Kona nightingales brayed during the night, mourning doves cooed at dawn, ocean currents rhythmically slapped lava fingers reaching for the sea, and all gently orchestrated the atmosphere of our Kona summers.
Mom and my five siblings camped at "The City of Refuge," then a county park, and we were the only campers in that beautiful place for three weeks. Dad loaded his Iron Works pickup truck with: a large tent, seven folding canvas Army cots, a large tarp to cover another sleeping area, pillows, sheets, blankets, extra clothes, two burner Coleman stove, Coleman lantern, a homemade cold box, canned and dried foods, enamelware dishes, eating and cooking utensils, and more. Mom gathered her reading materials to keep her busy while we all played in the park and at the little white sand beach. We camped on the only green grassy spot in the park and it is still there. When making our beds, several newspapers were laid on the canvas cots before we made our beds. Mom said the newspapers prevented the drafts coming up, but we knew better. They kept the centipedes and cockroaches out. We fetched fresh water from the caretaker's catchment tank and an outhouse sat uphill not far from our campsite. We washed dishes in the white sand of the small beach within the park. The parks vast white sand acreage surrounded by rock walls, included one great wall set with child-size boulders, and shade from dozens of mature coconut trees cooled the park. Beyond the great wall toward the ocean, the early Hawaiian built a large heiau. Next to the heiau was a huge slab of lava propped up on one side. It was said that Queen Kaahumanu hid there with her little dog when she swam from Kailua to escape from her enemies. Fingers of bare black lava reached out to sea from that location. Being the one of the youngest of our Lindgren tribe, I was allowed to play only within the rock wall boundaries of the park. My playmates were youngsters from a small Hawaiian preschool next to the park's entrance. They taught me to swim. Older Kona children were still in school and had their vacation during the fall at coffee picking time. The only visitors to the historic park arrived in stretch limos from the Inter-Island's resort, the Kona Inn, with their chauffeurs. We made up stories about the ancient Hawaiians hoping to scare these tourists. |
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