Twilight

I share a story from Paulo Coelho's Maktub which affected me for the better recently. It helped me to understand why darkness comes and that darkness comes.


Existe um momento do dia em que fica difícil enxergar direito: o crepúsculo. Luz e as trevas se encontram – e nada é totalmente claro ou totalmente escuro. Na maior parte das tradições espirituais, este momento é considerado sagrado. 

A tradição católica nos ensina que às seis horas da tarde devemos rezar a ave-maria. Na tradição quéchua, se encontramos um amigo à tarde e estamos ainda com ele no crepúsculo, devemos começar tudo de novo, saudando-o novamente com um boa-noite. 

No momento do crepúsculo, o equilíbrio do planeta e do homem é testado. Deus mistura sombra e luz, quer ver se a Terra tem coragem de continuar girando. 

Se a Terra não se assusta com a escuridão, a noite passa – e um novo sol torna a brilhar.


There is a time of day when it is difficult to see clearly: the twilight. Light and darkness are - and nothing is totally clear or totally dark. In most spiritual traditions, this time is considered sacred.

The Catholic tradition teaches us that at six o'clock we pray the Hail Mary. In Quechua tradition, if we find a friend in the afternoon and we are still with him in the twilight, we start all over again, hailing him again with a good night.

At the time of twilight, the balance of the planet and the man is tested. God blends shadow and light, wanting to see if the earth has the courage to keep turning.

If the earth is not frightened by the darkness, the night passes - and the morning makes a new sun to shine.

Coelho, Paulo (2009-12-29). Maktub (Kindle Locations 1028-1036). Paolo Coelho. Kindle Edition. 

President Clark called this spiritual twilight the Personal Frontier, in his Jan 2011 BYU-I Devotional Address Faith Like a Grain of Mustard Seed.

That is where we find our personal frontier.  There is a personal frontier for each one of us in every covenant, commandment, calling, and assignment we receive from the Lord.  The frontier is defined by the light we have already received and by our knowledge, understanding, skill, and experience.

The frontier is where the Savior works.

Perhaps this is where the God the Father forsook his Son; perhaps this is where we are when we feel abandoned, in the dark.

The Frontier is where the Savior works.

Hurrah for Bike Month!

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

Behold! the bicycle, a beautiful creation. Once an endangered species, now a monarch reclaiming its kingdom. May is National Bike Month, and this month I have witnessed many folk in Mesa, AZ riding their two wheels of glory. Once limited to the narrow gutter between the dusty sidewalk and the busy road, now it rides easy down the bike lane of luxury.

I saw the working man on his Walmart bike putting his full-suspension frame to good use, smashing over the curb on his way out of the parking lot.

I fathomed the elegance of the business man, with his 21-speed roadster laden with rear panniers and a handlebar bag in the front, entering his workplace wearing his bike shorts with pride.

I grasped the the unprecedented style of the hipster riding his fixie to no place at all, sacrificing speed for simplicity, exchanging all those gears for back pain, and trading the ability to go up hills for the title’s of “such-a-boss” and “uber-cool”.

Once, I even glimpsed the unsurpassed beauty of a girl in a flower print dress riding her custom beach cruiser along a dusty road as the desert blossomed like a rose behind her.

Bicycling keeps us healthy, carries us efficiently along our chosen path, saves us from high gas prices, and makes our air cleaner and our roads less congested.

The bicycle is the most efficient major form of land transportation in the modern world. “It takes less energy to bicycle one mile than it takes to walk a mile. In fact, a bicycle can be up to 5 times more efficient than walking,” and many times more efficient than cars, says www.exploratorium.edu.  Let me restate: cycling is more efficient than all other major forms of on land transportation, including, walking, carpooling, trains, and even horseback riding

For those of you who have ridden this month, I thank you. For those of you who have not, I encourage you to do so. For all of you, I invoke the blessings of nature upon you.

Tragically at the moment, I am without my bike, but if I had it, you know I’d ride it, and I’d power it with my own two legs, some local collard greens, and my mama’s granola. According to the national bike group PeopleForBikes, half of all trips Americans make are three miles or less—an easy biking distance. So when next you ride, ride a little for me.

Get on your bikes and ride!

How To Make a Mini Imu. In 25 Seconds

I'm on the move again. My plane flys at 2000hrs, wednesday. 

