Immaturity Unlimited - All Aboard!

Aloha Playmates!

Welcome to the ALL LEGO Post

Click on Photos to Return to Childhood.

I always wanted a Medieval Market Village!

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
Plato

OOOOOO! Only $109 USD !

“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.”
Leo F. Buscaglia


Miniature Village People!

"Macho Macho Toys. . . .I Wanna Play with Macho Toys."

See the reflection of my giant camera & hands?

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.”
Joseph Chilton

Giant Camera Hands Looming Over the Casting Call

“You can't have everything. Where would you put it?”
Stephen Wright

Arg! $109 USD again! The Pirate Ship comes Separately

“It is better to play than do nothing.”
Confucius

Choo Choo!!!!



“I didn't get a toy train like the other kids. I got a toy subway instead.

You couldn't see anything, but every now and then

you'd hear this rumbling noise go by.”
Stephen Wright

Ala Moana Shopping Center now boasts it's own Lego store! If you are in Honolulu on August 15th you can join the youthful throng (of all ages!) oooo-ing and ahhh-ing over a major exhibit of Lego-built wonders at center stage.

But listen here, if you are anything like me, do yourself a favor and stay away from the L Store itself!! I don't remember playing with anything like the exciting and detailed products I saw in the place!

Like most Hawaii residents, we live in a rather compact space. I got as far as the cash register with my "Pirate Ship & Hideout" and an amazing green locomotive before I snapped out of it!

The diminutive scenes of city life on display, and the legions of distinct little Lego people populating them, made my head swim with their detail and complexity. You could happily drop some major bucks there; so if you DO go, bring your credit cards, and perhaps a child or two for "cover."

A L O H A! Cloudia

Happy Cat and Honu

Aloha,

Campers!

(click on photos to be amazed!)

The Moving Hand Writes, and Having Writ - Moves On; Dissolving to Sunset.

"Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything."
Kurt Vonnegut

Very Nice Gesture, Local Boy!

Hawaii folk competed with Pennsylvania fans to vote him into the All Star Game.

"As you journey through life take a minute every now and then to give a thought for the other fellow. He could be plotting something."
Hagar the Horrible

Happy Cat Hawks Miniature Shoes

"The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them."
Albert Einstein

"Remember to go outside everyday and walk on the Earth and look around at the beauty – the birds, the trees, the flowers blooming. Put your mind at ease by remembering the cycles of Nature, which are endless and renewing constantly. We are part of that Nature – and are also renewing.
Don’t lose faith in that which is timeless-your heart, soul and nature.
We are all related"

Mitakuye Oyasin

A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, a Honu, was rescued off of the west coast of far Kauai with a chunk missing from her shell due to a strike by a boat propeller.

They named her "Ding" and brought her to Oahu for repairs and recuperation.

Everyone involved loved Ding, for she had "dinged" their hearts. It was thus with a tinge of sadness that they bid her "Aloha" once she was healed, happy, and sporting a

partly-fiberglass shell.

I'm happy to report that she has been spotted capering once again in the surf off west Kauai.

Next time I'm out in my kayak, I'll ask the turtles to send her our regards.

I'm certain our message will get through!

A L O H A! CLOUDIA

What the Moon Smells Like

A l o h a !

Come inside

(click on photos to enlarge)

Tropic Moon, why you look so small up there?"

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."
Erica Jong

The Natives are . . .

Handsome!

"The covers of this book are too far apart."
Ambrose Bierce

Flapping in the breeze. My jaws?
NO!! Flags!

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

When astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins returned from their history-making journey to the moon, 40 years ago this Summer, they splashed into the Pacific about 800 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Thus my island home of Oahu was the first solid land under their feet. It was not their first isle visit, as the Big Island's Mauna Kea had hosted their pre-flight training among her other-worldly rocks in a place now known as Apollo Valley.

Once back upon US soil, the astronauts had fun complying with customs and immigration regulations. Official documents thus record that they arrived from "The Moon" aboard "Flight 11" arriving at "Honolulu Hawaii." In answer to the health question regarding "conditions on board that which may lead to the spread of disease" they answered honestly (gulp): "To be determined."

A customs declaration was also dutifully filed regarding the 47 pounds of Moon Rocks they had obtained. Aboard the gleaming, modified Airstream trailer, that served as their 21 day quarantine, the astronauts and flight surgeon William Carpentier (along with NASA technician John Hirasaki) were the first humans to observe the naked lunar minerals inside the Earth's atmosphere. Though they looked like "ordinary rocks" there was one interesting thing about these rocks. They smelled like burnt gun powder.

A L O H A, Earthlings!

Cloudia

Summer Wool Gathering

Aloha, friends!!

Click on photos to enlarge

"I never liked the middle ground - the most boring place in the world.

Louise Nevelson

"If you genuinely have something to say, there is someone
who genuinely needs to hear it."
Arnold Patent



"Life is getting up one more time than you have been knocked down"
John Wayne

Recently, fossilized bones that are thousands of years old, have been found here on Oahu. They tell of giant flightless geese (with 6 foot wingspans) who once lived on an island very different from the one we see today.

To the slow growing trees, we are just a blur. The ancient mountains have barely noticed our presence yet.

Some days I'm just a flightless bird

preening my useless wings. . . . .

A L O H A, Cloudia

Paddle Girl

Aloha!

Welcome to Waikiki!

Don't worry.

No one will be paddled in this post! -

Goodbye Wil, Heff, & Bama Trav;-)

We're talking about kayak paddling, silly!

That's my baby, right by the hatch (door to you) for a quick getaway when blogging gets too intense.

Join us out there!

See the reflection of me taking this picture?

Time To GO!

I hadn't used my kayak in over a year!

Now I go out almost every day.

It's peaceful on the water, and I get to see my home

from a different perspective than usual.

