ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our seventh round-some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "H".
HULA!
Ha! I bet you thought you were getting the 'real deal! I got this thing for my hubby and put my face in it so that I can say that I do the hula. Although I am from Hawaii, I never got a chance to study hula. My mom enrolled me in some lessons when I was FOUR years old (too young) and I was terrified! And she thought that I wasn't interested. Heck, I had no idea! I wish she had enrolled me later on when I was a few years older and realized that I loved to dance. Enough with the teasing, though. Here is a video from the annual Hula festival called the Merrie Monarch Festival held each May in Hilo, Hawaii. It is the granddaddy of hula competitions.
Ancient Hawaiian hula was done by men and with chanting-no musical instruments. As Wikipedia indicates:
"There are many styles of hula. They are commonly divided into two broad categories: Ancient hula, as performed before Western encounters with Hawaiʻi, is called kahiko. It is accompanied by chant and traditional instruments. Hula as it evolved under Western influence, in the 19th and 20th centuries, is called ʻauana. It is accompanied by song and Western-influenced musical instruments such as the guitar, the ʻukulele, and the double bass."
What you know to be hula today is a far cry from what it was!
HEIAU
A heiau (hey e ow)is an ancient Hawaiian temple. This one is on Molokai and is on the east side of the island. It is called Ili'opai. Many human sacrifices were made here and to visit this site makes my skin crawl-the 'presence' is overwhelming! The height of this solid lava stone field is about 6 feet high and the size of this spread is at least that of a football field.
HUMOR
Where would we be without the legacy of this man's humor and insight to mankind? There is a website dedicated to his quotes (of nearly all seem to be laced with humor). You can pick anything from an A-Z category! Here's what he had to say about happiness:
"When all is said and done, the one sole condition that makes spiritual happiness and preserves it is the absence of doubt."
HOUSE
This gem of a house was off of highway 19 in Monticello, Florida. We kept passing it going to and from Monticello to Tallahassee, so I made a request to my sister, Carol to stop so that I could photograph it. It was lived in until a few years ago. When it was abandoned, it went downhill fast due to the heat and humidity out there.
14 comments:
Thanks for the great H day presentation. It was quite enjoyable.
I love all you Hs for the day! How fun! Your posts and photos are always fun as well as informative and I always enjoy a smile, a giggle and learn something as well! Have a great week, Paula!
Sylvia
Great shot!! And that hula dance love it!
ABC Wednesday-H
Good choice of H's - the dancers looked so fierce, and the house so forlorn, but the happiness quote was very wise.
Lovin' the hula (and vid) as well as the Hawaii info - Too bad about the house - nature reclaims quickly. Nice post!
Hardly humorless with Mark Twain in there.
You've posted a lot for the letter H, must be because you're Hawaiian at heart. Thanks for all of it.
Kay
Alberta
Canada
Delightful set of words and video. We had some friends that performed in Hawaiian competitions in the San Francisco Bay Area. There group always won honors. Unfortunately I don't know the name of the group.
top pic- hubba hubba!
great post/
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
WOW! LOVED the hula - usually you think of young women swaying their hips, but I guess some hula is like a war dance! That was great!
Wow, each of your shots and words to match made my heart race just a little more with wonder. I would love to visit Molokai and visit the old temple. I always feel presences too and say a little prayer that the spirits can go on and rest. As for Mark Twain, one of my fave.s! You HIT so many good, "H's"!
Love the Wednesday alphabet postings. You teach us so much. The hula is fascinating. So strong and intense. (the one the men did, yours was a little tame) LOL
So many folks forget about Twain and his humorous outlook on the world.
All sorts of thoughts about who lived in them and when and why they were abandoned. Who was the last person to walk through the door or sleep the night.
Will get to Hawaii someday to see sights like that lava field in person. So much in a small space. Great stuff!
Peace.
Hi Paula, I haven't "seen" you since I departed Santa Fe. Good to connect again. Like the idea of hula for this "H."
The men's hula was mesmerising, as was yours, but in an entirely different way, LOL.
What a great take on the letter H. I enjoyed all of your examples and the video with your head in the hula frame is too funny. I think timing is everything in terms of interest. I know I tried to get my daughter interested in a number of things too young.
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