Shannon Dominguez works at least 70 hours per week at Upcountry Maui's Haku Baldwin Center.She directs a popular community program called Animal-Assisted Therapy. Several times per week, she loads up her truck with a menagerie of well-trained animals--including dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks & chickens--and visits people who are elderly, infirmed or disabled. Her therapy … [Read more...]
Chef Peter Merriman’s picks for handmade Hawaiian treats
Looking for unique gift ideas? Here are some lost-cost "locavore" treats made locally on Maui. Most are available for about $10-$20. Chef Peter Merriman's picks for handmade Hawaiian treats. … [Read more...]
Purely Hawaiian Liquor, ‘Okolehao
Native Hawaiians use ti plants for more than scaring away evil spirits. They also make a potent spirit of their own, a distillation of ti root called 'Okolehao (prn OH-koh-lay-how). Haleakala Distillers, located Upcountry Maui, starting brewing their own 80-proof version in December 2009. The formula calls for a mash of roughly 25 percent ti root, 20 percent rice and 55 percent … [Read more...]
Poetic aerial fireworks warning labels
The warning labels on some aerial fireworks boxes read like poetry. Here are a few of my favorites from this past New Year's Eve. Warning Shoots flaming balls and reports Carefully read cautions on side panel Performance Panoramic red, green and blue bursts, accented by sizzling streams of crackling extending out in all directions. Performance Description This … [Read more...]
Kilauea volcano, fertility and miscarriage
It's a sight in Hilo as regular as evening rain: groups of Japanese women wearing colored tour badges and clutching small bags board buses at the airport bound for Kilauea volcano. While their husbands in Honolulu play golf, these women journey to Hilo for the day. Men play for par while some women seek fertility. Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of fire. She rules volcanos, and … [Read more...]