Monday Musings from Melinda #3

By LHS Contributor Melinda M

This is a story about the unknown. The proverbial underground but different than the one you normally think of – the dark, the potentially sinister, the subversive. It is actually the exact opposite of all that.

This is about getting exposed to something new, something maybe you found out by chance maybe from a conversation with a friend or a glance at a flyer. You thought hmm, I’ll check that out. And then, once you do, a whole new world opened to you, so much so that you thought – man, was I the only one not doing this?

I’ve experienced that sensation every time one of my daughters decided to pursue a new interest (you’d think I’d wise up but no, I literally was surprised each time!).

Ok, except maybe for soccer. I mean, no surprise there. You walk or drive by the soccer fields on the daily. They are centrally located and you can’t miss the traffic waiting to turn into the lots, the sea of pop-up tents, the apoplectic parents yelling at their kids to “Pay Attention!!” Because it’s so readily visible, you’d actually think it’s the only sport in town. Well, that and baseball of course. Hilo is definitely a baseball town.

But then your kids – or you! – decide to try something new. Swimming, let’s say. And WHOA, there are like SO MANY people who swim! Wow, you think. Hilo is really a swimming town.

But then your other kid decides to do paddling, let’s say. Then it’s like, WHOA, who are all of THESE people? So many people do paddling! Wow, Hilo is really a paddling town.

And so it goes – the track meets? Packed. The volleyball tournaments? Filled. The robotics competitions? Intense!

Everywhere you go in Hilo, indoors or out, there are choke kids participating and triple the number of adults spectating (NOTE: the makule, or “old persons” leagues are super popular, just with less spectators and more alcohol!).

It’s one of the things that makes me so proud of Hilo: we are an active town! People are out there – with their kids, for their kids, for themselves. And I just get the warm fuzzies when I pass them by.

And when I see a group of little old ladies laughing as they do their walk around Liliuokalani Park, I think: there goes my future self with my friends (God willing!), enjoying our Hilo life and each other and it’s going to be great.