Kohola ... Whale

The picnic spread itself over a three hour period, lasting well into the hour when the sky turned leery red. Beautiful, but, red because the Forest Fires' paints warned of the climate chaos present. Between bites of ham and cheese sandwiches, Stan unfurled a slow, deeply influenced story with the back beat of Mabelle keeping time for him. He was barefoot and very relaxed as he began, "Shine has an untampered ability to feel the songs of growing things." He pulled on the thick strings of the bass making bridges with word and tones. E-A-D-G. The tones were deep, slow, and grew. Instinctively Shine leaned against Mabelle's round sides. "She feels the sounds of living things, and music is one of the most ancient of living things. It all starts with the hum." Stan Costa looked at Dumpling. Lovingly embracing the round woman with his eyes. The sound of a bass guitar resonates in a beautiful way when the instrument is played near water, ocean in particular.

Check out the Bass solo at 1:50.

Standing with his feet in the sands and his body fully involved with Mabelle Stan continued his song. He'd asked Dumpling to save pieces of the picnic, the Food Plants: a slice of Watermelon, slices of Tomatoes, Cucumber. It was a strange and magical sonata. Stan pulled on the E-A-D-G strings in a spontaneous shoreline jam. He used his hands only, plucking and slapping the strings. 

At intervals he pointed to the Food Plants, Watermelon. Dumpling handed the fruit to Shine. The girl started with a hum. A hum of a specific pitch that grew into a song, vocalization. Waving like water might wave, but sweet and a little sticky. Pluck-pluck-slap ... like the sound of pa'i or hand slapping on the sides of an ipu or gourd during hula. Mabelle kept the beat, Shine added the hum, then the extension of song: Watermelon, Tomato, Cucumber. A Summer Salad Sonata!

Minutes passed with Stan and Shine creating the melody. Inspired and delighted Casey and Sara joined in. Casey's Sparrow Song was high and lilting. A long and winding song. Sara was a near baritone with range. She filled in between the tall high notes and found purchase between Stan's bass notes.

"That was ... amazing!" Casey has been around music, and Plant Food all her life. The fact that Shine was a deaf musician with so much gift to contribute was obvious. It was not uncommon, but, Casey had never been with a deaf musician, only read about them or listened to them on  YouTube. 

Stan was not quite done. "Linda, your daughter was born with a very special interstitial gift."

"Interstitial?" Linda was unsure of the meaning.

"It means, her gift as a young human being is very much like a Three Sisters Garden rolled into one." Stan knew that Linda had begun growing circles of corn, bean and squash at the Prairie Front Pea Patch. The Ancient First Peoples' community of gardens based on sharing who and what each Plant Food is good at was not a nebulous feel-good tale; it was the core and blueprint for Human People. If we applied the wisdom.

"Your daughter can Feel-Hear the voice and the song of Plant Food and grow heart medicine. Her deafness consolidates her gift. She feels vibration as a source and translates without reservation! Your birthday parties uncorked her gift to you. Three parties in a night. On a night when you were born. All the 'sisters' were present, and things had turned upside for you."

"You huli! Tip over." It was Dumpling. The Molina family, Stan Costa, and Dumpling Woman had a common thread. Each of them was related through their Polynesian genes. Though the blonde genes appeared most prevalent, Mrs. M's mother was half Tahitian. Stan Costa was born and raised a Portuguese-Hawaiian dairy farmer's son, but turned botanist when he graduated from the University of Hawaii on the island of O'ahu. Dumpling Woman in another life was Wahine Toa, a woman trained and skilled at hula and lua -- Hawaiian dance and martial arts. She traveled between O'ahu and the Salish coast for the first forty years of her life.

Stan Costa opened a small black box concealed in the curve of Mabelle. A small but powerful microphone dangled off a long slim wire. "Linda do you have a Ziploc bag I could use?" There were plenty left-over from the picnic. Stan wrapped the end of the wire and the microphone with the Ziploc bag. Being careful to keep Mabelle out of the water Stan asked for Casey's and Sara's help. The three of them lifted the Stand up Bass over the water, Stan dropped the plastic encased microphone into the water. Everybody waited. The sky continued to turn Apocalyptic. Stan pressed on the strings, and slapped. He made music.

Stan motioned to Shine, "Come over here." He pointed to the side of Mabelle. The girl crouched at the Bass's side. Her eyes closed and deep hums began. "Ah, oh, ah, ..... " Kohola, the great record keeper of all Human Time was sharing his record with the gathering of Humans on the beach of the Salish Shore. The Inbetween Girl was the first to hear these songs that night, but she was a Bean who knew the secret was in sharing. Ah ... listen ....