The gift of time

14 01 2011

My expansive morning — “expansiveness” is my word for 2011 — brought some surprises to what otherwise would have been ordinary. It started early when I recalled a pleasant dream of a stranger in a theater who knew my name.

It has been awhile since I’ve actively recalled my dreams. When I awoke I wondered if it was my teacher Alice Anne connecting with me energetically to prepare for her time travel meditation tonight.*

Fridays are my scheduled Reiki days, but with no appointments and a promising sunny sky I went to the Pohai Nani pool for aqua exercise at 8.

In 2006 (!) I bought a punch card of x number of classes that I stopped using when I took a full-time job. I love the deep water exercise class with the “Aqua Jogger” buoyancy belt and the cordial, caring staff. They heat the swimming pool to 86-89 degrees. If it is cooler than that on the morning of class, the instructor phones to say class cancelled.

Last November, I was surprised to learn that the card was still honored, but only until today. A new schedule of classes and fees for seniors starts on the 24th. Between now and then I have the gift of time to choose which class to sign up for.

On the way home I stopped at the bank to cash a check, presenting my bank ID card. The teller asked to see a picture ID as well, and when I showed it she asked for yet another picture ID. Why? My driver’s license expired on the 9th, my birthday! Thank you so much for pointing that out, I said. After confirming my signature with the superviser, she accepted the check.

I doubled back to Satellite City Hall in Kaneohe to renew my license, getting my face all prettied up for my photo. I was wearing a plain black t-shirt, and my hair—I just got out of the pool! A man stood puzzled outside the front door that had a Closed sign on it. He was reading the many messages taped to the window.

Is there anything that tells why the office is closed today? I asked. “Furlough Friday,” he mumbled, pointing to a calendar. The partial solution for overcoming Honolulu’s budget shortfall is to put government workers on furlough.

The two of us scrutinized the calendar and noticed that the office will be closed on Monday too: Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Guess I’m driving without a license until the 18th, then.

I stopped at nearby Foodland to pick up a few groceries. It’s not my usual place to shop, but I didn’t want to get in and out of the car anymore. The checker asked for my own reusable bag. It’s the first time a store asked me that. Luckily, I did have a bag at the bottom of my purse.

The checker explained, starting next year no longer will Foodland be providing plastic grocery bags. Customers will need to bring their own. (The islands of Maui and Kauai have done away with plastic bags already.) Next year: 2012? Yes, she said. Good, I thought. I have a year to figure out what to do with my dog’s poop.

* Tonight I’m attending a New Year’s guided group meditation led by my teacher Alice Anne Parker. Alice Anne, a professional psychic, takes her students on a journey into the future for a look at their lives to come. In general, it’s usually “It’s going to be okay.” People of all levels of awareness have attended in the past and reported their visions. Very interesting! Perhaps I’ll see you visiting me here at Rebekah’s Studio.

Copyright 2011 Rebekah Luke




Waterfalls and the wet season

13 01 2011

I can see three waterfalls from the studio this morning when normally there are none. The stream is running fiercely when normally it is dry. It’s ho‘oilo, the wet season, all right!

The lightning flashed as I drove home from a meeting in Kahana Valley last night. I covered Alice Brown with a blanket to minimize the agitation she experiences from loud thunder. DH and I battened down the hatches.

What was most irritating was a sudden bloom of mosquitos, just when I was about to fall asleep for the night. I don’t know where they came from—with all the water, could be anywhere—but we were under attack! Ack! After DH appeared with the insecticide in the bedroom, Alice Brown and I took a sleeping bag and moved to the sofa downstairs. The price of paradise.

It’s my painting day, and the worse of the inclement weather is supposed to have passed and moved down the island chain, so I’m thinking of heading out. Then again . . .

Deep in the valley—a double falls

When this third falls runs, it means there's a lot of water coming down on Oahu

Looking downstream from the studio

Copyright 2011 Rebekah Luke




A birthday ritual to remember

9 01 2011

Just a bit of silliness here. Today’s my birthday. Some girlfriends toasted me last night, and this morning some other girlfriends took me out for brunch and a movie. My car is in the repair shop, so they picked me up in a yellow Mustang convertible and whisked me to Boots & Kimo’s restaurant in Kailua. Gorgeous day in paradise, no clouds in the sky. Lots of presents—things I wouldn’t get for myself—like these very cool birthday glasses.


Boots & Kimo’s Homestyle Kitchen is very popular with local people and visitors alike; we waited an hour for a table. But the wait staff made up for it by bringing the banana macadamia nut pancakes with a birthday candle and singing Happy Birthday!

