for whom the pale moon gleams

Warm Aloha Welcome to

Y O U

"Ask not what tomorrow may bring,

 but count as blessing

 every day that fate allows you."

~Horace 64 B.C.

"We can't stop all the evil in the world,

but we have total control

over how we treat each other."

President Obama

“We are the music makers,

 and we are the dreamers of the dream.

 Wandering by lone sea breakers,

 and sitting by desolate streams.

 World losers and world forsakers,

 for whom the pale moon gleams.

 Yet we are movers and the shakers

 of the world forever it seems.”

 Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy 

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Thanks for looking in!

Your visits & comments

        make my day :) cloudia

Grateful Hog

Aloha Pal!            

Glad to See You :)

"This is the highest form of human intelligence,

 to observe yourself without judgement. "

Deepak Chopra

Don't worry about the difficulty
of loving everyone;
Just love each one
at a time.

"We can't always do great things,
but we can do simple things
with great love."


Mother Teresa

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The population of Africa's Mountain gorillas
has risen a remarkable
26% in recent years.

Home prices in Hawaii have risen just over

 100% in ten years.

As of January first, no fishing is allowed in Waikiki

 so that nature may recover for one year.

Kilauea volcano on the Big Island called HAWAII

 has been erupting for some 28 years;

The longest ongoing eruption any where on our planet. One more home (built atop an older flow - duh!)

is threatened by the pouring hot lava.

Skies over Honolulu have been changeable murals of pewter, blue & salmon

 with showers here and there.

But today is to be unambiguous
BLUE, with Steamy White Clouds,

 and SUN

before another front brings capricious sprites of rain

to our Oahu valleys. 

So today I must be out at play,

getting my fix of the weather

than makes you HIGH.

The Sony Open is in town (FORE!)

Elton John is coming to Maui.

I have my health

and this month's rent.

We pray for dialog to replace demonization

in our US politics.

(We can never do great things-

or even average things well-

if we are always fighting each other.)

I'm Grateful that you came by today!

When we make a point of noticing

and "listing"

the sources of gratitude in our lives

it multiplies to our enrichment.

We are all the descendants of humans

who always saw the lion coming

because they always stayed alert for danger.

That's why we tend to be hyper-vigilant for problems
 and threats.

But Our mental and spiritual survival

now demand
 that we be as alert

for sources of Aloha, Possibility & Healing.

Will you allow yourself off of the treadmill of worry?

Life is never "all sorted out" as long as you live,

and uncompleted tasks will be on your final "list."

So here's permission:

You are done worrying - and you have this day

begun a life of

defiant gratitude. (if you want to)

Notice THAT forces of evil: POW!

So how crazy am I?

      See you in "comments" :) cloudia

Time Lapse

Get That Doggie Shot!

Aloha Friend-

Come Escape to Whimsy 

                               For a While. . .

"I live in that solitude

which is painful in youth,

but delicious 

in the years of maturity."

Einstein

Sometimes you look up, see a great animal pic waiting to be captured,

and you get it in one shot. . . 

This Papier-mâché pup was willing to stand for shot after shot. . .

But sometimes it's a bit more challenging:
You know what to do;
Click on the song, and watch the video-

Liberated Hero

Aloha!

Welcome Back To Waikiki

"He that would make his own liberty secure,

 must guard even his enemy. . ."

  Thomas Paine

"There are moments

 when the will of a handful of free men

 breaks through. . . opens up new roads."

  Charles de Gaulle

"My definition of a free society

 is a society where it is safe

 to be unpopular."

  Adlai Stevenson,

 Detroit 1952

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We've visited my favorite hangout before:

 Hula's Bar & Lei Stand

 in the boutique Waikiki Grand Hotel

steps from the Honolulu Zoo, the beach,

 and Kapiolani Park.

What a view of Diamond Head!

Today I was passing some pleasant time at the bar

with a few of the other regulars.

