Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A Child's Paradise


















One of the sweet blessings of my life is spending four years of my childhood in Oahu, Hawaii. Truly a child's paradise. I went to Laie Elementary school barefoot, like everyone else including the teachers. I learned to hula in first grade, "goin' to the huki lau". I wore my swimsuit under my little sundress so I could run into the ocean right after school. I could make my way home on the beach most of the way. We lived on Kamehameha Highway across the street from the ocean in a beach house. It is no longer there but the land is now part of of the Polynesian Cultural Center. I learned to surf when I was eight, watched seahorses play in the coral and would ride on my Uncle Lamond's back as he swam me out to the reef. It was there my first year in Hawaii that I learned to swim. I was five years old. You could stand up on the reef, it was about a 100 yards out from the beach but seemed like miles to me then. He started to swim away and I yelled " what about me?" . "Start swimming" he said. "you know I cant swim yet," I replied and he wisely said "You think you can't but I know you can. Jump in and swim. " I trusted him and I swam. Lamond lived with us for a time, he was enrolled at the Church College of Hawaii, now BYU Hawaii, in fine art. I would watch him work on his projects and he would let me do some art with him He told me I was an artist, I believed him about that too and am probably an artist today from that encouragement (along with the incredible support of my number one fan, Marty Robbins). Marty has taken me back to Hawaii a number of times. I sat on the beach where I played as a child and painted it in watercolor.

4 comments:

Debbie said...

I think I understand a little better where your love for all things Hawaiian comes from.

What a beautiful post about your childhood. It sounds so dreamy! I love the beach too.

Britt Riggin said...

WAIT! You know how to surf?!?!?!?

Paige said...

I love that post Anita. Sounds wonderful.

Paige said...

I love that post Anita. Sounds wonderful.