After stuffing ourselves with omelets we went to see the movie “Country Strong.” It had good songs, some new acting-and-singing talent and parts that made me cry. Checked in with my Facebook news feed to see many birthday wishes sent my way. 😉

This evening DH and I ate hamburgers with Miss Marvelous and her mom. Miss Marvelous, now 20-months, surprised us by saying “Alice Brown” instead of just “Brown,” referring to the mutt on the masthead of Rebekah’s Studio. No complaints on this very fine birthday. Thanks, everybody, for celebrating with me.

Copyright 2011 Rebekah Luke




Aloha Uncle Walter and Mr. Bowers

8 01 2011

I am mourning and celebrating the lives of two greats today:

Walter Kau, wonderful friend to my mother’s family, died on Dec. 20, 2010.

“Uncle” Walter was a very dapper fellow with so much talent, impeccable taste, friendship, love and light. Really a wonderful man. He taught my mother organ. I remember the stage musicals he played for and directed. I remember the dinners he cooked for my aunties and uncles on Monday nights in Kailua, and I remember the day he wrote a check for my oil painting — I think he was my first customer — straight out of the trunk of my car. What an honor! I remember bumping into him not too long ago down at Ward Center and he told me he was buying new shoes. For dancing, no doubt! He was a great friend of our family. His obituary (click on his name above) recalls just the headlines of his full life.

Francis “Miki” Bowers, long-time teacher and friend of Punahou School, passed on New Year’s Day. My contemporaries called him Mister Bowers from the time he was their math teacher. Later our alumni class made malasadas for Carnival under his watchful supervision until we were banned for making non-regulation sizes and shapes. Most recently I had the pleasure of singing in the alumni glee club with Miki, who played ukulele and anchored our group sound. Sometimes he was the entire bass section. He was a trouper. In failing health, he attended last month in wheelchair with oxygen tank to perform at our last Christmas gig of the season.

Punahou president James Scott sent out to the school community a message that I quote, in part,

“It is with great sadness that I share the passing of Dr. Francis “Miki” A. I. Bowers  . . . on January 1, 2011.  Miki was our beloved Academy math faculty who retired in 1998 with 41 years of service.

“A 1945 Punahou graduate, Miki lettered in football and swimming and was student body president his senior year, the same year John Fox started as President.

“In his 41 years at Punahou, Dr. Bowers taught every math course offered, served as department chair for 12 years, supervised Punahou’s SAT testing program for 25 years, and revolutionized math instruction by creating a highly successful AP Calculus program.  He also coached swimming, water polo and volleyball.

“In 1957 Miki inaugurated the famous Carnival malasada booth and was fondly known as “Mr. Malasada.”  For over 50 years he worked with student, parent and alumni volunteers to ensure that fresh, hot, and uniform sized malasadas kept up with demand.

“In 1999, Miki was awarded the “O” in Life by the Punahou Alumni Association, its highest award to an alumnus – recognizing outstanding continuing service to Punahou and Hawai‘i that exemplifies the school’s tradition, spirit, and ideals.

“Proud of his Hawaiian heritage and raised in a home filled with Hawaiian music, Miki was known for his booming bass voice.  In the mid-1960s, he had a Sunday night television show called “Sing Along with Miki”, a live, call-in request format.  Miki also was an active member of the Punahou Alumni Glee Club and the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club where he was a Director and a member of their choral group.

“Miki leaves Punahou a legacy of excellence and reminds all of us to, “Take charge of your own education, aim high, and don’t be discouraged.”

Aloha dear friends. Mahalo nui. You gave us so much. A hui hou.

Copyright 2011 Rebekah Luke




Burning the money!

1 01 2011

Welcoming the New Year and a New Decade. Cheers! from Kaaawa.





New Year’s Eve 2010

31 12 2010

Home is the safest and most comfortable place for me on New Year’s Eve. I’m watching and listening to the New York Philharmonic play “The Nutcracker Suite” on PBS, Live from Lincoln Center.  Alice Brown is doped up and hiding under a blanket on DH’s lap. At least she is not trembling from the boom-booms,  pops, whistles and crackles of the fireworks that started on Christmas Eve and are building up to a crescendo tonight. Less than a couple more hours until 2011!

Kathryn's bouquet from her garden—yellow lehua, a vanda orchid, and hibiscus

I had a lovely day with three girlfriends who live here in Kaaawa. Dorothy, Kathryn, and I have birthdays around the same time, and Andrea has tried to get us all to celebrate together year after year. We live less than a mile from each other, one would think it would be easy. Not so with our busy lives.

