Summer Series #10: Sound from Hawaii

It is far from Hawaii and with the distant humming sound of cars speeding on the highway that I have finally found the time to listen to the CD offered to us while we were on Maui: Henry, by Henry Kapono. It is undoubtedly a pity not to listen to his music in the right context, but  I am also a firm believer in exporting experiences and (re)living them in new environments. Clashes and contrasts may produce surprising combinations and reactions. Speaking of contrasts, there is such an incredible variety of songs in this album that to be fully honest I have not managed to define it or pinpoint an actual style. The songs vary for folk music to contemporary rock, thus reflecting his multiple talents (singer, song writer, actor, writer...) or so I would like to think. This is a matter of personal taste, but I do tend to prefer songs like the opening "Across the Sea" for their ballad-like keys that instantly bring me back on Maui and the first night there under the starry sky and the tall palm trees. A different humming could be heard then - that of the air conditioning.

Credits: here

The Contest: Capture the Color

This is a first for the Daydreamer: the first contest ever and I need to thank the talented and inspired blogger behind La Mémoire Vive (what a great title for a blog!) for this experience. I am all the more grateful for this that I just came back home from a long vacation focused on plenty of daydreaming sessions and family  life - the contest will keep my mind pleasurably busy before the inevitable reality check ;)

The Travelsupermarket's Capture the Color Contest is all about finding meaningful pictures that illustrate the  following themes:

Yellow

Blue

Green

White

Red

What makes this interesting, aside from the fact that it had me look through our photography archives and leaf through hundreds of pictures with pure pleasure (memories, memories...), is that what I may find meaningful, may not be interpreted as such by another viewer. Anyone can interpret a picture in their own way and see or imagine stories behind it at will. 

Here are my five choices with short texts to give you my interpretation and motivation - I would certainly love to hear about your version of the story!

Yellow - Domaines d'Ott - France

Believe it or not, despite my Mediterranean origins and the positive influence of the country I live in, I am not a wine lover. This being said, I still try to find beauty and interest in things that may not be my cup of tea in the first place; this is how I came to visit and appreciate the fabulous Domaines d’Ott property in the South of France. When visiting the winery, beautifully shaped bottles were on display and the afternoon light was playing happily with their round bellies as it were. White wines delivered then their most fascinating hues of straw-like yellow.

Blue - Santa Cesarea - Italy

This is basically where my heart is and no matter how often we drive along the winding road by the sea,  I cannot get enough of the rugged land, blunt colors and the call of the deep blue sea right beneath – the definition of blue lies right there for me. This where I believe mermaids live and sing day and night, in a land of contrasts blessed by the scorching sun.

Green – Barneville-Carteret – France  

Even though this is a sea landscape, the sea itself is not really there due to the daily low tide that leaves the ships momentarily stranded and askew. The deep green hue of the se is suggested by a token of human activity in the harbor: the abandoned fishnet. Soon the tide will come in again and gently rock the boats and set the entire scenery back to work.

Red – Domaines d’Ott – France  

The warm, fiery colors made the simple setting vibrant with expectation: who sits here normally, will he/she come today to look at the olive trees swaying just outside the window? 

White – Paris – France  

The flea market of Saint-Ouen hosts many wonders: this piece is one of them now residing on our mantelpiece as a marine trophy. The nautilus shell skeleton is almost transparent when hit by the light and reminds me of the repetitive and creative folds in origami creations – only this one was shaped by Mother Nature.

And now I will be pleased to read about Capture de Color ideas from these great bloggers I turn to regularly for a dose of grace and inspiration:

Gabrielle, my favorite mom on the Net! DesignMom

Rossella for great recipes and passionate posts - VanigliaCooking

La Peau d'Ourse for her delicate drawings and posts - La Peau d'Ourse

Federica, joyful blog, pictures and videos - Sweet as a Candy

Ivy, great designer and storyteller - Domestic Stories with Ivy

I hope you will join the contest and share your own ways of capturing colors around the world!

