The Queen's Flowers

Click on photos to enlarge! Lotus - by Beth Eisenberg

"This very moment is the perfect teacher, and lucky for us, it's with us wherever we are." Pema Chodron

Queen Lili`uokalani, Last Monarch of Hawaii;

Iolani Palace in Background.

(note the lei & hu`ukupu, "gifts")

“Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship”
Omar Bradley

Racist Political Cartoon of the Queen,

Her Throne Precarious on American Bayonets.

In her hand are papers reading "Scandalous Government"

and "Gross Immorality."

“How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.”
Albert Einstein

The Beloved Lili`uo Herself

"All things change; nothing perishes."

OVID

When the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown by local American businessmen in 1893 with the tacit backing of U.S. Marines off of the USS Boston, the Queen was imprisoned in Iolani Palace.

In addition to being quarantined from her beloved people, she was also denied any news of the world beyond her window.

The gardener at her gracious Waikiki home, Paokalani, continued to tend her beloved flowers in expectation of her return. Every day he sent the Queen a bouquet of fresh flowers.

And each bouquet was wrapped in fresh newspapers!

The tides of larger events oft rock our little lives. Even a royal ship of state can founder.

But though we experience loss, even the loss of a whole kingdom, there still remain flowers to pause and enjoy.

And those we love will find simple, yet eloquent ways reach out to us.

A L O H A! Cloudia

PS: Yesterday's photo of "mystery fruit" was: MANGO on da tree!

Seasonable Neighbors

Click on Photos to Enlarge!Anuenue (Ah-Neway-Neway) The Rainbow

“The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.”
John Vance Cheney

Ka Iwi Coastline - A Stark & Spiritual Place

“An enchanted life has many moments when the heart is overwhelmed with beauty and the imagination is electrified by some haunting quality in the world or by a spirit or voice speaking from deep within a thing, a place, or a person. Enchantment may be”
Henry Louis Mencken

Gargantuan Child Circumnavigates Oahu Map

“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.”
Elizabeth Lawrence

Even here in the middle of Earth's widest ocean, we have neighbors who are seasonal residents. Soon the humpback whales, the kolea (golden plover), and the dear Canadians (Neighboris Northis) will be returning to their winter grounds.

The Whales continued their long economic contribution to Hawaii as stars of film, TV, and tourism - which they undoubtedly enjoy more than the old days of whale hunting. The gentle Canadians too, contribute much to the economy and ecology of Waikiki. These affable creatures often return to the same nest (condo) year after year, building warm relationships with us year-rounders. Then you wake up one morning and they've taken wing!

The Kolea arrive from Alaska as skinny as homeless men, spend the winter foraging, and leave fat and happy in the Spring. Thanks for nothing, freeloaders! In Hawaiian Olelo (Sayings, Proverbs & Aphorisms) the Kolea is representative of an interloper who takes & takes without contributing to the common welfare - you know, like Wall Street bankers. . .

This Winter's theme? Whales gone wild! Our visiting cetaceans flipped, flapped and slapped the waters rather close to shore this season. Visitors to the Diamond Head Lookout, or the Lanai Lookout beside the Blow Hole by Sandy’s Beach (Ka Iwi, above) have been treated to some extra exuberant displays this winter. Glad the visitors AND the humpbacks enjoyed their Hawaii winter sojourns! The little girl in the picture above was too busy running around Oahu to notice. . .

The Canadians seemed to have a lovely time this year as well. The Kolea? Who cares? They keep to themselves. Hope you won't! Please stop by here often. E Komo Mai - You Are Most Welcome.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Mango Tango

“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

“Beautiful must be the mountains whence ye come,

And bright in the fruitful valleys the streams, wherefrom

Ye learn your song.”
Robert Bridges

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein

My Sunday Wish For You

Resolve today

to muse & dream;

Be anything

but "realistic"

A sabbath of peace

of sugar & grease

The mundane

morphed to mystic.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Pearls for Breakfast

Click on photos to enlarge! Waikiki Morning Skies

"Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning and the rest of the day will take care of itself."

Elbert Hubbard

"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast".

Author Unknown (Sepiru Chris?)

A Luxuriance of Palm Fronds

"Luxury is an ancient notion. There was once a Chinese mandarin who had himself wakened three times every morning simply for the pleasure of being told it was not yet time to get up."

Argosy

Friends on a walk

"The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth."

Chinese Proverb

It seems an important article of my faith to prefer the individual, the unique, and the "one-off" over the mass produced and the popular.

