Under a Maui Moon by Robin Jones Gunn

Author:Robin Jones Gunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2010-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

11

“He lepo makou, he po’e make no

Ia ‘oe no na’e ka hilina’i mau

‘O ‘oe ka Makua, Ho ‘ola pana’i

A nou mai ka pono, ka ho’opomaika’i.”

“Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;

It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.”

BY FOUR O’CLOCK ON the afternoon of her courageous solo drive to the rainy side of the island, Carissa was seated in a comfortable folding lawn chair. Beside her, in the shade of a grove of guava trees, was Irene. Both of them were balancing blue china teacups on blue china saucers.

Behind them, above the tall grass and strung between two guava trees, was a brightly colored mesh-net hammock. In front of them was a picnic table courtesy of the Haleakala National Park along with a standing charcoal grill, also part of the camp setup. The rest of the cozy items had been brought in by the group.

Three medium-sized dome tents were set in place on the anchored ground tarps, looking like three gray igloos transplanted from the tundra of the forty-ninth state to the lush green open space of the fiftieth state.

Beyond the tents, across the wide field of mown grass that comprised the extent of the primitive camping area, was a spot where the grasses had been left to grow wild. Through the tall jungle of waste-high grass were several trails that led to the volcanic cliffs. Beyond the rocks and cliffs, Irene informed Carissa, was the ocean. Several palm trees dotted the scene at unplanned intervals.

Carissa counted five cars parked on the grassy camping area. Three of them had tents set up beside them. At the far end of the wide stretch was the only facility, an outhouse. She had been warned the camping was primitive, but only a single outhouse? No running water?

What fascinated Carissa most was that Irene was in her happy place. That she had brought her china, carefully packed and lovingly presented to Carissa brimming with mild green tea, was evidence that Irene had a sense of hospitality about her no matter where she went.

“When the men return, they will be so surprised to see you,” Irene said. She offered Carissa a plate of plein-air treats—slices of guava and small, round ginger cookies.

“I’m so glad you decided to come. They will all be eager to hear the story you told me about driving through Ulupalakua and around the back side. I wouldn’t have recommended that route for you your first time here. It took you half a day!”

“I know. It was a spontaneous decision, as I said.” Carissa licked the sticky, sweet guava from her fingers and sipped the cooled green tea.

Suddenly something darted out of the rustling grass under the guava tree grove. The long, fuzzy creature with short legs stopped two feet away from Carissa, picked at something in the dirt, and then dashed back into hiding.

“What was that?” Carissa involuntarily had lifted her feet.

“A mongoose.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.