I passed the last couple days up at John's property again. One could spend a life time exploring the place. We Imu-ed it up in honor of my last days. We made a wee imu and stuffed it with corned beef, hens, taro, and potatoes. Good stuff. i watched conference as it cooked. 

Darwiniana » Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America’s First Imperial Adventure

I came across this article in my search for blogs dealing with native Hawaiian issues. It describes the hostile take over of the Kingdom of Hawai'i, which was described by an 1893 NY Times headline as “the political crime of the century” 

Darwiniana » Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America’s First Imperial Adventure

KEY Project Blog

I haven't posted in some time now, but I have been keeping myself busy with the love of my life Meredith Matesen and another blog- the official KEY Project Blog. Visit it and check out some of my latest adventures and events in the daily life of KEY Project.

Keepin it real

DAY 42- A Simpler Life

John Reppun is the Director of Key Project. He is also a farmer. He drove to work the other morning with his "fancy shirt" dangling from the rear-view mirror. I was in that mirror, sitting in the back. My tarp taking up most of the room between myself and a boy named La'a.

I had monday off and decided to visit John's farm, and why not do a little camping as well. I met him at a gate at the end of Waiahole Valley Road; it had "Government Property", and "No Tresspassing" signs plastered all over it. John along with a few others, including two of his brothers, till the ground here, and lease the land for cheap from the government. 

Which is fitting, considering that they fought long and hard for this land. You'll find their names in various case records. 

John unloading his Jeep

I came to labor in the fields with John and to hear what there was to hear. He showed me two trails. One that cut south across the Waiahole valley, and one that cut across a valley to the north. He showed me his guava trees, his papaya trees, his seedlings of tangerines, and his patches of ground cover. We weeded out certain areas, and picked the ripened papayas, tearing them with a pleasant crispness from the trees. Herb gardens he had, bees he had, kalo he had. By the time we made it back to the house I had a bucket full of freshly picked fruit. I've never seen John happier.

Newly planted fields

—Have I told you my father's prescription story yet?— He inquired.

—No—

He told me a story of his father, a local physician. A local man came in to see him. He cared for a custom ship building shop. He told John's father that he did not feel well, that he felt ill and stressed. His father listened. At the end of the visit, John's father quickly scribbled down something on the prescription form, folded it, and said goodbye, before turning to another patient. 

As the man was returning to his home he stopped in to a pharmacy. When he got to the counter he unfolded the form and looked down at it, baffled. After a moment or two he realized that what was written wasn't writing at all but a map, leading up to John's and his brother's farms. 

The man followed the prescription. He went and visited the farms, got into kalo farming, is feeling great and hasn't stopped since. 

For many farming is the answer. For others it is an answer. 

For me it brings me back to a scripture, the words written by the Nephite prophet Jacob: "do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy."

The separation of labor from the enjoyment of the product has greatly reduced man's satisfaction and peace of mind. 

Instead of popping endless Tylenol, painkillers, and happy-pills, perhaps we should instead create something and find joy in its use, or at least have the slightest idea of where the things we use come from. 

Fuits. 

We harvested the fruits of his labor under misty grey and blue sky. We tasted those fruits, and nothing ever tasted so good. 

Misty grey and blue sky

O bytheway, John happened to build his own home over the past couple decades. Out of nearly all recycled material. Ask him about his living room window— it has a great story.  He says building your own home is one of the greatest pleasures of life. 

Rocks and things for decoration

Oyster shells. Yummy

   Boxes for bees and their knees

Harvested fruit

A tangerine, eaten

The view from a nearby looming hill

The view to the north

Looking down on John's farm 

My hammock arrangement

DAY 40- A few notes

Ma'o Organic Farms was the first of various organic farms featured in this weeks issue of Honolulu Weekly. Just letting you know that I am keep myself one step ahead of the pack for you guys.

Next, in regards to my article about the Waihe'e stream, apparently there was an information mix up- the water from the stream does not go to Honolulu, but actually services Kaneohe, Kahalu'u and the closer areas. As to the specifics on the stream and such I'm still trying to figure that out.

Today I've been visiting John's farm, climbing mountains, and swimming beneath waterfalls- the usual holiday thing. This week I'll be saying good by to Emma's place and transferring over to Bradley's on Okana road, and then as Meredith, bless her heart, will be coming in on thursday, I'll et her stay there, and I am finally going to go camp on the beach.