Two days before Christmas I was heading home from Designer Yarn in Sandy. It’s my favorite local yarn store (LYS), and much closer than other yarn shops in the metro Portland area.
As usual, I was playing a Hawaiian CD as I drove along, thinking of the warm Hawaiian days of my childhood, when the poinsettias were blooming in front of our hale [house] and Santa would arrive in a canoe. I must admit to feeling just a little bit homesick as I drove along in the pouring rain, looking up at the gray skies all around me.
Suddenly I heard honking just behind me. I looked to my left and saw two haole guys in an SUV smiling at me, and the passenger guy was making a “roll down your window!” sign at me. So I rolled it down and to my utter delight, they both yelled, “Mele Kalikimaka!”, grinning from ear to ear.
I yelled it back, of course, and gave them the shaka sign. They continued on past me, and suddenly my gray, rainy day seemed to disappear, and it was as if the sun had suddenly come out and my world had been transformed. I sang “Mele Kalikimaka” at the top of my lungs all the way home.
Thanks guys, whoever you are. You brought a Hawaiian Christmas to me in the middle of a gray Oregon day. May your season and the year ahead be green and bright!
A Mānoa Girl's Bloggie 
Hey Friend, I hope all is well with you. I have been a bad email buddy lately with the kids home and Christmas it was crazy. I think of you often and hope you are well..
Des
Those random acts of ALOHA are always special yeah. 0//
Awwww!! What a great thing to happen on a rainy Portland day!
I so admire your ability to appreciate the small things in life with no judgement.
I ran into a couple from Hawaii last week and I so wanted to say Mele Kalikimaka to them. But I didn’t for fear of saying it wrong ot looking stupid. Or being judged. I wish I would have just bucked up and did it!!
You inspire me to be bold and brave!
Very cool! It’s the little gestures that mean a lot, yeah?
Oh! How great a gift is that? I hope you had a Mele Kalikimaka!
Awethum blossums! Blessings never cease!
Thanks, it was such a fun project! I love reading about Hawaii, I visited Oahu, Maui, and Kauii (sp?) a couple of years ago. I want to go back so bad!
Thank you for your comments on the blog… I just found your site and am greatly appreciating your Hawaiian/Oregonian experience. I’m also discovering some great haunts in the Portland area for when I visit. Hau’oli Makahiki Ho!