Honolulu, Oahu, Praful and Sulekha (Carol)

Honolulu, Oahu, Praful and Sulekha (Carol)

I like visiting people who are linked with the community, yet for one reason or another, outside
of it geographically. I suppose this is because I always feel most at home when I'm on the
road. Late this summer, several circumstances came about that allowed me to take Gabe to
Hawaii for five days to visit with Praful and Sulekha. First came the low fares. Then Gabe's
threshold age, and then one day there was Praful standing on the walk above our house,
sharing his blanket invitation with us. Last of all, came Hawaii Airlines non-black-out dates
aligning with my September days off. Time to say yes.

                                    Gabe tremendously enjoyed viewing the array of
                                    underwater fish at Hanauma Bay and swimming with the
                                    turtles at Lani Kai. Being at Waikiki at sunset was super
                                    special for me, and living down the images from the
                                    Dennis the Menace Vacation in Hawaii comic book
                                    someone gave me when I was about 7 or 8. That comic
                                    book has been deeply lodged in my memory, and I can
                                    still see Dennis doing the hula with his arms facing the
                                    opposite direction from everyone else. I must have read
                                    it seven or eight times.

                                               1

Spending time with Praful and Sulekha was probably the
most special, though. After they got off work on Friday
night, we met up with them at Sulekha's hi-rise in downtown
Honolulu, and walked into Chinatown where we saw a
myriad of ethnic city-life images--tropical fuits, like mangos,
papaya, dragon fruit, breadfruit, sugar cane, and fruits
Gabe never saw before. Then were the flowers, gorgeous
purple orchids, pikaku, ginger and many sweetly fragrant
tropical flowers.

These exotic sites gave me a second wind to keep walking the city blocks that evening, after
the exhaustion of sun, wind and sand. Sulekha and Praful were eager to see the first-Friday
of the month show at the Honolulu Museum. They acted nonchalant about whether or not we
eat dinner. After all, they're slender and not overly preoccupied with the next meal. Yet I was
hungry, and Gabe always is, so they led us into a hole-in-the-wall place called the Green
Door. Here, the irascible owner insisted that each person who sat down order at least fifteen
dollars worth of food. Praful and Sulekha's orders didn't suit her, and she forthwith requested
that they leave. Gabe and I were left meekly sitting at a side table, and when the waiter
brought our food, the curry was way too hot, and Gabe scarcely touched it. My basil and
chicken was fine, though twice as much as I needed. Luckily, the disagreements of those at
the table across from us dwarfed our own, and they finally dumped their plates upside down
right before the police showed up. The polite young waiter was left to overcome all of the
rough edges of the owner, and he didn't charge us for the curry. He emptied it straight into
the trash when the owner wasn't looking.

                                     We emerged, bewildered, onto the city streets, where it
                                     was becoming dusk. We followed Praful and Sulekha's
                                     steps toward the Honolulu Historical Museum where there
                                     was to be hula and other island dancing and first-Friday
                                     treats and entertainments. It was past dark when we
                                     reached the colonial-looking museum. We sat awhile on
                                     the grass mats, and then wandered about to see if we
                                     could find Praful and Sulekha. Interestingly, the second
                                     floor exhibit featured intriguing photographs of great hula
                                     dancers and teachers, dating well back into the last
                                     century.

Next day, Gabe and I headed to the North Shore--Historic Hailewa Town, a history we
couldn't seem to find out. We arrived at the world class surfing beaches like Sunset Bay, yet
the surf wasn't up. Hence we missed the kite surfers--probably it was too calm for them.
After driving too far, in a land where markers often aren't obvious, we retrenched to arrive at
Lani-Kai, where we swam and snorkeled with the turtles. We got a heavy dose of sand and
surf and then headed toward the Hawaii Cultural Center, for the luau and Breath of Ha (life)
performance.

                                                2

On Sunday, Praful and Sulekha had offered to take us on a
tour. They didn't say where we were going in great detail,
though. We soon found ourselves driving into a lush
tropical rainforest, with green mountains and rolling fogs on
either side, and Sulekha and Gabe started snapping
photographs. Soon, Praful stopped the car and led us to
Pali Point, which is probably the most amazing view in the
world. It's about ten views rolled into one. One can easily
imagine King Kamehameha and his army perched on the
high cliff, with soldiers being speared and tumbling into the
vast chasm below. One sees highways, seas of different colors, mountains, and many many
things from that location. It looks like one is gazing through layers of history. Sulekha told me
she doesn't play up this view in advance, to keep it surprising for each next viewer.

Every beach in Hawaii seems designed for a different purpose. Next we went to Waimanalo
Beach, the boogie boarding beach. Praful's boogie board coach just happened to show up
right then, as if on cue to give Gabe a lesson. Frisky waves rose, milky with froth that day,
and soon after we sat out on the blanket, rain began to nag. Sulekha and I shivered on the
blanket, watching the men get tossed and strewn by the waves.

We ate our sandwiches near the tent sites of the locals who were out for Labor Day weekend.
They were throwing horseshoes, and similar entertainments. The surprising thing was that
we didn't even see one RV, unlike here on the mainland.

