Tradition, Wonder & FUN!

Aloha! Welcome!

Click on photos to enlarge

King Kalakaua's coronation pavillion, Iolani Palace, Honolulu

"Hula is the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people."

King Kalakaua

Comfort Sprial's Cousin

“A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril”
Winston Churchill quotes

Distant Cousin Swirl

“We learn simply by the exposure of living, and what we learn most natively is the tradition in which we live.”
David P. Gardner

Come on in, sit down and SHUSH.

Look, the Merrie Monarch is about to begin on TV!

The 46th year of Hula's annual party in Hilo Town, my 22nd watching.

This is the real stuff

the way we do it for ourselves.

To honor Kalakaua the Merrie Monarch

who saved Hula, Chant & so much more

as it trembled on the brink

of nonexistence.

He's still our King,

Some people say.

And the year turns on the weekend after Easter.

It has all led up to this.

The practice, fundraisers, laughter & tears

together in the Halau.

Auntie's gone all gray,

and Uncle George Naope is too frail to dance

while the judges tally on final night.

But I hope the Kumu, the teachers, the "source"

will all dance impromptu that night.

This is a family reunion, after all.

The goddess Pele,

sister Hi`iaka,

and the beloved royals all come

in the chants

and the adornments

red lehua blossoms,

fragrant maile from the uplands.

And when the young men dance

all the ladies squeal with delight

at their sheer manly beauty.

So sit by me

(via the link below)

and eat some kaki mochi.

Get planny grindz

and room fo' you

Brudah, Sistah

here on da floor

before da big screen.

Cause dis weekend

we ALL stay

Local

!

Info, streaming video, Hula Terms Dictionary & MORE here:
http://www.kitv.com/merriemonarch/index.html

A L O H A! Cloudia

Fallow Gal

Aloha Welcome!

Click on photos to enlarge

A biblical Hawaii sunset

“To seek approval is to have no resting place, no sanctuary. Like all judgment, approval encourages a constant striving. It makes us uncertain of who we are and of our true value. Approval cannot be trusted. It can be withdrawn at any time no matter what our track record has been. It is as nourishing of real growth as cotton candy. Yet many of us spend our lives pursuing it.”

Rachel Naomi Remen

Open roof above the central courtyard, Hawaii State Capitol

“Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business."
Tom Robbins

Fallen Pink Lehua Blossom.

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Unknown

Ah! Fertile downtime!

I'm fallow today

allowing subtle energies to trickle down,

to fill up all my empty places

I'm recalling mis-remembered faces

revisiting those inner spaces

until the new spring

burbles forth.

#

Long ago, about a mile or so from where we're sitting, there lived an old Hawaiian couple.

Every morning the husband would hike inland to hunt, while his wife took their calabash gourds to the fresh springs of Mo`ili`ili down towards the shoreline. There she filled them with the day's needed water, carrying them home as the sun reached mid-heaven.

One day the gourds felt particularly heavy.

"Wela i ka la" (Hot, the sun!) she said to herself.

"We are getting old." She told her husband that afternoon when he returned. We have no children. Who will help me carry the water as it grows heavier day by day?

Just then a visitor came by.

"E komo mai" (welcome) they called humbly. "Come into our hale and share our meal."

They didn't recognize Lono, the god of peace and increase. But Lono had heard their worries, and their simple piety had touched his heart.

Striking the dry, rocky soil close by their dwelling

he caused a fresh spring, a puna hou, to gush forth.

Now they could easily grow food close at hand

and water would flow

without labor.

The old couple lived for many more years

always welcoming their many guests

who brought them poi and fish to eat

with warm respect.

And the punahou never ran dry;

In fact it still murmurs today on the campus of the Punahou School; Alma Mater of President Barack Obama.

A L O H A, Cloudia

Then They Ate It

Aloha! Welcome! Click on photos to enlarge. . .Meet Megamouth

"Where facts are few, experts are many."
Donald R. Gannon

Hawaiian Skies are Eloquent

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."
Oscar Levant

The great neighborhood rivalry

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Yogi Berra

In Roman times, a piece of amber the size of your thumb could buy a slave.

