The moai do walk ...

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

A spotlight tucked into the green summer grass casts a green sheen on Patty Keene's resin replica of a "moai," the monolithic stone figures on Easter Island, off the coast of her native Chile. Patty says, "There are many legends about how the moai were made and how they were moved. Some believe they walked." Patty firmly believes this, as she woke up one morning and found her 200-pound moai in her neighbor Laverna Ely's front yard. "They DO walk," Patty laughed. The 887 stone figures on Easter Island were carved between 1250 and 1500 by the Rapa Nui people from rock on the island. Many remain at the main quarry, but hundreds were transported -- How? -- to sit on stone platforms around the island's perimeter. Patty's replica is about five-six feet tall; the tallest moai was 33 feet high and weighed 82 tons. Patty enjoys sharing the history of the moai and a bit of her Chilean culture with passersby. She helps many learn Spanish, but offers a short-cut to pronouncing the name of her statue: "Say Hawaii -- mo-waii."