Out there,

I like to sing nonsense songs to myself,

or think about things I've read that day;

perhaps something I saw on YOUR blog.

On my first voyage after so long, I saw a sea turtle!

The head broke the water just in front of me,

and we met eye to eye.

"Where have you been all this time?!"

was the message I got.

And he was right!

What's more important than

this?

*+*

"Show up! Be enthusiastic!

Put some energy into the life you're living now!

How will anyone ever be impressed by your star-like quality if you're waiting to cultivate that quality until you become a star?"

Marianne Williamson

A L O H A! Cloudia

Klever Kate Spade

Aloha!!

Welcome to Sunday in. . .

Waikiki? Why, It's Klever Kate Spade's store

in the Royal Hawiian Shopping Center.

The left window says: "Waikiki," The right one: "New York."

Let's get a closer look, shall we?

Yellow Taxis!

Looks Like Broadway at rush hour!

But what will represent Waikiki?

Looks like . . .

Hula rush hour!

Kultural Kolonialism?

A l o h a ha ha ;-) Cloudia

My Little Friend

A L O H A!

Welcome to another amazing day in Waikiki

click on photos to enlarge

Palms Rejoicing in a Splendid Trade Wind

“Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein:

then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice. . .”
Bible

Who's this little fellow?

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations,

if you live near him."

J. R. R. Tolkien

Look! He's puffed out his throat for us to see!

"Always speak politely to an enraged Dragon."
Steven Brust

)=(

This land is animate

yours is too.

Great, TOO great

and small

exceedingly small,

the power's the same:

everpresent.

An abundance of presents.

(for you

and for me.)

So Dance

in gratitude;

Dance

and BE

your

land.

A L O H A! Cloudia

View Planes

A L O H A !

Glad to see YOU, Friend ;-)

click on photos to enlarge

See the tan hill, behind the white building with the red roof,

in the lower right corner? That is the Pu`u (hill) O' Kaimuki that we visited before: http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/02/climbing-puu-o-kaimuki.html

This is the view from Pu`u O Kaimuki looking

Mauka (mountainward) toward Wilhelmina Rise.

Here (from the top of the Pu`u) we look down

on the adjacent fire house tower.

On top of the Pu`u, we feel close to Diamond Head

that looms like a protective big brother-hill.

View from Wilhelmina rise makai (sea-ward) towards Diamond Head;

But where is the Pu`u? Where's the fire house tower capped with red?

Hint: The top photo is taken from the same perspective as this one.

Click on the photo to enlarge, then look at the lower-right area, and you will be at the top of this post!

Circular logic, eh?

)=(

From below, the mountains look just like toys don't they?

From the mountainside, the land below appears just as diminutive.

Things that appear so OBVIOUS to us, appear very different to those standing elsewhere.

Let's spend as much time trying to see through the eyes of the "other"

as we do trying to convince the "other" of our

correctness.

All a matter of Perspective!

A L O H A! Cloudia

A Little Bit Heroic

ALOHA!

Welcome to Dusk in Waikiki

The Reflective Time of Day

“I certainly don't regret my experiences because without them, I couldn't imagine who or where I would be today. Life is an amazing gift to those who have overcome great obstacles, and attitude is everything!”
Sasha Azevedo

“Imaginary obstacles are insurmountable.

Real ones aren't." Barbara Sher

A Poetess

"Sometimes it's worse to win a fight than to lose.

Billie Holliday

Flirting With The Wind

"If you seek to find faults in others, you will not be dissapointed. You are sure to find them. But, if you go out to discover the good in [those] about you, you will find what a host of heroes and saints live in your homes and shops and streets. Look for the best instead of the worst."

Paul Osumi

Did those moon-landing astronauts have anything in common with the pioneers who settled North America?

Of course they did. Something undefinable. There is some shared knowing, some shared yearning there.

In exactly the same way, our shared humanity with extraordinary people is not negligible.

I'm not exhorting you to be all you can be, or to aim for the stars.

Rather, I'm bringing attention to the ignored but undeniable heroism in you and in me.

We each address and wrestle with the same life enigmas, choices, and conundrums as the most celebrated characters of theatre, philosophy, literature, history.

So here's to the every day heroes.

Here's to US!

A L O H A ! Cloudia

Hawaii Flies

A l o h a!

Welcome to the year 1929

and the first commercial flights in the Isles of Hawaii Two eight-passenger Sikorsky S-38 amphibian planes flew three weekly round trips from Honolulu to Maui and to the Big Island (Hawaii). Note the outrigger canoe!

"The most beautiful dream that has haunted the heart of man since Icarus is today reality."
— Louis Bleriot

"There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings."
— Wilbur Wright, 1905

Sikorsky S-43s came into service in 1935.

Flying Boat!

The first commercial aircraft in the isles, 1929

(right before the Sikorskys) a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker.

Above Photos Courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines

In 1941 Inter-Island Airways changed its name to Hawaiian Airlines and traded up to the classic, 24-passenger, DC-3.

Interestingly, that original Bellanca shown above has been located in the possession of an Oregon collector and is being restored to flying condition. The legendary Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine company is collaborating with Hawaiian Air Lines (HAL) to return the grandpa aeroplane to Honolulu for special 80th Anniversary flights and exhibitions.

Islanders are proud when HAL tops the "on time" list year after year, especially since her little sister, Aloha Airlines closed down last year; That was like a death in the family.

Today, HAL flies worldwide charter services, and scheduled service to Pago Pago, American Samoa, Nuku'alofa, Tonga, and to Western Samoa.

We locals especially enjoy flying "our" airline between the West Coast and Home with daily flights to Los Angeles,

San Francisco and Seattle. When you get on the plane,

you're on Hawaiian turf. AHHHHH!

