Hawaii is home. I was born on Oahu in Honolulu, where I lived for my first 26 years. It did not take long for me to find out what a melting pot of cultures Hawaii is, and struggled to find where I fit in. Being considered “haole” my whole life, I was often picked on and ridiculed by others. I tried to not let this get to me as a youth. I was busy falling in love with Hawaii and all it had to offer in beauty and culture. I noticed that I was living among Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Samoan, Tongan, Portuguese, Hawaiian and others as well as mixes of each. I found that Hawaiian and Chinese was a very common mix among Hawaiians that I knew growing up. I spent much time at the many beautiful beaches, hiked mountain ridges and swam under waterfalls, enjoying and eventually taking for granted my surroundings.

My father was a professor at the University of Hawaii in the department of Zoology. He embraced the Hawaiian culture after moving to Kaneohe from Texas. He bought and taught himself ukulele and played and sang for me as a child. This inspired me to learn to play and sing Hawaiian music myself. Some of the music was more jazzy than traditional Hawaiian, and I would learn later that it was the foreign influence on Hawaiian popular music that brought forth songs like “The Hukilau Song”, and other songs in English that were not originally sung in Hawaiian.

I was a city boy, and either caught the bus, walked or rode a bike to get where I was going, since having a car in Hawaii was more of a luxury than a necessity for us as a family. I had to know the streets of Honolulu well so I would not get lost. I came to know the streets of Makiki , McCully, Moilili, lower Manoa, Kapiolani, Kaimuki and Waikiki very well, down to how long each traffic light would take to change. I also knew where to get the best cracked seed snacks and plate lunches and shave ice. We never made a trip back from the North Shore without going through Haleiwa to stop at Matsumoto’s for shave ice. As a youth, I figured everyone in the world took their shave ice with azuki beans at the bottom!

I found out through a handful of trips to “the mainland” to visit family in Texas that there were a LOT of things I enjoyed in Hawaii that were not available anywhere else. I remember the frustrated look on the face of the cashier at a McDonald’s in Texas when I kept trying to describe my breakfast order of Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice. Things are different outside of Hawaii. This made Hawaii even more special to me. I miss it when I am not there.

I embrace being a “local”: I learned and spoke pidgin and proper Hawaiian phrases, as well as proper English, I participated in May Day ceremonies, sacrificed my physical health for “ono grinds” and gave and received hundreds of leis in my life there so far. I brag about my heritage to others, even though I do not have any Hawaiian blood literally running through my veins. To me, what matters is being able to say that I have the Aloha Spirit, which is palpable to anyone who tries to see it or feel it. I am proud to be from one of the hubs of the Pacific and the world, “The Gathering Place” of Oahu.

It was only a year or so ago that my daughter was singing High School Musical as loud as she can, knowing every word and all of the harmonies. I used to endure it in the car just for her, knowing that I was doing something special for her.

Tonight, I put it on for old time’s sake and she completely wigged out. She cupped her ears and ran screaming. Apparently one week of middle school changes a girl.

It’s pretty scary raising our first 11 year old – going on 19. She is all of a sudden too cool for us parents. The transformation is real and it happens very quickly. Enjoy the time you have with your kids while you have them. They will not always want to hang out with you and may even be completely embarrassed by your mere presence in any public setting.

<Sigh>

Oh well, I still have thee more to try to brainwash before they get too cool for their ol’ Dad.

For the record, I actually think this soundtrack is pretty good. The songwriting is rather appropriate and better than I would have expected for something like this nowadays.

As far as Zac and Vannessa’s behavior off screen…ugh. But really, they have very little to do with the “music” part of this, so I can easily let them fade out of the picture when I enjoy the songs for what they are.

I wonder what next week’s drama will be. :p

And vimeo is pretty cool, too.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Precisely 6 months ago, and also on a Saturday, you came screaming into this world, strong yet so fragile. I held my breath as you took your first. I loved you instantly.

Your smile and captivating eyes have brought me and the whole family an extraordinary amount of joy. You greet me every day with a look of recognition and cheer, and I am a Daddy anew. Your tiny presence fuels our home with energy and happiness.

Your sister and brothers also love you, almost too much, if there were such a thing. They actually get into fights over who gets to hold you and play with you next. Yes, I love them as well, and they were once as tiny as you.

I couldn’t wait for 12 months to write this letter to you, my youngest child and lovely daughter. You inspire me to rise to the privilege of being your father.

You are equally one of the 5 most beautiful things I have ever seen on this wonderful planet.

I pray that I will be able to be there for you and guide you into becoming the wonderful girl and woman you want and ought to be.

I love you,

Daddy

I started a fire today. It was neccessary. The stupid thing was asking for it. For days now, this thing has brought nothing but sorrow and pestilence to our household. It made the strongest of my children shriek with terror when she felt the chilling effects of this unwanted beast.

My patient wife spent the days biding her time, waiting for me to burn the monster that was terrorizing our family. Today was finally the day.

I armed myself and made it cautiously into the attic. I could feel its presence. I flipped on the light. I slowly turned my head and it was right there in my face breathing a foul stench right on my face. I remained calm, as I knew it couldn’t do anything to me unless directly provoked.

I leaned closer toward it, the smell growing stronger. I readied my torch and slowly made my way around the menace. While in its blind spot, I leaned in and thrust my torch into it’s belly. Nothing. I missed the sweet spot. I regrouped, wiped the sweat from my forehead, took a deep breath of sweltering air, held it and this time slowly advanced my weapon. FWOOOSH! Gotcha. The beast knew I was there now, and I had only seconds to get out before I was burned along with it.