As always, there were new faces too;

faces who might hail

 from anywhere in the world;

Waikiki's like that.

One new friend told me that he was happy

to have finally found an apartment.

"Here in the Grand?" I asked.

When he answered affirmatively, I asked him

about his line of work.

"I'm in the Navy."

I thought about that for a minute.

Gay or not,

 this guy feels safe living in a building

that flies the rainbow flag

 from a famous Gay bar

on the second floor.

And he feels safe drinking coffee

in here at 11am on a Friday.

"Isn't it great that you are free to live in this building

now that DADT was repealed?"

Silently he lifted his shirt sleeve

revealing a fresh tattoo,

less than a month old.

It read:

12/22/10

The date of repeal.

 Liberation day for this fellow

(and how many others)

who's chosen to serve his country

as a nuclear engineer, lately assigned

to shore duty at Pearl Harbor.

I feel better that he can now concentrate on his important work

and not on concealment.

Fair is fair,

That's what America is supposed to be about

and what makes me happiest of all.

Challenging times? Yes.

But good things are afoot too.

Dare to celebrate.

And don't give up the struggle

for simple humanity.

A TATTOO! Imagine what it means to him.

           What do YOU think? cloudia

Daily Dose

of Sunlight

Aloha, Friend

Come share these skies-

"Just to be is a blessing. 

Just to live is holy."

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Lethargics are to be laid in the light,

 and exposed to the rays of the sun

 for the disease is gloom."

Aretaeus

A Smile

"What’s in a smile? 

A smile is a silent hello. 

It reassures for a short while, 

and in an instant the world’s set aglow." 

Norma Martiri 

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Diamond Head is emerald green.

Raveled clouds,

exultant putti,

sing in serried ranks of color

over the faces of water

hover

too much treasure ever to

 discover;

So delight's enough

(it's got to be)

walking 'neith those magic skies. . .

. . . with these eyes. . . 

          What's giving you magic-pause today? cloudia

Single Digits

Aloha!

Happy to See YOU :)

"The only completely consistent people

are dead."

Aldous Huxley

"The best remedy for a short temper

 is a long walk."

  Jacqueline Schiff

"Until one has loved an animal,

a part of one's soul

remains unawakened."

Anatole France

"Your life is something opaque, not transparent,

 as long as you look at it in an ordinary human way. 

 But if you hold it up against the light of God's goodness,

 it shines and turns transparent, radiant and bright. 

 And then you ask yourself in amazement:

  Is this really my own life I see before me?"

  Albert Schweitzer

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Well, the Chief Executive has finally gone back to work; and so has President Obama.

My (blog invisible) husband surprised me with an extra day of his company on Tuesday

and so today is really and truly the first chance I've had this year to sit quietly alone

and begin anew. . . 

. . . Every culture has a time when routines are up-ended.  We humans seem to need periodic

disruption as much as we do the routines and habits that make a life out of chaos.

The world is made fresh somehow in these single digit days of baby New Year.

Finally the visitors (and husbands!) have been put out on the curb

with the Christmas tree.

All the saving little routines, re-sets, and re-calibrations of our individual lives

come back out of hiding

like timid woodland creatures.

I miss the Presidential family being around,

hearing where they ate

or swam.

And yes, I miss Husby too.

This year I pledge to myself

to stop interpreting everything

and to begin EXPERIENCING,

begin simply Living it.

Sorry for this bumpy ride. . .

I'm out of bloggy practice!

But THIS routine,

quietly sitting with you

sharing our lives-

Here's to US!

You & Me!

Together we share our flimsiest fantasies

and our deepest truths. . .

Strangers, sisters,

brothers,

dear hearts. . . 

Missed Ya!

As the world tries on a new year,

still in the short pants

of single digits,

learning to walk,

to sing-

Something wonderful is happening to us all.

Do You Feel it?

Birth pangs are messy

but what bright day

             is dawning? 

How goes it with YOU?

Tell us in comments :)

                                           fondly, cloudia