"I would rather not know how to write and have something to say than know how to write and have nothing to say."
Enrique Tessieri

In 1976 a large, previously unknown fish appeared in Hawaiian waters. It defied classification, so scientists conveniently invented a brand new family and genus of sharks. The gentle filter-feeder's main feature (and aren't ALL labels just stereotypes?) was a W I D E blubbery mouth, so meet Mega Mouth Shark 01.

In the past 33 years, only 39 others have been encountered. Until last month. . .

People in the so called "third world" have a pragmatic joie de vivre that modern wage-slavery has all but eradicated in more "developed" places. This was part of my thinking when my life blew up and I chose to take my chances in Hawaii.

I had read something by Mark Twain, a great lover of these islands, to the effect that if the malihini (new comer) has no money that they can just "...herd with the natives."

Of course, in today's Hawaii (alas) that is called "being homeless." But I digress. . .

Fishermen in the Philippines could barely believe their good fortune when they discovered a 13-foot long, 1,100 pound megamouth struggling in their net off Burias island. Mabuhay, Megamouth number 41!

The shark was brought to the village of Donsol (185 miles southeast of Manila) in Sorsogon province, where local officials documented and photographed the catch.

The fishermen kindly allowed investigators to sample the shark's stomach contents which revealed that it had been browsing on shrimp larvae. They also listened politely to requests for the "specimen" before doing the entirely reasonable thing. . .

They ate it.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Gym of the Spirit

ALOHA! WELCOME!

Click on photos to enlarge "All fantasy should have a solid base in reality."

Max Beerbohm

"We have no reliable guarantee that the afterlife will be any less exasperating than this one, have we?" Noel Coward


"Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe."
Alan Watts




Our adversary
(by the grace of God)
changes tactics
as we grow and change.



When it grows too easy
to overcome some challenge
the challenges
shift.



One strength has been gained
now to grow another.
The very definition
of a work-out.



The "devil"
is the dead weight that we lift.
But it is not bodily muscles
that we are developing.

My Town Monday: Firefighting Kings

Alexander Joy Catrwright,

Honolulu Firefighter and the "Father of Baseball"

Guardians hover nearby

“Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world”
The Talmud

Honolulu Fire Department's HQ & Museum


“It's true that heroes are inspiring, but mustn't they also do some rescuing if they are to be worthy of their name? Would Wonder Woman matter if she only sent commiserating telegrams to the distressed?”
Jeanette Winterson

Only our fire trucks arrive with a surfboard for rescues!


“We have been surfing our whole lives, so protecting the oceans and beaches is especially important to us. It is our honor and privilege to participate in such a worthy cause.”
Brandon Boyd

The first HFD Central Station/HQ opened on this Beretania St. site on December 1, 1897. The art deco replacement above opened in 1935. These aluminium doors came from the California Artistic Metal & Wire Company and cost $9,960.





January 11th, 1851 is considered the birthday of the Honolulu Fire Department (H F D). King Kamehameha III, whose decree was published on that day, was known to role up his sleeves alongside volunteer firefighters. They wore red shirts back then.



King Kalakaua, the "Merrie Monarch" was Himself the first secretary of Honolulu's Number 4 Engine Company during the 1880's. And Alexander Joy Cartwright (the father of baseball!) was appointed HFD's first Chief Engineer. He later rose to Department Chief through election, never returned to his native New York, and is buried here in Honolulu.



The "Protection Hook & Ladder Company" (today's Company Number 4) was founded in September of 1857 and staffed entirely by Hawaiians. China Engine Company Number 5 (January 1861) consisted of Chinese firefighters.



Each firehouse was an important part of it's immediate neighborhood, and of the life of the city - even politically. Maybe Cartwright brought a little "Tammany Hall" politics with him from New York.



Every February, the fire companies held street parades that showcased their "modern" equipment.