Let's enjoy the sights, shall we?
(Bonus Color Pics ;-)

Hawaiian Skies



"The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? —it is the same the angels breathe."
— Mark Twain

Limpid, Lazy, Lotus (-ussess)



"Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives."
— Socrates

Golden Palms Wave "Aloha."
To YOU!

So do I

;-)

Sister Cities

Aloha!

Welcome back to

W A I K I K I

!

click on photos to enlarge! "You can kid the world. But not your sister."

Charlotte Gray

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel beckons.

"A sister smiles when one tells one's stories - for she knows where the decoration has been added."

Chris Montaigne

Punchbowl Crater stands sentinel behind Royal Elementary School

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

Attributed to a 4-year-old named Lauren

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips."

Anonymous

Honolulu and Hiroshima are celebrating 50 years as Sister Cities!

The two municipalities have been sibling cities since June 15, 1959; It is a relationship that began with the "People to People Program" of President Dwight Eisenhower, promoting peace and mutual understanding.

A delegation from Hiroshima was in our town recently to observe the anniversary.

"5o years of friendship have built reciprocal tourism and economic opportunities," said Wayne Miyao, president of Honolulu Hiroshima Kenjin Kai and chairman of Hiroshima Hawaii Sister State Committee.

"World War II started in the Pacific in Hawaii with Pearl Harbor and ended in Hiroshima tragically. We are forever linked in war; so we should be linked in peace and in business and culture," said Miyao, a Big Island (Hawaii) resident who traces his ancestral roots to Okinawa.

The recent three-day visit by Hiroshima's 40-plus member delegation concluded at Honolulu City Hall with a signing ceremony renewing the relationship. Hiroshima's tourism division also hosted an exhibit at Windward Mall and entertained at Ala Moana Center.

This highly publicized visit by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and his delegation, followed by a stopover by the Japanese emperor himself, should help encourage Japanese travelers to visit the islands.

"There's a lot of caution being exercised by Japanese visitors due to the economy and swine flu," Honolulu's Mayor Hannemann said. "Having high-ranking Japanese visitors come to our city helps dispel concerns."

Honolulu is to send our own delegation to Japan in November, when that city celebrates "Honolulu Day."


Hiroshima is planning a "winter-wonderland" experience during this historic year, said Daisuke Yano, director of Hiroshima's Tourism Division, who was in our town for the observance.

"Since Honolulu does not have the winter season, Hiroshima would like them to visit during the winter to feel the cold and see the snow." Yano said.

Roughly 300,000 visitors come to Hiroshima annually.

No word on how many are Hawaii folks seeking a chill.

A L O H A! Cloudia

40 Years Ago Today. . .

Men from the planet Earth. . . .

Walked on the MOON. . . . .

They Came in Peace for all Humankind. . . .

You can see the imprint of Alan's moon-boot on several of these paintings. He also used moon-dust scraped off of his space suit as well.

You can see more of Alan Bean's art here:
http://www.alanbean.com/index.cfm

All Art courtesy of Alan Bean. All rights reserved

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain


Aloha! Cloudia

Back in the Day

A L O H A!

Welcome back to Waikiki

(Pull up a Swanson TV dinner)

"And that's the way it is. . . "

Pigeon Party

"Did you bring any crumbs?"

Torch Ginger blossoms have blossoms!

Watching Paul McCartney return to the Ed Sullivan theatre awakened many 60's memories, and begged perspective on the life that unfolded for the kid-me who watched the Beatles perform from that stage in 1963. . .

And this weekend marks the 4oth anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing (yes, I capitalized it) - oh and of Woodstock (but we've already discussed that).

I remember the grainy pictures of men in diving suits planting a curiously limp flag amidst that "magnificent desolation" as Buzz called it. I remember stiff Nixon speaking to them on the phone as we all watched. I remember walking outside and looking up at the moon. "Humans are there," I thought; "We are there." And the whole world from Africa to Asia to Europe celebrated the achievement. We were'nt quite so hated then. The liberation from fascism in WWII still painted us as the "good guys." I remember that Wilson Pickett ROCKED big time that night on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the prototypical host.

I remember tiny black and white TVs wheeled into an elementary school classroom, all of us (teachers included) mesmerized by the countdown. "3...2...1...Kickoff" as we watched John Glenn and the other Mercury astronauts leave the Earth and look back at it as only God had done before.

I remember seeing adults cry for the first time, they were my teachers, on that Thursday afternoon when they sent us home early. President Kennedy had been shot.

The world was still, oppressively still like a wake. For three days we were glued to the TV. "Mom! Someone shot Oswald!" I remember the reaction on the sheriff's face captured in newspaper stills.

I remember John John saluting the caisson and the handsome, lone, black horse behind it in the procession.

I remember the police riots and convention floor fascism of the Chicago Democratic Convention in '69. (I've always followed the conventions). "Mom! Do you see what's happening?!" "I'm only glad you're not there!" (You Crazy kid who turned out to be right about so many things.)

I remember watching the Watergate hearings all that weird Summer.

In a black and white world where we had three TV stations to choose from, where the narrative of public life was amazingly uniform (if stultifying), the authority who explained it all like the One True Patient Adult was Walter Cronkite.

News wasn't liberal or FOX; it was news delivered by newsmen (yes, overwhelmingly men) who were professional and didn't carp or advocate. They informed. We all have unconscious bias, but news was supposed to be about facts. They tried to be objective.

All the things above that I remember, I remember largely through the lens of my TV. I remember Walter telling us the story, sharing OUR modern story.

When he announced Kennedy's death and took off his glasses, that was a more powerful moment than all the posturing and shouting we see in a week of cable news today.

