Face

 A  L  O  H  A !

" To see a world 

in a grain of sand 

and heaven in a wild flower 

Hold infinity

 in the palms of your hand
and eternity

 in an hour. "

 
William Blake

"  It is always our own self 

that we find

 at the end of the journey.

 The sooner we face that self,

 the better.  "

Ella Maillart

" He had a face like a blessing.  "

 

Miguel de Cervantes

“You are my Companion; 

You are my Best Friend. 

You are my Beloved;

 I am in love with You. 

 

 

You are my honor; 

 You are my decoration.

 

 Without You, I cannot survive,

 even for an instant.”

 

 Sri Guru Granth Sahib 

Thank YOU

for showing

 YOUr face

here !

Warmly, cloudia 

Race you to comments!

Landing in Honolulu-

- Buckle UP!

Wealth and Theft

A L O H A !

Clicking on the Photos is Encouraged

Sittin` by the dock of the Bay

"The rich exist for the sake of the poor,

 but the poor exist 

for the salvation of the rich"

  " -poverty serves us better than wealth, 

especially since wealth becomes 

an obstacle

 even for those who do not devote themselves to it. 

Yet, when we must put aside our wrath, 

quench our envy, 

soften our anger, 

offer our prayers,

 and show a disposition

 which is reasonable, 

mild, kindly, and loving,

 how could poverty stand in our way?

"It is a better thing to feed the hungry 

than to raise the dead"

 St. John Chrysostom

 Magic Island shows her magic in this shot by Ted Trimmer

"Unless we look at a person 

and see the beauty

 there is in this person,

 we can contribute nothing to him. 

One does not help a person

 by discerning what is wrong, 

what is ugly, 

what is distorted. 

Christ looked at everyone he met,

 at the prostitute,

 at the thief,

 and saw the beauty hidden there. 

Perhaps it was distorted, 

perhaps damaged,

 but it was beauty none the less, 

and what he did 

was to call out this beauty." 

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Back in the day, Saturday Night may have meant a gig on my flute

" For most people, 

when they see someone in hunger, 

chronic illness, 

and the extremes of misfortune, 

do not even allow him a good reputation 

but judge his life by his troubles,

 and think that he is surely in such misery 

because of wickedness." 

St. John Chrysostom 

(+ 407 A.D) On Wealth and Poverty

 

I like to listen to the music in my head.  You?

“The bread which you do not use

 is the bread of the hungry; 

the garment hanging in your wardrobe

 is the garment of him who is naked;

 the shoes that you do not wear 

are the shoes of the one who is barefoot;

 the money that you keep locked away

 is the money of the poor;

 the acts of charity

 that you do not perform

 are so many injustices

 that you commit.”

 St. Basil the Great

 “- actually, it’s the upper-class people

 that are less likely to see

 that people around them need help —

 and therefore act unethically.”

 Scott Wiltermuth, 

 Social Status  Researcher,

USC. Marshall School of Business

" Human beings have accumulated

 in their coffers gold and silver,

 clothes more sumptuous than useful,

 diamonds and other objects

 that are evidence of war and tyranny;

 then a foolish arrogance hardens their hearts; 

for their brothers in distress, no pity. 

What utter blindness! . . . 

Attend not to the law of the strong 

but to the law of the Creator. 

Help nature

 to the best of your ability,

 honor the freedom of creation, 

protect your species from dishonor,

 come to its aids in sickness,

 rescue it from poverty .... 

Seek to distinguish yourself from others 

only in your generosity. 

Be like gods to the poor,

 imitating God's mercy.

 Humanity has nothing so much in common 

with God 

as the ability to do good. "

 St. Gregory Nazianzen 

(On Love of the Poor, cited on pp 295-6 of Clement's book)

---

>< } } ( ° >

A recent study at the University of Minnesota

found that wealthy individuals

are more likely to 

behave unethically, take candy intended

for children,

steal.

In one of the experiments

drivers of more expensive cars

were more likely

to cut off other cars.

and refuse to wait

for pedestrians.

"The wealthy break rules,

not because they are desperate,

but because the feel

entitled

and want to get ahead."

Said Vladas Griskevicius, PhD

Such individuals were found

to have less empathy,

and are less likely

to perceive the impact

of their behavior

on others.

Study Author Paul Piff, PhD

discovered that when low-income individuals

were asked to imagine themselves

rich,

they subsequently behaved

as badly as

real rich people. 

This explains a lot

to me

about our politics.

<<<>>>

Thank YOU

for the gift of your visit.

Join us in the treasure-house

of comments!

                             Warmly, cloudia

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, 

and the life of the candle

 will not be shortened. 

Happiness never decreases 

by being shared.”

 Buddha

Unscented Academy

A L O H A !

“We need time to dream,
time to remember,
time to reach for the infinite,
time to be.” 

  Gladys Tabor

" Being Smaller than a Raindrop

Is Better Than Being

 Louder Than thunder. "

Mark C Durfee

" There are no seven wonders

 of the world 

in the eyes of a child. 

There are seven million. "

Walt Streightiff 

<> 

Thank YOU

                 for looking in, cloudia

You Saw the Picture - Now Enjoy the (1 minute) Video!

