Hawaii, episode 5. In which I double-pack it up.

There is something about the word "aloha" that is contagious, but in a very good way.

When you are greeted during your travels... stepping aboard your eight-hour flight from DFW, stepping onto the airport shuttle to your Waikiki hotel, checking into your hotel... at the Wailana Coffee House for a late dinner, everywhere at the Ala Moana Center (more on that shopper's paradise in an upcoming post), on an island tour... at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet... that "aloha" resounds with the rhythm of all that have spoken the native Hawaiian greeting for thousands of years since you first heard it. At some point (it may have been during The Brady Bunch season 4 opening episodes), we are taught that "aloha" means goodbye as well as hello, but that does not do the spirit of aloha proper justice.

If you know a second language, then you appreciate the notion that often words do not translate directly from their native usage and that there are often multiple meanings for a word depending on the situation.

With apologies to native Hawaiians, the best way I can describe "aloha" is that it represents everything between hello and goodbye. It is all about the connection you make to others from the point of first aloha and how well you nurture that relationship.

I'm no philosopher (a well-intentioned blog-sopher at best), but when a seemingly simple word has such potentially positive power, then you must use it with respect.

At Aloha Stadium, Mari and I were greeted with the carefully carved landscape greeting above as we prepared to walk the stadium and indulge in a (late) Sunday morning of collectible connections.

Our first visit in 2004 was towards the end of our stay and our souvenir hunt (and budget) had mostly been exhausted, but we instantly recognized the swap meet as the indisputable shopping mecca it appears to be.

Along with my treasured pair of glass snuff bottles I made up my mind that upon our return "some day" I would make a beeline for a colorful quilt.

Troves of quilted temptation like the booth pictured here await available luggage space.

With my imprecise plan in place, I made the perfectly practical decision to double-pack during our outbound return six years later. That's what I call packing a suitcase within a suitcase, like a smuggled Samsonite matryoshka (only much larger and clumsier).


The plan was to have an empty suitcase available for the return trip which would then transport said tropical quilted souvenir perfect for snuggling in the summer air-conditioning.

I had been tempted by many fleamarket vendors offering such tropically quilted treats, but I have only myself to blame for the painfully awkward (and heavy) outbound luggage-schlepping experience.

My pernicious planning worked in the end, but were I to repeat the feat, I would simply try to pack lighter and just check a larger, half-full suitcase (I'm an optimist, after all).

Like the summer souvenir sands that have recently been packed up and stowed until Memorial Day 2019, our souvenir quilt has likewise been cleaned and folded and stowed until such time as the island breezes whisper their siren call to summer slumber.

It will return to the bed next summer.

Mari and I are "those people" who like to change the look of the bed with the seasons.

Above right is our fleamarketed Hawaiian quilt, along with aloha pillow cases. The quilted Hawaiian flag pillow cover was a souvenir from our recent trip and, while its colors are nary a middling match to the quilt, we loved it (and that's the point of fleamarketed goods, matchy-matchy or not).

True to my word, the quilt was recently packed up and the boudoir is now decked out for fall as pictured here.

Our Hawaiian quilt is a favorite and well-used souvenir and you will find plenty to choose from at the Aloha flea and beyond.

Mari recently reminded me that one of her first purchases was almost this majestic island girl. It was one of those "walk away" moments for Mari like the painted Dalahäst, but, like the Stockholm souvenir, the mid-century hula girl pottery bust rediscovered Mari a few years later at the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival at the South Florida Fairgrounds. After her own bit of island hopping, this Polynesian beauty now greets Mari mornings at her dresser.

Sometimes, dear reader, your collector's gaze takes a little extra time (sometimes years) to make that special connection, but your collectible will find you eventually, if it was meant to be.

We bid aloha to Aloha Stadium next time as Mari and I "set a course for adventure" and our "mind on a new romance" with more of Hawaii beyond Honolulu.