Peace in my heart, that’s where it starts. With pigs, too?

The coffee and pig news first, then the ramblings.

We finally had the majority of our coffee from the past season dry milled. This was Bea’s Knees Farm’s fourth season. So far, the yield had been improving every year. This past year, we were at 84% of the previous season’s green coffee yield. I attribute it to two very dry months in a row, some picking labor issues, and coffee leaf rust.

Pigs … we had a reliable group of three, not so little, pigs regularly visiting for months. But recently I was commenting to hubby that the pigs are noticeably getting larger; we can see it on the cameras. But hubby later surmised that there’s a new group visiting, and one pig is particularly big. Then he saw two very young, hamster-sized piglets. And one evening we saw nine pigs of various sizes at once. So, steady-state has changed. The pigs are more destructive. Humans are still winning with the kitchen compost Earth Machine. Yay, humans! Last week I woke up in the middle of the night to pig squealing when hubby was apparently awake and throwing rocks from the lānai. His aim is improving with all the practice he gets.

Bea (Mom) must be getting weary of my pig complaints or feels sorry for us. She has even inquired about the cost for an electric fence, generously offering to help pay for it. It’s not the cost (well, we don’t know what that is), but getting over the inertia and taking action. In many situations I reflect on intention, motivation, and implementation. What does it take to just do it? I just saw a 4th grade classroom’s illustrated papers posted outside their room on the theme of procrastination. They mostly wrote about cooking, doing laundry, and pet care. Wow, the kids start young with household chores.

Changing subjects … every once in a while I look on Craigslist for various things like plants and items I don’t mind buying used. Yesterday I noticed that Happy Heart Kona is selling their entire cafe and brand! I’ve always appreciated the creativity and energy the cafe emanates. I laugh at the menu where they say, “Everything on our menu is dairy-free & vegan, except for the meat!” (That’s also on their website.) Their food is good, there’s a great vibe at the place, and they’re nice people who believe in sourcing locally. I was happy when they opened in the middle of COVID; it was such an optimistic action. Now they’re selling (moving to the mainland) less than a year from opening.

There’s another local cafe, HiCO, different vibe, that’s “opening soon” in Kealakekua, across from the Pineapple Park Hostel and CarQuest Auto Parts store. The existing cafe is in Kailua near Umeke’s and the Kona Brewing Company. It appears this new one will have a drive-through lane. I imagine that’ll be popular. I hope the sit-down cafe part will be inviting and thrive. That should help our collective creativity, right? (see last week’s blog post).

A cafe next to the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu showed signs of activity months ago, and I was hopeful something new would open. New white tables and chairs, a cafe bar, but it seems to have stalled. Decades ago, before streaming, before VCR tapes, I remember going to see Japanese films with English supertitles on the big screen in that theater with my aunty.

Nearby Kaya’s cafe is ever-popular. There’s live music at times and plenty of parking. I still haven’t scored a Sunday cinnamon roll.

I just like to see local businesses do well. Here, and anywhere. They support community, in-person. I think it’s great we have online communities and possibilities to connect and relate, but live, real-time, person-to-person interactions are basic and special.

I read this article about the history of coffee cake, which included a recipe. Instead of filing the recipe away, intending to make it some day (possibly never), this is an example of what weird thing it takes for me to implement an intention. (1) The recipe called for buttermilk and we actually have buttermilk, and (2) I had a group of people I could share the cake with. The coffee cake was good enough, but didn’t meet my expectations from the article. I did skip the coffee glaze, however, since the cake already seemed sweet enough without it. I brought it to share after weekly temple cleaning. The food sharing ended during COVID but finally restarted just in April, although it has morphed into a simpler affair. People joke that they clean the temple for the food. Ah, community.

A peace ceremony was held Saturday at Daifukuji Temple, to dedicate the new peace pole (donated by the Rotary Club of Kona Sunrise), plaque, and cranes and pray for peace in our families, in our communities, and in our world.