Some of that stuff goes back a long way. Just like the hula knowledge I gained from my kumu, it's heirloom material, culture crystallized in time. 

The one thing that stays up to date is the clock, set always to Hawai`i Standard Time. In the morning, when I take my tea into the hula room, I see that it's still aumoe, the middle of the night back there. At any time of day I can glance at that clock and meditate on what must be happening in Hawai`i Ala--to the people there, Hawai`i Nei.

There are other ways of keeping up. This link from Honolulu City and County will show you live pictures of Waikiki Beach. I pull it up every so often when I'd like to be somewhere else.

Manawa is one of the Hawaiian words for time. There's an NFL player named Ho`omanawanui. Mainland sports announcers have a hard time with it because they just see a bunch of letters, not the words embedded in the name. Ho`omanawanui means 'patient.' Depending on how it's used grammatically it can also mean to try someone's patience. Michael Ho`omanawanui is a tight end, so I guess his name could have either meaning, depending on what team you're on.

I keia manawa, right now, builders are finishing up an addition on my house which will include a new hula room. Spacious, built over living rock (more on that in another post), with a cozy gas fireplace and wide French doors to a dance-able deck, the room will let us dance more freely and in tune with nature. 

At the start of the New Year, contemplating all this, I wonder: How can there be anything, if everything is always changing? The clock ticks, the heart beats, humans draw the lines. 

Hau`oli Makahiki Hou!