April 19, 1886 saw the Great Chinatown Fire which gobbled up many Honolulu city blocks. King Kalakaua himself helped to fight that one, inspiring everyone by his conduct on that day. In May of that year, the King signed our first building ordinances to help prevent future conflagrations. (He later threw the switch for Honolulu's first public electric lights in 1888, and installed telephones in Iolani Palace.)



On December 7, 1941 two HFD captains, John Carreira and Thomas S. Macy, were killed in the Pearl Harbor attack along with hose-man Harry T.L. Pang as HFD battled flames at Hickam Airfield. Six firefighters wounded in the attack received Purple Heart medals from the Territory's Military (Martial Law) Governor. They were the only civilian fire fighters ever awarded this military honor.





In June of 1946 the Army and Navy established a Mutual Aid Agreement with HFD to assist in the fighting of fires anywhere on the island. These agencies continue to cooperate.



Today Honolulu enjoys the protection of a modern HFD that flies it's own Helecopter and operates the fireboat "Moku Ahi."


So let's salute the people of the Honolulu Fire Department; The only department in the USA founded by Royalty, that grew up in a Territory, and flourishes today in a modern city.


Thank you, HFD.


And thank each of YOU for visiting my town today!

A L O H A! Cloudia

The First Day Of

Click on photos to enlarge! "Our true nature is not some ideal that we have to live up to. It's who we are right now, and that's what we can make friends with and celebrate."

K.D. Singh

"The one who claims knowledge, has no knowledge; but the person who claims nothing, knows."

Hindu Scripture

"If you want to become whole,

let yourself be partial.

If you want to become straight,

let yourself be crooked.

If you want to become full,

let yourself be empty.

If you want to be reborn,

let yourself die.

If you want to be given everything,

give everything up."

Tao Te Ching,

S. Mitchell translation

A L O H A!

Cloudia

No Tourists

Big Taro Leaves

the Hawaiian "staff of life"

"What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?"

Lin Yutang

Birds in Frame!

"How strange that Nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude!"

Emily Dickinson, letter to Mrs. J.S. Cooper, 1880

Lum Yip Kee & Sky

"If you cannot be a poet, be the poem."

David Carradine

No Tourists in Town!

That's right. We call them "visitors" as in Hawaii Visitors Bureau.

I've always liked that old fashioned way of thinking about folks from elsewhere. It speaks of our local pride, identification with our island home & our traditional spirit of welcome. Yes, they all manage to hang on somehow – even in our topsy-turvy day.

It's called Aloha!

Yes, the real Waikiki, the genuine Hawaii, they do still exist.

Some visitors are fooled by our modern tempo and amenities, but for those with a heart to see more deeply, there is authenticity.

The key (as always) to finding it, is to bring your own along with you. . .

Actually, I've made my peace with tourism.

It used to bother me to see visitors shopping at chain stores, eating in chain restaurants, spending their days on

"Activities"

and never tasting, or even glimpsing,

the authentic treasures

that I love about my

unique Honolulu Town.

Now I realize that "authentic experience" is not the same

for everyone.

Some folks just want to lie on a beach,

and have drinks with umbrellas in them.

That's cool.

I've stopped judging them

or wondering at their

in-curiosity.

To each their own!

And I'm certainly grateful to each one who does visit us.

But if you want living history,

a wide palate of food choices,

people & places unique in all the world,

then you will find all that here in Honolulu

and MORE.

If you want a package deal,

that product called a

"vacation"

you can find that here

too.

One of the best you ever had!

If you Comfort Spiralers would like to look at some authentic Hawaiian fabrics,

perhaps to make some lovely Spring/Summer clothes,

visit this website for Fabric Mart.

Check out their hula implements too!

http://www.fmart.com/

The world's premier Hula event,

the Merrie Monarch Festival,

begins next week

for the 45th year.

And many of the dancers will be clad in Fabric Mart patterns!

But more about that laters!

(Including information about watching it on line!)

Aloha to each of YOU

my friends

!