It is Illegal to be an Ugly Governor in Hawaii

Yes that’s true.  It is against the “Aloha Law” for a Hawaiian governor to act ugly or mean spirited in carrying out their duties.  You may find the actually law at the end of this entry, but it all has to do with the meaning and spirit of Aloha.

Many Hawaiian words have multiple meanings and perhaps none more so than aloha.  Aloha is the most popular Hawaiian word known and spoken around the world.  It is also among the most sacred and powerful of all Hawaiian words. Speaking it over time is said to have the power to transform one's attitude, heal one's negative emotions, and to help protect and guide one's lifetime journey.

Hawai'i is also the only American state to have two official languages, Hawaiian and English. However, a third unofficial language is also widely spoken, Pidgin which is a slang combining words from many aspects of island life and culture. Instant Hawaii 

Pidgin was used as a way to communicate amongst the various nationalities that were in Hawaii to work the fields, containing enough English language references to generally communicate with their supervisors who primarily spoke English.

We recently adopted a kitten and wanted to give it a Hawaiian name.  We settled on Pili Aloha which was suggested be a friend and which we understood to mean “esteemed companion,” which it does.  However, it could also mean any combination of the following:

Pili

To cling, stick, adhere, touch, join, adjoin, cleave to, associate with, be with, be close or adjacent; clinging, sticking; close relationship, relative; thing belonging to, connection. Pili maikaʻi, fitting nicely, compact. Hoa pili, intimate friend. Koʻu pili, my partner.


Aloha
Aloha, love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness, sentiment, grace, charity; greeting, salutation, regards; sweetheart, lover, loved one; beloved, loving, kind, compassionate, charitable, lovable; to love, be fond of; to show kindness, mercy, pity, charity, affection; to venerate; to remember with affection; to greet, hail. Greetings! Hello! Good-by! Farewell! Alas! 
http://wehewehe.org/

And if that does not impress you with the beauty of the Hawaiian language, how about the name of the state fish?  It is humuhumunukunuku'āpua'a.  

Rivaled perhaps only by the longest place name in America (in Massachusetts) which my brother for some reason can pronounce flawlessly:

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.

Aloha!

From the state Charter:

§ 5-7.5 "Aloha Spirit".(a) "Aloha Spirit" is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each person to the self.  Each person must think and emote good feelings to others.  In the contemplation and presence of the life force, "Aloha", the following unuhi laulā loamay be used:

           "Akahai", meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness; 

           "Lōkahi", meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony; 

           "ʻOluʻolu" meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;

           "Haʻahaʻa", meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;

           "Ahonui", meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

These are traits of character that express the charm, warmth and sincerity of Hawaii's people. It was the working philosophy of native Hawaiians and was presented as a gift to the people of Hawaiʻi. ''Aloha'' is more than a word of greeting or farewell or a salutation. ''Aloha'' means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. "Aloha" is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. ''Aloha'' means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.

(b) In exercising their power on behalf of the people and in fulfillment of their responsibilities, obligations and service to the people, the legislature, governor, lieutenant governor, executive officers of each department, the chief justice, associate justices, and judges of the appellate, circuit, and district courts may contemplate and reside with the life force and give consideration to the "Aloha Spirit". [L 1986, c 202, § 1]

http://clear.uhwo.hawaii.edu/lawaloha.html

Our First Visitor

Another break from the moving saga…..

My brother from Phoenix was our first visitor from the mainland and we hope only the beginning of a tidal wave (poor choice of words (?) perhaps) of such company. Devany's brother and wife are coming in late July for a stay. We understand from other longer term residents that such connections become more frequent given Hawaii’s obvious drawing power. Now if we can only get my son in New Jersey who has a fear of flying to visit us, that will be really something.

WesIsland and Uncle Chuck at Akaka Falls

In Hawaii the term Uncle or Auntie is one of affection and respect, not necessarily specifying a blood relative. We call Chuck “Uncle Chuck” for the same reason although he’s really my brother.

We did only a fraction of the things we considered during Chuck’s almost two week stay. The major distraction was what seemed a minor home improvement project that ended up consuming the better part of almost four days and requiring help from not one, but two friends. It sounded simple. Our front door (a French door) had no screens so we went to Home Depot and bought two retractable screen doors that rewind into themselves – sort of like roller blinds only vertical.

It turned into a semi-nightmare since the instructions were indecipherable and both of the doors had manufacturing flaws – one so bad it had to be returned. Our one friend, a handyman extraordinaire, looked at the directions and thought that a licensed contractor would probably have problems. Our other friend, a structural architect and finished carpenter who had installed three of these doors, saved our bacon by spending almost two hours correcting the flaws in the doors design (and some of the work my brother and I had done – to be fair). Anyway here it is – and we love it – no more bugs in the house!

The Door – Finally

.Short of that distraction, we went to Akaka Falls, the Tsunami museum, the farmers’ market, Laupahoehoe Point, the ‘50’s diner, the Laupahoehoe train museum, downtown Hilo and Kona, several parties (including a True Blood viewing (a TV series running on HBO)), a performance of Hawaiiana at the Palace Theatre, and, of course, numerous trips to Home Depot and Ace Hardware.

Laupahoehoe Point

A good time was had by all and we look forward to many more visits from Uncle Chuck and others. It’s good to get touched by the spirit of Aloha.