I arrived back to Kauaʻi just before the long weekend and moved into a new rental house in Waimea. Weather here is hot as it was in Tokyo, but here with the trade winds blowing, while the sun is more intense it feels quite comfortable.
Honolulu airport was quite crowded, according to the airport staff its mostly Hawaii residents heading off to the mainland with the Memorial Day weekend, the end of the academic school year here. My first time to take the flight back here from Japan, its a little different no only in that the time difference is a little less but it departs at midnight out of Tokyo Haneda airport, arriving around noon into Honolulu.
Iʻve been taking it easy the first couple of days and getting a little extra sleep adjusting to the time zone, not really doing much, dropping by to visit friends and eating simply. I like this rental house a lot - it deserves a full write up (coming soon) - for now hereʻs a photo from the back lanai looking east across the lower part of the Waimea Valley.
On the way to the airport today I finally got to the Hanama'ulu Cafe for lunch. Since first visiting Kaua'i this place has been on the short list of restaurants I wanted to try and for one reason or another today for the first time I got there, and it was delicious.
Located in Hanama'ulu, a small town along the highway just outside Lihue on the way to the east shore. The cafe is only open for lunch and dinner, and being so close to Lihue (the "big city" here) it was never the right time or I was passing through on the way somewhere else. Then during the winter the place next door (the buildings were attached) burned down closing them for a good long while.
The cafe specializes in Japanese and Chinese food with sushi available at dinner (only). Today I had the fish tempura lunch plate - rice, tsukemono, and fish and vegetables nicely fried in batter with dipping sauce.
Will have to check it out for dinner before long. Reservations seem to be needed: while I was there I heard them taking dinner reservations more than once.
The next two weeks I will be off island to Japan visiting family and friends so the blog will take a rest, perhaps Iʻll start a Japan blog...
This morning I walked the dark sand beach of Waimea and out the fishing pier where I took this shot on the right looking back on the town.
Then I walked up the hill to visit the neighborhood we will be in with our first rental house and back through the town, circling back to the inn.
This morning was an exceptionally clear view of Niʻihau with nice morning light on the bluffs to the left (though the photos don't do it justice).
I've been busy the past few days - though not that busy really - getting a P O Box, putting most my things that I have on the island into storage, and errands like that in preparation for the trip.
If you've been following along, pardon the slight interruption and hope you will return two weeks hence. Sayonara until then.
The distinctive mountains pictured above dominate the mauka views north of Anahola where I have been staying. Can you see the hole in the mountain? From the tall tree in the foreground look up to the "valley" to the right of the sharpest peak, and in the shadows a little down and to the right you should see a point of light where the sky shows through. Thereʻs a blowup below to make it easier.
Not that many years ago the hole was much bigger but a heavy storm broke loose rocks and debris that have largely but not completely filled it in. Now you have to be at a certain angle to get a good view of the hole - I think there is one place along the highway where you can see it. Definitely you can see it from Hole in the Mountain Farm. Someone told a story of a daredevil flying a helicopter through the hole back when it was larger but I canʻt confirm that.
I have been staying in a beautiful house right on the beach in Anahola and quickly learned to love the luxury of walking out the back door and into the ocean. The photo at right is the morning view out the back door.
Life here quickly sets a rhythm of early rising, and a wonderful pattern soon develops.
constitutional (the photo below is from my morning walk)
dip in the ocean (once in the morning, one late afternoon)
The walk I like is about two miles - up the road and then back in a very upscale neighborhood of ocean view properties, each residence set on several acres of grassland. Most of the walk is along a grassy strip between the road and fences so can be done barefoot, with ocean views on one side, mountain views on the other.
The beach is a long sandy stretch fairly well protected by some reef and rocky points to either side. Facing east they say that on a clear day you can see Oahu. As is common here the water is quite shallow and you can stand up in many places well off shore but much of bottom is rocky with some coral. There is a good sandy spot for entering the water in the crook of the bay as it bends out the point to the north that I used to go in usually, and another good point of entry in the middle each the mouth of a river. The water is a little murky due to nearby rivers and movement of the water but there are quite a few small fish to be seen in the shallows around the rock and coral. Surprisingly, I rarely saw anyone out there, at most one or two people strolling along the beach.
