Maui Gold.
That’s the name of the locally grown pineapple most often seen in Maui supermarkets, farmer’s markets and served in local restaurants. Mainlanders are always amazed and delighted at how different and how much better local pineapple is than what is sold as fresh and ripe in their home-town markets. It’s a wonderful thing we have available to us 12 months of the year.
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY
Kopa’a: Sugar
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY
“Nothing can sweeten it.” (Nothing can change a bad situation into a good one.)
September 23, 1878: Two hundred men work furiously to complete the A&B ditch before the close of the month. Earlier in the year, the San Francisco sugar baron Claus Spreckels made a request to King Kalakaua, that he be allowed to dig a ditch to feed sugar cane. Kalakaua had a governing cabinet, and at the time, this cabinet rejected Spreckels’ request. 
(Rumor had it that A&B fed them well.) Kalakaua didn’t like this decision, fired the cabinet, created a new one, and that cabinet gave Spreckels the rights he wanted. The agreement shows a loan from Spreckels to Kalakaua of $4,000 (about $80,000 in todays money).
A long time ago, when I was young and living in another place, I had a very old neighbor from Russia. He interested me, because at 86, he had begun building a new house, when his old one burned down. And at 88, I watched him planting fruit trees. To labor for many days in the hot sun, at 88, to plant trees whose fruit he would never see, made him a curiosity to me.
At that time, I had not yet heard about the English builder who had built a great hall in 1386, and who had also planted the oak trees from which would come the lumber to replace the old timber 500 years later. Had he not planted the oaks, there would not have been replacement timber of the proper size five centuries later.
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY
Malu: Peace
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY
“Break off the point of the spear.” (Cease warfare.)
September 20, 1927: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE - Today Maui marks the 21st International Day of Peace celebrating in Haiku. Ram Dass, Deeksha Givers, Geordie Jahner and other Yoga instructors will teach yoga at the Haiku Marketplace - 5:00 p.m at The Studio Maui Movement Center. Everyone is asked to join in a day of recognizing that peace is possible, however far away it seems. 100% of the proceeds of all classes will be donated to various nonprofits devoted to peace. The Studio Maui …
AEROSTAR CANCELS CONCERT - If you have paper tickets, return them to the MACC box office for a refund.
HAWAII SUPERFERRY - Streaming video of Wailuku 2nd Circuit Court hearings can be seen on Akaku public television. Watch here …
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY
Ma’ema’e: Cleanliness, to clean
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY
“When one does not clean the side of the poi bowl properly, he is unlikely to wipe his behind clean after defecation.”
September 20, 1927: Rolls of toilet paper sell on Maui 3 for 25 cents, not a small amount of money in those days. (25 cents then would pay for enough meat for a meal for a family of four.) Toilet paper holds a special place in the domestic history of Maui, and Hawaii. 
Residents love their toilet paper. During the oil embargo of 1970’s, supplies to the state became scarce, and among the first to disappear off store shelves was, yes toilet paper.
Aloha attire - the quintessential Hawaiian look. Some say it sprang from the early missionaries’ attempts to cover up the native population with western dress, but the famous Aloha Shirt was first made and marketed in Honolulu by merchant Mr. Ellery Chung to use an abundance of left-over kimono fabric. He went on to register the Aloha trade name in 1936 and create the term Aloha Shirt with a Honolulu Advertiser saleperson.
The rest, as they say, is history. The shirts quickly became an instantly recognizable symbol of the relaxed and colorful lifestyle in all the Hawaiian Islands, including Maui. Colorful, comfortable and cool, the aloha attire is found in the board rooms of business, in the halls of the state legislature, in five star restaurants and local bistros, as well as semi-formal events including weddings, birthday parties and funerals. The aloha shirt is accepted, and expected, attire on Maui. Enjoy - it’s a wonderful thing!
Keep it aloha. Keep it colorful. Keep it Maui.
- Haole Anna, Paia
FIRST QUARTER MOON - 6:48am
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY - Makua: Parents
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY
“The goodness of the taro is judged by the young plant it produces.”
Erin Cute Photo
HAWAII SUPERFERRY
Big Island Mayor Harry Kim supports Superferry running during EIS. State decides to allow competive bidding for Superferry environmental assessment. Read more …
Streaming video of Wailuku 2nd Circuit Court hearings can be seen on Akaku public television. Watch here …
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY
Malama ‘ole: Neglect
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY
“Stray dogs will take what one neglects to care for.”
