Fishing the Ala Wai in the olden days

I was never a fisherman anywhere, not like guys who are seriously into it. But there are plenty of folks who experienced fishing all over, including the Ala Wai Canal back in the days when it was much less polluted.

This morning, I came across a great blog at Kaulapi World about one man's childhood memories of fishing at the Ala Wai with his father. It's been only one generation since the cementing of the Ala Wai Watershed, but practically all has been lost in such a short period of time. Gone are the taro fields, duck ponds — the breadbasket of Oahu just a century ago — leaving us with remnants of what used to be.

My memories of fishing there are limited to occasional crabbing with Pack 333 (Cub Scouts) and watching the occasional fisherman hook up along the water, usually near McCully bridge. The crabbing was more exciting, of course, thanks to the humongous Samoan crabs. I don't know if the crabs were really from Samoa. They had big old pinchers, though, and they loved going after those aku heads everybody used as bait.

Tossing the crab nets, a circular metal frame holding a weave of rope similar to a basketball net, was probably the most fun for me. Not that I was good at it. But even back then, in the mid-1970s, I was aware of the toxins and poisons in the waters. A summer science class at UH, one for fifth graders, was all I needed. Will Kyselka led us on a tour up the Ala Wai and up Manoa-Palolo Stream, taking samples of the water along the way. All of the water was later measured for lead content. It wasn't a happy result, but it wasn't entirely shocking, either.

One day, probably, the entire watershed will be restored by Mother Nature. We probably won't be around to see foliage and vegetation run amok around and through all our man-made structures. Until then, all there is within the area are obnoxious motorists blasting their engines and all the dysfunctional symptoms that come with an overpopulated place. 

Crossroads

I find it puzzling, but not worrisome, that I have almost zero interest in the NBA playoffs this year. In fact, I haven't cared much about the NBA since fantasy season ended. Kudos to my brother, Kimo, who won our Larry Bird Association championship. (I came in third or fourth.)

I also had minimal interest in March Madness for the first time in maybe three decades. What's happening to me? Not sure.

I find myself obsessed with material about our neighborhoods and cities, our communities and islands, our environment and development. We are connected to our homes, however you define 'home', whether we acknowledge this or not. So this is not a sad change for me, at age 43. I'm leaving behind some old interests and pastimes, I guess, but have a new passion for things that have always meant something to me. Walking to school every day (except when I rode TheBus), it's impossible to not notice the trees, streams, concrete congestion of urban Honolulu. My favorite was walking over the Date Street bridge to Kaimuki High School.

During the early 1980s, bouganvilla (sp) bushes grew tall and wide and lush. Brilliant hues of goldenrod and violet and peach and white, from one side of the Manoa-Palolo Stream to the other. Along with expansive branches of trees on both sides of the stream, it was a place to stop for a minute and just admire nature.

One day, the bouganvillas and trees were gone. The stream was barren of covering and shade. Bare stumps and dirt remained on each side of the stream. It was sad.

I remember a few years after that, walking up the road from our new residence (also in town), a beautiful old tree had been chopped down. All that was left was a massive stump, surrounded by fast-food restaurant concrete, a gas station... it was shocking. I never forgot it. I suppose, looking back, I came to accept living in a land of concrete. I suppose a part of me hated it. That may be why I enjoyed living on the Big Island for eight years.

Well, the point I was going to make is this: the Ala Wai Watershed was a bountiful place of harvest for the island of O'ahu for generations until most of it was filled in by the Dillingham Corp. and turned into Waikiki, McCully and Mo'ili'ili as we know them now. But there's still lots of "open" space at Ala Wai, even a lush public garden next to my old school, Ala Wai Elementary, that's been there for almost 30 years now. Everything that grows there is gloriously green.

Ala Wai will return to its original state one day, perhaps a thousand years from now. Ten thousand years. That's what it was created to do: produce a watershed that sustains life. I'd like to see that happen in just a tiny increment. Lord knows we have enough concrete. If that means clean-ups, redesign, community projects and innovation, I'm all for it. Takes many hands to bring out the potential of the land.

Soul in Ala Wai?

I know what's gonna happen.

Some folks will say, "Paul, why did you name this blog 'Ala Wai'? Don't you know everybody's going to think about the disgusting Ala Wai Canal?"

Some other people might say, "Soul? Ala Wai? What the hell do Ala Wai and Soul have to do with each other?"

Well, it's kinda simple. I grew up near Ala Wai Park. The only thing separating us from the riff-raffs and hookers of Waikiki was the canal. Looking back, that was a pretty damn good thing. The formative years of my life before age 5 were lived elsewhere. A lot of chaos that I rather not remember. But after 5? That's when things got better. Not richer. Not easier. But better. That's all because of Ala Wai Park.

That's where I learned to play sports. Some organized. A lot just in the open park, or as they say on the mainland, on the sandlots. I made friends with other kids who were poor as me, and I mean living on food stamps and other government assistance. I made friends with kids who lived in condomiumns overlooking the park. We had a wide range of guys who only wanted to play football, play basketball, play baseball, play chase master, Army ... you name it, we came to the park to do that.

Color, ethnicity, religion, money ... that stuff did not matter. It never does when you're banging heads and throwing touchdown passes in the most important game of your life, in the middle of a huge grass field on a mid-summer day at scorching Ala Wai Park.

OK, so maybe it makes a little sense. That's what Ala Wai means to Pupule Paul. But Soul?

Yes. Soul. As I got older and we all got into music and popping and movies, we all learned the rules of life. Sometimes the easy way. Usually the harder way. But we learned together, and we didn't need big bucks or nice cars to appreciate what we had. And the music ... we loved our music. This was the 1970s and '80s, and we all loved R&B. Earth Wind & Fire. Commodores. Kool & the Gang. We loved our Soul music. And of course, we loved our Rap music. This is before it was categorized and marketed as "Hip Hop," when we lived for it and didn't need MTV to tell us what was cool and what wasn't.

There are a lot of reasons why Soul and this place are intertwined for me. It was through my friendships there that I first encountered trouble with the law. Nothing major. Just stupid late-night stuff involving curfew. It was also there where my friendships brought me in touch with the Holy Spirit, all because I dared to go to a church event with friends. It was just teenagers and a lot of fun stuff before I realized something was reaching into me. The power of forgiveness. It was ... it was soul changing.

Maybe you get what I'm saying. Maybe not. But I want to write it all down, bit by bit, before I get too old and start to forget the treasures of my childhood and youth. It's still in me, and undeniably so.

So I hope you enjoy this. It won't just be about Ala Wai, won't necessarily be about my memories, either. Everywhere I've been to in Hawaii, there's real soul. People who are down to earth and absolutely giving of their time and aloha. That's what makes every neighborhood and community eternally rich, at least in my eyes. I've been to a lot of places, and they're so memorable because I cannot forget the soul of each one.

I hope you enjoy. I will, I guarantee it.