Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa's sister, Lori, on bro-in-law Dave's surprise little back surgery: "Looks benign Schwannoma. Official report in 2 days." [Note: Yes, was benign. No problems.] [2nd Note: Spellcheck wants to change Schwannoma to "Scotchwoman."]

Lisa writes: Auntie May Parker has been a family friend since the 80s. She's always been a keeper of Hawaiian stories and traditions and more recently she became the official docent of a local history museum and cultural center. Here's Christian pounding fresh taro into poi. (Correction of my earlier impression: Fresh poi tastes like sweet potatoes and is not bad. Commercial poi is sour and not good.) Using a shell to scrape out the meat of a slightly unripe coconut. The meat is like coconut-flavored Jello Jigglers. Hawaiian gift wrap -- ti leaves. The gift was a bunch of papaya. Polynesian sugar cane. This is bigger (and purpler) than the Filipino sugar cane that they grow commercially. Peel it and chew it and it's like a candy toothbrush. Christian and I were both fascinated with this thing: It's a kukui nut lamp. The nuts are very oily and burn for about 3 minutes each. So, the ancient Hawaiians would carve these lava rock bowls (sort of like an incense holder) an...

Lisa writes: This is a good story, and it would probably be even if told by Christi... On her honeymoon in Fiji, Christi went to church at the small LDS branch. The branch president said his son was working on raising enough money to go to BYU-Hawaii and go on a mission. Christi was very impressed by this family, so when she got back to Utah, she started rounding up funds to help out this kid, Johnny Vali. Fast forward to tonight: We're at the PCC getting paddled down the canal by a cute polynesian guy. ("Watch your head, we're going under a bridge. And don't look back because your tour guide is squatting and wearing a skirt.") As we're getting off the boat, somebody asks where he's from and he says, "Fiji," and Christi asks if he knows branch president Vali and he said, "Yes, that's my dad!" Christi says, "We helped one of his kids go to college." Johnny said, "Yes, that's me!" Johnny served a mission in Ca...

Lisa writes: The Laie Temple is open again after a two-year renovation. It looks fantastic -- beautiful stained glass and painted details on the inside. Next stop: The Polynesian Cultural Center. We had to spear and kill our own dinner. It's a very authentic native experience. Christian is about to turn 10. How far in advance to they send out the Hogwarts acceptance letters? Dinner, courtesy of Dad. ("And for this very slow wild hog, we give thee thanks...") I'm kidding. Nobody speared anything. This was the luau. Kailua pork is good; poi is not. Tom and his mom, lei'd up. Mom and Dad at the new PCC show, "Ha: Breath of Life." It was just as good as everything they've ever put on. Anything with guys in ti leaf skirts spinning flaming batons is always a good time.

Lisa writes: Say hello to my junior high school friend, Jenny-Bud, and her husband, Big Red. Jenny is super-smart, successful, and well-read in a wide range of subjects, including how to take a good picture. Here's what to do: 1. Stand up straight with your body at an angle to the camera. (Straight on makes you look wider.) 2. Hold your arm out to your side. This also purportedly produces some sort of slimming effect. 3. Jut out your jaw a little bit. This feels strange, but prevents or reduces the appearance of double-chin. There you go, Tom! You've got it! Beautiful!

Lisa writes: Christi set up a scuba/snorkel trip for the gang. Christi is famous for finding deals and then talking them down even cheaper, but what would you say to an outfit that bills itself as "Discount SCUBA -- No Experience Necessary"? Yeah, me too. The non-Christi contingency (myself included) were wimps and went the snorkel route. We saw turtles, a brown manta, and lots of fish. The Christi contingency (Madison and Christian) saw the same stuff, but from 30 feet deeper and while wearing funny outfits. I'm ok with that.

Lisa writes: Dole Pineapple Plantation outside of Wahiawa, Hawaii. I went to intermediate school (a.k.a. Junior High) and high school in Wahiawa and rode the bus through these pineapple and sugar cane fields every day. That was in the mid-80s which, it turns out, was the apex of both of those industries in Hawaii. Since then, cheaper sugar from other places has beat out Hawaiian prices, and a newer, consistently sweet variety of pineapple grows better in Costa Rica. For me, seeing the bushes and trees growing in the abandoned sugar cane fields felt like fall and decline of a tiny, important empire. But on the other hand, Dole only began in 1950. Industrial sugar cane plantations began back in 1800s, but that was an inovation too, at the time. Sometimes you go on vacation to see new things. Other times you go on vacation to see the way things used to be. I think for my family, trips to Hawaii are always both.

Lisa writes: Tom's mom, Trudi, at the U.S. Arizona Memorial. Trudi was six years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and she has memories of it and of growing up during WWII. The ship behind her is the U.S. Missouri, site of the official Japanese surrender of World War II at Tokyo Bay. In other words, within a couple hundred feet of each other are where the war effectively started and ended for the U.S. While we waited for the tour, Trudi made friends with the local wildlife. (Zebra pigeons)

Lisa's sister, Christi, writes: Hope everyone had a fun Labor Day Weekend...we played in the dirt (Man vs. Mud 5k) then washed off in the River (Jackson Hole:) Good stuff...

Lisa writes: Went downtown on a muggy Sunday night to see the new Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. The official unveiling was cancelled last week because of the hurricane, but the memorial is there and open to the public. It's a little tricky to find because there are no signs pointing to it yet, but when we got there we discovered that we were definitely not alone. It was PACKED with families; mostly African-American families with grandmas and moms and dads and teenagers and little kids, everybody taking pictures. It sort of felt like a high school graduation. I don't want to get all rhetorial or whatever, but I was struck by the different reactions of the people of different ages. The grandmas were reverent. The moms and dads were respectful. The teenagers posed in front of the statue, taking pictures of each other while flashing gang signs with their hands. The little kids wandered around like little kids. (One little boy was yelling, "Dad! Dad! I caught a rolly-poll...