If you didn't live through all of that, it is impossible to explain just how much of a giant Walter was. From the WWII beaches of Normandy, to the assassination of Dr. King, to the relentless nightly spectacle of Viet Nam, Walter was the narrator of our times. When he expressed the opinion that 'Nam was a morass, LBJ turned from the TV and said: "If I've lost Walter, I've lost middle America.

There will never be another figure like him. Uncle Walter.

I remember looking up at that '60s sky as Canada Geese sailed before a harvest moon. I remember the smell of burning leaves, and the sound of a train from far away. "How old will I be in the year 2000?"

I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything he's got."

Walter Cronkite

Today I've used "Times" as the font of the day as tribute. Be sure to wash the black ink off of your hands before your touch anything.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Hearing Bells

A L O H A !

click on photos to enlarge!

"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen."

Mark Twain

Surfers and Sailors Delight

"The open-minded see the truth in different things: the narrow-minded see only the differences."

Unknown

Here's Your Table!

I found a tiny "sleigh" bell

and slipped it on my hoop earring.

Now everywhere I go

even amidst the roar

of traffic

or surf

I'm reminded of the

Angels hovering

just above

my shoulder.

)*(

It's Saturday in Summer;

Go Play!

A L O H A Ha Ha ;-) Cloudia

Getting Personal

Aloha!

C'mon in.

How are Y O U today?

click on photos to enlarge!

OOOO! Perspective at da jetty!

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
Marcus Aurelius



“Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

Limu (sea vegetables) washed up by da surf.

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give thee, the more I have, For both are infinite.”
William Shakespeare

Patient Surf Pup Between Gnarly Rides

"There is no psychiatrist in the world

like a puppy licking your face."

Ben Williams

When I began exploring the blogosphere I wondered why complete strangers, leading average lives (like mine) would want to share the "minutia" of their existence on the web.

I have published a few things; played music (and sang backup) in a few bands. My aspiration as a blogger was to share "quality" content, not to do social networking. Guess I also wanted to send out my messages corked into floating bottles to the world out there:

"I exist. I am creating something of value. Hello?"

To be honest, I also wanted to promote my sweet little novel/self-help/Hawaii guidebook, cultural history book, "Aloha Where You Like Go?"

Many of you are beginning to smile a bit.

I see you there.

Because you know what happened next.

I discovered a realm of interesting people from all over the world, many of whom write beautifully, and/or are talented photographers as well.

I just wanted to express my viewpoint, my accrued life-wisdom, and share this Hawaii home that is so much more remarkable than "travelers" understand.

But

Your kind comments over time have become a "paycheck" that has nothing to do with money.

What I never expected was that I would make authentic friends.

Shannon, Pearl, Daryl, Deborah, Chris, Charles, Mark, Joe, Sandy, Barbara, Dina, Tricia, Thelma, Dave, Travis(s);

You know who you are

And please forgive me if you know that we are pals, and I've neglected to mention you here. I will wake at 3 am and slap my forehead when I think of YOU and all we've shared. I appreciate you very much!

One thing I have definitely learned on this path is that often it is EXACTLY the "merely" personal that has been the real, glimmering, web-based treasure that I have found.

Struggles with health, death, circumstances, dark depression and the blues, as well as the weddings of people I'll never meet. Your seasons, travels, musings, and of course dear pets. We've shared them all.

And it is those confessional posts (with their poignient apologies) that have made of you my real friends,

people I care about.

So, though you all post content of free-standing value (and I will endeavor to do the same) I pledge to you that I will try to follow your example. I pledge to be somewhat less of a "narrator" and occasionally just blurt out something deeply quixotically personal.

I actually feel a lot of warm aloha for your folks.

Oh, and I went to the laundromat and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich today.

Aloha! Cloudia

Royal Visit

Aloha!

Welcome!

Honored Guests:

Japan's Emperor Akihito and wife Empress Michiko

“Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me.”
Walt Whitman

No Shadows!

"Whatever you are, be a good one."
Abraham Lincoln

Blooming in Manoa Valley



“If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?”
Kahlil Gibran

A Lovely Shower Tree

He planted the tree in 1960.

He was a taller, younger man then.

Yesterday they drove him and his wife directly from the airplane to visit the tree. It had grown tall in the 40 plus years, and it waited, blooming as if in welcome - for it is July in Honolulu.

The visit to the tree would be his only public event.

School children, and reverential seniors made up most of the crowd, waiting patiently. Most held small US and Japanese flags. The children were from a Japanese Language school here in town. The seniors remembered years of hard work, years of war, years of life's struggles. But today their faces glowed.

The children were learning their family culture - the seniors had lived it. They all wanted to see and to honor the world's only remaining Emperor: Akihito of Japan and his Empress Michiko.

The emperor walked over to where the children waited and spoke to them quietly in Nihongo, the Japanese language that they study. Until MacArthur ruled in Tokyo this man's father and predecessors were considered living Shinto Deities. To receive a medal, a letter, or to be in his presence, was believed to convey a tangible "blessing" or "initiation" similar to those bestowed by Shinto Priests in their magical nature ceremonies. Free of temporal power, the imperial couple now bestows their blessings purely on a basis of heart and spirit.

A child may think of a ruler as able to live according to royal whim, but it seems that these guests of ours live a life of service to others, to an ideal. Protected, feted & honored, they are not free as you and I are simply to stroll unmolested on the beach here at Waikiki but must see it beyond a velvet rope.

All Hawaii seems touched to host these very special guests. They remind us who we are and where many of us came from; that there is more to life than practicality.

As King Canute showed many ages ago, a sovereign's power is limited. He may not order the surf to recede. But the bonds of love, and the tides of gene & blood, flow undimmed even in our 21st Century.

Today was Lahaina Noon here in Honolulu. Twice a year the noonday sun stands directly above, casting no shadow anywhere. In another fifty years, or a hundred, you, me and the Emperor will reside only inside history.

