a husband! Here they are down on the coast, south of Hilo. I remember this because I stubbed my big toe on some lava and it turned black and died.

I've been way too busy the last few weeks. I joined the board of the Volcano Community Association, redesigned their newsletter, joined a committee for the Volcano Health Collaborative and I've been working on a logo for them for almost 6 weeks. School started and I agreed to be a PTO representative for Dash's class. I went to a women's retreat in Waimea with some ladies from Church (it was awesome-woke up to Mauna Kea in my window each morning), sang at Church last week, hosted a Labor Day BBQ, started planning a community Christmas party, a church Pumpkin party, went to a neighbor's birthday party and got to see everyone perform hula.... now I'm TIRED! I declined to become a school board member...maybe next year.
And finally, here's Dash frisking with Chuck in the backyard.