Good Lives On

A  L  O  H  A  !

" To find the universal elements enough;

to find the air and the water exhilarating;

 to be refreshed by a morning walk
or an evening saunter; 

to be thrilled by the stars at night;

 to be elated over a bird’s nest
or a wildflower in spring –

 these are some of the rewards
of the simple life. "

John Burroughs

Air Force One; President Aboard

" The ultimate measure of a man 

is not where he stands

in moments of comfort,
 but where he stands 

at times of challenge

and controversy. "

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happy 175th Birthday King David Kalakaua
  Born on November 16, 1836

  "although darker than a mulatto,

he has an excellent English education

& in manners

is an accomplished gentleman"

 Samuel Clemens

(Mark Twain)

describing the King, in a letter to his mother and sister.

(Letters, Volume 1, p. 394). 

 Died in San Francisco 

on January 20, 1891.

 

 

 

“Tell my people I tried.”

  His final words

“ Love is a promise,

love is a souvenir,

once given never forgotten,

never let it disappear. "

 

John Lennon

Queen Kapiolani
Wife of Kalakaua, Queen Consort of the Hawaiian Isles
 Tenure 12 February 1874 - 20 January 1891


Born, Hilo  December 31, 1834
Died, Waikiki June 24 1899
(age 64)

   > < } } ( ° >

128 years ago this month,

on November 8, 1883,

six Sisters

of the Third Order of St. Francis

landed here in Honolulu.

The King & Queen welcomed them.

The sisters had come

to nurse the growing number

of isle patients

that were still called

'Lepers' in those days.

50 or more religious communities

  had been approached,

only these Sisters

from Syracuse New York

were willing to come.

Tears streaming down her face,

Queen Kapiolani spoke for herself,

 for King Kalakaua,

and for her people

when she said:

"You have left your home

to come to these far away islands

to care for my poor

afflicted children.

I shall never forget you,

and you are always my sisters. "

The Sisters' leader

Mother Marianne Cope

relieved Saint Damien on his death bed

and carried on leadership
of the quarantine community 

on Molokai's Kalaupapa peninsula 

for 27 years till her own death

in 1918.

The Sisters of Saint Francis

(and of the Queen)

are still serving these islands

through schools they founded.

The hospitals they launched 

and ran for years

are now privately operated. 

Perhaps the BEST novel I ever read,

 MOLOKAI

by Alan Brennert

will immerse you

in these times and places

that seem not that long ago

to us here in Hawaii.

My Review is HERE

Incidentally, 

the hospital where President Obama was born

here in Honolulu

is called

Kapiolani Medical Center

Long live the nobility of the human soul !

Thanks for bringing YOURS here

                                                                                              Warmly, cloudia

Watching the Wheels

Aloha 

& Welcome to My Waikiki. . .

"Remember

not only to say the right thing

in the right place,

but

to leave unsaid

the wrong thing

at the tempting moment."

Ben Franklin

 Sometimes

we feel hemmed in,

like we've come to a dead

 end.

 But a shift in perspective,

perhaps

a glance over or around the obstacle. . . 

Just for today

I will be happy.

Everywhere I go

there are people to love

including myself.

 ><>

So many wonderful blogs!

There is just NO way I can visit each of you,

my favorites,

as often as I wish. . .

I hope you understand. . .

You enrich my life

and are much appreciated!

<><

"Life is what happens while you are making other plans."

I had studied till I could study no more.

Now I just had to get all that information

intact to the midterm examinations.

Nothing could be permitted to disturb

my edifice of facts;

Tomorrow I would write my essays

in that blue book

proving my comprehension.

Now I must sleep.

Just a few moments of music.

I turned the radio on.

"We repeat: John Lennon has been shot in New York.

No reports yet on his condition."

Suddenly

my exams seemed trivial.

How can I explain?

Fortunately, I don't really need to:

his lyrical genius

and his brilliant irreverence

touched the whole world.

For us,

his voice was the sound

of our growing up:

Pop that changed the sound of the world.

Explorations in consciousness.

A plea for PEACE.

Music and ideas

that expanded with OUR consciousness.

I loved John.

Today would have been his 70th birthday.

My path has not always made sense to those around me,

or even to myself;

but it has been 

honest as it has been

idiosyncratic.

John modelled the courage

to follow your personal genius,

to follow your heart

to give yourself fully

to that which you love.

I have always loved the song below

and identified with it.

All I am saying

is give peace with yourself

a chance.

Make it count.

Because John was right:

Life IS what happens

while we make other plans.

We make plans

and God laughs.

So laugh along.

Cry some too. . .

Thanks for being

my friend!  cloudia 

Home Town Hero

Aloha, Friend!
Welcome to Thursday
in
Waikiki


click on the photos to capture the rich juices

When we first moved to Hawaii
we enjoyed watching Sumo wrestling on TV.
Now it's pay-per-view (and I ain't paying) but it was very popular here, especially in the 90s because a few local boys made it to Yokozuna status. Perhaps the most popular was Konishiki,
since retired and returned to Oahu.
Above is a Honolulu restaurant that appeals to locals and Japanese visitors alike.

What comes to mind when you hear the term: "Professional Athlete?"
Here is a picture of the beloved sports hero at the height of his career.

Recently he appeared on morning TV (at left, above).
He has lost a lot of weight, now that his career doesn't require him
to shove other giants out of the circle.
Here is Bruddah IZ' tribute in song to the Hawaii Sumotri:



And here is a short video of a Sumo match:



ALOHA, Sports Fans! cloudia

Here Be Giants

A L O H A

& Welcome!

click on photos to enlarge giantsThis is Mount Olomana on Oahu's windward side. Back in the day, Olomana was a giant whose whim & mood were the daily weather for the people who lived in his area of influence. One day a bigger giant appeared who used his weapon to slice the bully Olomana from the top of his head almost in half. Olomana instantly turned into a mountain as he fell, hence the twin peaks that seem to be rotating apart.

“There were giants in the earth in those days. . . ”
Bible

Today, Olomana is joined on our island by

a convention of giants.

An Antonov 225 is here loading up with emergency supplies for ravaged Samoa. These planes are the largest in the world!

“The grim fact is that we prepare for war like precocious giants, and for peace like retarded pygmies.”
Lester B. Pearson

The USS Ronald Reagan is here too with it's battle group after deployment off the Horn of Africa. 80 aircraft call the ship their home. She can distill 400,000 gallons of fresh water from the sea every day- enough for 2,000 homes! Her nuclear reactors could power a good chunk of our power grid too, I think. Today we will see her sailors all over Waikiki.



“The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Our is a world of nuclear giants
and ethical infants.”
Omar Bradley


And the USS Missouri is being moved into Pearl Harbor's dry dock! Above you see the behemoth rounding Diamond Head the last time she moved. Read more about the move itself at this post:

http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/09/battleship.html



“When the war of the giants is over
the wars of the pygmies will begin.”
Winston Churchill


There are many kinds of giants. Some can be seen across the horizon of history, some block out the sky as they pass.








There are giants who look just like average people - until you get to know them and to understand their affects on others.






Here's to the giants, big & small!
You might even be one...

In fact, I KNOW
that many of
Y O U
are
!






A L O H A & Giant Hugs. . . Cloudia