But Lahaina Noon will revisit on it's appointed day, and the shower tree at Kapiolani Park might still be blooming away the Summer.

Perhaps a grandma or grandma will tell their keiki (kid/kids): "That's where I met an Emperor when I was your age."

Yes, these are the good days. May we live them to the full!

Aloha my Friends! Cloudia

Dumb as Rocks?

Aloha!

Welcome to the

Sacred `Aina (land)

of

H A W A I I

Click on photos to enlarge Hawaiians of old understood that nature was not made of mere "things."

They experienced the living spiritual power in all.

And they called it

MANA.

(Many still do)

Today, physicists call it:

the "Unified Field."

Pohaku (rocks) in particular are understood to be powerful and wise beings. Temples, altars, and (often the) offerings upon them are mineral. After all, these islands are volcanic creations. Liquid lava, at war with the sea, raised up our entire archipelago. It was the goddess Pele, dancing as red hot lava, who bequeathed the resulting land to plants, animals, gods, spirits, demi-gods, and (at last) humans who all voyaged here from elsewhere.

Today, a new submarine mount is rising off of the east side of Hawaii Island, continuing the story. It will not break the surface for millennia into the future.

Handsome Specimen


"Geologists have a saying - rocks remember."
Neil Armstrong





Nature's Rock Art

"The call of love sounds very hollow among these immobile rocks."

Gustav Mahler

Stack one upon another and you honor the place.

"If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song."
Carl Perkins




"Naughty" games between foliage and fissure.



"I do not yet know why plants come out of the land or float in streams, or creep on rocks or roll from the sea. I am entranced by the mystery of them, and absorbed by their variety and kinds. Everywhere they are visible yet everywhere occult."
Liberty Hyde Bailey



As the old folks say:

"Here the rocks get (have) faces."




"Since childhood she had walked the Devon rivers with her father looking for flowers
and the nests of birds, passing some rocks and trees as old friends, seeing a Spirit everywhere, gentle in thought to all her eyes beheld."
Henry Williamson

What of YOUR home?
What do the stones sing about in the dark of your night?
Have you heard their chant?



Why not post pictures of the precious gems of your area?

Just throw us a link in "comments!"



Aloha, Friends!

Cloudia

Slack Key Master

Aloha Friend!Welcome back to

W A I K I K I

"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence." Leopold Stokowski

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

Berthold Auerbach

"All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls!"

Thomas Carlyle

"If the King loves music, it is well with the land." Mencius

Whether you realize it or not, you already enjoy Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar.

Hawaii musicians toured the continent back in Territorial days playing their ringing "open tuned" guitars. Soon country musicians, and early jazz practitioners, picked up on the sonics and rhythms incorporating it into their own repertoires.

So some of our favorite sounds today are gifts from the land of Aloha.

Check out Living Treasure, Ledward Kaapana:

Ulupo Part 2

Aloha!

Welcome back to the

Ulupo Hoike Festival!

"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

click on photos to enlarge! Taro Growing in da sun.

"Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."
Benjamin Franklin

Banana Light

"The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum."
Frances Willard

The IMU

where food is buried/cooked among hot stones overnight.

"Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic."
Thomas Szasz

MMMMM!



6 O'clock is lomi salmon, 8 is pureed sweet potato,



10pm is unopened haupia (coconut pudding), midnight is ulu or breadfruit and a chunk of sweet potato, 1'O'clock is raw ahi tuna sashimi (on top of long rice, rice noodles), 3 to 5 O'clock is Kalua pork and turkey from da Imu.


"Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by."



Elizabeth Bishop






Kahuna Lomi - Masters of Healing Massage

"Happiness is nothing but everyday living seen through a veil."



Zora Neale Hurston








A L O H A, FRIENDS! Cloudia

Ulupo Temple

Aloha!

Welcome to the Hawaii

of Old

click on photos to enlargeSaturday I went to pay my respects to our host culture and to a favorite place.

"`Ike: To see, feel, know, greet, recognize, experience, understand, to know sexually, to receive revelations from the gods..."

From Hawaiian Dictionary, Univ of Hawaii Press

A "Heiau" is a temple.

Ulupo is the largest stone platform and temple complex on Oahu. It was a very important place, made of stones carried hand-to-hand from all over our island.

Hundreds of volunteers over the years have helped to clear, restore, and "malama" or care for it.

Hawaiians leaving "Ho`okupu" or offerings

before the tall stone platform

Our guide


What it may have looked like back in the day.



This picture shows the height.

View from the top.

View Across Kawainui "the great water" Marsh, a very important ecosystem that developed in the crater of a huge volcano that formed a good portion of this island thousands of years ago. It is the largest wetland in the Islands of Hawaii and home to many endangered species of birds.

Kupuna, seniors, shared traditional skills.

Here you see keiki learning to make traditional Kapa cloth and to imprint historic patterns upon it - a technique similar to Polynesian tattooing.

Ipu are gourds that play an important role as containers, and as small drums used in chanting, ceremonies, and hula. See the contemporary plastic ipu?

The temple grounds are once again home to numerous Kalo Lo`i,

or taro patches. Hawaiians consider Kalo their older brother. It is their sacred staff of life. Here, a father and son share a quality Saturday on the `Aina, the sacred land of Hawaii

- And everyone enjoyed a traditional lunch.

Men Dance!

Aloha!

Welcome to

H A W A I I

"Dare to Hula, Leave your shame at home!"

Hawaiian Saying

Please click on "Comments" to read my, um, comment ;-)

Waikiki Princess

Aloha and Welcome

to

Olde Waikiki

Ainahau Stream

Hawaii State Archives

“It is the childlike mind that finds the kingdom.”
Charles Fillmore

Statue of Princess Kaiulani & beloved pet.

