15 May 2005
shave ice, oh yes.
it is amazing how much hawaiiana one finds when one is desperately clinging on to the aloha spirit. seriously. we see something vaguely reminiscent of kaua'i whenever we go out. case in point: little hula dancer bobble doll on the dashboard of a car. case in point: a sticker saying "surf hawaii" on it. case in point: fog that reminded us of the fog over the alakai swamps.
biggest and most enjoyable case in point: we are driving back from costco yesterday -- no wait, it was on friday -- and my sweetie screeches to a halt and makes a sharp right turn into the parking lot of an unassuming strip mall that we never really have been to. i ask him what is wrong. he grins and points at a little tent set up in the parking lot.
shave ice, the sign reads.
for those of you unfortunate souls who don't know what shave ice is, all i can say is: island magic!
seriously, though, shave ice is a delicious island treat -- powdery snowy ice covered with tropical fruit syrup -- and NOTHING like sno cones. and i would even venture as far as to say it has the magical power to make people happy. indeed.
so, here we were in palo alto la la land suburbia, and there was this little piece of aloha island magic in a strip mall parking lot. A SHAVE ICE STAND.
are we going to have some, i asked?
you even have to ask that question, my hubby responded?
shave ice we had. with azuki beans on the bottom. and the magic worked, and we were back in our kaua'i zone of happiness and relaxation.
this message has been brought to you by the folks of shave ice international.
dandlioneyes at 1:32 pm