about 30 students showed up at kahana fish pond today to help clean up the area next to the pond. huge trees and choke bushes. they did a great job. aunty mae, ulu bierne, ben, and ulu's husband, john, told students the history of the area and of the project, itself. here's what i learned: 1) the community is really wanting to restore the fishpond walls and make the fishpond productive. most of the rocks on the walls have (of course) fallen into the sea. the community is not allowed to retrieve the fallen rocks because doing so might cause an imbalance in the tidal pattern (or some shit like that) so the restoration process requires that other rocks be brought in. this is a pretty expensive proposition. after numerous truckloads were brought in, a small portion of the wall was restored (or rebuilt). they really can't afford to do this. now they just wait for stones to roll down the old stream bed and use those rocks to rebuild the wall. 2) they can't restore the wall until AFTER they cut back the bushes, ironwood trees, and other weeds growing next to the pond, which is why we were there today. 3) the community is trying to change the (kind of stupid) law that prevents restoration of the fishpond by putting so many obstacles in their way that it's hard to move forward. but i don't think anyone has ever acccused the state of promoting particularly intelligent policies. that must be the job of the people--to force the state to be smart, kind, reasonable, just, and fair. good luck to us all.
we worked steadily for about 2.5 hours. we got instant gratification! first it was overgrown and looking sad and unattended. then when it was cut back, it looked cared for. what can i say?
later in the afternoon, brian and i, after i made him work his butt off, went to hygienic store to buy hot laulau and pastelles (pa-tell-ays) for dinner. ono stuff. i took photos of the signs and flowers. pretty! definitely only in hawaii!
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