I have a gold mine in ʻōlena

11 12 2016
Turmeric from my garden

Turmeric from my garden. Hawaiians call it ʻōlena.

ʻōlena.  Turmeric (Curcuma domestica), a kind of ginger; used medicinally and as a source of dyes  . . . —Pukui and Elbert

Today’s harvest yielded this bounty of ʻōlena, or turmeric. I had planted some a few years ago, and this year it produced gorgeous flowers. Then the flowers died back, and it dawned on me that it was time to harvest the rhizome.

I first paid attention to ʻōlena during trips to Kahoʻolawe, where ʻōlena water was brought from Maui and used for cleansing altars and in the spiritual ceremonies.

In more recent years I learned that besides uses in cuisine, turmeric is a healing herb that guards against inflammation in our bodies. Sautéing with black pepper in cooking and combined with other food provides benefits. We can add this to our diet on a regular basis.

When I had a spell of pain in my wrist, I chopped up some fresh turmeric into a poultice and applied it with plastic wrap to hold it in place. The ʻōlena was very cooling to the skin and I felt better.

Most recently a friend who is taking care of a cancer patient volunteered to help harvest my plants. When someone asks for healing, I must oblige. I was grateful to have my friend remind me that an answer to healing was right under my nose in my own garden. Harvesting is something I have been meaning to do.

This afternoon I cut back the tall foliage, and DH helped to dig out this crop with a pitchfork. We left some in the ground so it will continue to grow.

I plan to share the bounty, make some powder, and freeze the surplus.

Mahalo e ke Akua!

 


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Categories : About me, Food, Hawaiian, Reiki Healing

Virtual snow

7 12 2016

Aloha, studio fans! As you can see it’s snowing at Rebekah’s Studio! In reality it is the time of ho‘oilo, the wet and rainy season in Hawai‘i. Damp and muddy! Amid the hustle and bustle of the season and the busy highways, I remind myself to drive safely and really be aware of what is around me. It’s a crazy time of year in many ways.

At the studio we are still wrapping up a couple of publishing projects—a coffee table book for my high school class’s 50th reunion (you do the math, haha!) and a second printing of a family recipe book, originally published in 1999. Painting and music classes are finishing up for the year. The holiday calendar of events is starting to fill now, too.

Be kind to each other. I wish you all much deserved peace and serenity, inside and out, with plenty of aloha! ~ Rebekah

At Honolulu Hale (City Hall)

At Honolulu Hale (City Hall)

 


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Categories : About me, Chong Hee Books, Friends & Family, Reiki Healing

I have a chair

11 09 2016
My new chair

My new chair

Somewhere I read every woman should have her own chair. One that is hers alone, one that fits, and one she likes. Not an office chair nor a dining chair nor one necessarily part of the living room furniture.

I’ve been thinking about this idea. Since losing some height to aging, I catch myself slouching on the sofa while watching TV. Sitting on its cushions just isn’t as comfortable as before.

So I’ve been on the lookout for a chair that encourages good posture. Good posture will minimize some of my muscular aches and pains, I know.

My neighbors Dennis and Dawn are moving from the Islands to their home in Washington, DC, soon, and today was their garage sale. Two chairs caught my eye immediately, but, of course, they were not on the market.

But a third unmatching one with scratches in the finish had good bones, and when I sat in it I liked it. An honest chair, pre-owned, pre-loved, and in decent shape.

It would be such an improvement to anything else I had. The colors match the other parlor furnishings nicely. Best of all, the price was right at $25, and it would be all mine. Sold!

My own chair makes me smile.


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Categories : About me

Say “cheese” :-)

20 08 2016

What went down last night. Down the hatch and into our bellies. So decadent, but my girlfriends and I enjoyed! The occasion was a soirée at Cynthia’s, a potluck. How’s this for potluck?!

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Cynthia graciously mixed cocktails, poured wine, and provided cutely decorated chocolate cupcakes to start and finish. Valerie shared the fresh salmon she and the boat she was on caught in Alaskan waters, most welcome as I am hesitant to eat fish these days. Candice brought bruschetta con pomodoro, I brought cold brussel sprout leaf and coconut soup, and Lori brought and styled this fabulous once-in-a-lifetime special cheese/salami/fruit/condiment array. I am grateful to have been able to share this table.