Copyright © Kathleen Walling Fry

"Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Princess Diana

Princess Kaiulani

"You may be a princess or the richest woman in the world, but you cannot be more than a lady."

Jennie Churchill

The Princess, age 11

“The ''kingdom of Heaven'' is a condition of the heart -not something that comes ''upon the earth'' or ''after death.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

Feeding her peacocks 1898

“A good mind possesses a kingdom”
Seneca

In 1881, Hawaii's King David Kalakaua was the first head of state to meet with Emperor Meiji after the "opening" of Japan. While in Japan, King Kalakaua proposed the betrothal of his 5 year old niece, Princess Victoria Kawekiu Lunaliko Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kaiulani Cleghorn, to an imperial prince.

The Princess was the Hapa-Haole (half caucasian) daughter of Kalakaua's sister Princess Miriam Likelike, and Scottish businessman/horticulturist Archibald Scott Cleghorn, sometime governor of Oahu.

Our legendary royal beauty grew up on 10 choice Waikiki acres that were a baptismal gift from her aunt, Princess Ruth (granddaughter of Kamehameha the Great).

Kaiulani's father built his family a two story home there, planting bountiful gardens of flowers and plants from all over the world, set among lily ponds. In fact, Cleghorn planted the first Banyan tree in Hawaii there.

Kaiulani's mother named the estate "Ainahau" after the stream that watered it.

Today this part of Waikiki displays street signs reading: Ainahau, Cleghorn, and Kaiulani in their honor.

Shortly after her mother passed away (1889) an unhappy 13 year old Princess was sent to England to be educated at the Great Harrowden Hall School for Girls in Northamptonshire. For someday she was expected to become queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii!

Alas, that would never be.

When the student Princess heard news that her aunt, Queen Lydia Liliuokalani, was deposed (1893) she immediately traveled from England to New York City, Boston, and Washington DC to try and save her homeland from annexation by the United States. Despite speeches, negotiations, and even a meeting with President Grover Cleveland, her efforts were in vain.

On July 4, 1894 the Republic of Hawaii was declared to a shocked Honolulu, and our Hawaii became a U.S. Territory with formal annexation by the United States in 1898 .

But the Kingdom of Hawaii continues to live in Hawaiian hearts. Even patriotic local US citizens feel a deep loyalty to this kingdom of hearts, and a heart of love for "our" royalty.

Ainahau was torn down in 1955 to make room for the Princess Kaiulani Hotel and other real estate parcels.

And the princess who would never become queen?

She returned to her beloved Ainahau estate in 1897.

But sadly our beloved citizen-princess Kaiulani died there on March 6, 1899, at the young age of 23. She never married her prince.

They say her beloved peacocks all called out at the moment of her death.

And some even claim to hear them still. . .

on dark Waikiki nights. . . LISTEN!

A L O H A! Cloudia

Clever Bananas

A L O H A!

Welcome

click on photos to enlarge!

Banana Leaf

"Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana."

Bill Gates

YO, Vinny!
They're EVERYWHERE!

"You don't want your credibility banana to turn brown, but you do want to speak out about what you believe in."
Bradley Whitford

"You have to have a certain persona to be a star, you know, and I don't have that. I'm a banana."

Harvey Korman

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

Confucius

Clever Bananas, the portable fruit!

I've tried everything to keep them fresh

when all the time they were ready to go:

simply separate them

and they know that it is time to be portable,

they keep fresh and go along.

Such a companionable fruit!

The bunch of five

like a vegetal hand

reaching out

across the species barrier

as if to shake hands

(That's what they're called:

a "Hand of Bananas"

at least that's what I call them.)

Yo, Yellow!

Time to come along on a little

walk-about.

Apple bananas, growing in da yard,

sweet and custard-y

not store-bought and hard!

So here's to a noble curved companion

No! not THAT one!

the lowly banana

whose "tree" is really a giant grass.

Tomorrow's post:

"I've got a loverly bunch a coconuts!"

A L O H A!

Summer-Addled Cloudia

Company Coming!

Aloha!

Come in!

click on photos to enlarge

"First rate men and women will not and cannot work under conditions fixed by those who are afraid of ideas."
Henry Steele Commanger

"Fire the MBA's and hire a poet!"
P.J. O'Rourke on saving the US auto industry

Princess Kaiulani & Peacock



"There are joys that long to be ours. God sends ten thousand truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, then fly away."
Henry Ward Beecher

In 1881, Hawaii's King David Kalakaua was the first head of state to meet with Emperor Meiji after the opening of Japan.

Kalakaua requested, and Meiji later signed, an agreement (1885) allowing the immigration of Japanese workers to Hawai‘i.

Those issei (first generation) immigrants and their descendants have contributed much to the multicultural society that is Hawai‘i.

During his visit, Kalakaua also proposed betrothing his 5 year old niece Princess Kaiulani (statue above) to Japanese Prince Komatsu Akihito. Though ultimately this came to nothing.

Next week, another Akihito will be visiting us here in Hawaii. Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will be here to observe the 50th anniversary of the local Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation.

"The Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship is awarded to 1) graduate students in Japan for study at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (My alma mater ;-) ; and 2) American graduate students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa for study in Japan who are pursuing a subject area leading to better understanding between Japan and the United States."

From the website; http://www.jashawaii.org/cpas.asp

The royal couple is also slated to lay a wreathe at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. In doing so they will honor many WWII veterans including the grandfather with whom President Barack Obama lived.

The president of Taiwan was here a few days ago. . .

Rumor has it that our president will be visiting in December. . .

We'd better clean up!

A L O H A! Cloudia

bonus pic !

Full Circle Crackers

Aloha Friends!

Come on in...

to

W A I K I K I

click on photos to enlarge!

