Hook; to hook, to fasten with a hook; to hook off.  2.  Very long fruit-plucking pole, with short sticks lashed obliquely near the end for plucking, as for breadfruit; to pluck.  3.  Pain in the side, stitch.  4.  Same as louulu.  5.  Tache, clasp.

During the summer Waiʻanae has choke mango (choke is a Hawaiʻi Island original word, you know, meaning plenty) and Hilo side has choke lychee.   It’s time for the lucky ones to take out the lou, the picking pole, grab it off the rack in the garage, under the house or its spot leaning against the tree.

The longer your stick the better!

When I was young, growing up in Mākaha, we called it a mango picker.   I guess depending on where you live, you might call it something else! In Hāmākua, I use it to pick pea (avocados) or lemons. Now I call it a lou.

When I first bought a lou in Longs a few years back, I didn’t even know a lou was something you could buy in a store! We used to have the makeshift scoop net duct taped to the window cleaning pole. I used to get tired of pulling on the fruit and half of the stick would come off or the net would bend to unusable shapes.

Longs kine lou

Remember using a lou in your small kid time?  Remember even getting the chair or ladder to reach a little bit higher?  Remember trying to fit as many mangoes as you could in the net or basket before bringing it down till it got so heavy you could barely hold it?  Or how, if you had a partner picking with you, you could pick, and swing it down where your partner would grab it out?  Are you passing on the tradition?  Where is your lou for fruit picking seasons?

LANGUAGE LESSON

Ua kūʻai au i ka lou hou i nehinei – I bought a new picking pole yesterday.

He aha ke ʻano o kāu lou? – What kind of lou do you have?

ʻŌLELO NO’EAU

ʻAʻohe ʻulu e loaʻa i ka pōkole o ka lou – No breadfruit can be gotten with a short picking pole (Always be prepared).

Copyright: 2015 – Liana Iaea Honda. All rights reserved. All versions of He Momi e Lei ai, in its entirety, past and present, is the property of L. K. I. Honda. Reproduction and use of any kind other than the sharing of this website is prohibited. Alteration to the original content in any form is prohibited in every and any instance, and use in any other variant is prohibited without written consent of the author. Adress inquiries to: hemomi [at] gmail.com. Definitions and wise sayings are from: Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert, 1986. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau – Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings by Mary Kawena Pukui, 1983.