Saturday, April 4, 2009

Pearls for Breakfast

Click on photos to enlarge! Waikiki Morning Skies

"Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself."

Elbert Hubbard

"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast".

Author Unknown (Sepiru Chris?)



A Luxuriance of Palm Fronds
"Luxury is an ancient notion. There was once a Chinese mandarin who had himself wakened three times every morning simply for the pleasure of being told it was not yet time to get up."
Argosy

Friends on a walk

"The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth."
Chinese Proverb


It seems an important article of my faith to prefer the individual, the unique, and the "one-off" over the mass produced and the popular.



Perhaps that's what I love about the cacophony of the blogosphere - it's the individuated voices that all of YOU one-offs bring into my world!



Then again, routine can be a balm. Like my habit of looking in on YOUR blogs as often as I am able. So even though I'm no fan of the world-wide uniformity (or food choices) of McDonalds, it seems that breakfast at the Golden Arches has become a some-time morning ritual that grounds me in my day - and in a particular time and place.



This morning I walked Waikiki beach, stopping for breakfast at "Micky D's" on Kuhio Avenue. Spearing a slice of only-at-McD's-of Hawaii pineapple, listening to the babble of Japanese tourist families, and humming along with the piped-in Hawaiian music, my mind went back to other mornings long ago. . .




The Philadelphia of almost 30 years ago was very different from the Waikiki of today. And the struggling young Me was certainly very different from the Cloudia writing this today. I lived then with my gelical cat, Jennifer, in a hundred year old church bell tower. Looking back now, I realize that I was a sort of "project" for the intellectual, Epicopalian congregation. Eating take-away McMuffins and gazing out over the wide stone parapets
was a peaceful moment for kitty & me in an otherwise hectic time.




Resources were thin, and the ultimate recognition of my genius uncertain, but I had a few, dear, twisted friends, and my favorite used-book store was open till midnight. The city of my birth was then a playground of bohemian possibility. One block from the over-stuffed couches of Book Trader, a young guy named Bruce Springsteen was packing them in at a tiny South Street bar called Grendel's Lair.




Struggle is romantic in retrospect. But at least one close friend was hip to the jive even way back then. "Life is such a struggle, Jim," I said to my partner in crime and hope. "Better days are sure to come."




"Cloudy," He said,




"These are the good days!"





Who would have guessed, all those struggles ago, that someday I'd be wielding my plastic fork here in the 21st Century? That I'd walk in Waikiki and look back over my many, many Egg Mc Muffins. . .





. . . Thinking of a dear friend many years gone. . .





"They're ALL good days, Jimmy," I thought with deep gratitude,
sipping not- bad hot coffee.





"But you were right all those breakfasts ago. Those days of doubt, discovery, struggle & ecstasy were in a real sense our "Glory Days."





I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
Here's to many more - with thanks to all of YOU for strolling along.
A L O H A! Cloudia

16 comments:

the walking man said...

Why Cloudia I do believe we may have been in Philadelphia at the same time (1973-'75) for me. Now if you can find five steps to be connected to Kevin Bacon I am there with you as my sixth.

Bhavesh Chhatbar said...

That's such a beautiful piece of sky :)

Swaminarayan Temple in Dwarka

Anonymous said...

Few writers could turn a story that includes Micky D's and Egg Mc Muffins into a banquet, but you did it perfectly.

Dina said...

Is that a dog-walker or do all those big dogs live with him??
A beautiful and wise post, this is. You make me think I should reflect on, and maybe even write down, my own early struggle days instead of trying to forget them.
Was your tower abode a WORKING bell tower? Bong!

Cathy said...

Hello Cloudia
I wouldn't mind being beneath an Hawaiin sky any time of the day - or year - again.
Loved the islands (not just Oahu) each time we have visited, saw many different things and learn't so much more each time.
I do hope to come back again
Take care
Cathy

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Really enjoyed this Cloudia! I love the 'wielding my plastic fork here in the 21st Century'!

Also the quote about being woken three times is magnificent!

SandyCarlson said...

What beautiful prose. I am fortunate to wake up, roll over and turn on the lap to, and enjoy such loving thoughts from someone so far away. Blogging is a part of my routine just because it is packed with variety! I hear you, Waikiki Woman!

Elizabeth said...

Such thoughtful happy relections........
loved your happy quotations.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Very philosophical, Cloudia. But very true in what you say. I shall be in Philadelphia shortly - so shall think of you there all those years ago.

David Cranmer said...

The Chinese mandarin sounds like a person after my own heart.

Akelamalu said...

There was once a Chinese mandarin who had himself wakened three times every morning simply for the pleasure of being told it was not yet time to get up

That will be me for the next two weeks - I can get up at whatever time I like because I don't have to go to work and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. :)

Charles Gramlich said...

That story of the chinese Mandarin really hit home. I LOVE that feeling, like this morning, waking up and realizing that I don't have to GET up.

gigi-hawaii said...

Well, David and I had a Breakfast Jack with lettuce and tomato this morning. Yum!

Cloudia said...

Walking Man: This does not surprise me. I have felt a kinship for sometime. If we dated 30 years ago, I'm gonna freak!

Kevin went to an alternative school of the Philadelphia Distict called "Parkway Program."

We were both in the first hundred students, though I never played cards with him and the other players in the stairwell. Class mascot: Fellow student "Suzy Creamcheese" who blossomed (we all did) in the heady freedom of the school...... One degree?

Bhavesh: Aloha Kind Sir. Namaste.

Tricia: Pungent comment. YOU are a poet! Thanks much

Dina: The dogs are strangers, I don;t know their story. But yes, I got to ring the bell, including at midnight on Haloween! Bwaaaaahhh!!

Cathy; Pleasure meeting you, Dear!

Mr. Neckman: You, Dear, are an appreciator of life - therefore living a magical existence that is very very authentic. I love being a part of it!! Your blog & art inspire-

Sandy: What a lovely gift your comment carries! You folks in Conn are six hours ahead of me, and I've wondered that you are sharing a moment with me here at Comfort Spiral even as my body lays snoozing in Waikiki @ 1:30 am.
Viva the Future!

Elizabeth: Mutual, Sistah! Your blog makes me smile.

Weaver of Grass: Such a pleasure to read your comment here! Phila is a very different city today - tall buildings overshadow William Penn's staute atop the French Rennaisance City Hall (the worlds largest example of the style, and largest, free-standing masonry bldg. A wonderful pile - especially for the colonies ;-)
Your blog is a master work!

David: I like the cut of your jib.

Ake, Dear: Don't waste a moment of precious idleness!!

Charles: Saturday!! First day of Summer vacation! Yes, a wonderful feeling.

GiGi: You two enjoy yourselves admirably!

Feisty Crone said...

What a great story! Glory days indeed, all of them :)

Is there anyplace Mickey D's DOESN'T have a spot?

the walking man said...

Cloudia..Now I am two degrees from Kevin Bacon...now I know that guy got around.

I doubt we dated unless your name was Lysurgicdiamethelyde or Suzy Shroom...