I Double Dog Dare You!

On Tuesday we were off to a rather unique "farm".  It was the Ocean Riders Inc. that raises seahorses.  That's right, seahorses.  Did you know that the seahorse is almost extinct?  And that is because of our disposable lifestyle.  You fish die?  Go get a new one.  Your seahorse die?  Go get a new one.  Unfortunately the sea creatures don't produce as fast as you think they do and so because we feel the need to have to have one, suppliers harvest so much that they are killing the ocean.  Here is a fact that shocked me - if the suppliers continue to harvest they way they do, our oceans will be depleted by 2040!  I don't know about you but I would hate to think that my grandchildren won't know what sea life is like.  If you like to eat fish there is a web site that gives you the alternatives for buying fish that are farm raised - www.seawatch.com - check it out.  Anyway, at this "farm" they raise seahorses for people to buy and own.  They allow you to "hold" one (or actually they hold you) and will either stay there until you open your fingers or they will take off on their own.  We were there before but wanted to take Tom and Debbie because it is such a great experience.  They are now expanding into trying to farm dragon horses.  If you don't know what that is imagine a floating piece of seaweed with a head.  Beautiful, but weird looking.

Okay, now here is where I double dog dare you.   This is a very important and sacred place for the Hawaiians - try and pronounce it -






In English it's called "The City of Refuge".  Many centuries ago, on the islands many things were kapu or forbidden.  If you broke a kapu you could lose your life so you ran or sailed as fast as you could to this small place on the shores of the big island.  Once you set foot on the beach you were safe from harm and persecution as long as you didn't leave.  Only when you were forgiven by a priest or holy man or pardoned by the king could you leave safely.  I have been here every time I have come back to the island, but this time I was shocked because I had totally forgotten about the tsunami and didn't realize that it may have hit the island.  Well it did hit and they had to actually close half of the area because, not only did it damage some areas but it also exposed more undiscovered areas.  So we didn't get to see everything, but we had a good time anyway.  Oh, and for those that weren't successful in pronouncing it I will try and do it phonetically.

Poo (like dog doo-doo) u (long u) hoe new a (short a) o (long o) hoe now now.  Congratulations!  You now speak Hawaiian.  Aloha.