I took a chance today and invited everyone over for lunch, conversation, and a round of board Scrabble. When our kids were young we used to play almost every Sunday at the beach. Well, they made time and came over! Dorothy brought champagne, Andrea brought pomegranate juice, and Kathryn brought her fried chicken, a lovely bouquet of flowers from her garden, and her Angel Cards.

I fixed a salad vinaigrette of Manoa lettuce, watercress, fennel, orange, and dried cranberries; turkey sandwiches, and my favorite lemon cheesecake. We played one game, drank up the champagne, then everybody left to do their New Year’s Eve thing.

Our thing was to spend a gift certificate for dinner at Haleiwa Joe’s with the rest of Miss Marvelous’s family (Mom, Dad, and Tutu) and my first college roommate Becky and her niece Katie, in town from New York. Becky gave me a box of Sparklers.

Alice Brown’s happiness at seeing DH and I arrive home must have temporarily overrode the benefits of the tranquilizer we gave her before we left, for she greeted us jumping up and wagging her tail as usual — so joyful!

I closed the windows, not wanting the smoke from the firecrackers to trigger my asthma. I opened a box of Island Princess Mele Macs and sat down to reflect on the end of the year and a decade. I’m so interested in seeing what we will all create in 2011! The Angel Card I pulled was “expansiveness.” I like that notion.

Well, I think I’ll take my Sparkler’s and champagne down the road and say Happy New Year to the neighbors. They were already burning the money as we drove back from dinner. (A ban on fireworks in the State of Hawaii takes effect on Jan. 2, so a lot of people are taking advantage of the last chance to burn them legally. Firecrackers will be regulated by permit.)

As the clock clicks toward midnight, I wish all of you every happiness, love, light, and gratitude! This is my last post for 2010. I hope you will continue to visit Rebekah’s Studio in the new year. All the same characters will be here, but we’ll have new experiences to share. I’d love to hear from you. ~ Rebekah

Copyright 2010 Rebekah Luke




The right light makes all the difference

28 12 2010

The outer shade casts attractive warm indoor light

It’s a beautiful light. And it makes all the difference. This antique leaded and metal slag stained glass chandelier makes me happy! DH found it on eBay and offered the winning bid for it. He rebuilt the fixture and we hung it yesterday afternoon. Literally years of marital discussion has resulted in a solution that we both love. But the journey wasn’t easy.

The clear glass bauble in the center captures our hearts

The original fixture was a hanging white ball placed in such a way that made it difficult to center a dining table beneath it. It illuminated the space but I didn’t care for the quality of light. Every time DH turned it on, I turned it off. I hated it. One day it didn’t light at all, and the reason wasn’t a burned-out bulb.

I tried to ignore the eyesore while DH offered alternatives. He is into eco- and energy-efficient lighting, while I am partial to the old-fashioned and energy-hoggy incandescent types. At nighttime, the whole of our living space is lighted with a seriously eclectic collection of table lamps, from heirlooms to silent auction prizes to Ross store bargains.

DH sometimes forgets that as a trained artist and photographer, I’m sensitive to the quality of light. Quality of light has to do with color, intensity, direction, and diffusion—for example. It’s part of noticing everything that makes up the scene visually. I’m not a perfectionist anymore, but I still try for good design. I’ll try darn hard to omit anything that hurts my eyes, gives me a headache or makes me feel unbalanced!

For a replacement, I envisioned a new Tiffany-style hanging fixture that could be used for both dining and reading. DH wasn’t sure. He wanted Japanese/Mission/Craft, something like that.

I have to confess: studio lighting was not my strong suit in art school. I learned about lighting, but it was a challenge for me to execute it. And obviously, after 25 years, the part of our little dwelling that suffers in design most is how to light the space.

DH, who was now unhappy with the non-working ball fixture, agreed that we could consult with a lighting/interior-design professional to help. We did, they came, and DH was wooed into a modern, high-tech solution. I have to credit him for not purchasing on impulse. It did not matter either how much I liked the solution or not. After looking at the estimates for materials and labor, we understood, sadly, that it simply was not affordable, a fact we both accepted.

I let the idea go. DH went back to “recycled” mode and started searching on eBay. How about this? No. Well then, what about this one? Nuh-uh. Oh, he was patient! Finally he showed me the pictures of a lamp that seemed to “go” with the house. It was old, but in good shape and pretty. It would be a design repeat of a few other pieces of art glass we had. And the caramel, chocolate, and orange in the shade picked up on existing colors in the room. Okay! I said.

And the rest is history.

Copyright 2010 Rebekah Luke