I clumsily sealed the opening I had made, put out my torch, rose to my feet, and…silence. There was one more thing to be done, to assure the beasts demise. I needed to increase the size of the small flame I had just started. I reached down to the foot of the monster and turned the dial. KA-FWOOOOM! This noise and the new light shining in the attic was proof enough that my job was done.

There were shouts of joy and praise in the house upon my return. Never before had they seen such an act of heroism or bravery.

I re-lit the water heater.

I guess there never really is a good time to bring this up, so now will have to do.

When we, as a family, moved to the Houston area a few years ago, we decided to employ the talents of a realtor agency, even though we were only looking to rent a home at the time. Our mood as caregivers to our then 3 children was past excited and more of a desperate, bordering, panicky in our home search. We waited patiently at a very nice, air-conditioned, quiet office while our 60-something new friend (aka realtor) was looking things up for us: matching criteria, numbers of potties, er toilets, square footage and so forth.

Our kids, especially the 2 boys, were having a hard time keeping still and being quiet, as we really needed them to be in this tense situation. I was horrified when I caught them playing with bouncy balls (you know the super bouncy ones that bounce REALLY far and are noisy and kinda hard?) I tried to keep my “ix-nay on the oise-nay” on the down-low, since it was so quiet and we were trying to give a good impression. They reluctantly complied and put their playthings in their pockets.

Moments later, the older of the two boys slid up to me, with the gravest of faces, staring at the floor and gently complained: “Daddy, why can’t we take our balls out and play with them?”

Uncontrollable laughter ensued.

And darn it if he didn’t lighten the mood instantly. Way to go, spawn of mine.

IMG_2268, originally uploaded by heyjosh.

…this photo will have a whole new meaning. This is a photo of my daughter playing bass for only the second time ever. Sure, her left thumb is in the wrong place, but she’s just starting.
Note that the late and great bass revolutionary Jaco Pastorius looms in the background. Hmm. I just found this photo to be very insteresting.

Sarah likes to embrace anything having to do with Hawaii, since she was born there. Once I showed her how to play the ukulele (very basic things, a few chords and vamps and this waltz), she can’t seem to get enough of it. Here she is playing a waltz that I learned when I was a kid growing up in Hawaii. I don’t think I ever knew the title of it, so if anyone knows it, please post it here.

Sarah is also still getting used to the idea that in order to share your performance on youtube, you have to be videotaped…duh! She’s shy but she did a great job! I think we’ll keep her.

-Josh

PS – she just started learning bass guitar yesterday…perhaps she will follow in daddy’s footsteps? Heaven help us.

Then, after it got dark, he hooked one and I jumped over to keep him from losing the pole or going into the drink himself. 10 minutes later…

He caught a 12 pound, 27″ red drum fish, a.k.a. redfish. This is the first one of this size that has been seen by any of us! Sarah was also key in helping land this awesome fish, as she netted it when we brought it close to the dock. I love seeing teamwork amongst my kids!

Note in this shot how the fish looks even bigger! The trick is to hold it out toward the camera. Heh heh.

Congrats, Zack!

IMG_1049, originally uploaded by heyjosh.

This is what I get to do when I get home from a hard day at work. Our little Zoe is starting to recognize us and use her eyes to focus more. This is a great stage in a child’s development, especially for me as the Daddy!

IMG_0874, originally uploaded by heyjosh.

Poor Zoe. Only 3 weeks old and already getting jibes from her brother Seth! But I think that Seth actually can not help himself. His hands just always end up making bunny ears on somebody in most pictures. He’s going to be the class clown for sure. Wonder where he gets it? Hmmm.

IMG_0889, originally uploaded by heyjosh.

I still can’t believe that when I say “my kids”, I am now referring to 4 instead of 3. I had 3 kids for over 6 years, so I was getting used to it. I look forward to getting used to this, too.

I really liked this picture and wanted to share it. I’m sure there will be more. Thanks for putting up with my doting on the new baby and all.

Josh

IMG_0734, originally uploaded by heyjosh.

We caught Zoe smiling during a dream. Love the dimple too. I wonder what she’s dreaming about? Maybe about drowning in a sea of breasts? Oh wait, that was my dream…

Seth just LOVES the crying sound, originally uploaded by heyjosh.

This picture just cracks me up! It was the first time that our 3 first kids were able to hold Zoe, Sarah going first. While taking photos of the moment, Zoe cried just a little bit and we snapped Seth’s (left) reaction.

Isn’t he gonna just be a great daddy?

So far, I am OK with the little bit of crying that Zoe does. She is still SO cute and her cry is so tiny that it’s not nerve-racking at all. I give a few weeks though, and I’ll probably end up looking like Seth here. Eep!

-Josh

PS I now have my flickr account tied to this blog so I may decide to blog a picture or two straight to the blog via Flickr, like I just did here. Kinda cool feature, really.

I’m in love again! Zoe came into the world on January 12, 2008 at 12:57 pm in Houston, Texas. She weiged in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and measured 20.75 inches long. I was right there when she took her first breath and I am still amazed at emotion and feelings that sweep over me, this being our fourth child.

http://berryflower.blogspot.com/2008/01/psyche.html

See you tomorrow!