Aloha Is....

 

    Momi Palmieri, Kumu Hula - Mālamalama O Ka Mahina Leavenworth WA

 

In 1986 Hawaiʻi adopted The Aloha Spirit Law. The meaning of Aloha was written by Pilahi Paki.
Her students strive to live by, and for, the Aloha Spirit. Those of us who teach hula, chant, dance, healing and spiritual training do the same. We teach to remind and to keep alive the values of the life force of Aloha.

In 2015 I attended a workshop at Three Days of Aloha in Portland, OR. given by Kumu Hula Leialoha Lim Amina, a haumana (student), of Pilahi.. Her entire training that day was concerning this chant and its deeper and profound meaning. She passed this kuleana (responsibility) on to me and other teachers in this training.

"A - Akahai, meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;
  L - Lōkahi, meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;
 O - ʻOluʻolu - meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;
 H - Haʻahaʻa - meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;
 A - Ahonui - meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

These are traits of character that express the Spirit and the people of a land known throughout the world in these words of wisdom, intelligence and understanding. What the world knows in the word of ALOHA."

- Pilahi Paki

This beautiful fall morning in Leavenworth speaks to me of aloha in all facets of my life. I sit at my computer looking out my east facing kitchen window, my world on the rising sun and chattering, feeding birds. A hummer darts in and out of the young Indian Summer Crab Apple tree, which is brilliant with its bright red berries. In late winter the Pine Grosbeak comes down from our forests of spruce and fir to devour these choice berries.

Akahai, kindness to be expressed with tenderness, encourages me to be mindful of the needs of my real estate clients as well as my students, of my family and friends. Kindness requires forethought of my words as I teach the meaning of contracts, or the meaning of Hawaiian chants. Akahai reminds me to be tender with my rescued Alaskan Malamutes. Their past experiences often were fraught with fear, abandonment and mistreatment. They bring me their hope which, in time, grows to trust and happy dog laughter. There is no place in my life where the need for kindness and tenderness does not reach. I learn every day more ways to be in aloha, to take a breath and let aloha happen. Let it come from me, let me give it away...with joy and kindness.

Wishing you a day, a week, a lifetime of aloha.

 

Mālama Our Village Way of Life: Protect and Preserve

YES TO MONTHLY RENTALS - NO TO NIGHTLY RENTALS IN OUR RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS

From Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert
mā.lama

1. nvt. To take care of, tend, attend, care for, preserve, protect, beware, save, maintain; to keep or observe, as a taboo; to conduct, as a service; to serve, honor, as God; care, preservation, support, fidelity, loyalty; custodian, caretaker, keeper. 

At this time there is significant pressure on our Planning Commission and City Council to change the existing code to allow overnight/transient rentals in our Leavenworth residential neighborhoods. Turning our homes into hotels in the residential neighborhoods. We believe that this would be a detriment to our beautiful village in the mountains. We are a prominent destination for outdoor recreation, shopping, dining, wine and beer tasting, hiking, river rafting and rock climbing. Much of our daily lives are impacted by vacationing visitors. Many businesses thrive and grow. 

Balance is the key to a healthy way of life. As a coalition are trying to conserve and protect, mālama, our very small residential neighborhoods. To protect what little space we have left for our homes and families, free from overnight/transient rentals.

This from a fine letter to the City Council on June 28, 2016.

"The residential restriction area is ridiculously small. Consider:

*The area encompassed by the Cascade School District (what we usually refer to as the Upper Valley) is about 1,170 square miles, or 748,800 acres, probably 20% is inhabited, or about 150,000 acres.

*The entire city is 1.23 square miles, or about 788 acres (this excludes water)

*Over half (54%) of Leavenworth is commercial or zoned TO ALLOW nightly rentals.

*The residential zone where nightly rentals are prohibited is 366 acres (from Nate Pate, less than 1/2 square mile). 46% of the city, far less than 1% of the inhabited Upper Valley.