I recently found mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) in a Kapaʻa natural foods market and indeed it is a treat, often called The Queen of Fruit. Mostly grown in Southeast Asia they do well here and are grown at small scale on the island - I donʻt think there are any orchards here, just a few trees here and there. Mangosteen trees take twelve years to begin to produce fruit which is a natural deterrent to commercial farming - imagine applying for a farm loan to run the farm with your business model showing first income in 2025.
The skin is somewhat hard and covers a spongy outer layer that you break open, revealing the edible aril (a fruity covering of a seed, e.g. pomegranate) inside that is segmented and looks quite a bit like tangerine only white. These segments are the fruit - the covering tastes unpleasant. The taste is indescribable: tropical scented but unique, lightly sweet, with an almost creamy. One larger segment was a little pithier and contained an underdeveloped seed surrounded by stringy fibers much like in a mango (do not crunch up and eat the seed).
Note: fresh mangosteen is hard to find outside of Southeast Asia and canned it can be found in oriental food stores ... However, it is said that the flavor is largely lost by the canning process.
Saturday was an eclectic but interesting day of hiking, sushi, and a music concert. Originally I had more ambitious hiking plans (Powerline trail to be specific, going for the big views) but the sky looked more clouded than anticipated so I scaled back and did Nounou mountain (Sleeping Giant), from the ocean side trail head.
Sleeping Giant is the popular hike to do around Wailua, both locals and visitors. I met a lady on the trail who climbs it regularly three times a week. It's a good workout but not a big deal, just four miles round-trip and less than 1000 feet of altitude. The trail is a little tricky to follow and junctions are not signed but no worries getting too lost up there.
I have done this hike before, but not recently, and it was both shorter than I recalled (I must be in better shape now) as well as the views more spectacular than expected. From the east trail head, a few switchbacks take you up through forested level and the trail opens up and becomes more rocky. Further up the trail joins with those of other approaches and leads to a picnic area.
It was already a hot morning for the climb, but from here on the ridge there was a little breeze making it quite pleasant. The photo above right shows the trail leading to the summit. As I was taking this photo people up there (you can just make out a speck of the little girl's bright yellow shirt to the right side of the dark rock forming the peak, a ways down from the very top) started waving and shouting to take their picture. I met them up the trail, took a better shot at close range, and emailed it to them last night.
At the top it's fairly exposed and requires caution and getting there is a little rocky section best climbed using hands but not difficult at all. I felt rather foolish having taken numerous shots of the view on the way up that were nice but nothing like the view from the summit.
Panorama, to the east
Panorama, to the north
On the way back I stopped at the picnic tables for water and a snack and already there as if waiting for me was a fellow from the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) I had met at the Limahuli garden. Already I am starting to just get used to things like this on the island and stop being surprised how well things somehow just work out. He was hiking with his mother and we shared snacks and I learned that he already had plans to work with me as a volunteer on an upcoming new project. He manages the "reserve" - a large undeveloped area above the garden proper. The NTBG owns the entire Limahuli ahupua'a - a roughly pie shaped area from the mountain top down to the ocean - so its an extensive wild area they have been working for years to restore to native plans. Most of Kaua'i is overgrown extensively with invasive plants, including the many plants the original settlers brought with them. In brief, the volunteer work would be maintenance of these areas being restored, and a core challenge is correctly identifying the weeds from the native (some very rare) plants.
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I had dinner at "Katsu" - the Tip Top Motel cafe transformed into a sushi restaurant - and had heard that it was the best sushi on the island. I haven't done a thorough survey to judge that but I can say it was good. The ambience of the cafe is a little jarring to the sushi aesthetic (the green tea comes in coffee mugs) and there is a little Hawaiian hybridizing (the miso soup comes with a Chinese soup spoon).
The sushi was very good, fresh and well prepared. The Sushi Combination A ($24.95) was a large meal: 7 pieces of sushi, all with good sized tane (piece of fish or what have you); tekka maki (tuna roll) and California roll; with miso soup and green tea.