Flights & Ranks of Cherubs Flying Above

"How can we argue with resilience and good humour , criticise without condemning, stick up for ourselves without betraying the inner vulnerability that perceived the slight in the first place?"

Susie Boyt

All Together at End of Day

"Without Haste, Without Fear. We Will Conquer The World."

Signboard outside of China's National Space Launch Center

Black & Blue

"Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you."

Hafiz

New England's whalers and missionaries were among the first foreigners to influence Hawaii.

There has always been a special relationship between Hawaii and New England that is way beyond the scope of this brief post.

Well Miss Hawaii USA, Aureana Tseu is dancing Hula and sharing lei

in grocery stores throughout the region

to introduce Diamond Bakery's

Saloon Pilot Crackers

to 165 Hannaford supermarkets.

Get out and see her, won't you?

(Carol, Sandy ;-)

The dry crackers

(based, they say, on recipes that sailors relied on back in the days of sail)

will be a perfect complement to

traditional New England Chowders!

Old Trenton Crackers (OTC)

LOOK OUT!

;-)

A L O H A! Cloudia

Beach Stroll Sunday

Notice: Blogger is not updating this blog in blogger dashboards & readers!!!!!

PLEASE check back daily

OK?

;-)

Aloha!

It's

Sunday Morning in

W A I K I K I

Click on this maginificent TED TRIMMER photo to enlarge! (c)

"Truth is stranger than fiction."

Lord Byron

Early morning strolls reveal treasures like these colorful, wet,

beach stones. Trimmer (c)

High South Shore Surf "harvests" coral heads onto the beach





Anyone, any situation, is bearable once you accept it as it is;

And the road to hell is paved with false dichotomies. . .


A L O H A, Cloudia

Go For Broke

Aloha!

Welcome to Waikiki

on July 4th!

Click on photos to enlarge! The wild blue yonder

"There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified and new prejudices to be opposed."
Samuel Johnson

Jean

"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

Charles DuBois

William H. Holloman III

"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less."

General Eric Shinseki

Today, in honor of July 4th, I re-publish this post about real heroes. Thank you for visiting. Your visits & comments make my day!

*Happy Birthday USA*

Cloudia

You friends who often visit "Da Spiral" know that we like to salute unheralded heroes of everyday life. Heck, I've seen real courage in many of your blogs. But every so often there are Heroes, capitol "H" who strap it on and fly into the teeth of mortal combat, or who put their very lives on the line to say "No" to denigration, unfairness, and abuse. Sometimes extraordinary people are even called upon to face two Goliaths at once.

Today's post is dedicated to two very special groups of such human beings. Please come meet them!

Last September 30th, a few such surviving heroes were honored at Honolulu's Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific by Kauai boy General Eric Shinseki. (The general has since been appointed to lead our nation's veterans affairs by the new president.)

The elderly men that he honored on that day, largely Hawaii born and bred, had served in the famed 442nd & 100th segregated combat units of WWII. They had been the “Go for Broke” Japanese-American soldiers who fought in the toughest European battles of that war, and usually against superior numbers. History remembered, and history written, both tell how they were openly considered expendable because of their race. This was certainly not a surprise to them in their uphill fight for dignity. They all had family in US internment camps, even as German-Americans and Italian-Americans remained in their own homes. Nevertheless these aging men, in their youth answered the call to arms on behalf of the nation that detained their parents.

They are military legend for having saved 230 Texans (the famous “lost” regiment”) at the cost of 400 of their own, among numerous other documented acts of extreme heroism. These men won more decorations, more purple hearts, more medals of honor, than any unit of comparable size in the history of the US Army.

Every day in Honolulu we pass by these neighbors on our streets and in the aisles at Longs Drugs, only too aware that there are ever fewer and fewer of them. In my opinion they are among the greatest of the greatest generation, and what these men did will never be forgotten. . . As President Truman said of them at war's end: "You fought two enemies, the nazis and prejudice. And you have won."

So who could walk alongside such people?

Perhaps it would be the man I had the privilege to meet the other evening. He is William H. Holloman III, one of the justly famed Tuskegee Airmen. But he told me simply to call him "Bill." I was beyond thrilled to sit a spell with Bill and his lovely wife Jean to talk story. It's not every day that one gets to meet such a larger than life figure usually read about in books or admired in documentaries

At a time when "scientists" had told the US Congress that African-Americans had less intelligence and flying aptitude "than monkeys" these young men rose to the challenge of excellence while carrying social and cultural burdens we can scarcely credit today a mere 60 - 70 years later. Through dignity, courage, and sheer ability, they proved denigration a damned lie.

They flew like eagles! And like the Japanese-American combat veterans of Hawaii they came home to build lives of full citizenship earned in blood. Mr. Holloman, whose father might have served the railroad as a Pullman porter - but never an engineer, retired after many years of service as an airline pilot and aviation consultant.

"The Germans shot my black ass down! But they knew all about us, and they treated us with proper military respect. Then I came home and had to ride in the back of the bus." one of these vets has said.

Unfortunately the photo above caught Mr. Holloman with his eyes closed, depriving you of his most strikingly handsome light eyes! But one doesn't ask a legend to stand a second time. And I who religiously avoid publishing photos of myself am proudly shown with him!

A L O H A! Cloudia

First Crush

Aloha & Welcome

to

WAIKIKI

click on photos to enlarge

Early loves stay with us forever. . .

“No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?”

Albert Einstein

You were my first crush....I was SO young!

You were still running around with that short guy

in white back then.

We lost touch. . . you haven't been in town for 10 years. . .

Now You're Back!

You still look great.

I see you're traveling with two boy toys now.

Crowds still adore you.

Glances turn your way wherever you go.





But at least I have this memento of our love. . .



Aloha ha ha Cloudia

Diverse Hawaii: Islam Day

Aloha!

