Observing Makahiki season

26 11 2013

Aloha, studio fans! Makahiki season is open in Hawai‘i and it’s the reason there’s been a gap in my posts.

As with some other cultures, Makahiki is the time—between now and January or February of next year, when Makali‘i (the Pleiades constellation) is overhead at 8 p.m.—to take a break from working and warring, the time to give thanks to a successful harvest/year, the time to enjoy the success, and the time to play!

Many folks don’t realize it’s perfectly all right to relax and do nothing, especially with today’s fast-paced-because-of-technology lifestyle. Since coming home from Italy I’ve felt a little out of sorts, not centered. I’ve decided to observe Makahiki and quit thinking too much about what project I’m doing tomorrow. Right now I’m feeling more comfortable arranging to spend good times with friends and relatives. As it should be.

2013 has been an incredible year of expansion and growth for me. I admit much of it was planned, that is, I intended to have new experiences and learn new skills. But the outcomes—after I’d planted the seeds and released them to the Universe to nurture—were so very surprising, so delightful, so supportive of my wish to create. It’s made me a believer of how to live a happy life.

Just a few more notes . . . I promise you, the hard part is over. The next few weeks will be fun.

• The final week of my “Hana Hou: Then & Now” fine art show with co-exhibitor Tamsen Fox at Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden. We just enjoy more visitors and sales through Nov. 29, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Then we uninstall. If you live on O‘ahu, I hope you will have time to see it.

• Several music gigs singing Christmas music to various audiences around town. Rehearsals with the choir are pau (finished). Now we just perform and enjoy.

• The kids and grandkids—Miss Marvelous and her younger sister who turns 2 this week—will be home from Italy for December and through the New Year! That will be fun. All grandparents can relate to that! This past weekend DH set up the toddler’s bed. We can hardly wait to greet them Hawaiian style with lei.

• Teaching: I’ve found a new classroom that can accommodate more students in my future art and Reiki classes. Excited to make the final arrangements soon. Meanwhile, a wreath-making workshop led by Yours Truly is already scheduled for Dec. 14 in Kāneʻohe. Let me know if you want to attend!

• Eleven, I just counted 11, celebrations and parties are logged on the remaining calendar for 2013 so far. How fortunate. I look forward to socializing with my relatives and friends, young and older, from near and far, from school days to my newest relationships.

You see, why work when we can play? Let’s take a little rest. We are so lucky and so blessed. I am very grateful.

Copyright 2013 Rebekah Luke

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Pictures of an exhibition

3 11 2013

Thank you — friends, supporters, studio fans, and patrons — from the bottom of my heart. These are a few images of yesterday’s enjoyable opening day of “Hana Hou: Then & Now” at Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden.

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Panorama Hana Hou

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In my back yard it’s swingy and jazzy

1 07 2013
Jazz guitarist and bass player Robert, who is the proprietor of Uncle Bobo's BBQ restaurant in Kaaawa

Jazz guitarist and bass player Robert, who is the proprietor of Uncle Bobo’s restaurant in Kaaawa. (Rebekah Luke photo)

Sometimes it takes an effort by someone in the community to remind us how very privileged we are to live and work in Kaaawa. And to remind us there are attractions right in front of us in our own back yard.

This past Sunday afternoon it was by Robert and Keiko of Uncle Bobo’s Smoked BBQ restaurant, who organized a 19-piece big band as well as a jazz guitarist from Japan to play for  residents and guests for free.

What a show! The review from Sunway and Joerg, the professional musicians and music producer in my party, was that this big band could fill any room with an appreciative audience. No doubt our town would welcome that kind of event at least quarterly, and it would be good business for Uncle Bobo’s.

BBQ al fresco and big band sounds at Uncle Bobo's

Smoked BBQ al fresco and big band sounds at Uncle Bobo’s. (Rebekah Luke photo)

I live in the middle of the Pacific in a comparatively rural (not urban) neighborhood on the windward side of Oahu island. It’s a 20- to 25-minute car ride to the nearest supermarket, and 45-55 minutes to reach Honolulu or Kailua in the middle of the day. Most everyone who lives in Kaaawa has a long commute to somewhere several times a week.

It’s “far,” by island standards.  But we love it because it’s what we call country. Kaaawa’s stunning mountain and ocean scenery and proximity to the base camp of TV shows or movies shot in Hawaii make it a favorite choice for location managers of the movie industry.

Low tide at Kaaawa

Low tide at Kaaawa

We like the quality of life. Kids play outside, they walk or bicycle to school, roosters crow, dogs bark, folks fish and grow food, and we play music on the back porch. You can walk along an empty beach or on the back roads, and everyone you pass will say hello. It’s mostly local families, not visitors, who use the park and beaches on the weekends.

