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Aloha Don Ho

Hua li'i
I ka waina
Au hau'oli
I ka wa au inu

Hua 'li'i
Wau haawi hoihoi
A i'ini nui i ka wa au
Nana ia oe

Au kuuipo
I nu ho'omahalo ka'ua
I ko ka'ua aloha mau loa

These words may not seem immediately familiar. But you have heard them before. Loosely translated, they mean:
Tiny bubbles
In the wine
Make me feel happy
Make me feel fine

Tiny bubbles
Make me warm all over
With a feelin' that
I'm gonna love you till the end of time

I read today that Don Ho added them after being hoodwinked into singing the song, which had nothing to do with Hawaii. Ho had everything to do with Hawaii. Yet Tiny Bubbles, his least Hawaiian song, became his biggest hit. Don Ho was an entertainer known the world over. More importantly, however, through all his years of fame and fortune, he remained a local boy, true to his island roots. I actually remember Don Ho's television show way back in the 70s.
The great Don Ho has passed on and all Hawai'i mourns.Ho is beloved and revered here. He will be missed. (To learn more about this local legend, log onto his website: www.donho.com)

Today we made our way to the infamous Kahena Beach in lower Puna. (Sorry. I forgot to take the camera. What a maroon!)The beach is a beautiful, if tiny crescent of black sand where clothing is optional. As it turns out, Sunday is drumming day. Scores of free spirited, hippified locals (aka Punatics) make their way down a precarious, rocky trail to the beach. There, they dance freely to the rhythm of drums. Some wear clothing while they dance. Others don't. I couldn't help but notice a happy-go-lucky man in his 60s, pretty well built for his age, with no tan lines, swaying and spinning to the beat, as uninhibited as I am uptight. Another woman, a little younger but clearly in need of an underwire, was doing the same. In a way, I couldn't help but envy them. They, along with dozens of others were enjoying spontaneous movement encouraged by the drums. A few little keiki frolicked in the waves under close supervision of parents, or danced to the beat in that cute, bouncy way of toddlers. It was a Punatics festival, exuding peace, love and harmony among all who entered from the pali (cliff) above.
Yes, lower Puna makes Crested Butte, Berkeley and other bastions of liberalism seem like stodgy, conservative enclaves. Here lies the heart of the sovereignty movement among Hawaiians. Here too are many for whom "the man" or "the establishment" is the enemy. Oh there are a few individual conservatives who bravely insist on making their homes here, despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered. There are also reputed to be many fugitives living in Puna. They come here to hide, to re-invent themselves and start over, to escape the wider world.
Overall, however, it is a place that has historically prided itself on a live-and-let-live culture. More and more, however, as middled-aged yuppy haoles move in, that free spirited lifestyle is being cramped. It's sad in a way, and yet, some of the changes are good. I guess change, good or bad, is inevitable everywhere in the world.

A hui hou. Aloha.

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