When I was three years old my parents moved to Nanakuli just off Farrington Highway. Our house was a couple of blocks from the old blue painted B&K store. You know, we were so happy back then... I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.
Our house only had 2 bedrooms. My parents, of course, had their own bedroom. The girls outnumbered the boys..so, Leimomi, Luella and Leiolani had their own bedroom. Me and bruddah Frank had the living room floor with mattresses. It wasn't too bad, my bruddah and I always had a good time joking around at night till daddy would yell, "Eh you guys...go sleep already !!"
You know, today's kids have toys that don't take very much imagination. It doesn't take too much imagination to play Gameboy ... what I had was a a couple plastic soldiers that I found somewhere and an open bed toy truck. Oh man, the stories I would make up. I had one cardboard box that became one army barracks...me and my army fought in the jungles and mountains... then there was an "army" of neighborhood kids that would play in a deserted quarry next door ... hoo the adventures we had !!
I was just about 4 years old when an Army convey passed by on Farrington highway in front of the house...full on with trucks, jeeps and tanks... that was it... I was hooked ! Little did I know that I was to become a Tanker in the 1st Armored Division in Germany..a long long way from beloved Nanakuli years later..
The houses in Nanakuli were fairly high off the ground and it was great for playing under there if it rained. It was also a good place to hide especially if you was going get lickens ... like most parents of our generation ... if you get hurt doing something you not supposed to... you get lickens first den get "repaired".
I remember how Mom and I would, once in a great while, when we had a little money, would fry up some scrambled eggs and take the rice from yesterday along with some soy sauce. We'd go down to the beach at puka-pants across from Hakimo road and spend the day there till everyone else got home. I can still hear the crashing of the waves as I played on the beach with Mom nearby. Of course I couldn't swim that great but there are a lot of little pools there for a small kid. In the later years my friends, Harry and Alex loved to play football on the coral road by the house....eh, I think I still have scars from skidding on the coral playing Nanakuli style football.
Dad was one crane operator on Sand Island. It was always a special day on paydays. I was pretty proud to see him operate that crane from a distance. Dad would bring home that plain Hershey candy bars for us kids (one per). If we were lucky we'd go pick Dad up in the old car and go in the store with them and get to pick one thing out to eat. For me that was usually a 10-cent bag of see moi. Eh..in those days 10 cents bought you one pretty decent size bag !!
When we would go shopping, the smell of the groceries in the car was heaven for me. It was one of the few times as a young kid where I'd get to see the world beyond Nanakuli. Taking the old road from home past all the Keawe trees between Nanakuli and Campbell's Industrial Park I'd get to see a lot. Sometimes we'd drive past between Makakilo and the Ewa cut-off where they had all the sugar cane fields and they'd be burning the cane. We'd slow down cause was hard to see the road. Sometimes I thought we'd never get through all that smoke.
When I think of Nanakuli, I think of Plumeria flowers...the sweet smell drifting on the early morning air...I took that for granted as a kid. Our Hawaii has special aromas and colors that can never be captured anywhere else. In a way, where I live now in Germany reminds me of my small kid days in Nanakuli because there is a sense of Ohana in our neighborhood and you can walk the streets without worry.
Times have changed our Hawaii and that's life, I guess...but in my heart I am still that "Nanakuli Boy" with the short pants...walking down the road with my boogie board hoping the waves are up.
About Author
George K. Cabral was born in Wahiawa and raised in Nanakuli, Oahu, two blocks from B & K store. He graduated from Nanakuli High in 1973. He joined the Army thereafter and shipped over to Germany where he spent almost 22 years of service. He retired in 1996 and is now working in Operations as a Government employee for the Army in Bamberg, Germany. He and his wife have two girls and have settled down and made a home there. They try to get back to Hawaii every three years or so to visit the Ohana there, get that Aloha spirit, smell the Plumeria and sample some See Moi !!
