Blog — Hawaiian style

I was back at Māʻona Community Garden this morning.  Chantal was working her chainsaw taking down a puhala that had grown out of its pot and was putting pressure on a retaining wall.  She said "hey, look at this!" and I just had to take pictures. The underside of the ulehala (aerial root) that splayed out to smaller roots. Right side up view.A flattened plastic planter pot that Chantal found under the splayed root. It was amazing that the ulehala (aerial root) came down, hit the plastic pot and flattened it. When the ulehala couldn't grow through the plastic to reach the ground, it...

I was helping Chantal at Māʻona Community Garden last week. We pruned a bushy puhala. I forgot to take a "before" picture.  While all the branches and leaves we cut were put aside to compost, it seemed like a waste to let it all go without trying to make something of it.  I saved some green lau, which I will write about it in another post, and four ulehala (aerial roots) pictured above.  When making papale, we weave in a string at the beginning of the brim to hold its shape and fit.  When I first started making papale I...

These are just a tiny sample of what's out there in cyberspace.  I just happened upon and enjoyed them. Thought you might too. This one is of Michele Zane-Faridi of Hana Hou in Hilo with one of her haumana.  They show and talk about gathering lauhala.  Looking at the thorns and the bugs, it'll help one understand the time consuming preparation of lauhala. And how just any dried leaf will not do.  Cleaning and caring for the puhala is vital.  Visiting Michele and Shadi (her daughter) at Hana Hou has been inspirational during these COVID19 lock down times since the Ka...

Not in the socio-political sense... Papale are literally like snowflakes.  No two are exactly alike.   One can try to make a copy of a certain papale, it is pretty much impossible to ulana two identical papale.  The materials are actual natural plant materials prepared and ulana by human hands.  Although skilled and experienced weavers can have consistent tension and technique, they are still human beings and not machines.  Each papale is as unique as an individual snowflake.  From far away, snowflakes look alike but magnified under a microscope each is incredibly unique. A while back my FIL sent us a...