*The conversation should be on how to maintain and grow the quality of residential in this TINY zone, NOT giving over to tourist trade the last bit of a place trying to be a real village."

                                                                                                    - John Agnew

We will be in your neighborhood soon with our Petition to the City to continue to:

SAY YES TO MONTHLY RENTALS - NO TO NIGHTLY RENTALS IN OUR RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS.

Write letters to Leavenworth City Council members www.cityofleavenworth.com

Write letters to both the Leavenworth Echo and the Wenatchee World with copies to the City Council.

Attend City Council Meetings July 12 and 26th.

Talk to your neighbors about this possible major change to our lives.

If you support our vision call me at 509-433-2211 to have the Petition brought to your home.

With deep aloha,

Momi

Ahonui

For most of my life I have been working on the ability to be patient. Ahonui. I was such an impatient child, teen and young woman. Over time I have become quite able to be patient with others. Self? Still not so much. This morning I am realizing that what my friend and physician, Dr Karl, stated some weeks ago is playing out as he predicted. On May 2, I tripped and fell. Splat. Prat fall. Slammed. Caught myself beautifully, as I did not hit any furniture or break any bones in the accident. However, when I went to see Dr Karl, he diagnosed my aches/pains as whiplash. "Donʻt use your right arm. It will take six to eight weeks to heal. If you continue to use the arm, healing will take longer." Today is June 12th and I still hurt. I try NOT to use the arm, yet obviously still do so in lesser ways than usual. Type A personalities like mine are not easily self-constrained from zooming from task to task.

Sistah Kitty is delighted with my need to be still. She is on me the minute I sit down. Sproing! Happy Sistah! My patience, ahonui, wears thin many times each day. And I am the culprit. Although I donʻt do any heavy work I still water the flowers, brush my Bear Pono, vacuum the flying Wooly Bear fur. Professional and personal work on the computer. Frustration follows me right now. Even art journaling hurts. That makes me sad.

I did choreograph a new noho dance with stones, the ʻiliʻili, for my students, my haumana. Of course, that dancing does make my neck, shoulder, arm ache. However, the joy of creation over-rides the soreness. It is a beautiful and meaningful mele. My students are dancing and chanting in new ways now.

Kanalani will massage me for the 2nd time on Monday. Such relief. Her healing hands working with aloha to pull the soreness from my neck/shoulder/arm. So, today, I am vowing to do less, wear the sling more, and slow down! More Tylenol, more ice. More non-motion. You would think an elder would relish the chance to slow down a bit. Not this one. And I know that in the greater scheme of things, my injury is nothing. Okay, pau with that. Today is glorious: sunny, cool temperatures with Keola Beamer music floating in the background. Bear Pono and I will get another fine walk today; early, in the coolness, suitable for a wooly malamute still blowing his thick coat. I will cherish each moment and think healing light. Live with aloha.

Kaleidoscope

Aloha kakahika e hoaaloha. Spring is here; she showering us with a little snow, lots of rain and glorious sunshine. My life is a kaleidoscope of life colors: the constantly turning patterns of interwoven hues encompassing the activities of real estate broker, traditional hula teacher, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi haumana/student, art journaling enthusiast and companion to Bear Pono and Sistah Kitty. Oh, yeah...and Mom and Grandmother/Tūtū.

Mother Earth is bursting open with the joy of new life. Vibrant color surrounds me: new flowers and old-friend birds returning. I saw the female Rufous Hummingbird searching around the sparse lilac which I have filled with bird feeders and suet. I quickly put her feeder together and hung it in the kitchen window. Within hours she was sky-dancing and drinking. I slid the window open a bit to hear the sound of her wings. Magical music. Yesterday she brought the male; he was an afternoon delight of brilliant velvety red. She sits patiently in the lilac, enjoying the other birds. Bird song is truly loud in the early morning. What a joy here in the village. Bear likes to eat his breakfast and then snooze on the back porch where he can hear his birds.