Erin Cute Photo
September 18, 2006: The Makena Resort, with its hotel, golf courses and land zoned for development, is put up for sale. Read more …
Superferry - Streaming video of Wailuku 2nd Circuit Court hearings can be seen on Akaku public television. Watch here …
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY - Wai halana: Flood
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY - “When the leaves of the ‘ama’u turn toward the upland, it is a sign of a flood.”
September 17: GUEST DATER TODAY - the Maui Curmudgeon
The average highs and lows for Kahului on this day, are 88 and 70 degrees respectively.
What’s global warming?
To start, it’s something to have some fun with. Put aside cause for now. Some people actually think this is a natural phenomenon, but then some people think George Bush really won Florida in 2000. So, let’s shove cause on a shelf, and avoid that argument with those delusionals, who for 
reasons yet investigated seem to choose to live in red states.
What can’t be denied is the huge increase in CO2 in the air - 30% more than has been found in ice tests reflecting air quality for the past several million years. And the most important question to ask is, of course, what does this mean for Maui?
Well, if the Ross Ice Shelf falls en masse into the ocean, not too much. The Ross Ice Shelf is about the size of France. Just a few years ago, back when terror really threatened the U.S., our Congress was hard at work renaming French Fries ‘freedom fries’, so I’m sure some knee-jerk conservatives are still wishing France itself would fall into the ocean. It won’t. The Ross Ice Shelf is likely to, and in the next few years. Though France isn’t small (say, like the Vatican is), it is not so relatively big to Mother Earth that the ocean will rise much. Here at home, the water’s edge is going to be a few feet closer to parking. What convenience!
However, if the Western Antarctic Ice Shelf goes as some are now predicting, the ocean is going to rise 18 to 25 feet. This means, of course, that the central valley area will disappear, except for some high ground, mostly centered around our landfills, which hover around 37 feet in altitude. Kihei will go, too, but then no one with common sense has thought Kihei was still around anymore. It’s looked like the ass-end of San Diego for years.
What immediate steps can we Mauians take to work with this?
The Maui Common Council needs to stop all development above 30 feet in altitude, and open the permit process for valley building, primarily for self-insured, filthy rich people. Most of them tend to be conservatives who don’t ‘believe’ in global warming anyway, as if global warming was as arbitrary as, say, religion. This should shut up the developers complaining about how they can’t spread concrete fast enough around here. Also, let’s move those whiny vacation rental people to the valley as well, and let them have at it. Both concrete and vacation rentals will make great reefing material.
We should immediately begin a name contest. After all, Maui will now be two islands, and will require two names. The obvious choice for West Maui is Waikiki, but that’s taken. I vote for Fugly. It has a vague non-American sound to it. And, what the hell, invite the Superferry to Fugly. It could dock at one of the fourth floors of the abandoned monstrosities on the coast. And how fun will it be to scuba famous hotel lobbies, eh?
East Maui might actually become cooler. Pa’ia could become the capital, and Willie Nelson the first Mayor. Hana Highway wouldn’t have all those pitiful Hana-bound tourists, though it is fun to watch one from time to time pulled over to the roadside and puking.
Of course, all this is academic, and really, nothing much to worry about, not because it’s not going to 
happen but because it will happen too late. You see, those billions of tons of CO2 in the air? What goes up must come down. In this case, into those same oceans, and it’s making the water acidic, in some places now as much as .20. No one knows what the tipping point is, but some guess it’s .40. When that is reached, the oceans will die, and quickly, as much of Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico already has. And with them, humanity.
I’m sure something of note happened on tomorrow’s date here on Maui, but if not, I’m happy to return. Thanks for reading.
Beaches.
That’s a huge part of what Maui is all about, isn’t it? There are over 30 miles of public beaches here - and in fact, all beaches are public. And free! Really amazing! From gentle waters for sun worshipers, beginning swimmers and snorkeling, to fishing and diving sites, to major cliffside surf sites with challenging tides and waves, Maui offers an oceanside experience for everyone. Free. No admission fees. And unlike many public beaches in places like Florida - no parking fees either!
Hamana ‘ia ka lehulehu: “Public: not private; open to the people”
Keep it open. Keep it free. Keep it Maui.
- Haole Anna, Paia
