Finally, a few of the images from my recent trip to Hawaii, including a photo nano-essay.
Punahou luau tree
My family moved to Hawaii from Los Angeles when I was eight, and I started attending Punahou School in sixth grade. Hawaii is a most special and beautiful place, and I’m constantly thinking about how I can move back. Over the last couple of years, I’ve discovered that many of my friends from school who had moved away have been slowly trickling back to the islands. Unfortunately my last family connection moved to the mainland a few years ago, but I’ve still got lots of old and dear friends on Oahu. I went back this year for my 25th reunion, which at Punahou is serious business. They have a huge Alumni Luau every year with homegrown hula entertainment, a real alumni-dug imu (pit) for cooking the kalua pig, and all kinds of other festivities. I took this picture just after sunset while sitting outside Dillingham Hall, overlooking the lower-campus field where the luau was held.
And now, the nano-essay, comprising two pictures… Years ago I took Eli to Hawaii to visit the parents for the first time. We made a joke of doing a Diamond Head photo essay, capturing it from all angles and distances. This time I reviewed my photos to discover that I had a little 21st-century version of the essay just waiting to happen!
The real Diamond Head
This first picture is a (rather building-cluttered) view of the actual Diamond Head crater from our hotel (bar bet question: What’s the Hawaiian name for Diamond Head? answer: Leahi). I grew up on the other side of Diamond Head in the Kahala neighborhood, getting sort of a reverse view of that famous outline.
Eveli and the chocolate Diamond Head (sounds like a children’s book, doesn’t it?)
Second, I offer you a Diamond Head rendered entirely in dark chocolate and filled with truffles. Yes, that’s me and Eli posing for the photo op, getting swamped by the dry ice. That night we were out at dinner with my friend Donna at the excellent Bali By the Sea restaurant, where (I suppose it’s too late to say “Spoiler Alert!”) they present this at the conclusion of every dinner. Let me assure you that in Waikiki, there’s no such thing as subtlety.
I’ll spare you the picture of the partially gnawed Diamond Head, out of respect for its passing.
