`Aha Update #13: South Whidbey Tilth and Slow Food Whidbey Group Pictures

We wanted to get a group picture of the folks who have made a place for us to play, do fix-um's and tell stories without the worry of pesticides; but with an openness to being fragrance-free. It took awhile to get us all in one place, but it was worth it.

Thanks so much for the memories to these people and this place.

Aloha,
Moki and Pete

`Aha Update #12: Aiming for the light New Moon and Solar Eclipse, August 21, 2017

"... Astrologically, the house where the eclipse lands will be highly energized.  Leo is a Fire sign, but you can also see Mars is nearby along with the n. node. I see creative drive in this chart. A desire to feel and to be vitally alive. (The solar eclipse happens on the New Moon, the dark moon is also a time when intentions for the coming lunar cycle of approximately 30 days can be set.)

Elsa continues, "I expect the lights to go out. I intend to be infused with light and energy when they come back on.  The emphasis is not on the darkness but on the brilliance!" - Elsa on the Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017 (read Elsa's entire post, which includes ideas for setting intentions based on where the eclipse is in your chart.)

The Leo solar eclipse takes place in my 8th House of legacy, heredity, death and rebirth; Pete will experience that eclipse in his 12th House of intuition, secrets, dreams. Taking clues from astrology, and Elsa Panizzon's point of view, that the emphasis is not on the darkness but on the brilliance after sun and moon separate I'm putting the astrology and kilo (paying attention Hawaiian/Pacific Island style) onto this 'aha update.

• Solar eclipse in the 8th house: Light up dark places, fearlessly.
• Solar eclipse in the 12th: Share your light and positive energy with others; particularly those who may be suffering.

It's too easy to live in fear when Environmental Illness is your reality. No, it's not something you 'get from me.' Just as a wall won't keep poverty on that side, not yours. A medical diagnosis (which I paid for ... how odd is that) set me and Pete onto the path of being Mauliauhonua a family intimate with where we live. Where do we live? For a pair like us, we live on the edge, on the border, and in between the micro and the macro. In this sort of life, we become very intimate with all the parts of Earth that other humans either don't see or won't see. We kilo, we observe everything because our survival depends on it. All indigenous (people intimate with their place) live this way.

As we clear out our self inflicting distractions as well as the wandering distraction of invading beliefs about who and what Environmental Illness is I like this bit of kilo:

One of my mother's favorite expression was "Piss on it." Other moms might have said, "Don't cast your pearls before swines." Here's what another astrologist, Rob Brezny is recommending for us Scorpio's.

" Some zoos sell the urine of lions and tigers to gardeners who sprinkle it in their gardens. Apparently the stuff scares off wandering house cats that might be tempted to relieve themselves in vegetable patches. I nominate this scenario to be a provocative metaphor for you in the coming weeks. Might you tap into the power of your inner wild animal so as to protect your inner crops? Could you build up your warrior energy so as to prevent run-ins with pesky irritants? Can you call on helpful spirits to ensure that what's growing in your life will continue to thrive? "

To end this update, here is a powerful song introduced to me by Terri Windling, writer, editor, muse and author of the blog on mythic life Myth & Moor. The song is  entitled "Why we build the Wall"
and is sung by Anais Mitchell. It was written a decade ago, but is as relevant today as ever. Even more important then to keep a light on and aim for enlightenment.

Here's a personal  INVITATION

Monday, August 21, 2017

10:00 A.M.

Join Pete and Me 

at 

"The Muliwai"

(This is Sunlight Beach Public Access on the West side of Whidbey Island. The public access is about half way down Sunlight Beach Road. Look to the water side of the road, and a smaller than the usual home there, brick-red in color with a white lettered sign "STOVERS" OR "STOWERS". The driveway is next to that red house.)

While the tide is going out and while the Moon moves into her eclipsing position of the Sun

Bring your Eclipse Glasses, and/or your Flash light if you have 'em :)

P.S. Please come as fragrance free as you can be.

If the wild fire smoke is still too debilitating for you as it is for me, 

I may be setting my intention from Vardo for Two. But perhaps the sky will have cleared. We'll kilo.