For services, our town has a public school, a post office, a gas station, a 7-Eleven, a fire station, an EMS station, beach parks with restrooms, and Uncle Bobo’s—a diner that’s had the longest run in all of my nearly 30 years here.

Above all we are thankful for the gift of community.

Yesterday it was happening. People came from all over. Uncle Bobo’s put up tents for shade, and the kitchen was hopping with non-stop orders. There were music stands with Uncle Bobo’s logo on it, big band style. We listened to long sets while munching on brisket or pork ribs or Kualoa Ranch beef burgers with avocado. Tent campers packed Swanzy Beach Park across the street, more so than most weekends, but amazingly people managed to find parking, and there was plenty of toilet paper in the women’s restroom at the park for the crowd.

We watched the world go by on Kamehameha Highway. I saw a limo pull up and a parade of old Fifties cars. Motorcycle clubs too. My neighbor and friend Andrea tirelessly circulated a petition to “keep the country country.” I bet she collected a lot of signatures. I met Lisa, all grown up now, who lived in our house as a girl; she introduced herself to me. Nora who played piano for our glee club for a while said “hi” and that she was playing piano in the band earlier. Wow, they sounded great! Thank you, Uncle Bobo’s!

Pretty soon it was time for my cousins and friends to walk back to the studio, and Sue regretted not bringing her camera, because she wanted to capture the majesty of the mountains—the ones that are right in my back yard.

The view of Makaua Valley and mountains at Kaaawa from Swanzy Beach Park

The view of Makaua Valley and mountains at Kaaawa from Swanzy Beach Park. (Rebekah Luke photo)

Copyright 2013 Rebekah Luke

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Happy birthday, Miss Marvelous!

7 05 2013

Ayla turns 4 today. I am her Popo. Happy Birthday and Hau‘oli Lā Hānau to a beautiful princess! Buona Giornata! I love you very much!
Princess Ayla ©2013 Rebekah Luke


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Tofu Acres

20 04 2013

On the spur of the moment Becky invited me to go with her and Susan to visit Leigh on Hawai‘i island last weekend. I didn’t have to think twice. Of course! We hadn’t seen Leigh in a few years . . .

Leigh’s life partner Diana told me, when I visited before she died, that she planted every day. The evidence shows now with all manner of fruits, vegetables, and flowers flourishing on the 12 acres of the farm called Tofu Acres.

As the plaque stuck in a rusty planter barrel reads, “The kiss of the sun for pardon / The song of the birds for mirth / One is nearer good heart in a garden / than anywhere else on earth.”

Citrus, papaya, banana, poha berry, guava, taro, chayote, kitchen herbs, and strawberries mingle with gardenia, cigar flower, hibiscus, ginger, plumeria, anthuriums, orchids, and roses. Hāpuʻu tree ferns, ʻōhiʻa lehua, and waiawī of the neighboring ʻŌlaʻa Rain Forest remain rooted at the borders. All embrace two small wooden cottages that Smiley built.

. . . Becky and Leigh were my first two Lanihuli-Drive-apartment roommates, one after the other, in college. We were all journalism majors at the University of Hawai‘i in the late Sixties and started our careers writing the daily news. Leigh is still a reporter, Becky became an attorney, and here I am the blogging fool. Susan latched on to us sometime along the way.

Leigh didn’t have a choice in the matter. We three descended on her private world, inviting ourselves to spend Saturday night and all-day Sunday. Just us girls. For a few hours, time stood still . . .

Tofu Acres sits between Mountain View and Glenwood on the way to Volcano.  It is home to 9 dogs, 5 cats, 1 black pig, 1 goat, 1 mynah bird, 7 ducks, about 40 chickens, and Leigh—who rescued most of the animals and has names for all except some of the chickens.

Did I mention fresh farm eggs for breakfast?! That’s what we woke up to after an evening of pathetic Scrabble and reminiscing. You know, journalists and their words are almost as bad as linguists. The romantic glow of antique lamps was no help as we ladies fumbled for our reading glasses. From the four rocking chairs we moved the game to the brighter-lighted big beds, serenaded loudly by the unmistakable coqui frogs into the night.

Before Leigh had shown us the supply of bottled drinking water, I took some meds with water from the tap, to her obvious concern. “It’s okay, isn’t it?” I asked. She said she never thought to tell us city folk. At that elevation she’s on rain catchment. “I don’t know,” she replied still concerned, “I’ve just always drunk bottled water. I’m sure it’s okay, it must be okay.” Did she brush her teeth with it? “No.” Not knowing what to do, in sympathy she filled a tumbler half full of tap water and downed it. That’s my friend Leigh.

