“Lookin’ out upon the city lights
And the stars above the ocean
Got my ticket for the midnight plane
And it’s not easy to leave again”
I was just washing dishes yesterday and listening with my airpods to the song Honolulu City Lights by Keola Beamer. I haven’t figured out how to shuffle songs so the song kept playing again and again. The song was on a loop, and the second time as the words sank deeper, tears sprung to my eyes as my heart opened and an exquisite feeling of longing and deep missing arose.
I just returned from 6 days in Honolulu earlier this week. It was a whirlwind trip! I visited with my kumu hula Michael Pili Pang at his home and halau on Punahou Street. It’s always enlightening to visit with kumu and it brought back memories of dancing with his halau in Waimea on Hawaii Island thirty plus years ago.
My kumu always makes me think. I remember that was his mantra – you have to think on your feet. You have to be aware. Hula is cultural practice. Are you practicing and living it or not? Are you teaching it or not? Are you honoring and protecting it? He reminded me of the discipline and responsibility of being a hula practitioner. It’s not just a dance. It is a way of living with the ‘aina, the plants, the ocean, the sky, yourself, and others.
I stayed with my sister in her airy home in Niu Valley. It’s one level with jalousie windows on one side and a screened sliding glass door on the other. A gigantic monkeypod tree takes up almost a third of her small backyard. Green hedges surround the property. A couple of mallard ducks visited in the early mornings while a beautiful white rump shama serenaded. A cool breeze blew through the valley (and the house) towards the ocean most everyday.
Niu means coconut and the valley must have had lots to be named for it. I don’t remember seeing many coconut trees left. I saw front lawns with familiar plants: fragrant red plumeria tree with thick strands of Spanish moss hanging from its low branches; white spider lilies that we used to wear in our hair when we danced; and a small potted sweet smelling puakenikeni tree in one yard that had a small homemade sign saying Leis for Sale. That made me smile.
It's been seven years since I last visited Oahu. I lived there a couple of years in the mid-70’s attending graduate school in Public Health Nutrition at Manoa. Then, it seemed busy and crowded for me coming from rural Hawaii Island. But I loved it.
After living in Chicago for 20 years, I found Honolulu to be a manageable sized city this time. And I still love it.
“You should come more regularly,” my sister said to me and I thought yes, I should. Being with my blood ‘ohana, being on the ‘aina/land, swimming in that clear sparkling Pacific Ocean. I need that. There’s something intangible yet so real that nourishes me there. And here, hula continues to nourish me!
What nourishes you? Are you willing to care and love it? For if you do, it will care and love you.
Aloha ‘oe Honolulu! Until we meet again.
Malama pono (take good care of body, mind, heart),
Kumu/Roshi June Kaililani Tanoue
P.s. Here's a recent dharma talk I gave, "The Black Dragon Jewel is Everywhere - part 2 https://youtu.be/-fndSrC5J1I