Category: green and good

Thanksgiving

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Last year I was in New York for Thanksgiving so K and I didn’t spend it together. This year we were invited to four people’s Thanksgivings which was so nice and unexpected.

We thought that we’d be able to go two. Though later we found that both started at the same time. We decided to go to our friend Mark’s house for a traditional “pre-Western contact” Hawaiian dinner and then to the Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe for dessert.


It would have been nice to spend more time at each place but either way it was an amazing holiday and I’m still full.

When we arrived in Manoa, the table was set so beautifully.


Mark had fish and breadfruit on the fire downstairs and I was so excited to eat. I love Hawaiian food: lau lau, haupia, and poi. Some people aren’t fans of poi because of its texture and bland-ish taste. But to me it’s like mochi pudding. I love it. I feel like I knew what it would taste like before I ever tasted it and I knew that I would like it.


We also had awa for the first time. Mark was straining it by hand for awhile before we ate. Kalei warned us that it doesn’t taste good and if she hadn’t I might have thought so. But you’re meant to drink it all down at once before a meal. It has a relaxing effect and prepares your body for the big meal ahead. Mark said that some people even use it to help them sleep. I drank it all and it wasn’t so bad…what was nice was the novocaine like effect afterwards. K wondered later ‘can you become an awa-holic?’ Mark answered ‘yes’.


The meal was so delicious but I got full so fast. I was all revved up to dig in and then all of a sudden everything on my plate was gone and I felt like I couldn’t take one more bite of food…and believe me I tried.

After dinner the sun began to set and it started to rain sideways.


Mark said that it was good luck. That if you looked at the mountain it looked like a woman’s face and the rain was like her hair flowing behind her.

It was a lovely dinner. But we were running late and had to head over to Kea’s for dessert. Before we did though, we had one more cup of awa.


When I was in college my boyfriend was in the Air Force. One Summer rather than go home to my parent’s house, I lived secretly on base with him. I have some really fond memories of that time. Life on base for an enlisted is not fancy, it can be kind of boring but there’s also alot of order and camaraderie. Which I really like. In some ways I was looking forward to revisiting a military base.


There were some construction issues so we drove around in circles for a little bit. It was interesting to see the neighborhoods–winding narrow roads lined by houses that looked very new, white and upright…like soldier houses. I was reminded by our host’s comment over the course of the night how easy it would be not to leave base at all. Everything you need is mostly there. K remarked how it felt like a city that could be anywhere–that we could have easily not been in Hawaii at all.

When we got to our friend’s house they had finished dinner hours ago and were busily cleaning up. The house was filled with young children and the TV was blaring Hotel for Dogs. There were alot of people there, mostly military families. The three men that were there had recently come back from Afghanistan and Iraq after multiple tours of being away.

At one point our friend’s husband offered to help the ladies in the kitchen with the dishes and everyone guffawed ‘the WARRIOR wants to help with the dishes!’.

Kea’s food looked fantastic. We were able to have some of her apple pie, pumpkin mousse, and home made sorbet.


She was very kind to pack up a little bit of everything she made and the next day we were able to have a whole Thanksgiving meal for lunch.


Good job with the turkey, Turkey.

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Early Thanksgiving morning, we headed to Lanakila headquarters to do some extra volunteer work. We were assigned to the Tray Assembly line which meant helping to scoop hot turkey dinners for 800 meals that were going out to the neediest seniors.

We were half an hour early and yet by the time we got there the parking lot was full and there was a mass of people registering for their shift.


We got in line to wash our hands then get our hair nets and gloves. Everyone waited patiently while the the coordinators got the lines ready.


Once the food was brought out, one of the coordiantors thanked us all for being there and gave us a rousing pep talk.


We were asked to take a spot next to a ladle with a designated food label: green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Everyone scrambled for a spot and waited like dogs at the starting gate.


There are no pictures of what happened next because there was such a flurry of activity and suddenly me and K were scooping, scooping, scooping. Once in awhile the Lanakila staff would yell out some encouragement, or ‘level scoops!’ or ‘hot behind you!’ or ‘more gravy on line 2!’.

Two things I felt while we were scooping our meals:
1. Assembly lines are fun.
And 2. this is making me hungry.


