Thursday, September 27, 2012

Many happy returns

The sun is soft in the sky. I come back to the vardo for a bit of writing, dinner is making itself in the crockpot--a rosemary and chicken stew with fresh garden carrots. While our tiny kitchen gets adjusted, the green house serves as cooking place for the time being. The flexibility of small and functional tiny spaces allows for a change of plan, and as we age, we are less fussy about how our plan might appear to an on-looker. Pete eyes the new curve of pipes that extend the Quonset as nothing but steel ribs arch above, JOTS soaks up the low angle of the sun as she naps under the eave of the Au Hale (the wash house).

A couple days ago the four Woods people --Pete, our friends E and M, and I, filled a box with birthday goodies and cards for my son who will celebrate his solar return today. Tokens of comfort and congratulations, a heart-shaped stone, leaves from a sacred planet, and harvests from our gardens ought to greet him tonight when he comes home from working in the winery. Many happy returns, as the sun revisits his position in the sky when he was born 40 years ago. Easily I remember the birth and the amazing feeling of becoming a mother. The work and bliss of labor. What I could not have imagined those 40 solar returns past was the journey that mothering takes as both mother and child grow.

Every year for many years now I tell my son how proud I am to be his mom, and that remains true.Whenever Pete and I have lived my son has come to be with us. Now, he navigates the ropes for creating a partnership with a woman in France. There are details, and the language of immigration law, as well as English and French to paddle through and as in the transport and paddling of a voyaging canoe it takes more than one to make the crossing.


E lauhoe mai na wa'a; i ke ka, i ka hoe; i ka hoe, i ke ka; pae aku i ka 'aina.
Translation: Paddle together, bail, paddle; paddle, bail; paddle towards the land.
Explanation: If everybody works together the work will be done quickly. On interisland trips, the two most important tools besides the sail were the paddles and the bailer. In heavy seas, the water would wash over the boat and so one or more natives would be constant bailing. Others would be paddling together on command to reach their destination in the shortest time.
Source

One email at a time I am learning a bit more about this beautiful woman in France. We get to know each other through the language of virtual mail; I have learned French one word, one phrase at a time:

Bisous is a very cool way to send honi (hugs) Click on bisous to hear it pronounced.

Tournesol is the word for this Sunflower picture sent to France for a bit of cheer. 

Astres means 'stars' and it is something that connects us; we share an interest in the stars, planets, the astrology of papa huli lani (the turning heavens)

This woman of France comes here to Makua O'o for English lessons she says. I told her I was thrilled and honored to know that. That are so many connections possible, trillions of them are made during the journey of PapaHonua (Earth) around the great orb, Ka La (the sun). Zigzagging across the Pacific, or flying through the cyber world to learn of les astres; looking out into a sky as soft as blue flannel blankets. It's a wonderful world, a really wonderful world, and a grand place to practice speaking 'Mother Tongue.'

Turn the radio on (click on the arrow) Happy Birthday, son. 







1 comment:

Speak from the heart