My Kind of Town
>>Cartwright Field Golf lesson
Unlike many politicians, Sen. Donovan Matsuda-Yee-Dela Cruz-Bishop-Kamaka drove his own car, partly because of his image as a a man of the people, but mostly he didn't want to end up like George Ariyoshi. The senator had worked as a young man on Ariyoshi's staff when he was Hawaii's governor. He liked Ariyoshi immensely and learned many lessons of leadership from him, especially the power of silence. But he also remembered Ariyoshi had gone 11 years as governor without driving, not even on the golf course. He let his license lapse. So in the latter days of his 11th year as governor, Ariyoshi started to panic like a teen-ager when he had to study to get his license again. To practice, the governor began to drive golf carts on the course. And one fine sunny day coming down the 18th hole at Mauna Kea, young Donovan thought he was going to die when the governor hit the brakes too hard and started to skid sideways, but St. George hung on, turned the wheel against the direction of the slide and they all lived to laugh about it.
The senator had not learned his lesson well enough. At the moment his canary yellow Town Car lay upside down on the first base line.
>>Honolulu Soap Co.
Lily Ah Sun's office was the most tasteful work space in Kalihi. Not lavish, but thoughtful. On this morning, though, she didn't have time to notice the tapa mats on the floor, the flock of golden origami cranes flying from the ceiling or the Chinese calligraphy on the wall, each reflecting an aspect of her heritage. Lily didn't even notice the Jackie Black painting she'd bought for $800 at the Honolulu Water Color Society show at Bishop Square last week. The deep greens and purples of the Ko'olaus were perfect, and grabbed Lily by the insides. And isn't that why we listen to music and look at art and read stories and fall in love? To be grabbed like that? Another painting hit her like that, and it took discipline not to spend $950 for a painting by Sarah Yukako Sakakibara. She loved the painting of two cranes in a mating dance, but it was the title that grabbed her. "Graceful Courtship." Yes. That's exactly what she desired.
She wanted it almost as much as she wanted to run the Soap Company. And so as personal thoughts got shoved to the back row. Lily was mentally reviewing the proposal for corporate reorganization she'd given her father yesterday. If only her father could see her proposal with open eyes.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek.
His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be emailed at dchapman@midweek.com