• Next time, let me sleep • Small gift, given in love • Finish the job • South Shore complaining Next time, let me sleep Friends calling at 2 a.m., neighbors knocking on doors at 4, a.m., “get out there’s
• Next time, let me sleep • Small gift, given in love • Finish the job • South Shore complaining
Next time, let me sleep
Friends calling at 2 a.m., neighbors knocking on doors at 4, a.m., “get out there’s a tsunami coming,” and cops evacuating sea level homes to higher grounds.
All the evacuees decided to come to where I live as a safe place to hide out, since I have an ocean view upon a hill overlooking the ocean, over 300 cars were literally parked in my backyard, it looked like a tailgate party, people setting up tents and partying with pizza, beer, poke and many other local grindz in hopes of viewing a mass destructive tidal wave as cheap entertainment during this recession.
Finally at 11 a.m., the ETA for the tidal wave, the news anchors start saying that maybe the tidal wave is behind schedule and this could take another couple days, stay tuned to this station and it’s sponsors for more details. Cha ching cha ching.
Finally, Mayor Bernard Carvalho around 2:15 p.m. decided to lift the tidal wave watch, to the dismay of every news anchor person in the state of Hawai‘i.
I can’t knock it, it was a good dress rehearsal, a fire drill so to speak, for the future, which is bound to carry some more disasters.
The tsunami watch is over, it was media overkill but still got the adrenaline going in this old fart, and at least most everyone got to talk story with their neighbors.
All in all a very tiring day, so next time please let me sleep when a tsunami threat comes our way.
James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a
Small gift, given in love
Each morning, after dropping my daughter off at Kapa‘a High School, I drive to “The Cannery” on Kawaihau Road to pickup a newspaper.
One day last week, I would enter The Cannery. A memorial was placed in honor of Clara Kaneshiro. Although I did not know Clara, personally, I felt I knew her, and instantly, upon my first meeting and “talk story” with Clara. When I realized the passing of Clara, I felt an instant loss.
In the passing 10 years, I have hand sewn comfort pillows for children who may have lost a love one, or may have been hurt. The process of creating these pieces is guided by Maori and Yup’ik custom.
The sewing is done by hand, quietly, with deliberate intention, in reverence, and in honor of children who may have gone before. The process speaks to the spirit of the children, and the tending to these spirits in this act of hand sewing.
Upon this day of realizing Clara’s passing, I would go home, and begin to quietly sew. It was in order.
What I knew of Clara was her warm and sweet spirit. Sometimes, in generosity, Clara would give me small cup cakes to give to my daughter. Clara would have noticed, on the security camera, that my daughter would be waiting in the car.
When I would arrive to my car where my daughter waited, I stated in Maori language, “Iti noa na te aroha.” This means, “Small gift, given in love.” This speaks to Clara’s own spirit, is my belief.
Those who are grieving the loss of Clara, please know that you are in my prayers and thoughts. Clara touched my family’s life; we, too, miss her. A hakoa he iti, he pounama.
This translates from Maori to English, “although small, it is precious.” This speaks to the many kind acts Clara extended to my family — a family who Clara treated as though her own.
Deborah Morel, Kapa‘a
Finish the job
It has been nearly 2 years since several magnificent monkeypod trees were chopped off at their bases in the Koloa Post Office parking lot in preparation for a new shopping center that is yet to be built.
I do not consider myself a “tree-hugger,” nor am I anti-development. In fact, I have a deep appreciation for the importance of reasonable real estate development to our island economy.
But, I cannot understand, nor appreciate the result of this premature decision. Can someone explain why it was necessary to destroy those trees so soon, leaving the parking area looking like a third-world, unkempt disgrace? How long will we have to maneuver around the dangerous, ugly remnants of the tree stumps and orange construction cones?
Now that it has been done, how about doing the right thing and finish the job?
Ellen O’Connell, Koloa
South Shore complaining
I can’t believe that I’m actually writing a letter to the Forum, but the letter from the Koloa resident that is upset with the Police Department and their enforcement efforts really got to me. (“South Shore under siege,” Letters, March 5)
Those officers on the South Shore are doing an excellent job in keeping the roads safe. Maybe if the people driving through the South Shore followed the rules of the road, you wouldn’t have to see the enforcement efforts.
Why is it that the people from the South and North Shores are the ones always complaining about enforcement?
Gerald Rapozo, Lihu‘e
