Riding with Dad

Aloha & Welcome to Waikiki! The trade winds are back today.

Bliss!

Today I had to drive out to Mapunapuna and pick Dad up.

“Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!”
William Butler Yeats

A "Funny" guy, he could be stressful to others. But I knew we'd have a lovely ride together.

“I think the thing to do is to enjoy the ride while you're on it.”
Johnny Depp

I loved to see him laugh, and I really enjoyed sharing my town, Honolulu, with this "city boy" from the streets of Philadelphia who had lived on the rural Big Island of Hawaii for years. Here he is with Mom enjoying the Lunar New Year's Lion Dance blessing.

“Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”
Franklin P. Jones

So I drove out the H-1 this morning and picked him up.

It was a quiet ride. I did most of the talking.

He didn't criticize my driving, or suggest a better route.

He wasn't preoccupied with a list of "things to be done" and "things to worry about."

We stopped at the drive-through at Wendy's, and parked under a tree while I had lunch. He didn't want anything.

I remembered that some of the best times we ever had were in cars, including those diminutive English Fords he used in his route. He drove through the various ethnic neighborhoods of Philly selling dresses, housewares, and small luxuries to housewives on the installment plan. They bought some, they paid some; Poor Italians, Poles, "Negroes" (as polite folks called them then). He knew every corner in our "city of neighborhoods."

And everybody knew my Dad, albeit under a variety of "street names." I remember:

"Johnny the Dress Man."

for one.

Sometimes, like over winter break from school, I'd ride beside him, piled in with all the "merchandise" and all the notebooks, tools, and empty soda bottles that made up his "office."

My schoolmates remained safely in suburban ignorance, but I knew the grit, cobblestones, trolley tracks, corner "tap rooms" (bars/pubs) factories, and older housing stock of the city." I also knew that everyone was not Caucasian.

At Christmas the housewives clucked over me, and fed me cookies from every culinary tradition in town! Not my favorite Chinatown, though, as that was still a mysterious and impenetrable enigma broached only for "Chinese" food (the nectar of urban life!).

When I saw this exact "salesman dad/ride-along-kid" vignette on-screen in the film "Avalon" I felt as though I was watching a home-movie! The time period, and Baltimore row houses were PERFECT!

Later, Dad got up before dawn to deliver fresh-baked Italian Rolls from the Amoroso factory. This was his transitional period. I remember riding in the big truck, and learning how HEAVY bread could be!

"I wake the birds up every morning," He said, and it was true!

A changing society saw America's cities burst into flaming Summer "race" riots.

It was a far cry from my "Martha & The Vandellas (female vandals?) 'Dancing in the Streets' growing-up years. I was SO proud that they sang "Philadelphia PA now" in the list of places where folks were "dancin` in the streets!"

Now, even we no longer felt safe in certain areas.

Yo, Philly!

I'm very glad I knew that vanishing, blue collar city of breweries and lunch buckets before the decay of the 70's, and subsequent gentrification, changed my grandparent's red brick city forever.

So today I ate "street food" in the car like we always did.

Dad didn't mind.

I thought of all these memories, and more.

There was even a tear shed.

Though the Hawaiian music station was playing on the radio, I seemed to hear DooWop being sung by some kids on a corner somewhere.

My Dad, the poor kid from the streets of West Philly (neighborhoods, corners, high schools are important)

awoke his most recent mornings in sparkling Waikiki.

"Not bad for two kids from the city!" He'd tell Mom.

Last Fall, we watched the Phillies (complete with Hawaii player Shane Victorino!) win the World Series from Mom & Dad's "beach apartment."

After the bread, he got into the janitorial business.

Many were the exhausted ultra-early morning, or ultra-late at night, rides we took through our sleeping city together, surrounded by our mops, and rags, and keys. I still have a proprietary love of buildings that Kona couldn't satisfy. Luckily, my Honolulu has a gracious crop of many storeys and vintages!

Often we'd stop somewhere to grab a bite to eat, as today. I thought of all those rides as I ate: rides to school, to hospital, "down the shore" and even college visits. There were tense rides, and fun rides.

