NSA

• Nichiren Di Shonin is a Buddhist sect that I got interested through Steve and Shirley on Orcas whom I visited regularly. They were caretakers of a Private Resort. Steve built the Butsudan for my Gohonzon which is given at initiation with the little doors and latches that are so charming.
•       One day, I asked a friendly gal to cut my waist length hair which I had been growing for sometime. The cut was too disturbing for most. My rationale was new beginnings and a new look. Besides, it would be cooler and more acceptable for my adventure in Hawaii. It would be less dangerous for sailing with the standing rigging always trying to insnare you.   I'd look almost civilized in a flowery aloha shirt. I might even take a wife. That never happened but it helps to be optimistic.  
•          My contacts in Hawaii invited me to stay in Haleiwa on the north shore of Oahu.  I started going to NSA meetings and soon learned the ritual of saying the Nam Myoho Renge Kyo chant to the Butsudan which houses the sacred script that is given to you at your initiation. It is calming and repeated enough times it is said to bring immense wealth. Worth a try. I soon was working for my hosts at minimum wage cleaning military barracks at Camp No Where Soon. This was a family of hapa Hawaiians that had huge problems. One was a glue sniffer who defends his turf in a vicious manner.       
•      Hawaii is full of turf wars.  One of these forelorn family members was a musician who played excellent piano but had no career plans. Smoking dope and playing to himself was all he could muster.The husband William stayed in his PJ's and slippers all day. Living off his wife's business as a cleaner of barracks which is contracted work. This became my job. Soldiers are the filthiest people with little regard for the cleaner when they ship out.    
•        That's when I discovered the power of Simple Green. The owner did no actual cleaning. That's what she hired NSA people for. The road to wealth is a long and tortuous one. NSA originated in Japan to soothe the war torn country and to unite the people under Buddhism.
•     Haleiwa has the best fish burgers in the world. It is just a small hole in the wall shave ice stand that also sells mahi mahi burgers to die for.  It is so close to the Circle Island Highway that you really take your life in your hands if you go there. It is literally and figuratively a place to die so be careful.       Once you have the exemplary food, sit on the porch of the ancient and timely dry goods store close by. This store is much as it was in the war years. You feel there must be an admission fee to this museum. It is simply an antiquated and dilapidated building that looks charming. Yoshida's or something like that is the name. 

     Now you are ready for the North Shore. You can almost hear the surf breaking by listening carefully. You are that close.  If you go left you'll wind up at the beach where they hold surf competitions. Going right across the bridge will eventually get you to the Banzai Pipeline where the long board surfers ride massive waves. These waves are dangerous. Even level headed surfers think twice before venturing out in these waters.
        I worked at Straub Hospital and Suites in the Emergency Room. The Suites part is from the old days when the only hospital on Oahu was a hotel. One night, a woman came in by ambulance with an severe eye injury. She had been playing in the surf zone at Makapu on the North Shore diving under the breakers and coming up for air. One of the surfers lost his board. The board continued on down the wave without him.             

       She chose to come up for air at precisely the wrong moment.   She was creamed by the spear point of the board right in her eye socket.  By the time they rescued her from these waters and got her in the ambulance, her eye was swollen and bleeding.  The doctors saved the eye but the trauma drama was intense.  

       Every day, you see these things when at the hospitals in Honolulu. Queens Medical Center is the Regional Hospital for most of the Pacific Islanders. You could do graduate work on diabetes there.
       Shintoism was outlawed after the war so many people took up this practice of Nichiren Di Shonin Buddhism to satisfy the religious obligation to ancestors. It is simply charming.  The depth of meaning to Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is truly astounding with vast treatises written about the many meanings behind each word. 

       The Bon Dance is something to look for in the Spring right around Easter. I don't actually remember the date. It could have been in Summer. It is the best street festival for traditional foods as well as traditional dress, This is the promise of a faithful son returning to feed his aging mother.
       There was a girl at the house with cerebral palsy confined to a wheelchair unable to get outside safely. I built a ramp for her to roll down in her new electric wheelchair. The helper I hired was to paint the wood with preservative.  He came back covered in this dangerous substance from head to toe  I made him go take a bath immediately, trying to save him from the big C.   He will probably get liver cancer.  I learned how to train people better.   Giving too much information is just as bad. You must have some degree of intelligence for self preservation to make a living working with your hands.

       The Grandmother was practicing Hawaiian healing with herbs and potions. This is a combination of the ancient Chinese and Hawaiian medicine. These holistic practices are not interventional. It takes longer to get results. However, she was able to treat her family and friends with the healing touch of human compassion.  I learned Lomi Lomi which is massage therapy with her.
       I went to Ala Wai Yacht Harbor to find work. I prowled the docks for a ship to work on. I found Viveka. This antique 12 meter yacht won many races. She was sadly in need of an overhaul. Her owner hired me to sand the hull with this ridiculous sanding block about as big as a window. He gave me a dingy and said to make her smooth. The things I did to go sailing in the Pacific would wilt many men. I think it was worth it. I would ride Circle Island Bus back to Haleiwa at night all sunburned from these escapades.
      We would drive to his house to saw up huge blocks of teak. I stood on the block while he passed it through the table saw. The crazy things I did for work that risked my health are truly bizarre.  Be prepared for health issues later in life.