Hope to see you at The Muliwai.

xoxo

Mokihana and Pete

`Aha Update #11.5: "Mask in place before helping others"

"There is no cure for this, there are things that will help. You'll have to avoid everything that makes you sick. It will change your life. This is called MCS Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, or Environmental Illness." - The medical diagnosis I was given ten years ago 

Pete and I both felt the 'course correction' as surely as an earthquake. The funny thing about course corrections is a step to one side or the other is a correction, as much as an about face. What is happening for me is living through the real-time experience of putting on my oxygen mask to keep on. Period.

Yesterday we tried to outrun the wild fire smoke by taking a drive in Scout, the Subaru. The A.C. helps filter the air, and I was also using oxygen. This tactic helped just enough for us to realize the further north we drove the thicker the smoke. (The forests of British Columbia are burning. The wind was blowing from the north.)

"There's no outrunning this one, honey." This was Pete talking. Roger that! We made a course correction and headed home. On the way home we drove along the water on the western side of Whidbey.

"Isn't that where our friend lives?" I'm never real sure where I am on the back roads.

"Yeh, just up the road."

"Can we stop there, I'd like to leave her a check for the cards I bought." Our friend is in the process of raising funds for her safe nest. She also lives with severe chemical sensitivities plus.

"Sure."

Pete found the house and pulled a U at the end of the road and parked. With my face mask on I walked across the street and up to the door, and knocked. Our friend's mom answered. I asked if this is where our friend lived.

"Yes, she is my daughter."

I explained that I had a check for cards I had bought.

"Oh, yes. Thank you." The woman pulled her glasses from her face and looked at my check. "Yvonne."

I answered with a smile under my mask, "She knows me as Mokihana."

"Oh," that seemed to ring a bell for her. "Mokihana and Pete. I know Pete. My daughter's got her mask on today, too."

I left without seeing our friend, and left knowing something. The 'diagnosis' I received 10 years ago did change my life in the countless minute and about face course corrections in a given day, let alone 365 days x 10. What happened yesterday when Pete and I realized we could not outrun this wild fire smoke? It shifted me into L. Low Gear. The slow down Gear.

The slow down and be grateful gear. We couldn't and didn't outrun the environment, and haven't outrun Environmental Illness in these 10 years. But. What we did yesterday was stop along the way to help, with my mask in place.

That's something.

We can slowly keep on that way. The destination is still not clear, course corrections abound, and our mileage varies as my favorite astrologer Satori loves to say.

It's far less lonely this way and THAT is what Pete and I are aiming for.

P.S.
xo J.
P.S.S.
xo Elaine, you are the wind beneath our wings, mahalo nui!

Hang in there with us.
Love,
Moki and Pete

`Aha Update #11 "Ke ala a ke Ku'uku'u" The way of the spider

This title and post was an article originally published on my old blog, Makua o'o, on September 24, 2012. That blog was my first, written to complement Vardo for Two (the original). Vardo for Two chronicled the building of the physical new definition of "a home"; writing Makua o'o reminded me that the spiritual journey as elder in training--for that is what makua o'o means in Hawaiian, is a constant practice. The practice is ongoing.

What prompted me to revisit Ke ala a ke Ku'uku'u? The events of the past few days, and in particular the experience of living with the effects of wild fire smoke sent me searching for kupuna wisdom, elder wisdom. In some traditions across the Earth, 70 is the age of elder infancy, you know some things but there is still much more to life yet to understand. I went searching for an elder further on the path for something good to chew on. I found The Path of the Spider, and Aunty Betty, the kumu and elder who first introduced me and mentored me.

At almost 70 I am barely an infant elder. I look to the source to find my balance as the sand shifts beneath our feet. We scramble to make adjustments, some illusions have been blown up with the Lunar Eclipse yesterday; no clear alternatives yet. " Illusions destroyed. We think we want something, but we’re totally missing out. Why? Because we have it defined all wrong. We’re shooting at the wrong target. In order to get what will truly satisfy, we’re going to have to blow shit up and go on faith." - Satori

Read the original article "Ke ala a ke Ku'uku'u", and learn a little about kumu and elder my teacher Aunty Betty Kawohiokalani Jenkins. Grandmother Spider is an ancient teacher, I look to her for some clues.

What was the Lunar Eclipse like for you?

