I fell in the pond

Last night after our run-in with the Bs, we walked in a parade. As coffee farmers. Never mind that we're not on a coffee farm right now or that we aren't farmers, or that we were something like 20 years younger than everyone else in our group. That didn't stop us! Holding down the rear of the group we trounced along and waved to the crowd, even trying out different types of waves. The C had a full body "yeah I'm excited" sort of wave and I tried the beauty queen wave. It must have worked because a couple of people refocused and took secondary shots of us as we passed. Yup, we're like royalty. In flip flops.

Today was a busy day. Farmer's market and then the Holualoa Art and Coffee Stroll. What was this stroll? Maybe a half mile on a 2-lane windy highway through the cute little town of Holualoa, art shops, coffee shops and stalls set up with coffee samples for a tasting contest. Some of the art was rad (Koa wood bowls, tables, art etc are amazing. I want to learn) and there was much tasty coffee to be had. And had it we did. The twitching ended about an hour ago.

In the afternoon we worked for a bit. I had planned to work an hour or 2 longer than I did but something happened that, well, didn't surprise either of us. Cleaning the pond has become a necessity for me. On the rear side of the pond a small rock "wall" extends in an arc into the water to block of a planting bed of sorts. I nimbly stepped out onto the wall so that I could get out the pesky weeds further out in the water. All went well for a while. Large clumps of weeds (and their roots, finally) yielded to my yanks and added to the growing pile of rotting vegetation alongside the pond. But I got cocky. My movements got faster and I spent less time checking my footing. While tugging on an especially stubborn clump my left foot slipped a little and instead of repositioning it I kept at the weeds. They came loose, as did I. Unfortunately The C missed the flailing/flying/falling, but she did see me waist deep in the mucky water. Thanks to my sloppy entry not just my lower half got soaked, all of me did. I clambered out while The C rolled on the ground laughing. Yet I worked on! For another 20 minutes and then called it a day. Instead of retreating to the house I went on a walk about the grounds looking for fruit trees I'd not seen yet. This act was rewarded in grand style. I found a dozen or more banana trees growing 3 or 4 different types of banana. In all I counted something like 8 bunches, 2 or 3 of which will be ripe soon. Yeah!

What else. Oh, we got a Costco membership yesterday. Which is arguably not our scene, but food is so expensive out here that it makes sense. We are now stocked up for a while. I was surprised not only at the insane amount of people that were in there in the middle of a work day, but at the selection of organic and locally grown foods. That I did not expect.

Confusion

When I first worked on the Big Island back in the Spring of 1995, I worked on a coffee farm for about 4 months. It was an interesting time time for me, made all the more interesting by the owners of the farm. By the time I left there were three of us working there and we'd all been insulted by the owners. One guy ran out of his own going away dinner because of the continued assaults during the meal. The C was told quite bluntly on her first day there that the owners hated vegans, especially those with dreadlocks, as well as people who "love the earth" (odd statement for recent purchasers of an organic farm). Basically they let her know that they didn't like her. Our time on the farm was still fun as we had each other, but we left with rancor in our hearts. In the years since they've asked our friends here to send us their way when we've been on the island, a request we never understood. My feeling was that they wanted to finish the job and bury us in a lava tube somewhere while The C was too confused to even develop a theory.

And then last night happened. Yesterday was the kick-off of the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, a week long celebration of all things Kona Coffee (yum). There was a Parade of Lights through downtown Kailua-Kona to celebrate the diversity of people in Kona. Our December employer who is quite involved with the Kona Coffee Farmer's Association called and asked us if we'd come down and walk in the parade with their group. The C had been in the parade before and had fun so we agreed to the duty.

The first people we recognized among the mass of parade walkers were the owners of that first farm. I ducked my head and walked past them wondering aloud how we could avoid them, especially since it appeared we'd be walking in the same group. The C just stared at me and told me to suck it up, that it would be fine. Still I dawdled. Finally it could be avoided no longer. My loins girded and stomach steeled we walked over.

The squeal that issued forth from She-B was piercing. "The C and Corey!! Oh my god! He-B! Look, it's The C and Corey! Aaahhh!!" Hugs and kissed, happy happy. He-B came over and gave us big hugs. Both of them looked a little teary-eyed.

I'm not always great at reading people, I've been hoodwinked before. But these two looked genuinely delighted to see us. Hell, She-B even remembered my vagabond sister and asked where she is these (I tried to answer, but I don't even really know the answer to that question)!

As we chatted about their farm, activities and the various interns they've had since us, they told us that the third in our group, D, had emailed them a short while back to ask if he could come out and spend some time on the farm. Wha??? D could not have left on terms much worse than he did, so his having asked to return floored us. And got us to wondering if our version of events didn't quite match other peoples'.

The Kona coffee growing community is not an overly large one but somehow they've managed to fracture into 2 groups. The group with which we were walking was the rival group to the Bs group. While prepping to walk (assembling paper lanters, donning headbands emblazoned with the words "Kona Coffee Cultural Festival" and stringing glow strings around ourselves) The C and I chatted about the mind hump we'd just received.

"D asked to work there again? Really? What the hell. Are we totally off on what happened there?"
"I don't know. My brain hurts and I'm hungry."

Today our confusion has not been allayed. The past is behind us so we're planning to stop by and see the Bs and their farm, which they adamantly requested we do. Still, can our memories be that off?

Nah, I don't think they are, but what a wacky encounter!