Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Birds of the Imagination

A  L  O  H  A   from   Honolulu!
 In Such a Place as This

" Art enables us to 
find ourselves and 
lose ourselves 
at the same time. "
Thomas Merton

" Pictures must not 
be too picturesque. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson









 Queen of Hearts?

“ Jo had learned that
 hearts, like flowers, 
cannot be rudely handled,
 but must open naturally…” 
                     Louisa May Alcott












Hawaiian name, KOLEA
[KO-LAY-AH,
   its call in flight]

 Ai no ke kolea a momona hoi i Kahiki
 Hawaiian proverb

'EATS a lot, the kolea,
till fat and sleek,
then rows for
it's old home.'
[my literal translation]


These birds Summer on the 
treeless tundra of western Alaska
 til late August when they depart for Hawaii 
migrating at altitudes up to 20,000 feet. 

They are thought to average 
fifty miles per hour.

 Most birds who migrate over 
vast oceans soar and glide.
The Kolea can do neither 
but must continuously 
beat wings twice per second
 for about fifty hours 
over some 2,500 miles 
of open Pacific!
No, they do not swim
or rest on the water-
Do you know of a bird 
who works harder to migrate?



 "Imagine that flight you made 
from L.A. to Honolulu—
only without the plane." 

Dr. Oscar "Wally" Johnson, 
 Montana State University
ornithologist 



Linking to


Thank YOU
for making the flight!
              Warmly, cloudia