Tsunami 日本 One Year On

This is my post from last year's tsunami.
We were still living on the boat.
The sirens went off. . . It was

"History in the Making - 

YOU are there." 

Remember?

ALOHA!                We're OK-

A Blessedly Normal Day in Hawaii!

Today our hearts are with the Japanese people,

our Pacific neighbors, an island people;

Not only through their visits,

but by being such a big part of the fabric of our Hawaii,

The Japanese people are US!

It was a normal Thursday evening around 8pm.

Chores of the day were done

as we settled into relaxation.

"An earthquake in Japan!"

Interrupted our pleasantly pointless entertainment.

"Oh no." Says I

dreading another tsunami scare

Like Feb. 2010!

We have time and warning (thank God)

due to distance and technology,

but grabbing everything you need

when you live on a boat as we do

and wondering where to go

is not a relaxing place to be.

Sure enough the Tsunami Warning came through.

Sirens, police cars with loud speakers,

an atmosphere of restrained hysteria. . .

The harbor came active.  Some preparing for sea,

others to secure their boats and flee.

We can evacuate vertically here in Waikiki high rises,

they're designed to be safe above the 5th floor.

"Call the _____ hotel," says I.

and so we carried our lives,

cat, and necessaries

to a nearby hotel. 

Kitty was smuggled into the no-pets establishment

in a back pack.

Having seen wild water rushing,

and fish swimming over the harbor

during Hurricane Iniki (2 days after moving aboard!)

I had moved my scooter to a nearby building first.

There's too much to tell.

The eerie, empty streets,

watching the coverage on local TV

and wondering what Friday would bring,

but at least we would be safe.

There might be chaos, no power,

food scarcity,

but we would live.

From the 21st floor, we could see hundreds of stars

dotting the ocean: boats out to sea.

We dodged a bullet in Waikiki,

though docks at Keehi lagoon down the coast

broke loose carrying attached boats away,

and similar damage occurred at Haleiwa harbor

on our Oahu North Shore.

In the morning, after 2 hours sleep,

we could just make out our boat still floating below.

The ocean was still full of boats,

so we wondered if the harbor remained closed to them

due to weird surges.

When we carried our lives back to the harbor,

the water was eddying and surging in very strange ways.

The boat went lower than the lowest tide,

banging our rails on the cement pier, 

then rising to normal height in five minutes!

Boaters returning had trouble navigating

the strange currents.

We saw several near misses as they tried to dock.

In Maui a sea turtle was rescued inland

and returned to the sea.

In Kona a hotel is closed,

the main street damaged,

some homes washed out to sea!

During the emergency, cell phones did NOT work,

but hard wired "land lines" did.

Listen, there is just too much to tell,

 and I have time-stamped photos of the dock going

UP & DOWN,

But today is a day of recovery

and concern for Japan.

I thank YOU for your concern!!!!!!!!

And your prayers.

Today's perfect weather

is excellent for emotional recovery.

I SEE the blessing in horde of people normally

going about their day.

We have spoken with friends near and far who worried.

Life's "normal" worries are stripped of importance.

It is good to be alive

in a place with power and food.

Our hearts are with the Japanese people.

Seeing them around town is emotional,

I want  to hug them all.

So as aftershocks occur,

bodies are recovered,

and nuclear plants threaten,

take a moment to send a kind intention

to the people of Japan,

and the people here, and California,

who lost homes, boats, a way of life.

When could this happen again?

Maybe today, maybe tomorrow.

Which is why 19 years living aboard may be

"enough."

More later!  

Forgive me if I don't comment at your site today. . . 

My friend Judy, who lives way up on the hillside,

had a dream-vision of God:

walking through rushing waters

and floating bodies."

He looked at her and said:

"Enjoy your time."

And so we shall.

Every little thing

is an inestimable blessing!

Thank YOU for caring,

and for blessing me with your Aloha- 

 cloudia

Tsunami Warning Waikiki One Year Anniversary

東日本大震災１周年追悼式...天皇陛下のお言葉

東日本大震災から１周年、ここに一同と共に、震災により失われた多くの人々に深く哀悼の意を表します。

　１年前の今日（こんにち）、思いも掛けない巨大地震と津波に襲われ、ほぼ２万に及ぶ死者、行方不明者が生じました。その中には消防団員をはじめ、危険を顧みず、人々の救助や防災活動に従事して命を落とした多くの人々が含まれていることを忘れることができません。

 " An earthquake anniversary from East ... words of the Emperor an earthquake anniversary memorial ceremony East, with Everyone, represents a deep condolences to the many people who are lost due to the earthquake here. "

 

A  L  O  H  A  !

“who knows if the moon's 

 a balloon, coming out of a keen city

in the sky - filled with pretty people?”

 

 E. E. Cummings

" I've been looking for a girl like you -

 not you,

 but a girl like you. "

Groucho Marx

“The night walked down the sky

 with the moon in her hand.” 

 Frederic Lawrence Knowles 




<>  


Thank YOU, Friend!
                                                                             cloudia