Kanikapila

This picture is to show you the delight we found tonight when Don took me out for my birthday dinner. My birthday is not until Tuesday, but we celebrate every day, so it doesn't matter. The Paniolo Country Inn Restaurant was having a Kanikapila tonight, so I wanted to go. It's a time when Braddah Smitty plays and many of his followers come and play and sing along with him; they do this the first Sunday of every month. There were two players in his group with him and there were 5 other people in the crowd singing and playing with him! (5 of them were women!) The lady with her back to the camera (in green) was having her birthday today, so many songs were directed to her. She was also one of the people who were playing and singing along with Braddah. The three ladies facing the camera are doing a hula dance together in honor of the birthday "Auntie." The hula lady on the left did a few hulas by herself and she does such beautiful hulas. They called her "Auntie," as well. The lady in the middle, they also called "Auntie." She and the lady on the right were also playing along and singing with Braddah. The "Auntie" in the middle did a special hula where she sat in a chair facing us all and did only the hand, arm and facial movements; I don't know what it all meant, but it was very touching to everyone there, including us. It was such a delightful place to be. Most of the crowd were in their 40's or above, but some younger people were there. EVERYONE seemed to love everyone. It was so cool how they called all these ladies "Auntie." I think that must mean someone they love and respect, not absolutely their blood kin. It was a really special time, though. Toward the end they sang happy birthday to the lady in green and the Restaurant presented her with a huge dessert with a candle in it. Also during the evening a young lady came in and put a beautiful white ginger lei(smelled wonderful and we were 15 feet away from her) around her neck, kissed her on the cheek and left. The evening was a wonderful present for me; I enjoyed it so much! Thank you, Don for taking me. Thank you, God, for letting us have this experience and share "Auntie's" birthday celebration!

We started the day with church and a potluck dinner afterwards. I had mixed up a meatloaf and a corn casserole Friday and just cooked them this morning, so it wasn't so hard to get it done. I made some biscuits this morning and took some of them, too. It was fun to fellowship; with the church, here. We've rested good this weekend, so we plan to go to the beaches tomorrow and find some things we missed in our adventures last week. I sure thank God that rest helps me to brace for more hiking. After a couple of days of it I have to take a break, but my body seems to heal. Thank you, God!