A Past No Longer There

I grew up in the sugar plantation town of Waipahu on the island of Oahu.  Our homes were provided by the plantation and my parents paid a very low rent.  We called it "the camp".  It was on a sort of flat hill.

We were about two houses away from the sugar cane fields and when they burnt the leaves for harvesting the canes we'd get a black ash shower that would have mom scrambling to get her laundry in.

There were huge mango, avocado, lemon, banana, tangerine, star fruit, plumeria, etc. trees everywhere.  My brother and I had the entire "camp" to play in.  Our parents never worried about us.

This is a photo of mom and Dennis in front of our house and our huge mango tree.

And here's Dennis swinging from the avocado tree in the back yard.

We had so many avocados that it was a chore to get them all given away.

I confess that when I got older, I may have felt a little embarrassed about living there instead of a regular home.  However, now that we're older, my brother and I regret not having taken more photos of the place because it's all gone.

When I was in Chicago, Dennis sent these photos to me to describe how it looked.  The camp had burned down.  He'd taken his sons to see the place he grew up in.

The area was later sold, plowed over and graded so that everything that used to be there was completely obliterated.  It's as though it never was.  There are only stores or new homes there today.  We've tried to drive around the area but can't find any landmarks to tell us where our home might have stood.

It's really a strange feeling.

Waipahu "Open Market"

I grew up in Waipahu quite a few years ago... before I went away to college, before I married and before I left for Illinois some 34 years ago. We returned to go to the Farmers Market. In Hawaii, they call it the Open Market.
We passed by this mynah bird who was in an awful hurry.

Tif wanted to buy some Filipino mochi (rice cake) that she really loves. KC was quite patient and was rewarded with some delicious buns.

The Open Market begins at 8:15. This is taken quite seriously. Money does NOT exchange hands until the 8:15 horn is blown.

It's fun to see all the local island veggies and fruits.



On the way back to the car, we noticed all the flowers on trees and bushes. This is a crown flower plant. Monarch butterflies begin their lives on it. The flowers are used to string leis.













The pikake (Jasmine) is so fragrant, it actually smells delicious. Jasmine tea? The Filipinos tell me it's their national flower. My friend complains that the scent is so strong that pikake leis give her a headache. Not me!






I have no idea what this is but I thought it was beautiful.










My mom always called this the bozubana flower. I don't know what the English word is. Bozu means priest or monk (who are bald) in Japanese, bana means flower.








And here's another mystery flower. My mom tells me many Filipinos have this flower in their yard and that they eat the beans from it. (Later: My brother says this tree is called Malungguy.