Under the Monkey Pod

I'll remember you
Long after this endless summer is gone
I'll be lonely, oh, so lonely
Living only to remember you. -- Elvis Presley 

View of sun rising amid clouds. Lucky to catch with iPhone camera. The orange globe disappeared before I had second sip of coffee. PHOTO:KCS

Down to final week on island, sun and trade winds have returned. Past three months have been Hawaii cold, dipping into chilly 60s. I bought long-sleeved T-shirt at Ross now worn to threads.

Totally unprepared, I also forgot to bring checkbook as well as bank debit card. Got speeding ticket. As my children will tell you, I am slowest driver on road.

Wrote letter to Kauai DMV explaining why I should not have ticket, doing 54 mph in 40 zone. Please dismiss. My reasoning being every driver in rearview mirror tailgates me for going too slow (aka, speed limit). So I go with flow and get tickie. $140 bucks.

Almost two months ago. The judge has not made decision on my plea. Should I send his-or-her Honor a flower lei? A box of macadamia nut chocolates? I wrote that my speeding was fluke and promise to do the usual, anger my fellow drivers by honoring speed limit, which is 50 mph tops on Kuhio Hwy 56, with numerous 35, 30, 25 and 10 mph zones. This confusing for kupuna (elder) with tailgaters biting his ass. I didn't use those exact words.

“Who pays attention to the speed limit?” said a friend.

I do. I don't want another ticket if it kills me.

Mysty and Viva horse around at sunset PHOTO:KCS

Surprise 70th birthday party for friend Maureen (wearing flowered leis) in Princeville with her son Ryan on left, me on right, friends Rich and Mike. We danced night away. Happy Birthday, Mors! Keep riding all those waves! CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Sometimes I ride Kauai bus, for transportation and local color. Twelve people got on board with me at Princeville bus stop recently. Eight of them young teenage girls heading home from school. Two were 50ish couple who had groceries. They put their bicycles on rack on front of bus. And two young men who spent a few minutes in nearby jungle preparing for ride. You tell me.

Buses run promptly on time. Because they speed.

I drop two quarters into glass box next to driver and find seat.

“One dollah.”

Again I hear, “One dollah.”

I walk to front feeling quaint sense of guilt. Must be talking to me. 

“It one dollah.”

“For kupuna?” I paid 50-cents last week. 

“One dollah.”

I reach into pocket, search for coins and manage to pull out a dime and quarter.”

“Dat enuff.”

Driver step on gas and we start rolling like runaway wagon.

I just get comfortable when I hear horn beeping. Driver is honking at car in front of us. Bus is tailgating slowpoke who is going speed limit. You tell me.

Koko rides Kapaa bike trail. PHOTO::KCS

Islanders love their flowers, with month of May being one celebration after another where locals wear  homemade leis and head wreaths (hakus) made with love: May Day, Lei Day, Mother's Day, Graduation Day and Memorial Day (aka Lei Day No 2).The grounds at our condo are full of fragrant flowering puakenikeni, gardenia and plumeria. Locals drop by daily to pick beautiful blooms.

It's like Easter egg hunt for grown-ups. Women hunting for flowers to make leis and men gathering flowers for their wahines to make leis.

We have enjoyed spending time with grandkids, Viva 13 and Mystiko, 5. We've attended Viva's soccer games and Mysty's May Day celebration at Kilauea School, portrayal of Royal Hawaiian ceremony with costumes, color, music, hula and more.  

Keiki of Kilauea School celebrate May Day PHOTO:KCS

Mysty plays opihi with kindergartners. From song, Opihi Man. PHOTO:KCS

Mama Isabel Bryna zips wetsuit on Mysty for surf session at Hanalei Bay.

PHOTO:KOKO

Koko stands in sea of flower petals. PHOTO:KCS

 

Weather has been harsh, with several flood advisories on island and one serious incident on south side. Some businesses near Nawiliwili Harbor went under water, but resilience of locals very impressive. Like nothing happened, just flood.

A natural inlet, Nawiliwili is main harbor on island where cargo in large containers is shipped in and out. Pride of America cruise ship docks here and tourists from around world in shorts and hats poke around port of call. 

"Our next port is Vancouver," said one cruiser who shipped out of San Diego two weeks ago.

Tug boats guide container ship into Nawiliwili Harbor. These ships carry everything from automobiles to kitchen sink. PHOTO:KCS

Harbor area is hub of Kauai where the island originally populated and grew into hodge podge of small plantations, major resort, auto repair shops, surf spot (Kalipaki), Lihue Airport, tourist traps, old Lihue town and surprises behind every grove of lehua, palm and monkey pod tree. Wear and tear of island is obvious, yet mysterious.

You learn you cannot judge quality by exterior. Best value and highest quality are often found in unlikely places. Underground exists for survival of islanders. Everyone knows that Walmart is least expensive store for widest variety of goods including groceries. Ace Hardware on Rice Street sells everything from septic tanks to sunglasses -- best inventory of art supplies on island. Most-for-your-money breakfast at nondescript Kauai Diner -- Japanese, Hawaiian and American food.

Winding down on couch, Viva shows Mysty cool stuff on laptop. PHOTO:KCS

Storm patterns are extremely changeable and potentially risky out here in Pacific. The Hawaiian chain is farthest from a continent. If you plan your day according to forecasts, always have plan B. Heed flood advisories and warnings. At 5,000-ft, Mt. Wai'ale'ale is one of wettest places on Earth. When it rains it pours.

And since there is only one road around island -- two-lane Kuhio Way 56 -- be ready for lane closures and unexpected delays. Go with flow.

Shaka (aloha greeting) to newcomers from the Mainland who have hunkered down here to stay, as well as local families who have been here for generations and have no desire to leave. If they can afford to stay. Tourism serves locals with jobs, and at same time, inflates economy. Housing for workers no longer affordable. Wealthy celebrities, tech leaders and music producers have purchased prime real estate for refuge. Haoles like us also drive costs up, buying modest real estate at high prices that continue to go up in value. Who can afford?

Witch-hat mountains above pristine Na Pali Coast. PHOTO:ROBRTO PULIDO

"A person seeking an island craves simplicity and glories in a world that is still incomplete, and therefore full of possibilities," according to Paul Theroux in his 1992 treatise, The Happy Isles of Oceana -- Paddling through the Pacific. The attraction of an island, he continues, "is not the landscape of the island, nor its location on the globe, but rather the fact of the place being surrounded by water -- the character of the water itself is the magic element, offering the islander transformation."

Theroux's wry, often pompous yet well researched 530-page book takes him from the Trobriand islands off Papua New Guinea to Easter Island -- from Melanesia to Polynesia -- with adventures in the Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Marquesas and finally the Hawaiian chain. Here he finds the uniquely pristine Na Pali Coast with "witch-hat" mountain tops, waterfalls that plunge into often unnavigable seas of temperamental currents that have protected Kauai, the oldest of the chain, for 5-million years. 

                                                                     

I walk outdoors, open eyes, listen to tropical birdsong punctuated by clucking chickens, inhale scent of sweet gardenia, allow trade-wind breeze to wash over me. Feels like paradise.

Sun sets on island saying, until we meet again, aloha nui loa. PHOTO:KCS

End note:

Received June 1 from District Court of the Fifth Circuit, State of Hawaii, Lhu'e Division. Speeding infraction mitigated in defendant's favor. Maybe it was sea turtle that swam under my surboard last day on island -- brought good luck. Only on Kauai.