Credits: TheDaydreamerDiary

Summer Series #9: Almonds are forever

As soon as summer arrives, a chilled glass of almond milk with soft bits of ground almonds at the bottom is simply refreshment paradise. In the south of Italy, where almonds traditionally abound, this is known as "almond milk", even though it contains no milk at all. The name poetically refers to the whitish color of the drink, as pale as a moon. Traditionally, at Christmas or Easter, almond sweets are lovingly prepared in the family, starting with the "almond fish"that is the signature dessert at my aunt's. After having tasted it religiously for years (the fish even got shipped abroad, believe it or not), I was finally given the secret (yet incredibly simple) ingredients and the "recipe". This is heaven, any time of the year, so no need to go crazy over the calendar and wait for December. Actually, as the summer days go happily by our beloved Mediterranean sea, we seem to be eating almonds in a million different shapes and tastes: almond ice cream, amond shave ice, almond sweets and cookies...all directly inherited from the Arabs who populated this area and introduced a wealth of produces here (eggplants, zucchini, sorbet...).

Enough talking - here is the mother of all almond recipes:

Rich Ingredients:

-1 Kg of TOP quality almonds (before buying a whole kilo, do taste one almond and make sure that you are buying proper stuff: the key to the success of this dessert is the high quality of all the ingredients)

-1 shot of grappa or another fragrant and strong liqueur

-1/2 Kg of granulated sugar

How to:

To peel the almonds, boil them in hot water, then with patience and asbestos hands, peel them while hot (but not piping hot, obviously). Then put all the ingredients in the blender and mix away. The final paste is much coarser than the shop-bought hyper sweet one. For Christmas, in Italy we use a fish-shaped (the fish being a symbol for Christ) mould in which we press the paste. Sometimes we press one layer and then a thin one of jam or chocolate, and then top it up with the rest of the almond paste. This is up to you really, but in any case, the final result will be very sweet, with a pungent final taste of "sour" almonds and liqueur to sharpen things up. If meant for a young crowd, I will definitely leave the liqueur out of the equation.

Credits: Van Gogh

Summer Series #8: Petit Lexique

Sur la poignée de la porte du spa, je remarque en passant, l’esprit léger et le corps davantage encore, un petit bracelet fait de grosses perles couleur ébène, reluisantes et généreuses. Enfilées sur un épais ruban de la même couleur, elles se détachent sur le fond sombre opaque de la porte en bois qui mène à chaque salle de soin et son univers apaisant. La masseuse est tout occupée à remplir quelque registre interne et j’attends qu’elle ait fini pour lui demander la provenance de tant de sobre beauté. Le collier est en noix de kukui : cet arbre est aussi utile que le cocotier car tout s'exploite, notamment l’huile qui est utilisée en cosmétologie en raison de ses propriétés hydratantes hors du commun – parole de masseuse ! Quelques jours plus tard, c'est parée d'un de ses colliers (couleur crème cette fois-ci) que je me promène dans les allées luxuriantes qui mènent à la plage, masque et tuba en guise de tenue du jour. Il m'a été offert et je comprends donc qu'il s'agit en fait d'une variante du lei floral dont je vous parlais précédemment... La découverte continue, sous toutes ses formes et couleurs...

Photo : TheDaydreamerDiary

Summer Series #7: Petit Lexique

Dans les précédents billets et en guise de légende des photos publiées sur Instagram, quelques termes pittoresques aux douces sonorités lointaines ont fait leur apparition ; parmi eux, le mot “lei”, dans son absolue simplicité monosyllabique. 

