Sitting in my living room, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate and the warm glow of my Christmas tree, I notice a solitary ornament, this little wooden guitar, back lit amongst the shadows.
For some reason this picture makes me think of a tropical holiday - maybe Christmas in Hawaii? Did you know? The Hawaiian alphabet contains only twelve letters: five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and seven consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w).
Therefore translations - or more correctly, transliterations - from English to Hawaiian will replace letters from the English alphabet with those available in the Hawaiian alphabet (for instance, "R" is replaced with "L," and "S" with "K").
As a result, the English "Merry Christmas" becomes Hawaii's "Mele Kalikimaka."
So, Mele Kalikimaka to you!
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