Page 2 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - April 13, 2022

2 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK APRIL 13, 2022
Threads Drawn From The Heart
To work with love ... is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your
Gheart. — Kahlil Gibran raduation day from
Hawai‘i at Mānoa left me burned out — from arduous study, from work- ing three jobs, from sleep deprivation. Yearning for a slower pace, I jumped at a seasonal job offer to run a native plant nursery. Loca- tion: Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i. Population: 86. Median
island through the prop plane window, impassable sea cliffs appeared to seal off a picturesque town set on a small remote peninsu- la. Its harsh timeless beauty would at first seem to be matched in character by its inhabitants: caretakers and a handful of cured lepro-
sy patients living out their lives far from the bustle of life. Most unexpected was the loneliness. Once on the ground and surrounded by three suitcases of belong- ings — heavy with a large drawing book and full-sized keyboard — I felt sealed off from all those around me.
‘awa after work, the nurse who fed stray cats, the pa- tient who regularly stopped by the nursery to talk about plants. Weekends were soon spent drawing native plants with the town archivist. Then the grocery store aun- tie invited me to play piano for a community concert. After I accompanied a nurse who sang Ave Maria, a pa- tient, almost blind, clasped my hand and, through tears, quietly affirmed, “Mahalo. You belong here.”
RIf You Build It ...
ay Kinsella heard the call: “If you build it, they will come.” That was 33 years ago in the movie Field of Dreams. Ray, of course, was a fictional character,
like a continuation of the inspiration found long ago in the flora, the fauna and the hearts of Kalaupapa.
David Shepard, a horti- culturist-turned-designer, works his illustrations of native plants into Hawaiian clothing to raise awareness of, and encourage funding for, local conservation. Vis- it davidshepardhawaii.com.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
but the concept lives on. The question in Hawai‘i has al- ways been what is “it”? We’ve been talking about building something economically viable here to help keep our keiki home, to retain our incredible culture and character without relying so much on the tourism industry alone. We’ve heard a lot of talk, but little investment or capital put forth in real- izing our field of dreams. Cybersecurity? Alternative, clean or renewable energy? Defense initiatives? A mini-Silicon Valley or a tech hub with remote work encouraged? Medi- cal research? Ecotourism? Rocket farm? Innovative kūpuna care? Perhaps dozens of smaller but potentially lucrative and alluring opportunities that add up, rather than pegging our hopes on just a few ideas.
age: 57.
In a first glimpse of the
An early visit to the gro- cery store, the center of town life, garnered a guard- ed reception from the lady who ran it — and the reali- zation that I’ d have to prove myself. Perhaps with music and art, we could build con- nections.
The Census Bureau reminds us of our ongoing streak of losing residents annually — down 12,337 from July 2020 to July 2021. That makes five straight years of population de- cline. Hunches suggest that in-migration includes wealthier second homeowners and immigrant service industry work- ers, while out-migration includes those who want a starter home and a sustainable career, or older folks who’ve simply decided that the price of paradise is too tough to handle.
Slowly, the individuals around me emerged in their humanity: the Catholic sis- ters who played mahjong, the carpenters who drank
With the growth of mu- tual appreciation, our lives became interwoven and remained so even after that seasonal job ended. Today, the drawings threaded into the fabrics of my aloha clothing business still feel
the University of
with David Shepard
Fill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column, and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest). Answers are on page 11
RATING: GOLD
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT/ SUPPLEMENT PRODUCTS RON NAGASAWA
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
BILL MOSSMAN
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NICOLE MONTON
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER
DENNIS FRANCIS
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DAVE KENNEDY
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LANCE TAKAKI
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Post-COVID, economic recovery here may quicken as visitor floodgates reopen and tourism increases. Suggested, sensible usage restrictions and user fees may help the state/ city coffers without seeing visitor numbers rebound to new records. But even with an expected, long-overdue minimum wage increase, how to thrive here and plan one’s future real- istically makes our now-annual population decreases a rele- vant concern. We need the best and the brightest, from within and without, to hui. We need local stakeholders, passionate empaths and interested investors to get actively involved in realistic, yet far-reaching, proactive economic planning.
If we extrapolate this annual trickle of people leaving Hawai‘i over the next 20 years, it portends a diminished labor force not offset by a retiring, elderly population with age-related needs. It’s time to get serious. This conundrum has been tossed around like a barbecue burger for decades, with little emphasis given to solutions. Entrepreneurs, re- alists, problem-solvers, culture advocates, philanthropists, educators, gerontologists, astronomers ... we’ll need a big room, big thinking and big action plans. Who’s ready to dream and build?
Think about it...
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com