Update #4: "Why you do this?" (Edited)

Okinawan Parunku 

When Pete and I lived on Maui in 1995, in a lovely cottage in Iao Valley, we became friends with the Okinawan Paranku community. Thanks to Kimiko Takamiya. Every Sunday afternoon I would join this long-time established group to learn paranku. It was "Kimi" who encouraged me. We worked together at the Westin Hotel back then, we got to know and enjoy each others company. One Sunday, as we took a short break from practicing one of the old-timers (and if I remember right, the instructor) asked, "Why you do this?" I'm not exactly sure how I answered her, but I remember that I was not intimated by her briskness and answered "Because I love this." I didn't say at the time that I loved trying something new to me even if I looked as awkward as a kid learning how to skate for the first time. And, I am not Okinawan might have had something to do with her question.

My dancing never reached any great mastery, Pete and I marched in a parade with the group, and had great fun. We celebrated at Christmas and New Year's at the old Maui Palm's buffet with these folks. Those memories and that question, "Why you do this?" have become communication shorthand for us over the years. You know, da kine.

As we navigate our boat and feed our beliefs with the vision and intention of Safe Passage Vardo for Two and Pete and Moki, "Why you do this?" comes up as another Hinged Question. The video from Kanaeokana with this lead paragraph answers the question for us.

"Our indigenous cultures have always been about the future. Our ancestral knowledge teaches us to save huli to plant, put seasonal kapu on fish, and manage fresh water for the good of all. These are but a few examples of how Hawaiians use the ʻike passed down from our kūpuna to ensure that our futures are pono and that we are lako in those times to come. All of us who live in Hawaiʻi have much to learn from these values and practices handed down through the generations. They teach us how to live sustainably, how to care for the land, and how to generate abundance, all things that are needed now more than ever."

So at this point, as the New Moon in Leo moves ahead, we are infused with it's firey energy, and the astrological admonition 'share the stage with others.' We keep the communication going; we hinge you folks with our vision and our progress.

Yes, the move will be a complex puzzle to put together.

We have not assembled all the details to the puzzle, things change/the sand shifts under our feet; and not yet chosen the fundraising platform. Our goal is to get closer to these answers in the next couple of weeks.

There's an Eclipse in Leo mid-August; that'll give the Moon something to howl about:)

We are building community and have a trusted `aha `ohana rope of family supporting our roots, and dream. This part of the journey, the community building, the affirmations from trusted friends and family ... this is most important!

We are overwhelmed. Often run out of 'spoons' , refuel, rest, call for help and go again. Asking for help in this public way is very new to us. We are humbled, and admit we may fumble and scramble on the way.

One more communication story to pass along. This comment was left on the blog post "The Hinged Question." It was written by our very dear friend Liz Smith who is in the Peace Corp in Guatemala. We first met Liz in the summer of 2007, the summer I got very sick with MCS, and the same summer that led to us driving south to San Sebastapol to learn how to build Vardo for Two.

Here's what Liz wrote about 'hinges.'

"Wonderful!!!! and great fotos!!!!! hinges must be played with......here is a cautionary tale about that, sadly true!!!!! My brother, a Pete-type guy who always had the tools and bits of hardware needed (just add wood) for everything, made some lovely chip-carved mortise-and-tenon cabinets.....They were truly lovely, of re-used old-growth fir. He wanted special hinges, so he bought beeswax (bis blocks) and carved out a set of large strap hinges. Then life intervened, the project stored in the basement for a year, and, like the salt that can harden in its cloth if the dream is left too long, the wax was ruined by curious rats.......(my emboldened emphasis).The two chests live on forever in his daughter's house. Neither has hinges, but they do have sties inside and within.... " 

We remember to befriend time, and not leave the dream too long; we know about the habits of curious rats (and other rodents). We do what we are doing because we love life in spite of all the evidence. Wendell Berry might have said that. And because my Kupuna have very long memories for what is important, and why? They have strong and resilient roots like the women in that parunku group, their hinges received lots of play.

Let us know what you think, and if you have questions and ideas please leave a comment or email us. Mahalo nui loa to everyone who 'holds space' for us.

xoxo Much Aloha Kakou!!
Moki and Pete