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Ring, Ring, Kalihi Ring….

Our Kamehameha Warriors football team won the state championship this past Friday night, defeating 5-time state champs, Kahuku High. Chee-hoo!! The game was fun & exciting (as is the case with all state championship victories.) But as good as it was, I enjoyed the atmosphere even more. (Thus, the pic of the tuba players….)

I went to the game with a bunch of co-workers (my buds, Darrin & Lynne.) We ate Zip Pacs in the back of my pick-up and met a friendly Kahuku supporter in the parking lot. We also bumped into a few of our middle school teachers. As we entered the stadium gate, we were greeted (mobbed) by two of our students who were selling souvenir programs (for their soccer team’s fundraiser.) We finally got in, and the place was packed! It was a sea of blue & white. So awesome! Everyone was decked out in Kamehameha t-shirts, holding homemade signs, and waving towels. There were students, alumni, grandmas & grandpas, and even babies. The cool part about being at a K-12 school is that we are one school and one campus. The cool part about being at Kamehameha is that we are one community. Unlike being at a UH game where you don’t know the people around you, you practically know everyone here. You even know the players and cheerleaders. And it was amazing to see our friend the band director (and biggest cheerleader) wearing eye-black!

But what I appreciated most was the sense of tradition. After a touchdown, the band plays “Imua Kamehameha.” After the first score, I had a flashback of the old Honolulu Stadium days. The band triggered a flood of memories from when I was a little kid. Following the final touchdown, our friend Nate was teaching his little boy the “Imua Kamehameha” song. I was witnessing tradition being passed on….

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“Ocean View”

From “small kid time,” Ala Moana Beach was always my second playground. It was a quick trip from McCully, where I grew up. We would have family picnics there on weekends. During summer vacation, dad would take us there almost everyday (he worked the graveyard shift.) We would all turn “black” by August….

In high school, Ala Mo’s was the place to cruz’, day or night. We’d drive in from the Magic Island side, then slowly make our way out the Kewalo end going 5 mph. It’s about a one mile stretch of beach.

My dream was to someday live near Ala Moana Beach. Today, I am truly blessed to be living at 909. I am about 30 seconds away! When moving in this past July, my intention was to live on the makai side of the building with an ocean view. In fact, the ocean view is of Ala Moana Beach. Unfortunately, this wasn’t meant to be…. Still, I am extremely happy and grateful to be where I am.

One day while walking around Ward Center, I walked by “The Gallery at Ward Centre.” There in the window hung a huge painting of three surfers on a wave. “Woh! My ocean view,” I thought to myself. I went inside the gallery and picked up the artist’s business card. The artist’s name is Doug Young. I went to his website and found a painting that totally caught my eye. I emailed him and ordered that painting.

Well, today was the day that he finally completed it (a repainted archival print on stretched canvas.) He was cool enough to deliver it and “install” it.

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Here is artist Doug Young hanging the painting in my living room. (I know, it’s a painting of Queen’s Beach in Waikiki and not Ala Mo’s….) Still, today marks a special day for me. I finally got my “ocean view.” Cheeeeeee……

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Bang a Gong….

c_steelhead_d I’m a double-bogey golfer. This means that my average score is about a 108. I guess you would call me a “ham-and-egger.” I golf about once a year. Fortunately, I have a very simple swing that’s easy to reproduce. I can “not golf” for an entire year and still hit it straight. Unfortunately, my swing is so conservative that I cannot generate any power or distance. My drives average only about 190 yards (maybe 200 w/ the roll if the ground is hard enough….)

Our Kamehameha Schools Education Support Services group sponsored a golf tournament at Mililani a couple of weeks ago. This is what happened….

I almost canceled out at the last minute. My finger still hadn’t healed from that plumbing mishap a few months ago. “Damaged ligaments,” is what Tim (KS athletic trainer) had told me. I stepped up to the 1st tee with my riding partner Cy. I placed my worn, beat-up Titleist ball on the shiny white tee. Because I don’t lose balls, I sometimes use them for two or three rounds (or two or three years.) I took a practice swing and felt a shot of pain run up my wrist. This wasn’t gonna work. I tried an interlocking grip for the first time, and it seemed to relieve some of the pressure. My first drive went straight into a large tree on the left. “OB!,” shouted one of the golfers in the group. This was going to be a long day….

