Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Kiawe Tree Revisited
Kiawe Beans on Hawaiian Kiawe Tree in Hawaii Kai, 3 August 2009
Under the Kiawe Tree Looking at the Ocean Horizon, Hawaii Kai, August 2009
NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County.
DoT’s Thot: I suddenly remembered the burlap bags of kiawe beans for the cows!
Hawaiian Kiawe Tree at the Park
Last week, I took my mother for a drive. At 92, she is not up to walking about, but a drive to the park for a little breeze and to see the ocean and rest our eyes on the horizon is a nice occasion. We took a drive to Hawaii Kai and stopped at a little park. I stopped under a large tree and was enjoying a look at the ocean when I suddenly realized that I was under a kiawe tree.
Kiawe Tree Seed Pods Fed the Cows
I looked up and saw some of the yellow bean pods hanging from the tree and flashed back decades to a time when as a little girl I remember picking these up under such large trees with gnarled branches on Oahu in what was then a kind of rural area — Waialae. Today, this is a fully developed neighborhood. Back then, there were little farms and these huge kiawe trees here and there. We called the seed pods “kiawe beans” and collected them to sell to the dairy man.
Gnarled Kiawe Tree Branches, Hawaii Kai, August 2009
Took Some Pictures of the Kiawe Trees to Share
My mother and I reminisced about the burlap bags we filled with the beans to sell to the local dairy for $1 a bag as feed for the cows that gave the milk for the little children on Oahu. I remember having to avoid any fallen branches, because there were long thorns on those. In addition, the gnarled branches have a very unique and rustic appeal. I took some pictures. Reluctant to leave my mother in the car alone, I did the best I could sitting there. It was a little excursion down memory lane for Mom and me.
Aloha, DoT
Related Articles and References:
- Wikipedia: prosopis pallida
- Growing Bougainvilleas
- Prosopis pallida: kiawe, keawe, algaroba, mesquite by Kim and Forest Starr
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