Perhaps last that day, they took us to a lot high above the Pacific. It's impressive, there at the
edge of the world, with wide views far out to the east. A real estate agent milled around, and
we found out that a Japanese investor had once bought this lot; then he demolished the
house to create his own. Then he lost interest. Right now, it's priced at about 3.5 million.
However, a path runs along one side, and this is how we scurried down onto a smooth rock
ledge, with sweeping views.

Sulekha showed us how water gushed in and out of a sea cave, and pressure caused great
gushes of waves and froth to rise from time to time. Then she showed us the cliff where, she
said, sometimes divers leapt off, if they caught the sea at just the right point. Soon a cadre of
young fellows met up with us, and told us they were going to dive. Since this would be no
small feat, we watched them mill about for awhile, but none of them looked too serious.
Either Sulekha or Praful said we might be putting them under undue pressure and signaled us
to head back up the hill. We stopped off on the way back home to view the Blow Hole.

                       Next day, we had time left to go parasailing, and visit Diamond Head
                       crater. I remembered it well from the Dennis the Menace comic book.
                       We made it back to Waikiki at sunset. The end of our trip lay in site. I
                       woke up in the middle of that night and went out in the front room
                       where one can see Pearl Harbor off in the distance, off of the lanai,
                       from the twelfth floor, where Praful and Sulekha's apartment is. I felt
                       the gentle winds and peace.

                                                3

Next day, we toured Pearl Harbor, and contemplated the military presence of the US in the
Pacific--the day they said lives in infamy. We took in the solemn memorial of the USS
Arizona. As for Gabe, I didn't sound him out much on this subject.

We got up next day to rush to get the sand off the snorkels, and brush the sand out of the
rental car, and tidy up the room Praful and Sulekha provided us with, and make it to the
airport on time. We'd get home at about 2:00 in the morning, after losing several hours, and
next day, we'd somehow wind up back in school. Hawaii just seems like a dream.

                                 My Hawaiian View (Gabe)

We saw lots of beautiful fish, coral and best of all turtles. The food was not much different
than in the mainlands but there were a few exceptions. One of the most exiting activities was
parasailing.

Of all the things we did In Hawaii I most enjoyed the snorkeling adventures.

                                     Thanks!!! (Nancy)

              MV sends a big thanks to the Villagers who cooked for the September 4th
              dinner at the Prescott Area Womens' Shelter (PAWS): Mary Ann, Jean, Kris,
              Joan B. and Nancy, and to the dinner Team #1 members who overcooked, as
              usual, and supplied the left-overs.

                                              4

Manzanita Village Catches Water (Carol)

So we're a Cohousing Community, an intentional community designed to enhance networking
and friendships among ourselves rather than perpetuate the pull yourself up by your
bootstraps stance of modern urban society. So our members tend to be people with
developed social and environmental awareness.

Yet it's worth pondering that we've developed in a rather atypical fashion. Since Manzanita
lies along a steep slope, our houses stretch in a straight line rather than the self-returning
circle, or square of most communities. And between seven and twelve years ago, as
founding members were laying the foundations, different attitudes brewed within our ranks,
green design adherents advocating different approaches from the traditional and tasteful
builders. The traditional builders appeared to win out, for some younger families left, and the
centerpiece of the community, the Common House, came in approximately $250,000 over
specification, yet with no major green element in its finished design--save its south-facing,
passive solar position.

                               Yet Manzanita Village has conducted water catchment
                               workshops for the past two years. What led us to this? After
                               the Common House was completed, an imperative to be more
                               green lingered among many of the members. Some carried an
                               uneasiness about how much we still hadn't made of our
                               environmental options. And almost everyone favored, at least
                               in theory, green-friendly choices. It was in our vision
                               statement itself.

As for me, I recognize myself as one of those who has the theories in mind, but I'm not an
innovative hands-on type when it comes to implementing land and building design. I realized
this when it took me four years to landscape my lot. However, several years ago, I was down
in Tucson, comparing notes with Lois Martin. She is a former MV lot owner who sold Lot Two
before she built on it, and moved to Stone Curves Co-Housing instead. I'd determined to ask
if anyone in that community had any ideas about the erosion behind my house. Lois told me
Garth Mackzum was the man I wanted to see.

      He asked me right away:
      "Does the area have any trees on it"
      "Unh, sure," I replied, thinking we practically live in a forest.

Garth proceeded to relay to me a prototype design for a community grant project. He eagerly
explained how we could nearly piece by piece implement it, for once he got started he grew
into a veritable fountain of ideas. The project was to install some rainwater catchment
cisterns and garden basins and simultaneously bring out people from the wider community to
help us accomplish this project. To meet our grant's terms, we could organize our project
around the concept of protecting and enhancing our considerable "urban forest."

                                                 5

So we're sitting on twelve acres of juniper, pinon pine, scrub
oak, and other high desert vegetation, and some of us have
never really been down into it. Our housing units are close
together, in keeping with the co-housing model, and a large
part of our land is in this big piece in its undisburbed state.
The deep, wooded ravine does have dirt paths that lead
into town, and some travel these. In any case, overall,
we're about as qualified as any town dweller could be to
claim to possess an "urban forest." The question is, what
does it mean to us?