The after-breakfast routine is to greet and feed all the animals and gather more eggs. That takes some time on Tofu Acres. It’s a bright and sunny morning. Smiley has emerged respectfully from his house trailer parked recently in Leigh’s driveway, announcing he’s washed the dogs and picked up some supplies.

He’s assembled a potting shelter down the way, and this morning he’s tending systematically to new tomato seedlings. He’s a kind, sweet man, a wonderful friend who appears when you need him the most. Leigh told us that when Diana died, Smiley prepared the land for Diana’s crypt in the pouring rain (you’re allowed to be buried at home with the proper permits). When some lōlō showed up with Leigh’s car after it disappeared for a few days, Smiley was there to greet it and advised Leigh to call the cops.

As the poignant story unfolds, we learn from Leigh that Smiley’s wife is ill, and that he and their son take turns caring for her. Smiley comes to Tofu Acres for respite.

Before heading out for the day to explore some property, to go shopping, and to visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park where we bought our senior passes for life—yay, age has its privileges!—we went to see where Diana rests peacefully in a lovely setting.

Diana'sCrypt

 . . . Of course we roomies know the next chapter of the story, even though dear Leigh doesn’t.

True friendship is clairvoyant. Cultivate your friendship like a garden and hold it close to your heart. Be kind and take care of each other, the animals, and the land, for we are One.

Roomies at Halemaumau. I didn’t get the red-sandals memo.

Copyright 2013 Rebekah Luke

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Kudos and thanks to my foodie friends Linda and Lori

4 03 2013

Two women I am lucky to have as friends each reached a milestone in their lives and careers in the past few days, and today’s post honors them. Both happen to be foodies. Both have Hakka “blood,” as do I.

Author Linda Lau Anusasananan’s The Hakka Cookbook received the Best Chinese Cuisine Cookbook in the World for 2012 award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards ceremony in Paris. It’s a crowning achievement following a full career as a food editor at Sunset magazine, where we met, and many years researching around the world the “cuisine” (if you can call it that) of her ancestral Hakka roots.

Linda Lau Anusasananan

Linda Lau Anusasananan

Hakka Chinese people descend from Han people who emigrated and still emigrate from their original land for a variety of reasons. Where they ended up in the world—in China it was mostly in the south in an area known as Meixian—they were not the first, therefore were known as “guest people” who did not get the best land. They were farmers, and their food was humble and of peasants. The book’s subtitle “Soul Food from Around the World” announces the good eats the reader can learn to make from the recipes Linda tested and fine tuned for the home cook. I guarantee they will work for you.

This is what Hakka families everywhere have looked for. The recipes show how regional cuisine influences basic Hakka food. Linda’s work fills a cultural need as well as explains what “Hakka” is with added stories and historical notes. Ultimately, it is a universal story about food, families everywhere, and how the world has gotten smaller.

Lori A. Wong

Lori A. Wong

When I left the magazine test kitchens in Menlo Park, California, those many years ago, Linda became the person I would call when I had a question about food science. Then I met Lori on my island.

This week Lori A. Wong, with her mother Marian, closed Byron’s Drive-In, the last remaining of their 17 or 18—it’s easy to lose count—restaurants on Oahu, ending 58 years of feeding islanders. Old-timers will remember Leon’s tavern, Andy’s Drive-In in Kailua, Orson’s Restaurant, Orson’s Bourbon House, Wong’s Okazu-ya, The Chowder House, Byron II, Andrew’s, Coral Reef, The Chinese Chuckwagon, Fishmonger’s Wife, Oinks, Big Ed’s, Andy’s Ebb Tide, The Little Red Hen, Henny Penny Chicken, Orson’s Chowderette, and The Seafood Emporium.

The landlord is planning to redevelop the land near Honolulu airport where you could get a good meal before boarding your plane. On Feb. 28 it was bye-bye Byron’s Drive-In. The rummage sale starts tomorrow, March 5, through Friday in the parking lot. Everything must go.

Now that you know of the Wong Family restaurant empire, and as you read the list above, most started by Lori’s father Andy Y. Y. Wong who died in 1985, and others by Lori and her mom, you are probably thinking, “They owned that restaurant, too?!”

Yup, and Lori’s first thought is that they had a really good run and that the restaurant business is pau (finished, over).

I became acquainted with Lori through our mutual Reiki teacher and friend Alice Anne Parker. Both Lori and Alice Anne certified me as a Reiki Master. Lori is a healer and was working with hospice patients. Over time I figured out Lori was a foodie. She’s taught in the Food Service department at Kapiolani Community College and now teaches cooking to middle school students at Punahou during the summer. She free lances as a food and beverage consultant.

She loves to try new restaurants with friends—as does Linda (the more dishes foodies can taste and disect, the better; lucky for me), but she rarely mentioned her family’s restaurant empire. But now that it seems to have ended, the word’s out. Bob Sigall wrote a nice column in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Both Linda and Lori deserve a crown and a long rest, but I doubt they will rest on their laurels. These are my friends for a lifetime.

