I cantered down at the base of the Waianae mountains riding a white mare (lio) and met the corn farmer in an old truck who had extended his arm out of his window saying something to the extent of, "Whoa Paniolo!"
The good guys always rode the white horses.
My employees have seen you up here before. "Do you know that you are trespassing?" (Later he spoke entirely in the Hawaiian language.)
"Ae, ike mau (yes, we know)" There is no thievery involved here (ka 'aihue; I responded to him speaking entirely in Hawaiian as well.).
"What do you want?" he asked.
I reached for my miserly wallet and retrieved a total of the three dollars that I had with me and offered those three dollars to him. "My horse loves the stream up there." I said motioning to the Waianae mountains." There's a dollar for our trespassing and the other two are wanted to pay for some corn to be eaten at my party today".
This local man went back to his nasty older truck and brought forth his brown bag lunch. He said to me, "Stick around." From his own lunch he offered his very own apple to my horse. She loves those things and strangely, he knows it too. He knows as well as I do to watch those horse's teeth near his own fingers.
The horse licked her lips just then. "Does that mean she likes apples?"
"Well, yes she does but that isn't what a horse means by doing what she did. It's psychological - and that one is a good one." "That's a beautiful Quarter. How did you get passed the gate?" he asked.
I responded using gestures with my hands indicating that she just jumps over...."Her name is Mist. (Two of the letters in that name don't exist in the Hawaiian alphabet. 'Ohu was the best that I could manage for the farmer.)
How many in your party today?" he asked.
"Only six." "Wait a minute." he said and promptly pulled out one of the relatively larger pocket knives that I've ever seen. He walked into his own rows and came back with an ear of corn which he promptly chopped into three pieces on his old truck hood.
"Try this one." he said while handing back my own three dollars. "Go get whatever you want in my rows. You can come to the stream any time you want to."
Welcome To The Club
