Aloha Is All Around Us

By Virginia Beck

Shannon Hiramoto, fine artist and also fashion designer created a wonderful online archive at themumuuarchive.omeka.net, launched in 2022 with the assistance of a Hawai‘i State Foundation for Culture and the Arts Individual Artist grant. Photo by Blenda Montoro

This month celebrates aloha with parades, festivals, concerts and food. There will be no shortage of entertainment.

Kids (keiki) are back in school, and for once they are eager to reunite with friends and not be doing classes on Zoom. Real teachers are more fun. And parents can work more freely.

The weather is great and there is still time before sunset for sports and other after-school activities. Sports, tech, math clubs, as well as art, ballet, hula and Hawaiian cultural activities are embraced by our schools. They range from lei-making, to cultivating taro, and community service preserving historic cultural places, forts and hula platforms.

Reasons to get homework done include rewarding students with amazing surf to ride, and beaches to walk. Or just sit and hang out with friends. Reunions with friends and the constant celebration of watching the sunset and drinking whatever you are old enough to drink!

Starbucks gets a surge for iced lattes when Island School, Kaua‘i High, and Chiefess Kamakahelei close. For others, coolers with food and drinks to have tailgate parties near the beach. Shave Ice, to a beer or tropical fruit drink.

Mojitos and margaritas, or one of the Koloa Rum drinks. The Mahiko lounge at Kilohana, features Koloa Rum which is crafted right on the property. Try the 1944 recipe Mai Tai. The Rum      Fire Restaurant down in Po‘ipū is a favorite for full moon dinners, or else a sandwich and a blanket on the beach.

The hard-won battle to open the island after the pandemic isolation is a breath of fresh air to all. The relief of freedom to explore the world, by traveling and viewing beautiful beaches, and a warm, inviting ocean.

Celebrate wisely and watch your children. Don’t drink and then swim. The Hawaiian proverb, “never turn your back on the ocean,” is wise advice. Know the risks and honor the red flag.

Be warned, we have extremely deep ocean here; very deep, and with powerful currents that can drag a person out to sea with relentless force. The unexpected drop offs into the deep water show up faster than people expect.

Once out of touch with the bottom, good swimmers of any age may find themselves in trouble. The steep drops create strong forces that can easily generate rogue waves, completely unexpected. They can snatch the unsuspecting person off the rocks or anywhere without monitoring by our professional lifeguards.

Our Aloha Week Festivals give our hula halaus a chance to show off some of the finest dancing in the world. A halau is so much more than a dance troupe. They are powerful sources of education in Native Hawaiian cultural values. Loyalty, discipline, respect, hard work, language skills and chants. Some name chants go back 1000 years. Imagine how much work to memorize that!

Many will wear aloha attire, and anyone wearing aloha shirts or aloha dresses and mu‘umu‘u is expressing their joy in the relaxation of comfortable attire. Extremely elegant custom wedding dresses, casual rompers, capris, and both long and short aloha wear are featured throughout the islands. Kaua‘i is no exception. We invite you to explore the full range of designers and custom couture that is available, locally and online.

Shannon Hiramoto, fine artist and also fashion designer created a wonderful online archive at themumuuarchive.omeka.net, launched in 2022 with the assistance of a Hawai‘i State Foundation for Culture and the Arts Individual Artist grant.

Aloha surrounds us and is always the perfect attire.

• Virginia Beck, NP and Certified Trager® Practitioner, offers Wellness Consultation, Trager Psychophysical Integration and teaches Malama Birth Training classes. She can be reached at 635-5618.