Your Aloha Preview - August - "Walking in Waikiki" - "Honu, Heroes, & Hot Dogs" - Kaimuki

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Your Aloha Preview - August - "Walking in Waikiki" - "Honu, Heroes, & Hot Dogs"
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Courtesy of Cloudia Charters Author of Aloha Where You Like To Go?

Walking in Waikiki
with Cloudia Charters
Honu, Heroes, & Hot Dogs

He planted the tree in 1960. It was really just a twig then, and he a taller, younger man. Returning to our Honolulu this Summer, he and his wife were conducted directly from the airplane to visit the tree. It had grown tall in the 48 plus years, and waited, blooming, as if in exuberant welcome - for it was July in Waikiki. This visit to the tree was to be his only public event. School children, and reverential seniors, made up most of the patient crowd. Most everyone waiting held small US and Japanese flags. The curious children were from a Japanese Language school here in town. The seniors standing near by remembered years of hard work, years of war, years of life's struggles; But today their expectant faces glowed as well. The children were there to learn about their family culture - but the seniors had lived it; embodied it. All waited together to see, and to honor, the world's only remaining Emperor: Akihito of Japan and his Empress Michiko. The emperor walked over to where the children waited, and spoke to them quietly in Nihongo, the Japanese language that they study. Until MacArthur ruled in Tokyo this man's father (and predecessors) were considered living Shinto Deities. To receive from him a medal, a letter, or to be in his presence, was believed to convey a tangible "blessing" or "initiation" similar to those bestowed by Shinto Priests in their magical nature ceremonies. Today, free of temporal power, the imperial couple bestows their blessings purely on a basis of heart and spirit. A child may think of a ruler as able to live according to royal whim, but it seems to me that these guests of ours live a life mostly of service to others, and to an ideal. Protected, feted & honored, they are not free (as you and I are) simply to stroll unmolested on the beach here at Waikiki but must see it beyond a velvet rope. All Hawaii seemed touched to host these very special guests. They remind us of who we are, and where many of us came from. They also demonstrate that there is more to life than brute practicality. As King Canute showed many ages ago, a sovereign's power is limited. He may not order the surf to recede. But as we witnessed, these bonds of love, these historic tides of genes & of blood, still glow undimmed even in our 21st Century. What family traditions do YOU cherish? Family vacations? Then bring your keiki (child or children) here to Waikiki. Together you can make memories that will long be remembered! Twigs, after all, do mature into trees right before our eyes.

Lahaina Noon also returned to Honolulu this July. Twice a year the noonday sun stands directly above, casting no shadow anywhere. In another fifty years, or a hundred, you, me and the Emperor will reside only inside history. But Lahaina Noon will revisit on it's appointed days, and the shower tree at Kapiolani Park might still be blooming away the Summer. Perhaps a grandma or grandpa will tell their keiki: "That's where I met an Emperor when I was your age." Yes, these are the good days. May we live them to the full!

Did you know? Whether you realize it or not, you already enjoy Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. Many of our Hawaii musicians toured the continent back in Territorial days playing their ringing "open tuned" guitars. Soon country musicians, and early jazz practitioners, picked up on their sonics and rhythms, incorporating island sounds into their own repertoires. Some of our favorite American sounds are probably gifts from the land of Aloha! Now you can now enjoy the very best Hawaiian musicians at the “Carnegie Hall of the Pacific,” the Monarch Room at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Every Thursday evening Curators of Hawaiian Music will offer two cocktail shows by stars like the magnetic Makana (featured through the month of August). Every one's favorite band, Maunalua, takes over September 3rd. <http://www.royal-hawaiian.com/the-resort/dining-entertainment/curators-of-hawaiian-music/>http://www.royal-hawaiian.com/the-resort/dining-entertainment/curators-of-hawaiian-music/

When astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins returned from their history-making journey to the moon, 40 years ago this Summer, they splashed into the Pacific about 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Thus our island home of Oahu was the first solid land under their feet. However, it was not their first isle visit, as the Big Island's Mauna Kea had hosted their pre-flight training among her other-worldly rocks in a place now known as Apollo Valley. Once back upon US soil, the astronauts had fun complying with those familiar Customs & Immigration regulations. Official documents thus record that they arrived from "The Moon" aboard "Flight 11" arriving at "Honolulu Hawaii." In answer to the health question regarding "conditions on board which may lead to the spread of disease" they answered honestly (gulp): "To be determined. A customs declaration was also dutifully filed regarding the 47 pounds of Moon Rocks they had obtained. Aboard the gleaming, modified Airstream trailer, that served as their 21 day quarantine, the astronauts and flight surgeon William Carpentier (along with NASA technician John Hirasaki) were the first humans to observe the naked lunar minerals inside the Earth's atmosphere. Though they looked like "ordinary rocks" there was one immediately interesting thing about these particular rocks; They smelled like burnt gun powder.

