Sammy Summers

Dear Mr. Adams,
Thank you for providing us with the new and improved Summer Ale labels. Now we can read the surgeon general warning while enjoying a refreshing blend of hops and citrus.

Mahalo,
Consumer

Shooting Dolphins...

With a camera of course! To apologize for all the pictures of dead animals I have been posting recently, I wanted to share some photos of a rather lively bunch of dolphins. These pictures were taken with an underwater camera during my first dive in Hilo.
Note: No dolphins were harmed during the set up, shooting or editing of these photos.

Hike & Build

Though my bike is now in a box in Massachusetts and my nightly host locations are consistent, for some reason I just can't seem to put down the hammer.
Within my first week in Hawaii I got right to work helping my neighbor, Micah "Poi Dog" Miller and his wife Gwen put together their first official house.
My day would start with a refreshing commute (on foot) up the dirt road past the sweet potato field, cow pasture and an aromatic white ginger bush to get a good hit of nature before I joined the workforce. I'd meet up with my coworkers, David and Jerry in the kitchen and shoot the shit over a pot of Micah's delicious but surprisingly not-from-kona-coffee until Jerry made the first move towards the house.
It's exciting to see the progress made on a project I was involved in. Don't get me wrong, I'm more of a skilled laborer than a master carpenter but someone's gotta Sherpa materials around and fill nail holes! Bike and Build projects were exciting and we could definitely see progress being made in a day or two but I've really been able to sink my teeth into this project over the past few months and I was fortunate to work with guys that were willing to explain the processes and even the jargon/pidgin that put this place together.
I've got to send a mahalo nui loa out to uncle Micah and aunty Gwen not only for employing me but for being some of the friendliest and most hospitable people I have come across. It's inspiring to see an older couple have such passion for life, love and truth in the world. It's been wonderful getting to know you over the past six months and I'm honored to call both of you my friends.
It may be some time till the Miller house is christened as a home, but I know there will always be a place for me here.

A hui hou

Catch Of The Day

The catch of the day is Rainbow Fish also known as "Uhu." The Uhu is stuffed with a sweet potato and coconut milk sauté and wrapped in Ti leaves. It comes with served with a side of rice and fried bananas. Our special is being sold for $free.99.

Thumb Fishing

I wasn't able to take a picture during my second hitch hiking experience so here's a picture of my first.
Too many flat tires makes for a long day on the way to the Grand Canyon. Barry threw thumbs (Barry has really big thumbs) and in no time we were moving really fast without having to peddle. What a treat.
Hitch hiking in Hawaii is a bit more commonplace but for a kid holding a bag of raw fish on the side of the road, I can see why it wasn't so easy.
I stepped off the boat after a day of spear fishing (I'll blog about that later, but so you know, I still have water in my ears.) and figured I would try and make my way back to Hilo to save my buddy the trouble. I waited on the corner of a main road and looked for cars with their right blinkers on that were Hilo bound. Then I thought I would just start walking on the main road in order to increase my chances. I walked for 20 minutes with my thumb out trying extra hard to target any female drivers. Hey, I'm just strategizing here. Anyway, at this point I had started toying with the idea of walking all the way back to Hilo. Based on my calculations it probably would have taken 4 hours at which point my fish would have expired and the sun would most definitely be down. Yet in a way, I felt like I was on Bike & Build again. A bit disoriented with my Camelbak and safety triangle secured to my back, in the shoulder of a busy road chasing sunlight to get to my host. All I needed was a bike. Well I guess the fish probably wouldn't have been in the equation either but let's not discuss semantics.
Before I could think too much longer on the subject an old Subaru pulled over a few yards in front of me and I rushed to the passenger door as to not make my savior have to wait around. The driver put her cat in the back seat so I knew I was sitting shotgun. "Aloha" said the driver. "Aloha" I replied. "I've got a bag of fish with me" I quickly stated as a disclaimer. "Oh that's alright. What kind of fish?" "Kolè fish and a few others," I replied. "Oh Kolè fish are my favorite."
After that I knew this situation was diffused. Two strangers had common ground to fuel a conversation for a few miles. I have since forgotten the drivers name and I'm still unsure if the driver was a male or female but, because I got picked up, I'm going to assume she was a female. A sweetheart none the less and I was thankful for the ride. She went out of her way to drop me at the university and I offered her a couple of Kolè to take home which she respectfully declined. We parted ways and, as they say, that was that.

Monkey Pod

Yes, that is really what this tree is called.