Winter & Summer; youth and middle age.

Today I had my last ride with Dad;

Bringing his ashes home to Mom

and to Waikiki. . .

A L O H A! Cloudia

Simple Happiness

Aloha!




Welcome back to Waikiki!







"Politics is the only business where doing nothing other than making the other guy look bad is an acceptable outcome." - Gov. Mark Warner





"Our happiness comes from simple things like love and friendship , a clear conscience, peaceful mind, a gentle and kindly spirit; a sense of duty and an awareness of beauty. Happiness does not depend on the position we hold, the size of our bank account or whether we live in one room or a mansion.. As someone said, 'Happiness is an inside job.'"


- Rev. Paul Osumi





Feeling grateful to or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.

Christiane Northrup, M.D.





The spiral is the path to wisdom, the place of power in the moment. The Hawaiians called it Manawa Nui, the Great Now. Only the outskirts and outer reaches of the spiral manifest as maze. We must choose to enter, persist, and enter further. Once committed, once inside the journey, we begin to perceive the spiral. . . and to Ride it.





Let go, relax, marinate in stillness . . . out of this, arising will come. Access the ancient intelligence of your body and let your mind idle a while. It NEEDS it.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Because YOU Asked

Aloha!

Welcome back To Waikiki!

"Soft is stronger than hard, water stronger than rock, love stronger than violence." Hermann Hesse

"Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community and sow the seeds of discontent among them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary."

Oscar Wilde

"What do artists, poets, and novelists have in common? The propensity to link seemingly unrelated things. It's called 'metaphor.'"

Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran,

Behavioral Neurologist

Several of you lovely commenters have asked recently about the back-story of our life aboard our 50+ year old, cement & steel, locally built, pinky-stern, cutter-rigged boat. Oh yeah, she's like 47 feet long. People always want to know how long a boat is, just like people who really know nothing about motorcycles always ask: "How many CC's does that thing have?"

Now I sound churlish. Actually I'm gratified that you-all care! So here are a few links to previous posts that will fill you in. . .

http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/01/boat-living.html

http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/03/water-week.html

http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/05/life-aboards.html


A L O H A! Cloudia

MTM: Ala Wai Yacht Harbor

Aloha, Mateys!

Let's Dance!

Kliban Cats (c)



time to relax. . .

Slide Show!

Aloha!

Welcome to my town: The Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor here in Waikiki.

The slide show are pictures I took of our recent inspection-cruise. My house eased out of it's slip, left the harbor, did a sweet pirouette, and returned safely.

As long as we abide by harbor rules and maintain our floating real estate, we can remain here at the border between land and sea. . . at the very edge of Waikiki!

A L O H A! Cloudia

Susan Boyle - ing

Aloha! C'mon in.

Just Duke Kahanamoku dancing with the Queen Mum. He was a poor Hawaiian kid from the Waikiki Neighborhood.

But he grew up to enchant everyone he met.

Consider our friend Susan Boyle

“Normal is in the eye of the beholder.”
Whoopi Goldberg

Can't see these enough, can we?

But where were we. . .

Oh yes, back to average folks. . .

like you and me.

Duke went on to Olympic gold and also introduced the modern world to surfing.

This is his statue, always posing with visitors.

And there are always lei!

And now, let's do talk about our friend Susan, emblem of the moment. She surfed in on the zeitgeist.

At first, she looked like another "meal" for the judges. Someone we the public could pity and feel superior to. (C'mon, this is just you and me being honest. In threatening times like these, it's comforting to realize that we're not QUITE the biggest loser around, isn't it?)

We've all been identifying with the so called "winners" for too long, trying to pass as one of them. But all those formerly "elite" types have been recently un-masked as clue-less haven't they? All those geniuses who broke their glittering toy, the "system" that treated them so very well indeed.

And now, as we're all chastened along with them, and the smoke begins to clear, we look around us with fresh eyes.

And who do we see?

We see Susan Boyle.