My photo is real, untouched, just the way Lori arranged the food on the tray, and shot straight with existing light and my iPhone6. I like it a lot.


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Categories : About me, Fine Art, Food, Friends & Family

In my world and why we create

14 08 2016

In my world, much of what I do is creative. Creating interesting and beautiful things brings me satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, joy. I don’t initially do it for money although, come to think of it, most of my income has come from making fine art and from designing and writing publications and lesson plans. I’ve yet to turn a buck composing or singing or cooking!

Last night a volunteer appreciation party at Kaneohe Yacht Club for Pacific Cup race workers reminded me of other benefits of creating and of involving others in the process. Those benefits are respite and therapy.  I led a crew of 25 in making lei garlands for the arriving boats from San Francisco.

When I arrived late to the party (bad highway traffic), I learned it was announced the free drinks were courtesy of the monetary donation I made from partial proceeds of the lei that happens to be a product we sell. Well, that is not exactly the kind of therapy I was thinking of ;-), but we did make money, and it gave me satisfaction to spend a morning writing checks to the lei makers and two organizations that collaborated for the activity. We made lei!

Carol Silva
During Pacific Cup time I’ve noticed, or sometimes the lei makers tell me, some come to make a lei or two or three in order to take a break from a difficult situation at home.

A family member was in the hospital, or a spouse was ill, or they got childcare so they were free to come. They made the time or they took the time to come and do something they loved to do and be among other people. That they would tell me this touched my heart, and I am so very glad and grateful I could provide the creative outlet.

Creating interesting and beautiful things also brings freedom and peace. Namaste. ~ Rebekah


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Categories : About me, Fine Art, Friends & Family, Hawaiian

Conversation with a 7 year old

11 07 2016

After our piano lesson when Miss Marvelous our moʻopuna (grandchild), now 7, was quick to grasp the Italian terms of forte, piano, fortissimo, pianissimo, etc.—likely because she lived in Italy for three years—she asked me, “Popo, do you have any watercolors? May I paint?”

“Sure,” I said.

Once in the studio she asked, “Popo, do you work with values, like the value scale?”

Surprised at such an adult question, I said, “You mean the shades of gray? Yes, I do, Ayla, values are the most important thing to know about art. Are you learning that in school?”

I remembered she announced the first week in her new school this summer after first grade, “I have an art teacher!”

“My teacher has a wheel like yours except it’s smaller,” she said, bouncing over to my color wheel on the wall.  “These are the primary colors, and these are the secondary colors.”

“How about the complementary colors, the ones opposite each other on the wheel? Where are the tints and the shades?” I quizzed.

I got out my watercolor kit and sent Ayla with a jar to the sink for water. I gave her a small panel of thick textured paper.

Picking up the brush she said, “There are warm colors and cool colors.”

Hmmm . . . impressive. Thinking about values, to myself I said “fortissimo” and “pianissimo, too,” but I kept silent and let Ayla paint her own rainbow.


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Categories : About me, Fine Art, Friends & Family

Art in the reading room

7 07 2016

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The main branch of the Hawaii State Library on 478 S. King Street at Punchbowl street, downtown Honolulu, is the venue for a showing of art by the Windward Artists Guild. The works of sixteen artists, including me, are represented here in the Reading Room through July 29. It’s a tight show; all of the pieces are pictured in these two photos. Juror Richard Duggan awarded Wendy Roberts the top prize for her triptych, pictured below.

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My father brought me to this library nearly every weekend. It was a 45-minute car ride from Wahiawa in those days when I was a child. A library rat, he loved the periodical room and non-fiction. I explored the juvenile section and, when I was older, the stacks. I pored over the scripts of musical shows and was fascinated by the collection of music scores. I found the Hawaii and Pacific collection, and that became my favorite. All of that is still there, although the card catalog drawers have given way to computers, and the green-painted Adirondack chairs in the central courtyard are long gone. Funny how my art has brought me back to the enjoyment of reading ink-on-paper books.


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Categories : About me, Fine Art, Hawaiian, Memoir, Travel

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