Histoire de voyager un peu grâce à la langue, voici une brève définition de cette tradition qui, avant d’être exclusivement hawaïenne est avant tout polynésienne. Les fleurs de pluméria, de jasmin ou de petits coquillages sont à l’origine de ce travail manuel tout en beauté qui consiste à cueillir les plus beaux spécimens, à choisir les couleurs les plus fascinantes et à les tresser ou assembler afin de former ces colliers éphémères à la beauté délicate et au message de bienvenue chaleureux, voire un véritable signe d’affection. Refuser un lei offert, c’est un affront, tout simplement. Chaque île hawaïenne a son collier de lei aux couleurs attitrées et ce cadeau est offert dans tout l’archipel à l’occasion d’événements importants (naissance, mariage…). Dans tous les guides sur Hawaï disponibles (finalement pas si nombreux), on annonce à grand renfort que ce collier est offert à tout nouvel arrivant, touriste ou pas. C’est avec une pointe de regret que j’ai été forcée de constater que cela n’est plus vrai : cette belle tradition semble en effet montrer des signes de faiblesse ou probablement elle se retranche dans les villages hawaïens reculés, loin des masses et de ces machines infernales que sont les grands complexes hôteliers de la côte occidentale. Finalement, mieux vaut se faire discret si l’on souhaite survivre en toute quiétude dans l’authenticité des ses origines.

Photo: prise sur un Community Board à Kapalua, HI

The Quote

“Mia madre con un lenzuolo fece una bandiera italiana per farci avvistare dagli aerie americani”.

--Dacia Maraini interviewed in Sette – Corriere della Sera

Credits: Dacia Maraini's site

Summer Series #6: Maui finds

During our stay here, we ran into a couple of sweet and self-indulging finds that made the days - and nights - prettier than ever. The local Maui sunglass brand has a catchy name, Maui Jim, and a series of models from sports shades to classy, Jackie O-like dark shades. For once, the logo is not the main element that stands out in the brand's creations and that is a refreshing change. The model above is called Lani and is a good example of the unfussy line. To go with the classy touch, tha Malie body cream is perfect - it feels like having landed in Plumeria heaven once you rub the luscious lotion in. The product is organic and again is made locally with the typical Hawaiian flower reknowned for its heady scent and rainbow color combinations to be found in the traditional lei necklaces. Last but not least, local women do know how to do their hair in elaborate ways that compliment the simplest outfit - it is just bluffing. While at the spa, I met the creator of the shiny hair halo and pin featured in the picture. The flower pin can be placed anywhere on the halo, while the latter can also be used alone. The effect is just instant prettiness in a hair bun or around loose hair. The artist Mona Lisa designs a whole set of flowers and pins, some simple and others quite more elaborate, but the combinations are basically endless and fun to imagine.

Credits: TheDaydreamerDiary

Summer Series #5: July Eye Candy

Along the north coast, after a couple of hours of driving, a nice café enshrined in the rainforest serves the best wake-up latte of the entire island. This is enough fuel to make you want to drive to the secluded and truly Hawaiian village of Hana, a place known for its awe-inspiring beauty and healing energy. To think that for centuries Hawaiians have traveled along the shore by canoe and boat, the view from the sea must have been a constant enlightening moment. 

Summer Series #4: The Road To Hāna

Remember the road as in the On The Road novel? The kind of road that takes you on a trip to the discovery of the self? Well, the road that leads, from the colorful surf and hyppie village of Paia to the remote and quiet village of Hāna could be compared to that type of discovery itinerary. The first few bends leave us wondering what actually makes the reputation of it all: the sceneries are beautiful, but certainly not special, while the road is packed with (very) early morning traffic of commuters - serious people going to work.

Little by little though the cars become rare, the bends are winding more seriously and up we go towards a green sanctuary shrouded in heavy and menacing clouds that only add to the growing sense of sacred and mystery that descends upon us like the rain and eucalyptus fragrances. This is the right time to shut the blaring radio off, take the car hard top down and drive with our noses up and our ears wide open to listen to the birds chirping in that very special jungle-like language that seems to permeate all things: the air, the soil, the colors. The next hour and a half is spent in awe at the heart of the lush rainforest kingdom where we feel we are temporary guests: bamboos, moss, mahogany and breadfruit trees, red and orange flowers, ferns... They all hide the ancient history of the island and the sacred spirit of wild life. King Kong would be happy here and is expected to part the thick undergrowth any moment...

As the final bends approach, so does civilization in the form of a first makeshift cafe, a quaint little place where home-made banana or pineapple (both grown locally) bread let you savor the moment of isolation before touching ground with the village of Hāna, the prize at the end of this road to bliss and true origins.

Credits: TheDaydreamerDiary