Not an ordinary day

This morning on our routine morning walk down the Donkey Mill Road we saw the usual group of neighborhood chickens – a rooster, three hens, and about 6 to 8 chicks.  Cherry, who lives on this bend in the road, feeds them as well as the turkeys and whatever else likes chicken scratch.  There were a lot more chicks than usual – a happy extended family.   We stopped to pick up the morning paper across from Dakota Joe's farm.

We were right on time at the DonkeyMill Art Center.  On Tuesday and Friday mornings at 8:00 we gather our chi at the Center’s Qigong class led by Wayne Chenault. We gather on the lawn at the fourth out of five levels on this steep piece of land where the art studios are built, emerging out of the rocky hillside.  Two cats call this area home and are always curious about these creatures on “their” lawn so early in the morning.  They will sometimes rub up against your shoe or climb on your pants for attention.  This morning was no exception.  The gray calico was pawing onto one man’s pant leg.  She was quite persistent.  Then we saw a tiny mouse emerge from the pant leg seam and run away.  The cat playfully followed.  I’ve heard of the saying “playing cat and mouse” but never observed it until now.  The mouse ran back towards the cat and sat in front of him!  The cat stared down and left the mouse alone.  Then the cat jumped away and the mouse scampered to the side.  Next thing I see is a limp mouse in the cat’s mouth.  She is looking bored and wondering where to put this thing now that she got it.  No fun now that it can’t move.

Group of Nene

We moved on to another sequence called ShiBashi.  As our eyes were raised and our arms wide, “opening our heart to embrace nature” six large birds swooped from above swiftly flying purposefully down towards the ocean, three on three.  Someone said they might be Nene.   Nenes are geese descended from Canada geese, but smaller, and are only found in Hawaii.  They are the official Hawaiian bird and are being protected from extinction.  Before we did the next movement, another bird flew over, catching up to the ones before, so we took better notice.  This time we all confirmed they were Nene.  They did not resemble turkeys – they can achieve flight but rarely fly so high and so long; nor pheasants, which like to stay on the ground.  They can fly, but not in groups.  The birds we saw were medium large and seemed comfortable in flight, like a goose.  There is no other possibility but the Nene.

Nene

After class, on the walk back up the hill,  we noticed the chickens were on the other side of the road. Unlike before, they were suddenly running , squawking, flapping wings and all looking to the West.  A grey hawk was swiftly coming in for a meal, claws in front ready to grab.  No amount of chicken screams were going to stop him from getting his chick.  Hens running in circles were trying to keep track of their chicks and protect them while keeping their eye on the hawk.  The rooster was in front, protecting the flock.  One hen, excited and confused, inadvertently stepped on one of the chicks.  It all happened in less than two seconds.  We clearly saw the hawk, but couldn’t tell if it captured anything.  When he left, the group dispersed.  David said “I think the hen stepped on its chick!”  We looked under the tree, and sure enough, a tiny chick was tucked among the rocks and macadamia nuts, unmoving.

Several minutes later as we were heading down the driveway home, anticipating breakfast and Kona coffee, we saw three pheasants.  It is ordinary to see them on the driveway, especially at this particular section.  They are impossible to photograph because they are hurrying across going one way or the other.  They are Kalij pheasants, common on the Big Island.  However today, there were three and they were in the middle of the driveway facing each other, prohibiting us to pass.  Each one was posturing to the other, prancing forward, then back.  Usually quiet, they were squawking loudly.  Not a “pheasant” conversation. 

When we were allowed to pass,  approaching the farmhouse we noticed a palm frond had finally fallen to the ground next to the house.  We decided to lift it out of the way and put it in the green waste pile. It was heavy!  I’d say 50 pounds.   It took both of us to haul it there.

After breakfast, we noticed the coconut that had fallen the day before, now had its “hat” off.  It was time to attempt to open our first coconut.  It looks easy, if you watch Samoans do it at a luau.  They use a “sharp stick” anchored in the ground to impale it, breaking open the outer husk.  They pull this away with their bare hands, removing the inner dark brown round coconut like it was a banana.  They crack  big nut quickly and hard with a hand sized rock, hitting in the exact spot on the “face”.   Two seconds later miraculously the shell is in two perfect halves with all the coconut milk and meat held in both breast sized cups! 

We have no sharp stick in the ground, so David used the curved saw used for cutting tree limbs to saw his way inside.  Surprisingly, it was fairly easy to cut through the outer husk.  He was able to pour out about a cup of juice.  Then he sawed all the way through the middle of the coconut.  But there wasn’t any hard brown shell inside or coconut meat.  We saw a round space where the juice was held, and on the insides a little bit of coconut jelly like substance.  Either the coconut is not the species you usually think of that produces coconuts with round hard nuts inside, or it fell off when it was still too young.  We were disappointed not to have ta regulation coconut, but relieved that we didn’t have to perform amazing feats of strength and agility to prove we could open it.

In the evening, we ordinarily have our dinner at the table which faces out at the wide expanse of the Western side of the island and our view of the ocean from 1,500 ft. elevation.  We linger to watch the setting sun.  This evening it began to rain really hard, not unusual at this time of year or time of day.  While the rain pounded on the corrugated metal roof, we were amazed as we watched through the screen a cloudless sky and a beautiful glowing sunset.