Growing up in da ‘āina, was a big deal when people from da mainland wen come ova to visit us. No mattah if our friends wen come by ship oa plane, was still one exciting time, cuz back den, living in da middo of da Pacific Ocean stay pretty far away. (more…)
If u stay bored wit dese, no need look, k? I stay having fun wit dem. (more…)
K’den. Hea’s anodda one. I stay about sixteen months old hea. (more…)
Still going chru photos. Still gotta hana. Dis is one hard day foa me. Hard foa concentrate. I look at alla photos and think about alla wasted potential foa one good relationship wit my madda. (more…)
I wen drag out da third album foa scan and transfer to CD. Dis latest one da one from small kid time. (more…)
I stay busy scanning alla old photos so I can put on CDs and give to da rest of my ‘ohana in chree weeks. I stay da self-appointed Family Historian (my bradda and sistah wen gladly turn it ova to me). (more…)
On dis day, my friend Judy wen invite me to go wit her ‘ohana to dis cabin dey had in Kahuku. I had gone wit dem before for da weekend, an we alla time had good fun. Dis weekend stay so hot. Da sun stay beating down on us, so me an Judy wen decide for go swimming. Wen we was pau swimming, we wen lie out in da sun for awhile. By den, we stay real hot again, so we wen decide for go back to da cabin for sometin cold to drink. (more…)
No ask me why da hill behind my hale stay called “Motorcycle Hill”. Part of da Ko‘olau Mountain Range, and not too far from Wa‘ahila Ridge, rumor had it dat sometimes da kanes would race dea bikes from da top down to da bottom. Adunno if I believe dat, cuz I wen grow up in Mānoa Valley in Honolulu, wea we wen get over 100” of rain a year. U know wat dat means: choke [lots of] rain. Choke slippery paths, yeah? How going even get one big motorbike up dea? No can do, I think. (more…)
One time, up at our hale in Mānoa Valley, my faddah stay working in our yard, cutting da grass an using da edging da kine around by da road. We had one pretty big yard, and wen he go for cut da grass, all he wen weah was cut-off shorts an slippahs an one lauhala hat.
Dis one time, he stay down by da edge of da road, workin’ away. Dis big ole Cadillac convertible, driven by dis rich, white-haired haole wahine, wen slow down near by weah he stay workin. She wen lean outsai da car an call over to my faddah.
“Excuse me, young man. Could you please tell me how much you charge to do yardwork?”
My faddah, witout blinkin his eye, well tell her in his best English, “Oh, I work for free here… but da lady of da house lets me sleep wit her!”
We had two mango trees in our yard up in Mānoa Valley. We wen call um “Da Top Mango Tree” and “Da Bottom Mango Tree”. How original! Us keeds would climb da trees ‘way up high into da top branches. We could spy on peepo around, or ack like da big branches was horses dat we could ride. Sometimes I wen climb up high an jass sit deah, enjoying da soft makani blowing ovah me, gently rocking da branch I was sitting on. I specially love doing dat wen da trees stay full of da yellow blossoms. (more…)
In our side yard, up Mānoa Valley, get plenny kakaroaches. Anybody who wen live in Hawai‘i know how bad dem buggahs stay. At night, all u gotta do is open da light an ho, alla kakaroaches run scurrying for da dark places. In da cupboards, in da cracks in da floor, in closets, everyweah! Dey so ugalee an from small kid time I stay sked of dem. (more…)
Wen I wuz twelve, my madda wen let me staht babysit foa da neighbahs’ keiki. Da one `ohana wen call me da most wen stay up around da loop from wea I wen live. Dey get 5 keiki, from one yea old to about 10. Da makuahine, ho, she no like clean da hale, wuz alla time all mess up. So wen I wen ovah dea, I wen clean da kitchen foa her cuz I wen feel bad she get so many keiki an so much hana foa her to do. Wen I stay pau wit dat den I watch TV till dey get home. (more…)