Recently I went to pay my respects to our host culture and to a favorite place, attending the 7th Annual Ulupo Heiau Ho`ike. The remains of this massive and important Heiau (temple) are just behind the YMCA on Kailua Road (just over the Pali from Honolulu). According to the University of Hawaii's Hawaiian Dictionary, "Ho`ike" means to "see, feel, know, greet, recognize, experience, understand, to know sexually, to receive revelations from the gods..." How appropriate (except for the sexual part :-). Ulupo is the largest stone platform and temple complex on Oahu, a very important place, built of stones carried hand-to-hand from all over our island. Hundreds of volunteers over recent years have helped to clear, restore, and malama, or care for it. This important cultural site offers un-parallelled views across Kawainui "the great water" Marsh, a distinct ecosystem that developed in the crater of the huge (now sunken) volcano that formed a good portion of this island thousands of years ago. It is the largest wetland in the Islands of Hawaii, and home to many endangered species of plants & birds. I was pleased to see that the temple grounds are once again home to numerous Kalo Lo`i or taro patches. Hawaiians consider Kalo their older brother, their sacred staff of life. It certainly did my heart good to see local parents and their keiki sharing a quality Saturday together cultivating the `Aina, this sacred land of Hawaii.

A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, or Honu, was rescued off of the west coast of far Kauai with a chunk missing from her shell due to a strike by a boat propeller. They named her "Ding" and brought her here to Oahu for repairs and recuperation. Everyone involved loved Ding, for she had "dinged" their hearts. It was thus with a tinge of sadness that they bid her "Aloha" once healed and happy with her new, partly fiberglass, shell. I'm happy to report that Ding has been spotted capering once again in the surf off west Kauai. Next time I'm out in my kayak, I'll ask the Waikiki turtles to send her our regards. I'm certain the message will get through!

Ala Moana Shopping Center now boasts it's own Lego store! If you are in town on August 15th you can join the youthful throng (of all ages!) oooo-ing and ahhh-ing over a major exhibit of Lego-built wonders at center stage. But listen here, if you are anything like me, do yourself a favor and stay away from the L Store itself!! I don't remember playing with anything like the exciting and detailed products I saw in the place! Like most Hawaii residents, we live in a rather compact space. I got as far as the cash register with my "Pirate Ship & Hideout" and an amazing green locomotive before I snapped out of it! The diminutive scenes of city life on display, and the legions of distinct little Lego people populating them, made my head swim with their detail and complexity. You could happily drop some major bucks there; so if you DO go, bring your credit cards, and perhaps a child or two for "cover."

Do you think that those moon-landing astronauts have anything in common with the Polynesian voyagers who settled these isles? Of course they did. Something undefinable perhaps, but I perceive some shared spirit, some kindred yearning, that connects them across the centuries. In exactly the same way, our shared humanity (yours and mine) with extraordinary people is not a mere negligible. Don't worry, I'm not exhorting you to "be all you can be," or to "aim for the stars." Rather, I'm bringing attention to the ignored but undeniable heroism in you and in me. We each address and wrestle with the same life enigmas, choices, and conundrums as the most celebrated characters of theatre, philosophy, literature, history. So here's to the every day heroes. Here's to US!

Whether you're eating a gourmet Kobe Beef Hot Dog at Hank's Haute Dogs, or people-watching Kalakaua Avenue's nightly parade, the sweetness and folly that we all share is well on display. . . .when you're Walking in Waikiki. . . ALOHA!

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Kaimuki, Hawaii News Item

Your Aloha Preview - August - "Walking in Waikiki" - "Honu, Heroes, & Hot Dogs"

Kaimuki, Hawaii
News Item