Ua le'ale'a no

Trans. (English) Wow, what a rain.
The kaona (Hawaiian) The conversation and interaction was amazing (joyous, delightful, lively)!

I sit to write.
Here.
The sound of the rain pounds.
Heavy beat.
Hear.
The curved metal roof shelters.
I am dry.
Here.
My ears, heart this rain.
Wet.

Because we live outside and so close to 'aina (the land and all her elemental company) we know on a morning like this once you step out you going get wet! Grab your hoodie or the big umbrella. Forty to fifty steps, depended upon whose stepping, will be required to get from the Quonset (here) to the sleeping place (there), and half as many steps to get to the stove and oven under the eaves of the hale 'au'au (wash house). The Sun has yet to rise so unless there are lights turned on small lakes will be in the pathways; we learn to sidestep them, a flashlight helps.

Ua le'ale'a no was the message Malia Nobrega-Olivera sent out to all the HuiAimalama FB folks who participated in Monday's online lecture about becoming Mauliauhonua.

The message reinforced the expanding sense (that's Jupiter paired up with that Libra Full Moon) that was spread out (another Jupiter characteristic) using contemporary tools (the Internet, interactive software). The two hour online lecture and interactive question and answer and discussion that took place was truly a pounding beat of rain (nourishment). 52 participants from the Hawaiian Islands, 1 participant from Texas, 1 participant from Aotearoa and 1 participant from Washington creating that ua le'ale'a no. 

I woke from a dream this morning. In it I was part of two groups. At different times in my waking life I have been in these kinds of groups. The first group a 12-Step meeting just getting organized, I had to leave when someone showed up with heavily fragranced product. I told the leader "I have chemical sensitivities, I have to go."  The second group was a corporate setting. A company was being bought out, I recognized the signs and sought out the man in HR who would give me the scoops/the process for transition. We knew each other well. He was a brown-skinned man dressed in an Aloha shirt. There were forms to fill out, he did that for me and said, "You mind going to two other places?" I trusted him. In the next part of the dream I was in an aircraft loud and tinny sounding. Two other women were seated in front. No one wore seat belts. I buckled up, crossed my legs (there was plenty of leg-room!) When we landed I asked, "Do you know where we are? What country this is?" The women were vacant. I could not understand the language on the street signs. The final scene in the dream was a view of the itinerary for the transitional team's take-over. It was the size of the RVs that caught my attention. All of them were big. These are places I have been. Places where I have been, and done what I did.

As I ferret the thoughts and words to compose this post, the rain has changed; the drops no less heavy there are pauses between the pelts. I'm hoping for a break in the ua action long enough to stand outside to make a pot of oatmeal for breakfast. We have a road trip planned in a couple hours and a good breakfast will be a good thing. New sounds add to the pelts of ua: birdsong. I heard them in the darkened morning sky as I walked to the outhouse. Robins. Now, I hear Sparrow welcoming the light of the Sun.

The 'Aimalama group grounds me to a root connection that supports and empowers me and Pete to apply what we are learning in our lives as aware and awakened folks (mauli). The online lecture was chocked full of intelligence and inquiry; discussion and perspectives similiar and unique. The conversation was a private event for those of us using traditional practices to adapt to current climate (of all kinds) change. The content for the lecture included 5 components. (Before I share the details of these components I will ask for permission.) But, the final component was this from Kalei Nuuhiwa:

Become Mauliauhonua - "Be the App"The final component is to work towards becoming the expert in your neighborhood or community. Tell us what you can do to start building your foundational database of your location.

After I have communicated with Kalei and her gang, I hope to come back here to keep building on the foundation of sharing the long tale here at The Safety Pin Cafe. Keep your kilo genes turned on.

kilo. Stargazer, reader of omens, seer, astrologer; kind of looking glass (obs.) to watch closely, spy, examine. - Hawaiian Dictionary, Pukui & Elbert

"I'll be seeing you"

"... I continue to struggle to learn basic web stuff (like backing up the site, cloud storage and other things I pretty much loathe doing or even knowing about). I can’t complain at this point. I’ve crested the top of the learning curve and while there is plenty more that I can and will learn, things are functioning both on the surface and behind the scenes…and it’s no longer on a hope and a prayer! It’s definitely good to push to learn new things when you’re older. On that level, I’m grateful for these problems..."-from my astrologer Elsa Panizzon who created the first astrology blog on the internet 11 years ago

I found ElsaElsa the first year Pete and I returned to the Pacific Northwest after the initial times of homelessness and tail-spinning. Our adventures in my homelands were indeed rendering me "faceless" as well as homeless. I was a writer who could no longer touch ink or paper, but there was an escape hatch and it was called BLOG. Short story: I found Elsa's blog, and wove her stories, her angle on astrology (not a new tool, but certainly I needed to make it more real to be useful). Elsa did that for me in 2008. I sought a tether to ground myself, I found a storyteller with real life astrology and a kind and generous heart. I used one of my safety pins and hooked up with her. The pin still works, holding me efficiently and I have learned to blog and stretch what I know about the cyber-publication game as far as my safety pins can take me. Like Elsa I have so much to learn about basic web stuff. My son comes in and out of my life to teach me or do for me what I cannot, and that gets me a bit further on the learning curve. I let that be enough and that makes it possible to accept the disappointments like having to cancel Tea and Toast at The Safety Pin Cafe. The reality of harsh and chemically toxic environments exists. When winter and cold season move people indoors the heat sources (electricity or wood smoke) do two things that challenge us: first, the heat warms up the cleaning agents used in carpeting and in the scents people use to wash and dry their clothing; and if it's wood used to heat most people don't know how or choose not to burn 'clean'. Both scenarios shut out or shut down people like me and my husband. Location, location, location. Where to go, where to be?

We are old and resilient. That's the combination that allows safety pins to be the efficient and moveable magic that is at the belly and heart of The Safety Pin Cafe. Where is she going with this tale? She's taking you outside where the two old dears spend most of their lives. Out in the woods, out in public places that allow for a safe haven, small, "grounded and sensitive" spaces, a place where mushrooms pop up, and where the big red umbrella and banner of the cafe can appear. I have slowly recovered from the body burden of being maluhiluhi (not well). Impatient to be at full steam my head wished for QUICK, but the organic nature of life is different, and SLOW and LESS is the more usual answer. So, I slog through and weeks later I am excited to find alternatives for The Safety Pin Cafe. That's what this tale, this post is all about ... a New Moon Message to say we'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places, or unexpectedly familiar places. Click on the arrow below and listen to Billie croon "I'll be seeing see," while you take a look at some familiar places in and around our town.

Pete and I went looking at the familiar places outside where The Safety Pin Cafe umbrella, a hand-stitched banner, room for a storyteller's stool and a few silly and artful props can be set up in our version of FLASH performances. We had such fun, playing around and believe we're onto something ...

So, we'll be seeing you in these familiar places soon. Be quick though, we're old but move like the wind, with safety pins. Look for messages posted in those familiar places and shared through the coconut wireless networks here and there (Drewslist and more!) telling you when we'll be popping up the umbrella and stringing up the banner.

A'a i ka wala'au. Let the words fly.

Moki and Pete