Outcome

We've just returned from court. We were denied a Restraining Order against our neighbors....wait before you get crazy! The big picture is that this is actually a good thing! I was thinking last night about what could the judge actually write that would keep them from harassing us? Judge Doi tried that, and look what happened with that. Two years of court cases for him. They found ways around the order in so many different ways.

He crazy was gearing up for an appeal, it was obvious. They get "off" on all of this stuff, just love it! That's all they have in their life. We could not possibly go through another three years of court cases, like we just did. We don't have the health, time or money for it.

The judge said "he would not want to live next to Mirella Davies", "they are inconsiderate, insensitive people, they are weird, quirky". He told them to be considerate of their neighbors. He told us to call the police.

We know that the worst part is that they will now feel "empowered" to pretty much do what they want, and they will. But they can't take drag on endless appeals like they have. We're hoping that other neighbors will also call the police on them. This is the only way to make them accountable.

Then there is always the foreclosure...which is going forward. It's only a matter of time. At this point that's what we're holding out for.

We know at first is sounds bad, but the BIG picture is actually much better.

We thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We really are fine right now.

The Same Way...

I was coming back to the North Shore today on Kam Hiway through the pineapple fields and noticed a bunch of cars stopped on the side of the road up ahead. As I got closer this is what I saw. This is the first time I've ever seen them doing this right beside the road. I also didn't realize that they basically did it the same way that they've been doing it for years...by hand. Amazing!

The smell in the air was like fresh pineapple cake or something...almost overpowering.

Glad I had my camera, even if it's not the best pic ( I was parked on the opposite side of the road and had to zoom in).

Perfect Day

Today was ward conference. Since we have so many flowers in our yard, the RS President, who is the flower arranging queen, asked if they could come and pick flowers in our yard for the chapel. This arrangemen t is made up of flowers and greens from our yard. The yellow heliconia is something that you just don't see very often. It's almost the color of butter. There were two other smaller arrangements, but I took these pics to send to hubby so he could see how beautiful his flowers looked!

BTW, here we actually have a "chapel flower sign-up" sheet. There are floral arrangements every Sunday in our chapel. It's just so beautiful. I know that visitors are always surprised.

(sorry about the poor quality, I forgot my camera and had to use my phone)

After church, I decided to go down to the beach since it was such a beautiful day. No surf/surge, light trades, clear...

PERFECT

By Any Other Name...

My two older grands have always given me a bad time when I ask them to "put something in the rubbish" or "will you empty the rubbish". All of them (Lauren, Jack and Grey) all understand what I'm talking about. They're always asking why do I call it "rubbish"? My only answer has always been "that's what it's called in Hawaii".

I got to wondering about it, is it just something people say like "mahalo" or "aloha"?

Recently I noticed this sign along the freeway in Mililani...

and this listing in the telephone book...So, it's really not something that people just say. I would think that if there's a listing in the phonebook AND a sign, trash in Hawaii really is RUBBISH!

Chicken Skin...

I've often had people over the years ask me about my love of Hawi'i. When did it start? I've always understood the meaning of Aloha...how did that happen? It's because of these two ladies that showed me aloha, that a small seed was planted...

Reverse 47 years. I was 15-16 years old, my mother had friends in Hilo. I went with her on one of her trips over there, ended up staying and living in this house on Reed's Bay...
The Bell Family were also members of the church. You have to appreciate that this was the first time I'd ever really lived with a family, siblings, etc. I left and many, many years passed, but I always remembered them and that time that I'd spent with them.

Fast forward. Merrie Monarch time again. I was in Hilo. The first year I went, my friend Iris and I found the house (it wasn't that hard, since Hilo really hasn't changed much). I remember asking about the family, but the guy had no idea who they were. I always remembered. Two years ago, on Sunday before leaving Hilo for home, I went to church. I asked if anyone remembered this family. The RS President did, but said that they went to a later service and that the daughter always came for Merrie Monarch.

This year, I was determined I was going to try harder to locate them. When I found out the plans for Sunday and that it meant leaving early, I realized I wouldn't be able to attend church. When I was with Charlotte, I recall telling her that I was going back to the hotel and start looking in the phone book. That's exactly what I did.

I sat on the bed, looking across Reed's Bay at the house where I had such fond memories, and opened the phone book. Trying to think logically, I dialed a number and asked "Is this Sister Bell"? "No, you've got the wrong number". Ok, I would not be discouraged. Decided to start at the beginning of the listings for the last name. Second call. "Is this Sister Bell?", I asked again. "Yes, it is". "Do you have a daughter Leona?", "Yes, just a minute she's right here".

I was stunned. Leona came on the line. I told her who I was, using my married name. She was trying to recall, then she said "Is this Janey Campbell?" Within 20 minutes, they were sitting downstairs at the hotel with me! Time had melted away. We laughed about silly things we'd done. I have much better recall on specific things; making hot chocolate through a whole process, Sister Bell grateing coconut that one of the boys had gotten down from a tree in the front yard, paddle boarding to Ice Pond (to this day, gives me rolling stomach thinking about it's bottomlessness), going to the movies for 25cents, hanging laundry under the house and starching it, riding the flues above Rainbow Falls. So many memories of Hapuna and Puako.