This fellow, Garth, told me that Stone Curves brought Brad Lancaster, permaculture, water-
catchment visionary, on board to conduct their hands-on workshops. At that point, I noticed
that I was growing excited. Garth continued animatedly interweaving more elaborate
variations on this water catchment theme while he simultaneously managed to tend his newly
adopted baby. He practically exhaled all sorts of ideas to assure that our off-site participants
would come back for more in succeeding years. He started talking about Harvest Festivals
and other types of celebrations we could plan, and libraries of permaculture books we could
collect.

My mind wandered to then-Prescott resident, Andrew Millison, an originating member of the
Lincoln-Dameron Streets Eco-hood. By then he'd done over ten years of time exploring bio-
dynamic principles in our high deserts. I'd done a couple of half-day workshops with him, and
realized what a leader he was. I wondered if he'd be interested in working with us. When I
was as full of Garth's ideas as I could possibly be, and went back out into the sunlight, I
began to notice that the vegetation all over the community was actually growing in large
basins. Garth had some vegetables growing right outside his house. For the first time, I
realized that tall gleaming cisterns fed off some of the rooftops.

A day or so later, I returned to Prescott, determined to present the grant idea, yet not really
sure if I could interest the community in what Stone Curves did. Surprisingly, Manzanita
Village warmed up to the ideas immediately. By way of history, we were then engaged in
discussions regarding off-site and on-site members, and their different statuses, if any.

When you get onto the cohousing circuit, you soon learn that, unlike Manzanita, most
cohousing communities have been developed by one overall builder, and they're fairly
standard units which people who have decided they're more interested in fostering community
than in merely developing dream real estate properties gravitate toward. As the years have
gone by in Manzanita's history, frequently potential community members have come out and
looked around and decided they would rather buy a nearby already-built house, than spend
two years to build one themselves on-site, (or some other eventuality). Yet they want to join
the community.

Actually, one secret: sometimes people do come to Manzanita to build their dream homes,
for it invites this, sitting on a gorgeous location with sweeping views. On the other hand, the
design scheme of Stone Curves, typical in a cohousing community, serves as a great leveler.
All of the units are on flat land, with variations only in size.

                                                6

Whatever the case, focusing on the potential grant instead of the details of on-site and off-site
members looked like a way for us to move forward. Andrew Millison immediately agreed to
join our project as facilitator and meet Brad Lancaster's modest fee rates. Fortune shone on
us, and the grant came to us. We put ourselves to work, and Andrew set to work to help us
design the project to install cisterns on either side of our common house. These could catch
approximately 2000 gallons of rainwater off our rooftop during a major rain event. The water
would automatically feed to five garden basins we would create below, and this would
enhance the area immediately in front of our Common House. (We had run out of money at
this point before.)

So the following spring, everyone came out and participated, and our community brought its
best leadership and talent forward--which is considerable on nearly every front-- and what is
now, came to be.

This is the story of Manzanita's initial foray into rainwater catchment about two years ago. It
constituted our first step in a sequence which could ultimately enable us to transform our
relationship with the water, and hence the land itself. It marked a beginning toward our
keeping the water up top where we are, to permeate the soil, and nurture and restore the land
and feed gardens, before it travels on. And actually, the amount the village has begun to
catch is small in comparison with our total far-reaching possibility.

It's worth pondering that catching water where it falls in tanks and basins, is an age-old
concept, in evidence in ancient cultures and some current ones as well. It's practiced in many
locations of the world in which we now live. In fact, lots of countries are far ahead in learning
and re-learning these systems. People who come here from other countries look around and
ask where the tanks are.

                                                7

When I told my sister, Jan, about this, she mused, "Why sure, everybody used to have a rain
barrel." At that point, the song wafted down from my childhood with the touching line, "Climb
down my rain barrel, slide down my cellar door, and we'll be jolly friends forever more." When
they used to sing this song, a rain barrel wasn't a quaint and poetic thing. In linear time, it
hasn't been very long since people paid attention to the rain that falls from their rooftops.

Last time I saw Garth down at Stone Curves, maybe a year ago, he said he was planning to
move on to Oregon, likely Portland, and do community organizing. Andrew Millison has
moved on to Oregon, also, where there's more water to grow more food. As for Lois, she
spends hours carrying drinking water to people who could be dying out on the Arizona
deserts. But the fact is that I hope to talk with Garth again, because he's the sort that catches
you up in the flow of his ideas, and while he holds you within their web, as innovative as it all
is, it becomes very, very real. You realize you could walk out the door, and accomplish what
he just mentioned. I also hope to talk with Andrew again. When he speaks or is working the
earth, it becomes a very fluid medium. Lois walks her talk, and I'm pretty sure I'll have the
opportunity to catch up with her again.

Since I wrote this article, I found out that Manzanita hasn't received the Urban Forests grant
this year. After feeling disappointed, I realized that if we hold the vision of moving toward
more and more harmony with the earth, another avenue will come to us.

                                                8

October Birthdays

4    Gabe
4    Rachel
14   Mic
18   Dale
19   Colleen
24   Micki

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