After a couple of shots, I started to get the hang of it. I was able to keep the ball in play. My nemesis was my chipping and putting. I scored a few pars as well as “more than a few” triples and quadruples. Still, it was a long, hot, and humid day. The front 9 was tough, but the back 9 was brutal. Everyone was looking forward to the after-party….

Finally, we were at the 18th hole. I decided that I was gonna “swing for the fences.” “Leave it on the course,” was the battle cry that Kel, Jeff, and Sanford used to say. “Bang a gong” and “stain da BVDs” were a couple of others. I took a few practice swings with all of my might. It made loud swooshing sounds in the wind, and I saw the concerned faces of my foursome.

I addressed the ball and took the club back slowly. Then I fired my hips forward and swung as hard and as violently as possible! Crack!! I heard the sound of a “mallet striking a steel post.” I looked up and saw the ball piercing down the center of the fairway. It was a “once in a lifetime” shot. The foursome started hooting and laughing in disbelief.

We drove up to ball which was inside the 150 mark on a par 4 – 418 yard hole. The drive had gone almost 280 yards. I went on to bogey the hole to finish with a 105. My friend Gordon, who was in the group behind us, saw me hit for the first time and was in awe. I almost didn’t have the heart to tell him that that shot was a fluke. Almost….

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Ahh Memories….

Looked through a box of old photos and found this….

b-day card

This is a handmade birthday card that I received way back when I used to teach at Kapolei Elementary School. This reminded me of a funny story….

These students used to visit my classroom after school to hang out (and deplete my supply of snacks.) They saw that I had a guitar in my class and always asked me to play it for them. I even “promised” that I would play a song for them one day before they graduated from 5th grade. Well, that day came and passed. In fact, the photo on this card is from their graduation day.

A few weeks into their middle school year, they stormed in after school and demanded that I keep my promise. I said, “Oh, not today. I have papers to grade.” They then gave me the saddest look of grief and abandonment. I gave in….

I pulled out the guitar and sat on a table. The girls anxiously pulled up chairs and sat close enough to see up my nostrils. I said, “Heyyyy! Back off….” After another look of grief, I gave in again. (Such a pushover.) I said, “OK. Sit wherever….”

I started to play and sing “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias. It was an awkward moment. They started giggling. I kept singing. Then they started laughing. Hysterically! I finally stopped and said, “Heyy!!! You can’t laugh when I’m trying to sing for you!”

They said, “Oh no Mr. T. We’re laughing because we didn’t think you’d be this good.”

‘Til this day, I still don’t know if that was a compliment or an insult….

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“Auntie K”

Growing up, I had the most wonderful aunt from Kaua’i. We called her Auntie K. Funny, but I always thought the “K” stood for Kaua’i. She would visit us on O’ahu and bring Kaua’i Cookies and a box of chicken from the Hanamaulu Cafe. I thought she was the best cook!

Auntie K worked as a greeter at the Lihue Airport. This meant that she was the first person you’d meet when visiting the island. She was the “Face of Kaua’i,” so full of love, warmth, kindness, and the aloha spirit. You couldn’t have picked a better person!

Auntie K and my dad used to have the most entertaining conversations. It usually went something like this….
Auntie: “Uuumm. You know, this is the best cake that I ever did eat in my life!”
Dad: “Sheeee. You so easily impressed. Every cake is the best cake you ever ate.”
Auntie: “Sooo. What’s wrong with dat?”
Dad: “Aahhhh……”
Their banter reminded me of chickens. 🙂

I will miss my Auntie K. She was the only person in the world who phoned me and prayed for me on a regular basis. She was the best.

I know that when Auntie went to heaven, dad was there to greet her. He probably said, “Oh. You must really miss me to come here so soon.” They probably laughed and embraced. Dad would do anything in the world for Auntie.

Now Auntie is a greeter in Heaven. And God couldn’t have picked a better person.