Before we knew it, it was all over. The entire process took less than an hour. Russell the coordinator yelled out ‘Thank you people! Now go on home and watch some football!’ and everyone clapped and dispersed within seconds.

It was really well organized and very satisfying to be a part of. Like a flash mob, flash volunteering.


Holy Ma’o!

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I had had such a great experience volunteering at He’eia Fishpond for Ma’o Organic Farm that I was eager to get involved again and learn more about what they do. Wei told me about Give Day on the farm and invited me to come out and volunteer. I had never driven to the west side of the island. I’d heard alot of things about the issues at Waianae Beach and I was very curious to see what it was like. Before Give Day I hadn’t had any reason to venture over to that side.


It took an hour to drive there. Easily the furthest and longest I’d ever driven on the island. A few minutes from the Farm, I kept thinking of the word festive. I could imagine that I was driving to a family friend’s house for dinner and this was a neighborhood I might have, in another life, grown up in.

I like Waianae. It feels like people really live there–maybe that generations have lived there. It’s distinctly more ‘real’ than any other part of Oahu that I’ve experienced.

If I heard a chorus driving through Waianae, Ma’o was the melody. There were over a hundred volunteers that day from eight different countries. We were welcomed warmly and although I came alone, I didn’t feel it.


They let us get our hands dirty. Some of us weeding the sprawling beds, some clearing rocks from new fields, and so on. The manual labor was very satisfying but the greatest part of the day for me was hearing from their youth staff and learning about their programs.

A large portion of the Ma’o staff is made up of interns. To be an intern one has to be between 17 and 24 years old, a Waianae resident, and Native Hawaiian. Interns put in 20 hour work weeks and in exchange their tuition at a local college is covered and they’re provided a decent sized stipend. Our tour guide said that for many of the interns, they were the first in their family to attend college.

There’s a big emphasis on empowering youth and making them a part of every aspect of running the farm. Part of Give Day was put aside for different groups of students to share the projects they have chosen to implement as part of a larger program. For example: campaigning against land fills in Waianae or helping schools to grow their own organic community gardens.

Most of what I’m sharing is just skimming the surface of what I learned that day. It feels as if they are bursting with new ideas and trying to make each of them a reality

I’ve spent my whole adult life helping to build communities. What Gary and Kukui do over at Ma’o is hugely inspiring to me. Not only is their approach smart, it is characterized by an almost tangible zeal. I love the farm. I’m so pleased to have been part of it even for a day.


Ma’o!

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The other day I got an email from Wei inviting some of us to help Ma’o Organic Farm build a garden at He’eia Fishpond.


I had so much fun. I wish I’d gotten there earlier than I did. By the time I arrived they were layering compost, chicken manure, sand, and soil. I got to shovel coconut shell mulch from the back of a pick-up truck into wheelbarrows–which is alot more fun than it might sound. It took half an hour with all of the people involved to finish setting up the soil. One of the fishpond guys was playing thumping music from his truck and someone laughingly said ‘wow, this music really makes you work huh?’ and it was true. At one point I was shoveling compost into buckets so rhythmically that I didn’t notice when we started to hit the grass underneath. The girl from the fishpond that I was shoveling with said ‘I don’t like to exercise so I like hard work’. I nodded in agreement and droplets of sweat went flying everywhere.

For lunch we had sandwiches and salads and a delicious mango crumble that Wei made as well as Zippy’s chili. Afterwards, Gary from Ma’o talked about the strategy for growing in the new garden beds.


He mentioned a book that helped him when he was getting started called Hawaii Good Garden at Rainbow Books. It was pretty fascinating. He said some of the seeds or transplants could start producing in days.


I can’t wait to visit the garden after it’s had a chance to grow.


Whoa doggie

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K and I started our Lanakila Meals on Wheels route again yesterday. We took over a route that a woman named Rashan had been doing for a year. She did the route with us so that she could say goodbye and introduce us to the seniors. In contrast to how I’ve delivered meals, Rashan really took her time and did alot of talk story. I was touched by how gentle and genuine she was with each of them even though I got tired part way through and let K go on without me.

