Savoring summer

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Summer has arrived.

Leave the hair spray and collared shirts at the door, because the vibe is all about windblown locks, suntanned shoulders and strawberry smoothies.

It's the time of the year when kids sleep in and teens stay out.

It's an attitude, a state of mind, a way to live.

There's something about summer in Hawai'i, where the seasons blur together in one big movement of surf and trade winds.

Something that rides in on the south swells, something that makes us want to be outdoors, to slather on sunscreen and sit, do nothing, be as lazy as possible.

We can't resist the temptation of summer. We soak up the sunshine, bitch about the heat, love the weekends and hate our day jobs.

Laura Ward epitomizes summer. With her curly blond locks infused with sunshine, she strolled Kuhio Beach one Saturday afternoon like she owned the place, pointing out every definably cute guy within a 50-foot radius.

"He's hot," she raved, urging her best friend, Tani Eugenio, to comment. "That's a hottie bombalottie."

Sixteen with romantic notions of summer, Laura and Tani imagine owning a beach house on the North Shore. Enough room for their boards, close to the beach, with a closet full of bikinis.

Air conditioning is a must. And jam sessions every night, beneath starry skies, full moons and tiki torches.

"That's the life," said Tani, a soon-to-be junior at Mililani High School, with a dreamy smile. "Summer is an attitude. It's about wearing bathing suits all day."

But not everyone can lounge poolside all summer long.

Summer school, summer jobs, summer interrupted.

"I don't like summer school at all," said Laura, obviously annoyed with having to spend precious sunlight hours in a classroom. "But if I do it this year, then next summer will be all mine."

Stanton Vierra avoided summer school, but the 17-year-old Castle senior has spent his teenage summers working at Kuhio Beach, renting out surfboards.

"Surf and work," he said, looking out at the sets coming in off Waikiki. "That's all I ever do."

His messy brown hair and boyish smile lured several bikini-clad girls to get a better look at the laid-back surfer boy, reclining in a beach chair. They giggled, gossiped, adjusted their triangle tops, trying to get and avert his attention at the same time.

Oh, he loves it. The job, the girls, the heat, the excuse to be on the beach and get paid for it.

"My ideal summer? Right here. Sitting on the beach. Just like this."

Maria Robben and Erika Au aren't complaining, either.

The two 15-year-olds work for Paradise Sno, serving shave ice to paddlers, surfers, anyone soaking up summer.

With matching denim shorts and bikini tops peeking out from beneath their T-shirt uniform, the two soon-to-be juniors at Sacred Hearts strolled Hale'iwa Beach Park during a regatta one Sunday, laughing and talking and checking out the shirtless paddlers.

"We meet people, eat shave ice, see hot guys," said Erika, whose dad owns the company. "That's why I love it."

But not everyone is that lucky.

China Uemura used to love summer. He'd play all day, all night in his neighborhood in Mo'ili'ili, sometimes never coming home.

But now the 47-year-old father of teenagers works. All the time. And especially during the summer.

The legendary longboarder organizes about 14 contests during the summer. His company, China Surfing Productions, handles everything from security to catering to promotions.

And summertime, bringing in south-shore swells, is one of the busiest seasons for him.

"Before it was play, no come home," he said with a rascal smile. "Now, it's work."

Even on the North Shore, where summer is as quiet as the ocean, summer isn't a retail holiday.

Hale'iwa was bustling last Sunday. Tour buses, rental cars, baby strollers — the streets and sidewalks were filled with constant motion. A woman in summer's standard-issue tank top and shorts combo slurped on a mocha freeze from the Coffee Gallery. Five bucks for sweet caffeine and whipped cream. Nothing better.

"It's a calmer attitude around here," said Kamala Belyeu, dressed in pink floral capris, shell choker and body glitter, and capturing the attitude of summer: mellow, laid-back, cool.

The 30-year-old from Sunset works on Sundays at North Shore Swimwear, where custom-made bikinis are hotter than Cholos' salsa. The store has everything a girl needs for summer: cute swimsuits, beach bags, lip gloss, body lotion, fun slippers, even notebooks with mantras like, "She was tempted to cause a scene."

"I love that it's sunny," interjected Belyeu's co-worker, Tavaner Bushman, a 17-year-old college-bound Sunset girl with cropped blond hair, a pink-and-white baby tee and a short denim skirt. "All-the-time sunny. It's so totally mellow."

The theme of summer.

Fred and Joe Yuen define mellow. With six cases of Bud Light, bags of Doritos and packages of sunflower seeds, the 27-year-old twins hung out with their friends at Hale'iwa Beach Park last week, watching paddlers, talking story, spahking chicks.

They reminisced about growing up on the North Shore, jumping off the Hale'iwa bridge and riding their bikes all the way to Makaha.

"Every summer, we would jump off the bridge," said Pat Yuen, their older brother, who still lives in Hale'iwa. "We'd try to splash the cars passing by."

Even for identical twins, summer can mean something different to each.

Joe sees it as an opportunity for a "romantic fling, just like in 'Grease.'"

Fred sees it as an opportunity missed: "Summer makes you wish you had lifted a little more weights during the winter."

Twisting and changing, summer moves in, takes over, only to disappear as quickly as it came. Lazy afternoons at the beach, weekends in backyard hammocks, sneaking surf sessions during lunch breaks — none of those adventures seem as fun any other time of the year.

Only during the summer, when the only thing that doesn't slow down is time.

Burn, CD, Burn

Summer needs a soundtrack. Here are some tunes — old and new, funk and punk — that capture the season's vibe:

• "Mudfootball" by Jack Johnson
• "Amber" by 311
• "Soak Up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow
• "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince (Will Smith)
• "Tropical Hawaiian Day" by Ka'au Crater Boys
• "Fly" by Sugar Ray
• "Steal Your Kisses" by Ben Harper
• "Underneath It All" by No Doubt
• "The Rock Show" by blink-182
• "Get the Party Started" by Pink
• "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure
• "Hapa Haole Girl of My Dreams" by Ale'a
• "Summer Girls" by LFO
• "Ride Wit Me" by Nelly
• "Funk Soul Brothers" by Fatboy Slim
• "Come On Eileen" by Save Ferris
• "Bang the Skillet" by Go Jimmy Go
• "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" by Eve, featuring Gwen Stefani
• "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies
• "Summertime Rolls" by Jane's Addiction
• "Island in the Sun" by Weezer