These two ladies never knew the profound affect they had on my life or how dear those sweet memories were to a young girl.

me ke aloha pau 'ole

mahalo

Merrie Monarch~pau

(sorry that these are out-of-order. Should have posted #1 last, so you'll have to scroll down to #1 and work your way back to this one)

Merrie Monarch is all about the hula. What hula it was this year...some so breathtaking it actually left you stunned, dances that were dedicated to the recently deceased kumu, old songs that were danced with such beauty...

Since I was leaving from Kona, I rode to that side with some friends. We left Hilo Town early to be able to make it to Waimea in time to eat here...

Another place that serves really BIG local style food. YUM!


When we got closer to Kona, the guys said that they were eating lunch at the harbor and so we stopped by to join them at a place called "Bite Me"

Best smoked Marlin and Opaha ceviche ever!


We spent the rest of the day relaxing at Hale Hoyt @ Keahou Resort! It was like a mini-staycation. Can't believe that we actually ate more food! Played Mahjong, watched a really, really BIG tv and just relaxed.

Like any high-end resort, they even have a torch-lighting ceremony at sunset...

complete with conch shell blowing!

So another Merrie Monarch came to an end with adventures a~plenty.

Good fun, Good food, Good Friends

Mahalo Big Island

a hui hou
Pau

(I have one more experience to post about, but because it's so special, I decided it needed its own post).

Merrie Monarch~2

As part of the parade, the Coast Guard that is stationed in Hilo always participates. This year was especially special (?) to me because my friend and neighbor, Charlotte is the CO on that ship! Where I was watching, they came around the corner and when Charlotte spotted me, she jogged over! It was so fun to see her and her "guys", the crew of the Kiska.

After Charlotte was finished with the parade, she came and got me and she took me on a tour of her neighborhood! What a great house she lives in!

My favorite, green/white local style!

Since we were both starving by this time, she suggested this place...

that served this...

Note: if your ever, ever in Hilo Town, do not stop anywhere until you go to Hilo Bay Cafe. It was the BEST FOOD. Delicious! Totally unexpected for Hilo, that's for sure. Not that there aren't great places to eat, but this is exceptional!

After lunch, Charlotte took me on a tour of her ship. It was so interesting. I don't think I've ever had a ship tour before. Much bigger than I expected that's for sure.

Thanks Charlotte for such a fun afternoon in Hilo Town. I loved hanging out with you and your tour brought back lots of memories for me.

to be continued (again)...

Merrie Monarch~1

On Friday, after an all day court session (another post), I got on that Big Canoe in the sky and flew to Hilo for Merrie Monarch. By the time I finally got to the stadium, I was exhausted! I had only had a few hours sleep Thursday night. So, I couldn't make it very long. I went back to the hotel and was asleep within minutes.

Leaving home and Waikiki behind

Saturday morning went to breakfast here... it's the place to meet. Lupchong omelet...yum!

After breakfast my friend Susen dropped me off at Zig Zane. Other friends had told me about a book that was being sold there and the author was going to be signing them. Susen and I made our way to the other side of Hilo Town, the parade hadn't started yet, but still tons of people on the road.

Got this book signed by ...

the author, Jocelyn Fujii.

There weren't many people in the store, so the author took me around and I got to have it signed by...
they are featured in the book.
I went outside to wait for the parade to start. I got a seat, so decided to flip through the book while I was waiting. You can't imagine my surprise/shock when I realized that Ms. Fujii is also the author of probably one of my very favorite books of all time...

I went back in and got a chance to talk to her about this book. She understood when I told her that I'd been offered $$$ for this book, but could never give it up. It was this book in the early '90's that showed me "Hawaiian Style". I really do treasure it.

Hilo Town's Merrie Monarch Royal Parade

to be continued...

An Early Easter Surprise...

Today we got an early Easter surprise. Bri and Geoff called when I was on my way home from hula and and wanted to know if I wanted to know what the new baby was! I was so surprised. I knew that Bri had been having ultrasounds because of a little problem that cleared up, but she had said that they couldn't get a clear view of it's "privates".

So I had to get off the freeway, I wanted to be able to talk to them, besides it's illegal to drive and talk on the phone. I got off, ended up on the back side of Hickham Air Force base, and pulled over...

(Bri Moysa photo)

Emmerson Elle is due sometime towards the end of September.
We're so excited!
Lauren has been practicing on her Baby Alive for Auntie Bri's baby, now she says she'll have to practice more to get ready.

Makani

There are many, many different words for "wind" in Hawai'ian. There are words for male and female winds, winds that come across the ocean, winds that come down the mountain, up the mountains, bring the rain, make the rains go away...you get the idea.

The past several days, the winds (I would guess all of them) have been very, very strong! In some places hurricane force gusts. Yesterday I was in town and was thinking about how windy it was, making my car shake while it was parked. I looked up and noticed that these flags showed it best...they are straight out, no flapping, no drooping, just straight out! These are some pretty BIG, strong winds. One thing that these winds bring is a change where we see the rainbows here on the north shore. This actually looking towards the west, which is unusual.
I like listening to the winds, sometimes you can almost hear them coming and they sound like voices.