The hālau was so happy to be a part of the In Celebration of Dangerous Women presented by Icicle Creek Center for the Arts. We held extra practices and rehearsals in order to share our traditional hula with the community. What a fine performance it was. Moving and delightful. Thanks to all who made it possible.

Lishkaʻs Crab Apple 

I have begun sitting on the front porch in my favorite noho paipai (rocking chair) with a fresh cuppaʻ joe. I swear I can feel the earth expanding with new growth. I have been watching Lishkaʻs tree (it was planted in her ashes), the Indian Summer Crab Apple, bud and begin to bloom. The colors range from rich ruby so shell pink and change hourly as more blossoms mohala/open, unfold in the warm sunlight. 

Heidi and Tepʻs Lilies

Drink in all the colors that surround you. 

I walked my green wheelbarrow to Tep and Heidiʻs and dug up a few of their Tiger Lilies to replant in my antique bathtub. Now, I wait to see if they are happy in their new home. Mahalo, Heidi for the photo, as well. What fun to share our lives and our flowers.                             

                                                 

I have clients who need my time and energy and must move my day along. They, too, are beautiful pua/flowers in my life.  Wishing you a vibrant spring with eyes to drink in all the colors that twist and turn moment to moment like a dancing kaleidoscope of magical surprise. Live with aloha.                                                                  

Eudaimonia

The heavy rains of last night have ended and for now we have early morning sunshine. Double blessings for new spring growth; some of which I can see as the feet of old snow continues to melt away, return to the deep earth. Birds are not at the feeders right now. My wooly Bear still finds snow to roll in, to lick as a child would enjoy a popsicle.

Andrea told me of a book she loves: Big Magic - Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. I immediately bought and read it and have now downloaded it to Audible so I can listen to Elizabeth reading to me while I paint/stamp/stencil in my DLP journal. I listen as I prepare Listing paperwork for a new  real estate client. I listen while I plan for the next hula lesson I'll teach or the next Hawaiian language class I take. This book is big magic as it propels me to just keep doing the work. Don't judge, don't overthink, just work. If poetry doesn't come, then paint. Or plan the next hula costume. Or choreograph. Or work in the yard, painting with plants and rocks in the bits of my tiny yard which I can see right now. Greens appearing around the still deep snow bomb piles.
My new favorite word - that I've wrapped around me like a blanket - came from her text. EUDAIMONIA. She explained it as from the Greek, meaning 'well daemoned'. Protected by creative spirits. I've read that it was first used by Aristotle to mean happy and healthy. I also ascribe my core self as having my Grandmother Dix's happy gene. Aristotle and Grammy plus good spirits dancing around me. I am blessed.

I understand that I have chosen a varied life which encompasses my 'work' work as a decades long Real Estate Broker and is seasoned by a passion for traditional Hawaiian hula which I now teach here in our village. I also require the companionship of my beloved rescue Alaskan Malamutes; Bear Pono is my guy right now. Blind and yet he sees/knows more than I will ever ken. Art journaling has opened a grand new time of excitement as I learn color and form and freedom on the page. I have also returned to an on going class in Hawaiian language in order to understand the chants with greater clarity. Each of these holds a dear place in my life, each one feeds the other.
I dance forward in each quadrant of my life with the intention of doing and being better each day.
Client meeting this morning. A little art journaling mid-day prior to walking the dog. Then rehearsal for Women's International Month presentation at Snowy Owl this evening. Life is good. I wish the same for you. Aloha.

