Page 2 - MidWeek - Sep 1 2021

2 MIDWEEK SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
NKeep On Truckin’
Iloved teaching kinder- garten in Hawai‘i be- cause I learned so much from the keiki, the children. Each day I looked out at these beaming little spirits and I wondered: Is it because they are closer to the “Source” that they remember some things we forget in our middle and latter, more befuddled years?
ot so slowly but surely, a transportation trans- formation has occurred. The streets (and park- ing garages) of our state have been taken over
everybody nice even if you don’t like the way they smell. — Tufaga, age 5
by non-cars. In the automotive industry, the term “light trucks” refers to vans, SUVs and pick-ups, and those vehicles accounted for an astounding 76% market share in sales over the first six months of 2021 in Hawai‘i. The annual light truck share of vehicle sales here is up almost 30% since 2012.
Wherever I go, I ask the keiki to tell me what the word aloha means to them. Here are some answers from those who have never forgot- ten its true meaning.
My tūtū says aloha is the old way, the way people used to be. And also aloha is the way it is today, because it’s how the old ways are still alive if the very, very, very old people are gone. — Ikai- ka, age 7
Just 24% of vehicles purchased in the U.S. in 2020 fell into the car category. The “compact car” parking space is now an endangered species, and could go the way of the phone booth and typewriter if this trend continues. And with parking spaces always at a premium in Hawai‘i, have you noticed many stores, strip malls, condos, or shopping centers widening their vehicle spaces lately? I didn’t think so. Parking lot aerobics might not be high on your exercise priority list, but it’s becoming a must- do statewide. And that doesn’t include the displeasure caused by vehicular space hogs creeping over sacred parking lot white lines.
One day if you swallow a rainbow then you let some drip out of your mouth when you smile, that’s what aloha is. — Hana, age 6
The author looks to keiki for the meaning behind the world “aloha.”
Listening To The Children
“Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.”
— Henry Ward Beecher
If you thought or hoped that an electronic/hybrid revolution in the automotive world was upon us, well, think again. After a decade of sensational predictions, the share of electric vehicles sold here in the first six months of 2021, stood at 6.4%, which is up from 4.4% sold over the first half of 2020. This revolution might end up being more of an evolution over a much longer period of time — here and elsewhere. Many people still don’t understand the economics of electronic vehicles, and thus defer at purchase time. Except in Norway, where 75% of the cars now sold are plug-ins! Alas, Norway is a wealthy country that provides electric vehicle tax and toll incentives. Electric car sales in the U.S. in 2020? A paltry 2.3% of units moved.
Aloha is what dolphins whisper to each other and to you when they pass you under the ocean. — Nikko, age 6
Aloha is when there is a room with a million strang- ers and then they say “alo- ha,” and then they are not strangers anymore. — Maka- na, age 7
Aloha means I remember you even though I haven’t met you before. — Tauta- laasa, age 7
Aloha is when you have to say goodbye, but you want to leave a piece of you behind because now you have to go home. — Sera, age 7
Aloha is all the good feelings like love and miss- ing someone but it isn’t so mushy. — Nick, age 6
Genie Joseph is the creator of Animal Consciousness In- stitute, and has been a volun- teer at Tripler Army Medical Center, where she helped wounded warriors. Visit an- imal-consciousness.org.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
It should be a flavor of ice cream because it’s good. — Ivoreen, age 5
Aloha was my goldfish’s name but then he died but it is like he is still alive be- cause whenever anybody says, “aloha,” I remember him and other kids probably have things like that, too. — Kailey, age 6
Aloha is the way we live. — Miss Na’ a, fellow kinder- garten teacher
KELLEY
Aloha means you treat
For electric cars sales to charge up here and elsewhere, incentives, education, and many more charging stations are going to have to make it more convenient, affordable, and anxiety-free for the average car-buyer to seriously consider electric/hybrid options. A good sign locally is that the range these cars can manage on a single charge is rapidly growing, and average commuters shouldn’t feel charger-angst on normal island driving days. Of course, if everyone keeps buying (non-EV) trucks, the dream of fossil fuel reduction will be even further delayed.
Think about it ...
with Genie Joseph
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com