Waimanu Valley

Hawaii is a rather secluded place to begin with. I mean, it's an island chain in the middle of the North Pacific. But after a 9 mile hike into the heart of Big Island, seclusion takes on a whole new meaning.
We made it to camp just before dark and strung our hammocks up between two trees. Our gear is stored under a simple tarp for the inevitable rain to come and it's time to eat. Candy bars? Powdered potatoes? How about fresh pork stew from a wild sow. That sounds better.
The dogs made the journey into the valley and they had energy left to hunt wild pigs. 4 sows and 1 boar later we were fat and happy; dogs were too.
How do we cook pig in the valley you may ask? The same way Hawaiians did hundreds of years ago, an imu. An imu is the equivalent of a new England clam bake with a tropical twist. We gathered dry guava wood to start our fire and placed an array of porous volcanic rocks in the blaze. While our oven was heating up we set out for the rest of our materials. Banana leaves, ti leaves and taro leaves we're gathered and placed on top of a wire net (note: wire nets are not traditional Hawaiian materials). The sow meat and fat was prepared and salted before placing it on top of our leafy platter. The taro leaves we're used to make lau lau. Lau lau's literal translation is leaf leaf and it is an integral part of the imu. Sweet potatoes onions and pork were wrapped in the lau lau to make a sort of Hawaiian tamale. When the fire had been reduced to coals and the rocks were good and hot our imu was ready to simmer. Another layer of banana and ti leaves were laid on top of the raw meat and "tamales" and laid directly on top of the hot rocks. We covered the whole set up with a big plastic tarp (also not of traditional Hawaiian technique) and covered the edges with sand. What we created was a big steam oven, buried in the black sand. Our Kalua meat, as it is called, would not be ready for another 8 hours, aka breakfast.
We returned in the morning to unwrap our breakfast and plucked chunks of warm, shredded, organic pork out of the basket and into our mouths.
This is the part of Hawaii they don't advertise in travel guides.

The Hawaiian Chandeleer

There's nothing like polished buttocks and a well placed knot to really brighten up a room.

El Dia de Los Muertos

I know The Day of the Dead is reserved for May 5th but Saturday afternoon was a day of death.
Hunting is quite common here. Wild pig is the game if choice. Wild pigs have spread rapidly through the thick Hawaiian jungle and every once in a while they will tear up property.
Fishing is a job for many people in Hilo but the weekend fisherman come out in force at the break of dawn. Ice, snacks, bait, gear, it all gets piled in the boats and they are launched for the better half of the day to roam the pacific swells. It's almost as if the open sea becomes a temporary remedy for island fever.
We put on some jahwaiian music as its called and puttered out of the bay just as the sun really started to break through. Five miles later we were at a big buoy in the even bigger sea. No boats in sight. We chummed the water to see if anything came to bite but the water remained still.
En route to the second buoy a school if dolphins came to the boat for a race. We entertained them for a while then dove in to see how playful they were really feeling. A bit standoffish, but they teased us for a bit and swam around each other doing flips and twirls. Nothing but blue water and dolphins. Simple, but amazing.
No luck at buoy two so we headed inland to a secluded reef where I was told there would be guaranteed catch. I put my snorkel, mask and fins on and plunged in with a 6 foot spear in hand. "go for the black fish with yellow eyes," I heard just before I hit the water. The first fish I saw was a small reef fish all black with yellow around its eyes. I take aim with the cocked spear gun and release. "Pop!" you can hear it underwater, the gill plate cracks and a three prong metal skewer goes clean through a "Kali" fish. One shot, one fish.
I surfaced with my catch waived high in the air and asked my local guides if this was the fish thy were talking about. A bit confused as to how I nabbed a fish on the same breathe I jumped in with, my guide Keola (Kay-O-La) replied, "Ono bradda, good shot!"
I guess beginners luck exists because the next 100 shots that I took underwater were futile. I inadvertently ingested a few cups of sea water, my ears are still popped from diving too deep and my finger got impaled by a flailing dorsal fin. But for the first time probably ever, my meal was going to be caught, gutted and cooked at my own hand. Now that is local!
As I got dropped off with my catch and started walking to my quarters, my roommate Pat came around the corner covered in blood holding a sharp skinning knife. "Hey" I said calmly. "Hey, what's up man?" as if nothing was happening. "Uh, nothing. What's up with you?" I replied. "Oh I shot a sow up the road and I was just skinning it out back" he answered. "Oh, ok. Well I got dinner" I said as I held up my catch and peered over towards the dead pig hanging in front of my washing machine. "But I guess you did too."
Just then we heard a squawk in the back yard and our roommate Britton was calling off the dogs. Haupa and Diesel, the pittbull puppies have been chasing dog toys around for the past month, waiting for their chance to hunt with the rest of the yard. Diesel came trotting out of the brush with feathers stuck in his drool. We knew what it was as soon as we saw the guilty look on the pups face. He got one of the ducks. The ducks were uninvited inhabitants of the farm and they would often dedicate on my doorsteps. Good riddance.
"How was your day Brit?" I asked. "Good, we took down a 150 pound boar" he said modestly. "Oh, right on" I said. Before I could ask him where the boar was I saw Haupa chewing on what looked like a big harry coconut. "What's Haupa eating over there?" I asked slightly concerned. "Oh that's the pigs head." No more words were spoken.

HI,

or as they say in Hawaii, aloha! I thought I had gained a pretty good sense of what the United States has to offer during the summer but then I landed on Hawaii. I should have known that an island in the middle of the North Pacific would be far different than any other state on the mainland. Hilo, HI is in a world of its own. The big theme here is based off the question, "what if the boats stopped coming?" Hawaii is a very self sufficient state compared to most but the people also recognize that they do rely on the mainland to supply them with items they need to survive. Perhaps it's a more apocalyptic type question to create a theme, but the idea still persists.
Agriculture is very important here. The tropical environment obviously makes the land more productive but what's nice is that almost everyone utilizes the land. Even if it's just a banana tree in the back yard, most Hawaiians incorporate the land into their lives and as much as it may just be to enjoy a banana, the fruits of labor taste so much better.