`Aha Update #10 Letting go, loosening up

"... This is a path correction. Joseph Campbell talked of finding your own path, blazing your own trail. He said if the path was clear, you were probably on someone else’s path. We have times like these to tear the blinders off and see where we’re getting off path..." - a snip from Satori's Weekend Love Forecast, Heading into the Eclipse(August 7, 2017)

When we lived in Hilo, we bought the Subaru. She was brand new. Around that same time our 'ohana, Kaliko and her friend were in Hilo for a workshop. They stayed over night with us, and brought us two brand new, bright yellow t-shirts. Those t-shirts are the same ones Pete used to clean Scout, our Subaru. Getting ready to let our first 'road home' go. It seems fitting to include both ends of that t-shirt's history here as the latest '``Aha Update. Kuleana in Hawaiian means your responsibility, your destiny.

If this weekend's astrology IS a path correction, that might allow for ambling back to Hilo. Pela, paha, perhaps.

Remember this Kaliko??

More very short videos. This time "Pete cleans Scout"

A lot of scrubbing (using baking soda diluted in water and a spray bottle of white vinegar diluted) and equal parts humor. We're having fun with these very short video. Are you?

`Aha Update #9: Becoming Mauliauhonua (family intimate with their place)

Red is the color of the sunset

(reflected too, in the skins of Fir and Hemlock)

So red hard to look at

Eyes not meant for

such red.

The forest fires smoke the air, sucking the oxygen from it making it difficult for breathing. I wonder as I write whether it is any less, or maybe, more difficult for the trees to breath. As they sense the burning of their relations, their kin, is there not grief there?

Pete drove me out to The Tilth this morning to gather a few more Mullein Blossoms from our friend Kristen's lovely garden. I am making ear soothing oil from the simple, and gently sedating golden blossoms. A few drops of this oil, though best after 6 weeks, is a comfort to the ears even after a week or two. I am finding the oil a helpful remedy for the smoke's effect on my very generously built ears:)

And, if you would like to read how the oil is also slipping into the making of myth you might enjoy going here. (This myth will become a comic book that I am writing and illustrating, and a Reward for donors when we finally launch our crowdfunding campaign.)

Enjoy a few very short videos of "Mullein Blossom Oil Making"

The process of creating safe passage for Vardo for Two is truly a long-term experience. It is the process of makawalu, analysis. Not quick, and very mindful. We keep open to the clues, and become Mauliauhonua. 

What is Mauliauhonua?

Our kumu teacher Kalei Nu'uhiwa defined Mauliauhonua this way:

1. Learning and utilizing the Kaulana Mahina to note monthly, seasonal and cyclical occurrences. 

Whenever possible our decisions and timing for activity is focused on the Kaulana Mahina.   As an example, we gathered for our first Front Porch `Aha on one of the Full Moons. Then, gathered again to set our intention to ask for Safe Passage for Vardo for Two on the New Moon. We are conscious about not doing new projects, or taking on major enterprise during the po 'ole.

2. Kilo - Making observations. Paying attention and noting what is happening around you.

Kilo is our tap root of daily practice. We kilo everything! This can be overwhelming if you shove all that you observe into yourself all at once, and all the time. That's where the po 'ole comes in very very handy. Smart, our kupuna. They lived wise timing.

3.Collecting your observations and correlating them with the Kaulana Mahina establishes your own foundational understanding of your surroundings. Over time you will be able to see the normal or abnormal trends that are occurring to which you can make adjustments to your practice.

This blog, is one of the major ways I collect and record what I/we are observing. We began when we were living in 'Scout' our Subaru ... house-less yet in preparation for a much different life; a life as mauliauhonua was beginning.

4. Collecting your own data in your own way. Examples of tools available out there to start your data collection would be to begin keeping observations sheets, logs, journals, composing ʻōlelo noʻeau (proverbs), writing moʻolelo (stories), or composing mele (chant, song).

You can also choose to write ʻōlelo noʻeau to continue the practice of creating traditional databases to transfer your observations on to the next generation.

Collecting data in my own way includes tying many angles into a net(work) that appeals to my environmentally sensitive self; being 'Environmentally Ill' takes on a whole new definition and perspective. 

I compose blog posts, and create mythic versions of the mundane and call them medicine stories. That way the multiple reality is given due respect. My kupuna the elders who came before me did this when they composed proverbs, stories, chant and song. I am perpetuating the practice. 

5. Become Mauliauhonua - "Be the App"
The final component is to work towards becoming the expert in your neighborhood or community. 