Sunday Morning Comin' Down (as an old friend wrote)

Put Bear Pono outside to eat his early morning fill of snow. We were surrounded by a magnificent Maxfield Parrish sky. Upper Valley sunrise of soft yellows through dark oranges and reds. Mahalo Nā Akua. This has been a week unfolding like a spring bud in a big hurry. New experiences came running to me in a heated rush.
In my Artistʻs Way morning pages I had written of the cocooning of winterʻs hibernation and stated that I was ready to expand my world with new experiences and new people. Wowza! Be careful what you ask for...and then pay attention.
On Monday I got a call for an need for a Beginner Hula class. The woman had daughters and was ready to go. I emailed my present haumana (students) to invite them, as well. Tuesday evening the class was begun. The new students stood on the edge of a new experience and dived right in with ooohs and aaahs and laughter. Oh, yes; that was a fine beginning.
Wednesday is our Lele Mana O Pueo class; we are preparing for a performance in March at Snowy Owl. We are part of a presentation of Dangerous Women in celebration of Womenʻs History Month. We will honor Pele, the Goddess of the Volcano. Dance, dance, dance. And chant.
Thursday was a hoot! I had recently contacted my Kumu ʻŌlelo, Likolani Tackett, to ask to return to study of Hawaiian language with her. Language is critical to my understanding of hula and Hawaiian culture. I have completed 4 semesters with her, but that was 18 months, ago. Time to return! I joined a Skype class already in session on Thursday night. Oh, my goodness. Smoke was pouring out of my ears as I began retrieval of grammar I had not used in a very long time. I love it! Crazy good fun. And fine new people to get to know.
Friday was an evening of fine dining with past clients who have become dear friends. We walked to Wok About Grill and ate and talked for hours. She is a Native American Rights attorney. He captains the boat during fishing season in Alaska. They rescue Great Pyrenees. I rescue malamutes. Theirs are bigger!
Saturday was time spent with a wonderful sistah who made time to come visit for the rest of the weekend. Time to talk story again. We met another dear friend at OʻGradyʻs for lunch. She is a math professor, a jewelry maker and a paddler of her own kayak. Kimberly comes once a year to this conference and we get to spend 3 hours together. We met through Alaskan Malamute Rescue and became sisters of the hair immediately.
My real estate business is blossoming, as well. I am so grateful for all of my clients, both returning and new. We are on their paths to new discovery.
Art Journaling continues to pull me into the world of paints, inks, stamps and stencils with my talented and funny daughter in law, Heidi. I listen and learn from her. And also I just "try s---!" My favorite way to approach the art.
Like this morningʻs Maxfield Parrish sky, my world is expanding, vibrant and varied; full of promise. I am blessed.
"I ka wā mamua i ka wā mahope." The future is in the past.

Living Aloha in the Bavarian Village

We are living in a time of transition here in the Pacific Northwest. Feet of snow still fill my yard. The incessant rain of the last couple of days has hastened the melting. Rivers are running wild and strong. Pine Grosbeaks have come to strip my Lishka Tree, the Indian Summer Crab apple, of its remaining berries. Gold, House & Cassin's Finches, Chickadees, Steller's Jays, Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers and Quails have all come to dine at my feeders during the winter. Sistah Kitty sits in the kitchen window watching and mentally stalking each one.

Bear ʻIkepono loves to lay in the deep snow and lick tunnels in the snow and ice. His Alaskan Malamute soul is fulfilled at this time of year.

Tonight we start a new Beginning Hula class. Advanced haumana and performers have class on Wednesday nights. My hālau, Mālamalama O Ka Mahina, was born on Hawaiʻi Island in 1984. I taught in Kailua on ʻOʻahu for many years. I began teaching traditional hula and chant here in Leavenworth, WA in April of 1999. That was also the year I adopted my first Malamute, Lishkalani. I live in the yin/yang of Aloha and Snowdogs.

My home has been nicknamed The Bavarian Beach House, by my clever daughter-in-law, Heidi. I have named it Kuʻu Puʻuhonua O Pueo. It is filled with Hawaiian art and books and music. The long porch welcomes you with comfortable rocking chairs. "Hele mai," come in. Together we shall enjoy one another and talk story.

A hui hou, until we meet again.

www.momip.com
www.leavenworth-homes.com
www.wamal.com