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Sharing Mana‘o

A reader asked me about a recent column in which I shared my mother’s descriptions of some old photos. On the back of a scenic snapshot, Mom had written “The foreground stinks like Kanaha Pond!” Those words put a smile on my face and a long-forgotten scent in my head that old-time Mauians will remember. Well, maybe the smile was more like a smirk, for the scent was a mixture of musty rags and rotten eggs.

The above-mentioned reader wasn’t around when Kanaha Pond’s best-known feature was the distinctive odor of stagnant brackish water. Kahului-bound motorists would automatically hold their breath when driving by. When picking up visitors at the airport, we’d caution them about the smell they were about to experience. Or we’d play a favorite prank, silently taking our guests past the ponds and watching their expressions, which ranged from surprise to disgust to concern for their hosts’ digestive health. “You so stink, I bet you live Kanaha Pond!” was a popular taunt among kids.

Originally a royal fishpond dating back to the 1700s, Kanaha Pond was designated a waterfowl sanctuary in 1951 and was considered a possible site for a state park. The odor problem was described in a Maui News article dated July 20, 1960. In 1971, Kanaha Pond was named a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. secretary of the interior and in 1989, the Native Hawaiian Plant Society took on the considerable challenge of helping to restore the historic wetlands.

For nearly 30 years, the NHPS has worked to remove alien plants and restore native flora, enlisting thousands of volunteers from schools and youth groups, community service organizations and the general public. Overseen by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the 235-acre sanctuary now houses three species of endangered birds (the a’eo, the ‘alae and the koloa) and hundreds of native coastal plants. It’s considered the most important waterfowl sanctuary in Hawaii.

You can volunteer for the weeding and planting work crew by visiting the NHPS website: nativehawaiianplantsociety.org. If you just want to take a look and learn a little about the pond’s history, stop by the observation booth on Keolani Place, or what we used to call “the airport road,” near Triangle Square. I’m pretty sure it’s the same structure that we used to tease our grade school classmates about (“Dass your house, eh?”).

The west side had its own claim to olfactory fame. In fact, it’s been commemorated in song. “Kela Mea Whiffa” is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the scent of burnt cane residue at Launiupoko. Some kamaaina recall the smell as being sickly sweet; less sentimental folks describe it as putrid. No one ever put it as poetically as the late, great Eddie Kamae:

‘Auhea e kela mea whiffa

Oia hanu a ke aloha

Ma ke lauko a kiawe ma ea

(Where is kela mea whiffa

The breath of love

Between sugar cane and kiawe)

The translation of the first verse reads:

From Kahului to Lahaina

The fragrance that one breathes

As we go along past Olowalu

A rare experience awaits all.

These days, cruising along Honoapiilani or Hana Highway, we’re more likely to sniff exhaust fumes than mea whiffa. I can’t honestly say I miss the smell of rotting cane or stagnant water, but I am grateful to have been here in those good old, if odorous, days.

* Kathy Collins is a storyteller, actress and freelance writer whose “Sharing Mana’o” column appears every Wednesday. Her email address is kcmaui913@gmail.com.

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