Welcome Back to

W A I K I K I

"To understand Barack, you have to understand the Hawaii he grew up in."

Michelle Obama

“To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.”

Charles "the Great" de Montesquieu

“I believe in the brotherhood of all men, but I don't believe in wasting brotherhood on anyone who doesn't want to practice it with me. Brotherhood is a two-way street.”
Malcolm X

“Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. Love others as well as you love yourself.”

Jesus

“I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”
Elizabeth II



“Brotherhood is not just a Bible word. Out of comradeship can come and will come the happy life for all.”
Heywood C. Broun

Hawaii people pride ourselves on our Aloha Spirit by which many cultures share these tiny islands amicably. We eat each others foods, use each others languages in our pidgin, observe each others holidays, and our island habit of intermarriage was a "problem" for some when Hawaii statehood was making it's way through the US Senate.



Yes, there is something alive here that turned me from a "get out of my way!" East Coast person into a much more patient driver and citizen. Tolerance is a nice, safe concept when living as a majority person. It is something else entirely when you have neighbors, co-workers, and even, perhaps, a boss from a very different culture from your own. Unexamined assumptions on both sides can cause very interesting issues to arise. I know that I am a better person for these sorts of life experiences.

And here we celebrate everything!


The Hawaii State Legislature has even provided official recognition to various days with religious connections:

Asian Lunar New Year Commemoration Week
Bodhi Day
Buddha Day
Baha'i New Year's Day
Christmas*
Confucius Day**
Father Damien De Veuster Day
Good Friday*
Islam Day**
Makahiki Commemoration Day

[* Official state holidays
** Recognized by resolution, not in Hawaii law]

And this doesn't include Mayoral and Gubernatorial proclamations honoring Israeli Independence Day and the like.

The coming weekend will find me celebrating Korean culture at a festival here in Waikiki, and this blog is full of my exploits enjoying Chinese New Year, Shinto ceremonies, and Makahiki Season (Hawaiian New Year).

Shall we all sing "Kumbayah" now?

Not yet!

If exclamation points appeared over your head when you read "Islam Day" you are not alone.

According to the Honolulu Star Bulletin of May 15:

"Muslims are a tiny minority in Hawaii, roughly 4,000 residents, but they feel welcome here, said Hakim Ouansafi, chairman of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, who asked (State Senator) Berg to introduce the (Islam Day) resolution.
"Fortunately for us, we're inundated with calls of support and encouragement, not just now, but after 9/11," he said. "This is the Aloha State. We live together, respect each other, love each other. We know that no people should be judged based on the actions of a few."
The terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks have continued bombing campaigns in Muslim countries, he noted. "It's a common enemy, and it's killing more Muslims than non-Muslims," Ouansafi said. "The Pakistan army is in full war against the terrorists on behalf of the world."
He said the Hawaii Legislature's move is helping build a bridge to Muslims, generating positive comments about America from viewers and readers of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, major Arabic-language news organizations.
"It's reaching the far, far corners of the world in a positive manner," he said. "The legislators have done in one resolution more to plant seeds of understanding than anyone could dream."

But leave it to 2 of our notorious republican senators to begin foaming at the mouth and spouting absurdities that show the very NEED for such a non-religious day to learn more about our neighbors' culture. Once Fox (Faux) News covered the story in their trademark "even & balanced" fashion there were calls to State tourism officials threatening to cancel travel plans. Lucky for us, I thought, that those folks are staying away. They should perhaps vacation in the colonial 19th Century, eh? All the "different" people here might upset their mind-set! LOL.

Though Good Friday is an official paid State holiday here, Islam Day (which mandated no official observance) was denied on the basis of the "wall of separation between church & state" that Jefferson wrote about.

Today I was at an early morning meeting where Mr. Ouansafi and a lawyer from the ACLU presented their points of view. The ACLU had testified against the senate resolution on the basis of the wall of separation while ignoring the Good Friday holiday as "before my time."

The law really IS an ass!

Hakim told us that Muslim media throughout the world carried the story of Hawaii's attempt to honor their culture and that it was very positive coverage despite the ultimate outcome. (No Islam Day) One writer in Saudi Arabia even proposed that his own country establish a "Christian Day!"

This is the power of Aloha.

Even when it is denied by misguided locals, it still permeates our culture here, thanks to our host Hawaiian culture.

I admit to being reflexively wary of Muslims and their culture. Visiting Chicago on business a few years back, I was involuntarily shocked that everyone from my taxi driver to the toll booth person was greeting with a Salam Alaikum. Did they look down on me as a woman? What would they think if they thought of me as Jewish? It's very uncomfortable supposing that others hate you without knowing you. I suppose that was Hakim's intention behind Islam Day: more mutual understanding here in the isles.

Today I listened to a leader of Hawaii's Muslim community and heard a brother speaking.

A L O H A ? Cloudia

Just Stop And Take A Breath

Aloha!

Thanks for stopping by

WAIKIKI

Today!

Stop for a moment...

Take a breath...
...Then take another...

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."
- William James

"Progress is like walking on a rolling barrel."
- Robert Frost













"Sometimes the first duty of intelligent persons is the restatement of the obvious."

- George Orwell

As children we were pushed to perform; and so most of us have internalized the habit of over-riding our innate temperment. We are strangers to ourselves; never having learned to know, value, and work along with our natural inclinations. . . our GIFTS! That's why life can seem like a "to do" list instead of a pleasure. No wonder we're often exhausted. . . It is the very thing that we seek to be rid of, that thing we are ashamed of, that is calling us back to the path of healing, to our sweet, original selves. If we simply stop running. If we look at it and bear with it patiently. . . treasure will emerge. . . the treasure of your unique nature. . .

A L O H A ! cloudia