Haleiwa Bon Dance

One of the many things I love so much about living in Hawaii is the opportunity to be exposed to cultural traditions I would otherwise never have the chance to experience first hand. The diverse cultures here in Hawaii seem to merge seamlessly while retaining their unique traditions. One such example is the Bon Dance I was fortunate enough to attend over the past weekend.

A Bon Dance is a historic Japanese Buddhist festival to honor one’s departed loved ones and ancestors. Over the 500 years that it has become tradition, it has evolved into a family reunion of sorts where family members show their ancestral appreciation through celebratory dance. On the last evening of the Bon Festival, a ceremonial lighting of lanterns is observed. The lanterns are then set to float on the sea to guide the ancestral spirits on their journey. This is called Toro Nagashi and is a beautiful sight to see! Here in Haleiwa, the Bon Dance is attended by all cultural groups and religions as it is a festive and beautiful way to honor those you love.

The Bon Dance that my husband and I attended, along with Jean (our Office Manager) and her lovely sister, brother-in-law, and niece, was amazing! It was held at the Haleiwa Jodo mission. I could almost liken it in similarity to the Dia de los Muertos festivals held in Latin American countries and Arizona where dance, food and celebration are centered around honoring ancestral spirits. I was brave enough to try and follow along with the dance itself and although I didn’t do too well no one held it against me. There were so many others there trying to learn too! It was also nice to stand back and see the experts. Their movements were so elegant and the music so enchanting! The musicians were so captivating and the drums almost hypnotic.

It was a great time, and I walked away feeling richer from the experience. Here in Hawaii, you don’t have to travel far from home to get a taste of the Eastern influence. The rich history of the Japanese culture in Hawaii has endowed our little North Shore town with a gift that I will always remember.

I am including a link to Jean’s You Tube video. There is some really great footage of the Bon Dance. We would like to offer our readers a 12% off their entire next order by using the coupon code: HappiCoat. This is good through July 31st. The Happi (pronounced like hoppy) coat is the ceremonial long coat worn by the dancers in the photos. Also, we would love to hear any stories you may have on the subject of Bon Dances here in Hawaii or Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5CkDb4J350

About three weeks ago I was driving home from work on what seemed to be a normal afternoon. I decided to drive into town (Haleiwa town that is) to run some errands and on my way back I noticed an incredibly weak and injured dog attempting to cross the street. Of course, being the person that I am, I had to stop to see if she was okay. (Just a little background on me: out of our more than 20 family pets we had growing up, I rescued 18 of them from bad situations and took them home, much to my poor parents’ exhaustion.) You could say I have quite the soft spot for animals, especially dogs, but this poor girl was the worst I had ever seen.

When I pulled into the Waialua Community Center, she had made across it the street and had cowered behind a tree. I got out of my car and called to her, and as I approached I noticed several disturbing things: patches of hair were missing from her body, there were various cuts and scrapes all over, she was incredibly skinny, she was shaking, her eyes were clouded with infection, and she was covered in giant hive-like bumps and fleas. If that wasn’t enough, there was such a horrific odor coming off of her that I could barely breathe. She seemed like she wanted to run away from me, but she was too weak and was unable to walk correctly on her two hind legs. My first worry was that she had been hit by a car and had perhaps broken her hips. I decided right then and there that I was going to help her.

In the meantime, another local humanitarian had stopped to help. A very kind and concerned woman helped me hoist the poor puppy into the back of my car. By this time it was already after 5 p.m. and the nearest Veterinary emergency room was over an hour away. I decided to take her home, feed and bathe her, and see what happens. After a very thorough flea bath and a small meal I could better assess her situation. Her hind paws were so worn down that they were bleeding, which would explain her inability to walk. She had a very healthy appetite, and slept heavily through the night. The poor thing was exhausted.

The next morning I took her to the local Vet and got a much clearer picture of her condition. She was too weak for her shots, but we did get some anti-biotics, some anti-inflammatory medication and a round of de-worming medications. It turned out that she has a severe and possibly permanent allergy, which would explain the hair loss and hives. She was of course emaciated and had been exposed to the elements for quite a while. The itching was making her so uncomfortable, so in addition to the anti-inflammatory medication, I applied Kukui oil to her problem areas to relieve the itching after asking the Vet if that was okay. It really seemed to work. The oil kept her from digging into her skin because it stopped the itching and the next day the rash was less inflamed, her skin less red and her hair looked shiny and new. I liked the idea of using the Kukui oil because dogs have a tendency to lick ointments and injured areas, and Kukui oil is of course non-toxic.

Today, “Baby” is almost like any other dog, except maybe a little more appreciative and well-behaved. I was happy to find out that she was both house and leash trained, incredibly gentle and sweet, and only around a year or two old. After getting to know her I realized that I couldn’t part with her. I can now say that I am the proud owner of one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever known.

In honor of Baby's success, we would like to offer our pet-loving customers an 18% discount on all Kukui Oil until July 18th, 2007. This applies to both the scented (KOF4 / KOF16,) and our unscented (KO4 / KO16) varieties. Just enter LOST_DOG in the coupon section at our online checkout.