Kukuipuka heiau

This was a site none of us had been before. Dee had directions, and after we left Pihana heiau, we drove up the coast to Kukuipuka. It seems that spiritual groups have taken over the responsibility for care of the site. After climbing some stairs, we found ourselves in a grassy knoll at the top of a ridge far above the water. Grass has been planted and kept mowed, and both green and red ti plants flourish around the perimeter of the rock walls. Inside the walls there is a pile of rocks that has obviously been used as an altar, as offerings of oranges and flowers had been left. (“Oranges?” I thought. Me, who is currently residing near orange groves in California. “Must be some kind of transcontinental form of offering to more well-traveled gods. What the hell? If the gods of old Hawaii could travel across the ocean from Tahiti, then I guess the offerings can come from Safeway) When I discovered the birthing stone, I couldn’t resist sitting down in the seat, putting my legs up on the rock wall and looking out over the ocean. Imagine giving birth to a child in such a luscious setting. Imagine being that child--what a place to be born! The keepers of the site have planted around the grounds, and Allison spotted a koa tree struggling for survival out on the windblown lawn.