January in Waimea is always an interesting month to write about, since it is the beginning of a new year, and I am a big fan of new beginnings! As I get my morning coffee in town friends will sometimes ask me how my day is going. I am tempted to say “Great! Nothing’s gone wrong yet.” That is what new beginnings are all about, after all … nothing has gone wrong yet!
January is a time for resolutions too. That is when you promise to do better and give it your best try. The interesting thing about New Years resolutions is that they work like a charm as long as you stick with them. I like to know that I can be a better, thinner and more successful person if I just try, and January lets me prove that for a couple of weeks until I give up and go back to my beloved and slothful ways.
This year our wonderful little village has started the new year on the right foot for sure. The end of December brought soaking rains to our parched pasture lands, and now the hills are flushing with green grass against a China blue sky. The rains have been such a blessing to us, and I have not heard a single word of complaint as vibrant life returns to the land.
Even as I write this little message the cliffs of Hamakua are bathed in rain, and thick veils of mist drift through the rainforest, turning to rivulets that run down the dark trunks of ancient trees, gathering in the embrace of the ferns and filling the tiny streams that lead to the great gorges thundering with our beautiful waimea, the reddish brown water we love and depend upon.
We are really just a fold in the land, which holds us in safety and peace. We return to our fold at eventide, before the stars steal up over the shoulders of Mauna Kea, and we know that night will bring a hush over the land, a hush that reminds us that we need peace in our homes, our minds and in our hearts. Our work will be done for the day and the lights of the village will wink on, sparkling through the dark, stirring branches of the trees as we gather to talk, to listen, to read and to rest. Children are mostly delivered at night, and night is the time for love.
The people of Waimea are confident, open and unusually kind. Of course there are always those among us struggling with hurts both real and imagined. There are those who vex their neighbors and some who will steal. The wide spectrum of humanity is represented here to one degree or another, but we are also bound by an understanding of interdependence that seems easily lost in larger, noisier communities. We know our canoe is small, with the wind vast above us and the water deep below. No one will be cast out, and no one goes about alone. This sense of community brings us both comfort and a sense of obligation to our neighbors.
Almost 57 years ago I walked past a hitching post and up the elevated wooden stairs to Hayashi Store for the first time. The store was located where the Bank of Hawaii is now. As luck would have it I was penniless that day, although my classmates from the Hawaii Episcopal Academy were enjoying shopping for little things.
I had been brought up with the merchants of Mo’ili’ili, who would chase us out of their stores if we weren’t buying something, so I was nervous. The glass cases of cowboy gear and the hanging saddles and latigo leather overwhelmed me completely, and I suspect I was staring open-mouth when Mrs. Hayashi peered over the counter.
“What you like, boy?” she asked with smiling eyes. I was startled, since I hadn’t noticed her approach.
“I don’t have money.” I stammered, “but I’m leaving.”
“What? You don’t have money? Your friends have money, but you don’t have?”
“I didn’t get my allowance from my parents, but next week I get it from the school.” I explained as I backed toward the door.
Mrs. Hayashi, bless her soul, said words that have never left me. “You want candy? Wait! I get you one candy bar.” She darted away, and I thought she hadn’t heard me. I had no money. None! She returned in a flash and handed me a Mounds bar, which was the biggest and best candy bar you could buy!
“Here … you take this candy.”
I didn’t move, I guess, because she started saying, “Here, here, take this candy, people waiting!” Then she kind of tossed it to me, and my life changed in that moment. I did not know there was kindness like that in the world and certainly did not expect it from a complete stranger.
I walked out the door with that candy bar in my hand and knew clear as crystal that I loved this place, and to this day it is a place worthy of love.
May your new year bring you many, many blessings,
Bill Jardine, Principal Broker
Property Buyers Hawaii – Hawaii’s only Exclusive Buyers Agency
Say “Hello” to a Good Buy!
