Seeing Maui from a New Angle

Having lived on Maui since a kid in Haiku School, I saw Maui go from an underdeveloped, Hippie Days on up to the present.
It certainly is not the same Maui I explored on foot, bike and jeep. Back when most places only had a latch to keep the gate closed to prevent animals from getting out, where now No Trespassing signs cover the landscape,

Shirota's Pineapple trucks were an active part of the neighborhood when I was a kid.

there used to be just the occasional Kapu signs, which most ignored, because most people knew the land owner and respected the property.

Shirota`s garage that housed most of his vehicles at the fork of Haiku-Pauwela road. Building is long gone.

Now properties are gated, patrolled and even have home owners watching their million dollar homes from somewhere in the world complaining if they saw on camera someone walking along the ocean front, as if it belonged to them.

Part of the MA'A Kipahulu Tour

I have seen a recent re-awakening of family (ohana) values, community centered groups and a lifestyle conducive to small farmers begin to take root again.
I am proud that I was honored enough to be a part of many of the community groups, if you read this blog, you will know who some of the most predominant ones are in my opinion and the people that made them possible.

 

 So many people devote such an enormous amount of their time to getting these groups and organizations off the ground, sometimes with, but often without the government help needed, but they do it because they have the passion and belief deep within them that they can make a difference.

 

Knowing the the keiki and the food are the future they continue pushing on to make a change.

The small farms provide not only the healthy and sustainable foods, but also the seeds of plants that will help grow a better tomorrow. One free of engineering and true as can be to the nature of the plants they come from.
 

 Many foods could be the answer to a world reaching out for answers on how to be fed and these answers could be right in front of us with no genetic engineering needed.
 

The people of Maui push on to educate and bring to the rest of the world the lessons learned and yet they are just on one small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It can seem overwhelming to many and yet so simple to those willing to see the answers that are right in front of them.

So after a lifetime on Maui, seeing and being a part of all the changes, health, economics and family spreading out, I have chosen to move from Maui and while the world holds many amazing places, just the good old USA has enough to keep me busy for awhile.
While I may live in other parts of the U.S. in the coming years, Maui will always be a part of me. So with that said, my blogging about Maui issues will be through the eyes of those that remain to live there. I expect to see many new sites and life from a different angle.

Aloha to my friends, next stop for me is the bluegrass festival for Fathers Day on my way northward to a new home in Oregon.
Guess I will have to come up with some new blog names to reflect what I end up doing. Or maybe just take it all in for awhile and just rearrange my online presence. I suspect I will post more on Google+ and build out from their system. We'll see.

Jim Hall