I never knew my grandparents. Before this, I wasn’t really curious about seniors and had no affinity for them. But my best friend Ruth, who passed away last December, was 75, Technically a senior, Ruth was younger than me in spirit and my favorite person in the world to talk to. I never saw her as any age until she got sick.

Spending time with her in hospice showed me that little things can make a huge difference to someone that can’t do everything for themselves anymore. Being able to do this route means alot to me…mainly a chance not to be a mainland boor.


On our own

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We did our Meals on Wheels route on our own this week.  We didn’t see Gladys at the pick-up point which was kind of sad.  We were looking forward to seeing her again.  The route took us a long time for some reason.  And the senior lady K felt a small connection to was busy being read to by a neighbor.  So we made all of our deliveries with minimal interaction.  It doesn’t seem like much, driving around and delivering frozen food, but I was dog-tired at the end.  I think it’ll probably get easier as we get more familiar with the different addresses.

Meals No Wheels

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Today was my first day doing Meals on Wheels.  A couple of things went wrong right off the bat.  First, K got called into work and couldn’t do the training with me.  Second, Gladys (my trainer) apparently didn’t know she was training me.  And finally, a few minutes after Gladys and I started the route the car began to sputter in the fast lane of a busy road. We coasted down a hill and got enough juice to pull over on strip of grass along Kaneohe Bay Dr.  I think the sign on the dashboard could have had something to do with it.  Then it started raining.  And then I had to go to the bathroom really bad.

K had finished work by then and came for us. Winnie from Lanakila arrived with a new car for Gladys and we all set off to do the deliveries.

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Despite the early obstacles I had a great time with Gladys and the route was very easy.  I found that I really enjoyed packing the meals.  It’s very satisfying.  K did the deliveries with Gladys, meeting all the recipients and in some cases putting the meals away for them in a fridge.  I hung back at the car organizing the food and punching addresses into the GPS.

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At one point K was taking a long time at a delivery that he did alone. Gladys looked up and said  ‘what happen? kidnapping?’  I’m looking forward to seeing her again next week.

Eh! try nice

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We visited Eric at Lanakila Pacific today for our Meals on Wheels orientation.  We start our route next week.  As someone that has worked almost exclusively in the not for profit world, I’m pretty impressed so far.  They’re organizational model is unique in that they’re striving to be wholly independant– cooking their own meals, hiring workers from their training programs.  Every element seems to be well thought out and carefully developed.  I’m most impressed by their relationships with Hawaiian farms–sourcing all of their food locally and cooking all meals in house.  K liked the fact that they’ve built relationships with schools and when young people are studying relevant periods in history Lanakila will refer one of the seniors they serve as a first person witness to give a testimonial.  I’m looking forward to getting to know the organization more.

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Clean Living

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Many years ago, I had a beloved little white top from a store called Language on Mulberry St.  It was a white silky bandeau that fit me perfectly.  I wore it for many fancy occasions.  When it was time,  I brought it to the dry cleaner across the street from my apartment in NY.  It was nothing special, just your average neighborhood dry cleaner.

A few weeks later I was getting ready for a party and brought it out,  still wrapped in the dry cleaner’s plastic.   I put it on…I mean,  I tried to put it on.   After the initial shock I realized it had shrunk to a fraction of it’s original size and would have fit a 5 year old snugly.

Since then I’m more careful.  It’s not so easy here in Hawaii to find things by researching online.  As I’ve mentioned before, the best way to find anything is by word of mouth.

I called my favorite store in town, Aloha Rag, and asked them if they could recommend a good cleaner.  They came back with Hayukosha Royal.

We have to attend a restaurant opening on Saturday so we took our fancy duds to be cleaned today.  Their website says they use a GreenEarth system of dry cleaning– detail oriented and environmentally aware. Best of both worlds.

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K’s family is arriving in a couple of weeks.  We agreed we need some help getting the house in order..

Reading is for winners!

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DonorsChoose.org is beyond cool.  For K’s birthday,  his brother gifted him with a donation to the site. The website is a menu of different projects that are in need of funds. K chose a donation of books to a local  grade school which would give them the opportunity to read about a different cultural perspective.  In this case it was the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Revin–the story of  a man’s mission to build a school in Pakistan and how it turned into fifty-five schools.  Yesterday K got a package of cards from the kids.  What an awesome gift!!

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