Kaimanaiki Valley

The Hawaiians called things that meant alot to them by diminutive names; kaimanaiki means of little power. They feared the gods would take away any thing too nice. The valley our house is in is beautiful; it could be an amphitheater, you can hear the guy across the valley weed whacking his lawn as though he was in your yard. Kalihi valley is the oldest geological piece of Oahu.

On New Years eve is the loudest, smokiest place on the island. Guests used to think we had arranged the spactical all for them to enjoy. Believe me, it was out of our hands.

When we first moved to Kalihi we really liked the neighbors. After being there a while we learned some weren't what they appeared to be. Too many differences in class and education and many other things. The land was beautiful and still is the love of my life. I love the rocks and the trees behind the house. I even love the smell of the air. Bob was streetwise from Chicago. Me, from an upper middle class New England home not so much.

We were flower children of the 60's and thought anything was possible, we had just lived in Monrovia, Liberia happily which is a third world. Seemed like Kalihi was no different but, it was.

Living on a Mountain

Bob took a picturesque road along Punchbowl National Cemetery to work at the University of Hawaii in the green Mehari. I worked in Chicago for Pan American Airlines on Michigan Ave when agents did the round the world fares themselves and booked tours and meals on Aeroflot. Sent my checks to Bob to pay for the house and after spot painting our VW bug for sale headed to Hawaii sans job. Not approved for unemployment insurance as I had a husband.

Sulked in my blue cotton prison shirts for a while, painting the inside and outside of the house. Got a job at the Print Maker cutting color designs for silkscreening. Then an art director at Hele Mai a local tee shirt and bathing suit company. Not an easy job since I hadn't learned to draw yet.

Hawaii House I : The Hick's Home We Bought

Bob and I bought a small, redwood house on top of a very steep driveway(45degree) on a beautiful mountain. I fell in love with the land behind the house, called "watershed" here. There were 20 acres of conservation land with large Christmas Berry trees and huge volcanic boulders in the back yard. We would have to add on to the house to qualify for the mortgage so we designed an addition and made a cathedral ceiling in the living room and some lanais on each side of our new master bedroom. Mid Pac lumber dumped all the timbers in the road below( Nihi St). Day laborers carried these huge, heavy pieces of lumber up the steep driveway(about eleven men). Bob stayed in Rome. I should have but, I was so excited to finally, after ten years of renting, own a home, I came back early. Big mistake..

First House; Hawaiian Home I

After moving back to the United States from Monrovia, Liberia, my husband and I lived in Honolulu, Hi. again. We rented a place on the beach in Lanikai where they raised the rent and the traffic over the Pali was horrible. Moved on to Waimanalo, where our bedroom was next to the carport so every time the owners came and went we smelled exhaust and heard an old chevy engine start. We also heard a dying man groan while he listened to KCCN radio music. He was an old Hawaiian man. I saw an ad for a house in Kalihi Valley for $32,000.. Called my husband and he and my uncle and another friend from the English department went to take a look at this place which cost a third of the going rate then in Honolulu. They said it was okay, so I looked at it and we bought it with the help of our families and an agreement of sale with the United pilot who owned it.

Duxbury House II

Landing Road Beach on Kingston Bay is across the street from the house and a hop, skip and jump for a swim at high tide or digging for clams at low tide. I have just completed renovating the second beach house on Bay Road. These summer houses were built in 1925 and originally one piece of property, sometime in 1945 they were subdivided.