Today the Carp Fly over Honolulu! “Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable."
Plato
Hawaiian Skies"Einstein was a man who could ask immensely simple questions. And what his work showed is that when the answers are simple too, then you can hear God thinking."
Jacob Bronowski
A volunteer serenades visitors to Queen's Medical Center"It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it."
Jacob Bronowski
Punchbowl Crater Through a Window"Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light."
Aloha & Welcome to May fifth, Tango-no-sekku, the Japanese Boy's Day Festival that is also celebrated here in Hawaii. The 5th day of the 5th month has been the day to celebrate boys for centuries. Tango-no-sekku means: "First Day of the Horse" because the strength, stamina, and courage of horses symbolize masculine qualities that boys should emulate.
Another animal associated with boy's day is the carp. This powerful and determined fish is also regarded as a fitting example for boys. Dr. Freud might point out that the carp itself, long, cylindrical, and bold is a fitting representation of the most fundamental badge of manhood.
Girl's Day is celebrated with the display of dolls. Boy's day, too, has it's own characteristic dolls: armored samurai warriors; nonetheless, it is the colorful carp banners (koi-nobori) one for every boy in the family, flown from bamboo poles outside the home, that are the overriding visual characteristic of the holiday. The largest carp honors the oldest son, the smallest, the youngest.
Today, in Japan, May fifth is celebrated as Children's Day. But here in Hawaii we keep many old customs that the plantation workers brought with them. They intended to maintain their ethnic identities, but the magic of Hawaii has painted most every imported custom with our own unique qualities. So let's celebrate boys, carp, AND girls, as we continue to appreciate everything that makes our island home
unique.
A L O H A! Cloudia
16 comments:
Love your flying fish and "UFO."
In Israel if you say carp, the first reaction would be gefilte fish. Thanks for slowly but surely training me to think also in Hawaiian ways.
Happy Boys Day to all your island boys and to all my grandkids. Aloha.
What wonderful customs, and so meaningful to learn. You've got wispy clouds today! A person could be almost healed being greeted like that at Queen's Med Ctr. Mahalo for sharing your world. DrumMajor
...The boy inside the man will celebrate today, if for no other reason than because he still can.
Love the images. Really brings back some great memories
Fascinating stuff, glorious pix . Aloha!
That's really interesting about the holidays. And I loved the window UFO!!
Nice to learn that bit of information-- and to see the beautiful cloud photo. Really enjoyed the Plato quote too. My nickname for my 4-year-old grandson is The Boy.
Happy May Day
I thought I was seeing things when I noticed the flying saucer! Thanks for clarifying. :)
And a very happy Cinco de Mayo...er Boyo to you too!
Very funny about the flying saucer. ;-)
Love those Bronowski quotes. Wonderful. I hope you are having a joyful day. Sounds like a great celebration.
There is a park on the very western edge of Pennsylvania--where it touches Ohio, but above where the three states --Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia--come together--that's greatest claim to fame is "the place where ducks walk on carp." It's true. I've been there. It's where carp are farmed. It's truly an amazing site. There's a dam, and all the large carp congregate there. Ducks come there. I don't know why. But they do walk across the water on the back of carp. That can be a good image or a bad inmage for the symbol of carp repesenting boys. (think of football) I take it as a powerful, yet sad image.
Aloha, Cloudia.
Wonderful traditions, great post Cloudia. Aloha my friend.
I love so much your Hawaïan skies !
Specially with a flying saucer !!!
Always enjoy the beautiful pictures Cloudia! Thanks for sharing!!!
Oh! KOINOBORI, or carp lags in a paradise.
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