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I attended a fun concert of hula and Hawaiian music, An Evening with Na Kaholokula at the Kaua'i Community College. Na Kaholokula has been playing music on the local scene for many years, founded by the father of the two front men, Robbie and Kimo Kaholokula, and one son is now in the band. The music they played spanned from early days of the band up to new songs, all very Hawaiian style (hard to define that). Most music with lyrics was accompanied by hula, either individual or group performances. Several guest performances were interwoven throughout: Mike Young (slack key guitar), kumu hula Doric Yaris, and a group of west side kupuna (elders) performed hula seated on stage.
The entire show was filled with aloha spirit and evoked a strong feeling of community. As just one example, after opening with a couple of songs, Mike Young got such an ovation (hana ho) he did another song but in changing the tuning of his guitar one of the strings (new ones, he said) snapped. "Anybody have a guitar I can borrow?" he asked without missing a beat. Kimo Kaholokula marched right out and handed him one of his. Mike said he would play with the standard tuning already set up rather than risk breaking someone else's strings. Robbie, the younger of the Kaholokula brothers served as emcee and announcer throughout and was cleary having a wonderful time. As the kupuna were assembling on stage, clearly some of them needed assistance walking. Robbie offered, "You just take your time getting set, we have the room booked until ten."
Thursday evening Kaua'i Rising held an informational event featuring two lawyers from the CELDF talking about environmental challenges to local communities and their strategies and efforts to support people standing up for their rights. The three hour meeting was quite interesting and felt like about half that much time and was embedded in a cultural context with music and Hawaiian style opening and closings.
Kai Huschke and Ben Price from CELDF spoke at length as lawyers who has worked with numerous communities fighting large corporate interests they do not want exploiting their land - energy extractions such as tracking, strip mining, big agriculture.
They also described how the legal and political systems of this country are stacked heavily against local control. I knew well that in the hierarchy of our legal system federal law is supreme, then state, and finally local law, but the obvious effect of this structure had not in so many words occurred to me: local control is systemically quashed. On top of that there is Dillon's Rule which states that municipal law can only legislate matters expressly granted to it by federal or state law, or enshrined in the charter of the municipality. (For more than the preceding simplified sketch of the legal terrain, see the CELDF site resources with in-depth and authoritative legal information.)
Prospects may sound bleak for a grass roots reversal and in some ways that is so. On Kaua'i the hot button topic is GMO because the former cane sugar fields have been turned over to GMO seed production and experimentation, exploiting the year round growing conditions and plentiful water here. For more info on GMO issues see for example hawaiiseed.org.
John Dumas played a beautiful opening set while people assembled and then closed the meeting with a heartfelt rendition of Amazing Grace [download].
The political and legal strategy is complex and I won't attempt to describe it here much less evaluate options. One key point to understand about this meeting is that where it was crystal clear where the CELDF comes down on these issues, they were equally clear in their role in coming here being to advise options for the community to chose action. In a nutshell, there are three options to choose from:
Do nothing: you get the status quo and all prospects for escalation by corporate interests.
Regulate within the existing legal framework: you may get some concessions but not stop anything, and by doing so legitimize the activity and thereby contribute to its expansion.
Fight back: exactly what forms this takes and what the likelihood for victory may be remains to be seen. The glimmer of hope on the legal front is an argument built on the principles of human rights which government is responsible to protect and serve, not subjugate. Ultimately, it's a moral responsibility as well for the people to protect the land and nature.
In closing I would like to capture some excepts from the meeting out of context that I think best convey the spirit of it.
Big corporations become The Machine of Endless Production of More
One community resisting corporate exploitation was labeled by law enforcement as domestic terrorists, so they had T-shirts made up and wore them proudly.
The legal strategy CELDF helps crafts becomes an organizing strategy.
US law is based on English law which developed to support the process of colonization, so it encourages expansion of empire, wiping out local customs and practices to be replaced with by the new masters of newly acquired territories.
The US constitution is largely a collection of commerce and property law. (The Bill of Rights is separate.)