We begin, perhaps, to realize the previously unappreciated treasure that resides in the "average" folks all around us. . . in ourselves.

Some spell has been riven. We and our fellow folk are revealed to be the true ground of humanity, the real plot line of the human story.

A bi-racial fellow, raised by a single mom in an apartment, on a tiny island, is now our U.S. President.

Yes, we average losers seem poised and ready to emerge as the "next big thing," changing the game, saving the show.

Just like Susan Boyle

A L O H A! Cloudia

Found: Bush's One Good Thing

Aloha! Come on in.

(click on pictures to enlarge ;-) My house has good lines, eh?

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”

Matsuo Basho

This is Diamond Head Road. See the road sign?

It goes all around the crater and is a favorite "cruising" place to see and be seen. Pop star Rhianna has been seen bicycling here recently. Hope she's feeling better!

Never saw these before!


“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust

the FRESH AIR Fund is a truly worthy effort!

Why not click on the banner?

Tee Hee!

A woman after my own heart;

two words: "Sun Protection."

“They remember me as this shy girl sitting under the table. But they obviously didn't know what was going on in my head.”
Izabella Scorupco

In the final days of his administration, Bush the Younger did something surprising. He declared the pristine Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a Marine National Monument.



This paradise at the far side of our archipelago is called:

Papahanaumokuakea.



Recently NOAA reported that 15 different species of whales, more than expected, frequent the large, watery "park."



80 types of coral, almost half of them found only in Hawaiian waters, also homestead these waters.



Here in Waikiki, with the near shore waters full of cavorting humans, and party boats jostling for sunset views just beyond the reef ,

I like to think of the whales and their buddies

lounging in their own V.I.P. enclave.



Perhaps some day I'll untie from the dock

and sail out to visit them. After all,

I too am found only in Hawaiian waters. . .

Note: My modem self-destructed late Thursday requiring a "swap-out," hence: no Friday post.

Sorry. It's just a tale of two modems, I guess. . . But I'm BACK, Baby!

A L O H A ! Cloudia

Old Days - Old Friends

Aloha

Welcome to Life's Greatest Beach

Walkin' in Waikiki

"Vice is most dangerous when it puts on the garb of virtue."

Danish Proverb

Nephew & Niece

"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

Thomas Jefferson

Shadow Spiders!

"People only see what they are prepared to see."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was normal to us.

Just the way we grew up.

From my earliest days, the world seemed like a place full of friends.

In the fields and woods, the naiads, nymphs, and who-ziss watched us play.

It made me feel safe to know that they were there.

And when we ran back home

the gate god welcomed us;

But kept the wandering hungers outside.

The kitchen god warmed us.

Seemed always so happy to see us,

even when we young neglected

to smear honey

on her mouths.

When we were sick, mama gave us little goddesses to chase the fevers away;

They cuddled in our arms,

and the fairies living in the wreathe above my bed

whispered songs and stories,

watching as I slept.

Then one day they came.

They spoke of love

but with stern faces.

Things we could not see,

or feel,

were the only things that pleased them.

Our simple songs

made them angry.

Our harmless,

homely,

helpful little gods

they treated worse than vermin.

I don't think they liked us very much either,

though they claimed to bring us a gift

from a god.

The way we have always been,

the things that brought us joy

and comfort-

they told us these were

all bad things.

That WE were bad,

but they could make us clean.

I didn't understand.

"Good," they said.

"God's ways are not your ways."

Every pleasant thing they changed.

For our good we must look sad,

and keep quiet now.

But how I miss the singing in the moonlight.

How we all felt one in our song.

And the faces,

friendly, watching over,

are all gone now.

They used to keep

the dreadful and implacable away.

We didn't know then

that it was the

Judgement of God.

So we live with the dread,

the fear,

that they they tell us

is just the beginning

of their wisdom.

But I long to be evil again;

How I miss my friends

the little gods.

Our house,

our village,

feels so empty

now.

Now that we serve big God

so far away in the sky.

Why does he watch us so harshly?

Yes

I miss my ancient

friends.

Amen

A l o h a! Cloudia