In da early 1960's, dere was one song dat went: "The best things in life are free...da-da-da-dum"? Who can fo'get dat? Eh, I fo' sure no can when us guys use to sing um in our amateur rock and roll group called da "Outlaws" as part of our kolohe St. Louis High school days. Eh, but based on that anthem, I like drag you guys back wit me, back long time ago when da things us lolo buggahs experienced and sadly wen take for granted, now stay all gone or hard to find. We use to pick fruit fo' free in da mountains and rain forests. Fishing on da reefs fo' hinalea and aholehole was the best! Netting fo' opae and Hawaiian crabs, picking ogo and waiwaiole (ratfeet) limu from da ocean, catching frogs and o'opus in da local streams, and oddah common stuffs from Hawaii's bountiful natural resources, eh no can beat.
One of da memorable things we did back den was picking ogo seaweed from Sand Island and Ewa Beach. It was almost like yestahday when we use to collect rice bags full of da long and short kine ogo limu while making sure we nevah pull um by da roots so dat dey would grow back again latah. At Ewa Beach especially aftah a big storm, da shoreline was covered with free floating limu where all different kine families use to line up on da beach and sorted out da good stuff from da junk kine. Eh, us guys had good fun, and yeah, as a matta of fact, das was a good excuse fo' all da families to get together and take picnic potluck for everyone to enjoy. Who can fo'get all da good smells and tastes of da ono kine teriyaki BBQ and kalbi, brok' da mout' kine beef and curry stews, nishime, long rice, gobo, maki and cone sushis, macaroni and potato salads, and all da oddah kine picnic goodies dat da hard working womenfolk use to make. Not to leave out da young kanes diving for da more plentiful ogo and poking fish and tako way outside da reef.
In Punaluu and Kaaawa-side, us guys use to form circles in da sandy shallow water with small bamboo poles and a scoop net in hand fishing for o'ama. Also too, for moi'li, omaka and opelu during da spawning periods all around da island waters. Yeah, so much fun we had and also all da fish us guys caught just by using da simple kine setup wit da bamboo pole, light suji, and split shot sinka wit raw shrimp for bait. Eh, and den wat was da best part of all, you nevah had to buy license for all of dat!
Plumeria flowahs and mangos trees were in everybody's yard. Neighbors would almost beg fo' you to pick da ripe fruits and flowers so dat dey nevah had to clean up da ones dat dropped to da ground and get all rotten and messy. But da one kine fruit we had to guard and keep one eye on was da lichee. In ordah to make sure we got to taste da buggah, my faddah use to tie up our mean old chow chow dog "King" to da lichee tree to keep da neighbors from cockaroaching um at night. Nobody went near dat tree unless dey like get bite from King. The damn dog even wen bite me as a small keed. Evah since den, I was scared of dat vicious old makule buggah.
Every now and den out of da blue, my faddah use to say to us keeds "Eh, get da mango hook and put um in da station wagon. We going Tantalus to pick guavas and lilikoi to make juice." He nevah had to ask twice. Being da oldest in da family and da one dat always had to climb up da trees, guess who always went? I nevah mind tho'. In fact, I use to like climbing da tall guava trees and also picking da wild avocados and lilikois. Once in a while, we'd run across some mountain apples, which is kinda rare nowadays, even back den. My moddah use to always tell us beforehand, "eh, wen you guys go up dere, look around and cut some wild gingers for da house too". Man, das one good kine sweet smelling flowah I sta' nevah going fo'get. Sort of like being in heaven wen you ma'ke.
Some oddah kind stuff we use to find in da local mountains was breadfruit, vivee, wild strawberries, and Java plums. Us kids use to love dat purple little plum, about da size of an olive, with da real tart kine flavor. Man, dat was so ono dipped in salt kinda sweet sour tangy taste. Eh, my mout' sta' puckering up right now! But wait, no get um on your clean shirt. Da stains sta' permanent and den you going get really dirty lickin' from your moddah if you not careful. Fo' sure I nevah knew how fast my moddah could run when she wen find my dirty shirt one day and chased me down da driveway. Can you picchah dis out-of-breath little keed running fo' his life across da yard with a madder-den-hell wahine right behind his okole? Eh, annodah time also was wen I wen drown da expensive German Roller canary by mistake. Hoo, fo'get da slippah, out came da skinny bamboo chicken feathah dustah. Auwe! Yup, us keeds had hard life! I'm surprised we lasted dis long.
So OK den. In retrospect, dem was da times wen Hawaii was less polluted and our kamaaina lifestyle was more carefree. We had less cars and people, smog was unheard of, and more open land with less crowded beaches. Tropical fruits were more bountiful, and sea life was everywhere fo' da taking. Yeah, life was good to us. Somehow I keep going back in my mind and ask myself dis same question "Where did all da good stuff went?". But eh, I could nevah come up wit any rational or conclusive ansah. Anyway fo' now, what I hope and pray, is fo' our youngah generation to stop, slow down, and try to rekindle da simple things us old futs enjoyed while growing up in this beautiful State. Da good old days are all pau, but I finally had to realize da situation and undahstand where all da good stuffs really went...I think dey call it PROGRESS. Ai-yah!
About Author
Clinton Lee lived in the Kaimuki area on Oahu and attended St. Patrick School in the 50's and St. Louis High School and Chaminade College in the 60's. He now lives in Torrence, California.