The CELDF used to carefully review corporate applications for extractive operations and point out all the errors and flaws to get them rejected. However, they soon stopped doing this because the corporations would just make exactly those corrections and refile. In effect, the CELDF realized they were providing corporations free legal services and legitimizing their operations.
Responding to a comment wishing more people were at the event (I'd say it was less than 100), a wonderful auntie stood up and said, "The people who need to be here are here."
Ben Price related a wonderful quote from working with an indigenous community. Upon learning about Dillon's Rule that municipalities are completely subject to federal and state control, an older Native American in attendance said, "So municipalities are the white man's reservation ... only he doesn't even know he's on a reservation, too."
Monico's Taqueria is one of those rare restaurants that you walk in and right away you know that everything on the menu is going to be good. And everything I had was. The place is very clean, the staff is friendly in a genuine way, even the cooks say hello from the kitchen.
Naturally, the meal begins with chips and salsa. The chips are almost potato-chip-thin and crispy without being oily. You get two kinds of salsa: a chunky mild tomato pico de gallo and a green chili sauce.
The fresh fish today was ahi so I had the fish tacos. Each taco is two steamed small corn tortillas with a well grilled piece of fish covered in shredded cabbage, a little sliced bell pepper, and drizzled with a creamy jalapeño sauce. On the side: rice and stewed beans. As I said, everything was great.
Today I had planned to go to the beach, up until 10:30pm last night that is when a friend here forwarded me email about a Kaua'i Rising action to petition the county council at a public meeting this morning to adopt a Kaua'i Food Bill of Rights. Clearly this was the place to go. And then, on the way there, who should I see at a Kapa'a bus stop but my friend (who does not have a car) it turned out that we went to the event together and he kindly introduced me around.
On Kaua'i because it is small and isolated and so many people come here for such different reasons it seems that modern challenges with food, energy, economics, and so forth come to a head quickly and in more extreme ways than on the mainland. This is, of course, also an enormous opportunity.
Gathering at 8am ahead of a county council hearing where a large number of signed petitions were to be presented I met a lot of the people attending the action. The diverse gathering was about half what would be characterized as counter-culture people, a number of retired persons, and a few locals. I met numerous good people who quickly made me feel welcome and had some good conversations about these difficult issues. Some council members came out and met with people individually ahead of the formalities, and even the chief of police made an appearance.
The action began with music - drums and singing; and included petition collecting, signs like "GMO Free Hawaii!", and a lot of impromptu talk story. At around 9am a contingent went in to present the petitions and address the council while the signs and music continued outside.
I met a young lady who left her career in marketing to come here and run a small business and now describes herself as an orchestrator. I met a massage therapist who told me that Kaua'i is a remnant of the lost continent of Lemuria. I met the web site administrator for the Kaua'i Rising web site.
Afterwards, a lady who had gone in described the proceedings. She spoke softly and with such a loving tone about the disparity between the very human energy of this action and the petition and the people behind it against the calculated complexity of county council procedures and rules. "They spent twenty minutes deciding how we could use the eighteen minutes we were allotted to speak." It was a striking example of modern government inefficiency and how they become entangled in their own rules. By contrast, she offered that what was needed was more "speaking from the heart" which was exactly what all those people were there doing in their own way, myself included.
Next steps: there is a meeting tomorrow (6:30pm, May 2, in Kapa'a at The Children of the Land) to present a draft of the Kaua'i Food Bill of Rights for public input that I intend to attend to learn more about what specifically it entails. I will postpone touching on the issue and this strategy here, focusing instead on the gathering and that experience.
Update: read the Kaua'i Rising post following today's event here with details of Thursday meeting. Update: Garden Island story on this event is here. I happened to be standing behind the "PETITIONS DROP OFF" sign in the 3rd photo labeled "collect FOOD BILL.jpg" and unrecognizable. Update: Interesting critique of the action - I did not have a chance to go inside and observe the actual meeting as the room filled up - from Joan Conrow, my favorite local investigative blogger.
I arrived back to Kauaʻi just before the long weekend and moved into a new rental house in Waimea. Weather here is hot as it was in Tokyo, but here with the trade winds blowing, while the sun is more intense it feels quite comfortable.