This is our aim: "Be the App." While we research what it will take for us to experience 'Safe Passage' with our golden wagon built as a refuge, we remind ourselves that it is a process. A lifelong journey of becoming.  

Hope you enjoy the videos. We do a little, or a lot each day, to make our way toward continuing safe passage with Vardo for Two. Dates and specifics are yet to come, but, we are here and connect with you keeping on this spiral path.

Peace and Love,

Moki and Pete

`Aha Update #8: SSSLLLOOOWWWLLLYYY

The heat wave may be contributing to the slow down to all things quick. In addition to the heat, all outer planets will be retrograde (appearing to be going backward putting on the BRAKES to the collective activity overall).

Forests are burning in Canada and Darrington, WA. too. In more ways than one, the heat is on.

The Po 'Ole the 'Ole Phases of the Hawaiian Moon Calendar have been helpful though intense reality checks. We are IN PROCESS. We are 'processing good-byes' left and right; and to be honest we aren't particularly good at it. Practice, practice, practice. One of the ways that does help me is to shift creative gears, and let art slip in. The best ways for me to cool down is to drink lots of fluids, Pete handed me ice packs for my head and feet; and write medicine. Medicine stories.

This drawing will be part of the comic book I'm writing and illustrating to document our journey.
The comic book will be a reward for donors. Stay tuned for details.

I am spending lots of time researching and editing our story for our Crowdfunding Page. That story is one of the MOST IMPORTANT parts to the process. We are pretty sure we will go with YouCaring as the platform, but are still getting all the details together, to make our campaign successful.
.
What do we know?

We know that Pete and I process differently. The drawing above depicts our differences.

We do know the process of clearing and packing ourselves up after almost eight years, is so much about processing good-byes. People get attached to each other as much as people get attached to place. Combined, the emotional hinges and the process that keeps hinges (relationships) flexible rather than brittle requires cool heads and loving hearts.

• We commit to those cool heads, and loving hearts and remember: this is NOT about exerting power, and our goal is comfort not control.
• To help me maintain that commitment, as I also manage the addition stress of forest smoke, I write myth. The medicine story Slipp'n In is here to follow. (This story will become a comic book and one of the Rewards for donors to our YouCaring Crowdfunding campaign.)

• The Nene, the rare Hawaiian goose is a major character in the new myth. There she is in her non-mythic form.

We do know we need to sell both our truck (Bernadette) and car (Scout). This won't be easy good-bye, but then it doesn't seem to matter that a thing isn't easy when it just needs to be done.

We do know before we sell Bernadette and Scout, we have to have a new-to-us truck that is:

1. fragrance free inside
2. not freshly painted nor detailed using scented product and cleaning solutions
3.  mechanically sound, with a good A.C. system
4.  hefty enough to tow 3,500 + pounds of trailer, vardo and our belongs in the bed of the truck
5. Pete's working on a fair price range to aim at that would be covered (at least mostly) by the sale of our present vehicles

We do know we will need to drive from Whidbey Island to Oakland, CA in our new to us truck with Vardo for Two trailing behind.

• That is approximately 1,200 miles since we will drive the coast highways (101, and 1) most of the way south.
• Becoming road ma'a, road savvy, will take some time and patience. Getting safely from here to there isn't a quick thing, it's a mindful one:) Traveling with Environmental Illness is always about 'befriending' time, being a kilo (keen observer) and making informed choices.
• Remember the Underground Railroad? In many ways our journey calls on the spirit and resiliency of a network such as that one. Not so much secret, but truly safe from pesticide and herbicide use; and hosted by open-minded folks who understand about EI. 

We know our eventual goal is to get from Whidbey Island to the Hawaiian Islands, but first we do the things above.

Mahalo nui, thanks so much for following us in the process.

Do you know of a hefty 3/4 top pickup truck that might suit us; need more info about the truck?
Do you know people, friends, family who live along the route we'll be driving who could keep a light on for us; a safe haven overnight or longer?

Let us know if you know ... in the comments or e-mail us.


To read older updates:
Go here to read about our first gathering on July 8th, 2017
See what we did on the New Moon to set our intentions for the coming moon cycle.
Further updates are here, here, here, here.


E Awaiaulu a paʻa. Bound together we are formidable.
xo
Mokihana and Pete