Notations made standing

gathered around a tree

Sweet first impressions

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Today I was a student of native plants with a group from Mililani High School. We walked from plant to plant writing down names, properties, uses: Ala He’e, ‘Uki ‘Uki, ‘A’ali’i, Koa,  Moa, ‘Ōhi’a Lehua.

The sound of our voices was normal, though we tripped a little on some of the vowels. The scientific notations we made were simple, mere alphabet soup on paper. The twigs we afixed were small, a bit of tape did the trick.

But the normality belied the enormity of the day: perched on a ridge in a land nearly overtaken by invasives, students using our senses and sensibilities to touch and to know a fragile population, we made a connection that will not soon be forgotten.

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Photo: One of the best cards of the day, made by a Mililani high school student.

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