Tonight was not one for quickly slipping into sleep, instead the night has drawn me up and out of bed. The moon tattoos still do that for me. Earlier in the evening I was filled with excitement about how to fill Red Hibiscus and Dragon Wings: what stories could be collected, written? what people could I interview or share as regular forms of the language of story. My list of people I want to interview includes people I know. Among the people on my list of people I thought to interview was slack key guitarist George Kahumoku, Jr. George Kahumoku is a man my husband, Pete, and I came to know when we lived and worked at the Westin Maui hotel in Ka'anapali, Maui. George and his son Keoki were two of the first people Pete and I met the first night we arrived to begin a new life. George was singing and playing guitar the night we arrived. We were in one of the Westin Maui restaurants waiting for my new boss to join us for dinner. I was a recently returned kama'aina (local person) back in the Islands after living more than twenty years in Washington state. The job I was starting would put me in touch with the entire staff and management of the Westin, more than 350 people. I was hired to be the hotel's training manager. It was a most auspicious and lucky night for Pete and me because though we did not know it, we would begin our new life together on Maui met by one of the finest characters and storytellers of Hawaii. A man of generosity and curiosity. George Kahumoku, Jr. is a showman, teacher, slack key guitar master, farmer, kupuna, and powerful example of aloha.
The call of Hina, the moon, woke me to show me that an interview with George and something more had already been done. I woke hungry, poured hot water into my small stainless steel pan and added rolled oats and raisins. When the oatmeal was pau, I added a spoonful of coconut oil, generous sprinkle of cinnamon and went to the frig for the home-made sesame seed milk. While I sat to eat it, I Googled "George Kahumoku, Jr.". The link below took me to a Kickstarter project that was successfully funded in July, 2012. The first few minutes of a documentary about George was my reason for not going to sleep, yet. Mahalo to David Barry for producing this film of a man who is definitely filled with seeds of aloha and has planted those seeds wherever he is. Link below to watch a segment of "George Kahumoku, Jr. Seeds of Aloha"
http://www.makaistudios.com/SeedsOfAloha/SeedsOfAlohaFirstAct.mov
The call of Hina, the moon, woke me to show me that an interview with George and something more had already been done. I woke hungry, poured hot water into my small stainless steel pan and added rolled oats and raisins. When the oatmeal was pau, I added a spoonful of coconut oil, generous sprinkle of cinnamon and went to the frig for the home-made sesame seed milk. While I sat to eat it, I Googled "George Kahumoku, Jr.". The link below took me to a Kickstarter project that was successfully funded in July, 2012. The first few minutes of a documentary about George was my reason for not going to sleep, yet. Mahalo to David Barry for producing this film of a man who is definitely filled with seeds of aloha and has planted those seeds wherever he is. Link below to watch a segment of "George Kahumoku, Jr. Seeds of Aloha"
http://www.makaistudios.com/SeedsOfAloha/SeedsOfAlohaFirstAct.mov
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