8-20-13
Day 20: A Beautiful Mess 30 Day Self Portrait Challenge
Title: A Favorite Place 465 Haili Street
When my friend from California, whom I haven’t seen for about 12 years,came back to Hilo for a wedding, she stayed at the Honu Inn B & B. We met for dinner at Cafe Pesto. Early in to dinner I asked her where she was staying and she mentioned, “At the Honu Inn on Haili Street.” Later on as we were ending dinner, she had to leave briefly to get some gifts for us that she had forgotten before leaving for dinner.
She came back with her gifts and then she asked me:
“Myra, where was that house that you and Casey used to live at?”
And in a moment, I already knew that she was asking me this question because she was actually staying in the home previously owned by my mother-in-law! Incredulous, big-eyed and mouth opened, I slapped her on the shoulder and gasped, “NOOO WAAAAY!” We celebrated at the connection that we made and reminisced. She wasn’t sure if that was the place because she was housed upstairs and wasn’t familiar with that part of the house. She used to meet and visit me when Casey and I with Mehana used to occupy the downstairs living area. And so the chit-chattering of this encounter went well into the end of dinner.
She invited me to go and visit her the next morning and I could not pass up the opportunity to see the house that my husband had grew up in. So I picked up some coffee the next morning and headed to the house that I used to call home and made that all too familiar drive to the house. I parked on the side of the street across of the driveway, crossed the street and stole a glimpse of the view of Hilo Bay to the left, entered the porte-cachere and walked up the stairs. Someone was already outside so I asked for Flor.
Flor met me outside and led me through the front door. We walked through the large sunny dining room and entered the room that she was staying in. And wouldn’t you know! It was Casey’s old room! I was like…my gosh! Can anything be more than perfect and beautiful than this moment right now?!! So surreal and in reverent awe of reconnecting with an old friend and an old place! God is so good!
She led me upstairs to the refurbished third floor clad with a hot tub that replaced a hallway of clothes and vintage dressers beneath a window looking over the bend of the street. The office was replaced with a guest room as well. My in law’s tatami bedroom remained unchanged with the same bay view spread out before my eyes. The hall area surrounding the room was a bit different as a single bed occupied the area beneath the oval window. Over to the right, I caught a glimpse of the veteran’s cemetery where my father-in-law’s ashes now dwell. On our way down the stairs to the 2nd floor, I could not help but find the wooden step that lifted up and opened to a hollow rectangular space. I love old houses with their little bits of character still in place. I remember that it was a place to store extra paper towel rolls and my father-in-law may have had some important tools in there too aside from the usual place in the window seat in the main living area.
We had a nice relaxing chat in the porte-cachere along with one of her friends that I had met the previous night at dinner. As I sat on the wide concrete siding of the stairs, I noticed the plumeria tree in the yard adjacent to the B & B’s parking lot. The tree was taller and fuller with white thin feather weight petals. That is the tree that Mehana and her cousins and her friend who lives down the street used to climb up on all the time. The mock orange tree in a grassy median was still there and ti-leaf still lined the outer wall of the porte-cachere. The hapu’u trees that my brother-in-law planted long ago stood erect, leaves bowing out of the tops like hands abandoned and outstretched in the cinder side garden close to the road. And also the yard closest to where I sat rekindled the memory of our first Christmas card with 5 month old Mehana. It was under the palm trees in the far corner of the yard that I used to spread a blanket on the grass to baby massage both Mehana and Urban. The picture above is me in front of the laundry room door with a sign tacked on by the current owner who is a hula dancer.
Today is blue moon 2013 and it is my mother-in-law’s birthday. We had dinner at our home on our downstairs deck area. Casey featured his secret clam linguine made with clams from Suisan Fish Market. Also on the table was tossed salad greens, bacon bread, and instant lava cake, avocado pie, and Breyers Neapolitan ice-cream for dessert. This meal was paired with a chardonnay Eve purchased from Grapes.
In honor of blue moon 2013 and my mother-in-law Pat Halpern’s birthday, here is the recipe for:
Baked Bacon Bread
One fresh or store bought French bread
Bacon Drippings
Dried Rosemary
Directions:
Slice French bread in 1/2 inch slices
Place slices of bread on a cookie sheet. Brush bacon drippings across each slice of bread. Sprinkle with dried rosemary. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15m or until crispy and golden brown on the outside.
Happy Birthday Pat! We love you and it’s nice to have you in our lives! Thank you for your patience, your guidance, and your love in the good and the bad times. We are truly grateful-thank you Lord for Nana!
Sources:
http://www.suisan.com
http://www.grapeshawaii.com
http://www.honuinn.com
Copyright 2013 Myra Halpern
All Rights Reserved
mrshalpern's Blog 