Copyright 2013 Rebekah Luke

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The feeling of a red-letter day

4 02 2013

When I have a red-letter day, like Saturday was, I try to try to savor and remember the feeling. It’s sweet incentive for living and loving life to the fullest. Then I may be open to welcome the next time. Because the feeling is amazing.

To that end, I’ve decided to turn over another leaf by resisting the urge first thing in the morning to reach for an electronic device to see what happened overnight while I was sleeping. I will wait until after I practice tai chi—currently the saber set, breakfast without the TV news or the sound of a ball game, and a walk with the dogs on the beach. I will eat healthy foods, exercise, and meditate.

Saturday began with three neighborhood girls and one boy arriving at the studio at 8 a.m. for their first art class with Aunty Rebekah. I am offering the same basics to youth as to my adult Bucket List painting students: ball, cube, cylinder, and cone. The kids were great and kept me on my toes. It was nice to have 10-year-old-boy energy in the studio.

His mother wondered if perhaps he wouldn’t like the class if he was the only boy. For the exercise of drawing a ball, Jefferson filled a balloon with water and inflated it. Of course, the balloon eventually popped, but we agreed beforehand he would have to clean it up. I think he likes the girls.

A couple of the kids hadn’t eaten breakfast, so I’m glad I had two oranges in the set. When I cut them into slices to show ellipses, their eyes grew wide with appetite, and we all had a refreshing snack. The dogs Alice Brown and Pua were in heaven during recess with all the attention. Later, to get the kids to finish their drawings, I brought out some cones—sugar cones that DH thoughtfully bought when he saw me searching for a cone shape for the lesson—and a carton of ice cream.

“What is this?” I asked. They shouted, “Cone!” “And what is this?” I followed, scooping out vanilla. “Ball!”  Mission accomplished. 😉

Then I went to play at the annual Punahou Carnival. It’s the famous fund-raising event of my alma mater where I perform with the Punahou Alumni Glee Club, sometimes provide paintings for the Art Gallery, and work in a booth with my classmates. Punahou School is super organized and makes money for the student financial aid program—how my parents could afford Punahou for me—by getting the junior class, their parents, and the alumni to donate goods and volunteer their labor.

I adore the camaraderie of the glee club, not to mention the chance to sing and dance. We rehearse weekly, and our director is skillful at getting our choir to peak for our performances. We sounded good and had an enjoyable time with the music.

The Class of ’67 . . . what can I say, except that we are tight. For example, Christine flew in from Arizona just to help serve laulaus for 3 hours. Every year we rendezvous at the Carnival to see each other briefly, hear our classmate Henry Kapono Kaaihue entertain in the cafeteria, and then go our separate ways again. It’s so nice to see everyone.

That would have been plenty, but the surprising joy of the day was the sale of my paintings by the Art Gallery! It was exciting! I painted the scene of the Ko‘olau Mountains from the spot where I go often with my painting group. It began on a spectacular clear day with hardly any clouds to hide the top ridge. The panorama was breathtaking, and I decided to turn it into a diptych of two horizontal paintings side by side.

“Lanihuli Diptych” is my most recent art work. I didn’t plan on taking anything to the Carnival because I’d not been successful in sales any previous years there. But my glee sister Tamson Fox, a full-time fine artist, reminded me in January the event was coming up. I’m so grateful to her for changing my mind.

Still giddy with delight and with my new earnings burning a hole in my pocket, I headed to the Diamond Head end of the midway and bought myself a present—a bling-y Pāʻani top with a night-blooming cereus flower.

DH and I hung out to catch my cousin Sunway’s performance with her band before it was time to go home. We negotiated with the “O” men in the produce tent over the script price for the avocados. They let us keep enough to buy one malasada doughnut each for the ride home. Yummy sugary goodness. Never mind the resolution to eat healthy. I’m celebrating!

It was the perfect ending to my amazing red-letter day.

Me and my glee sisters perform at the Carnival. (Photo by Joyce Pavlis)

Me and my glee sisters perform at the Carnival. (Photo by Joyce Pavlis)

Members of the Class of 1967 in a publicity shot with classmate and music recording artist Henry Kapono Kaaihue.

Members of the Class of 1967 in a publicity shot with classmate and music recording artist Henry Kapono Kaaihue. Which one looks like the star? (Photo courtesy of Carlyn Tani, Punahou Bulletin)

Lanihuli Diptypch, left panel

Lanihuli Diptych, left panel, sold!

Lanihuli Diptych, right panel

Lanihuli Diptych, right panel, sold!

Copyright 2013 Rebekah Luke

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