Perhaps that's what I love about the cacophony of the blogosphere - it's the individuated voices that all of YOU one-offs bring into my world!

Then again, routine can be a balm. Like my habit of looking in on YOUR blogs as often as I am able. So even though I'm no fan of the world-wide uniformity (or food choices) of McDonalds, it seems that breakfast at the Golden Arches has become a some-time morning ritual that grounds me in my day - and in a particular time and place.

This morning I walked Waikiki beach, stopping for breakfast at "Micky D's" on Kuhio Avenue. Spearing a slice of only-at-McD's-of Hawaii pineapple, listening to the babble of Japanese tourist families, and humming along with the piped-in Hawaiian music, my mind went back to other mornings long ago. . .

The Philadelphia of almost 30 years ago was very different from the Waikiki of today. And the struggling young Me was certainly very different from the Cloudia writing this today. I lived then with my gelical cat, Jennifer, in a hundred year old church bell tower. Looking back now, I realize that I was a sort of "project" for the intellectual, Epicopalian congregation. Eating take-away McMuffins and gazing out over the wide stone parapets

was a peaceful moment for kitty & me in an otherwise hectic time.

Resources were thin, and the ultimate recognition of my genius uncertain, but I had a few, dear, twisted friends, and my favorite used-book store was open till midnight. The city of my birth was then a playground of bohemian possibility. One block from the over-stuffed couches of Book Trader, a young guy named Bruce Springsteen was packing them in at a tiny South Street bar called Grendel's Lair.

Struggle is romantic in retrospect. But at least one close friend was hip to the jive even way back then. "Life is such a struggle, Jim," I said to my partner in crime and hope. "Better days are sure to come."

"Cloudy," He said,

"These are the good days!"

Who would have guessed, all those struggles ago, that someday I'd be wielding my plastic fork here in the 21st Century? That I'd walk in Waikiki and look back over my many, many Egg Mc Muffins. . .

. . . Thinking of a dear friend many years gone. . .

"They're ALL good days, Jimmy," I thought with deep gratitude,

sipping not- bad hot coffee.

"But you were right all those breakfasts ago. Those days of doubt, discovery, struggle & ecstasy were in a real sense our "Glory Days."

I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Here's to many more - with thanks to all of YOU for strolling along.

A L O H A! Cloudia

Sunsets

Click on Photos to enlarge!

“Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.”
John Lubbock

“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”
Henry Rollins

“If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.”
G. K. Chesterton



“Once I saw a chimpanzee gaze at a particularly beautiful sunset for a full 15 minutes, watching the changing colors [and then] retire to the forest without picking a pawpaw for supper.”
Adriaan Kortlandt

“How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.”
George MacDonald

May these sunsets paint your day with calm optimism. We made it through another week. Let us rest & recreate. Easter resurrection, Passover liberation, and daffodil silliness await us!

Aloha, Friends, Cloudia

Stand Up Corals

Click on photos to enlarge!Stand-Up Paddling, or "Old Guy Surfing" the old is today's "new craze."

“How young can you die of old age?”
Stephen Wright

Sausages growing on a tree!

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."

Albert Einstein

Surf

“As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, all my dreams, come back to me.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It is generally agreed that the world's coral reefs are stressed to a dangerous degree and may even be in danger of disappearing entirely. This interests me because these isles that I love were designed and built by a committee of coral and fiery lava. The plants, animals, & humans all came late to this party. Geologically speaking, we're just the hair and make-up of Hawaii.

Aside from the gargantuan cost of a modern war ship, the big issue with the recent grounding of the USN Port Royal off of Honolulu Airport is damage to the reef. Local divers whisper that damage to both ship and reef are much more extensive than reported. Like "build a new warship" extensive! But the reef could take hundreds of years to recover - if it can.

The real tragedy of extinction is losing the treasures we have not yet comprehended fully. This unknown bounty of lost knowledge is a blank check we have just about thrown away un-cashed.

For example, it had long been thought that the reefs in our Hawaiian waters were no more than a century or three in age. Actually, scientists using mini-subs, OK "Submersible Vehicles," have recently discovered that some of our local Leiopathes corals are more like FORTY TWO CENTURIES old! They are among the oldest living things on this planet right up there with California's five thousand year old bristlecone pine trees. A younger species of coral, the youthful Gerardia, has been discovered to be a mere two thousand, seven hundred years old. It's not even collecting coral social security yet! (Coral reefs are communities of social creatures.)

What else is hiding right under our noses (and waves)?

A L O H A! Cloudia

Comfort in a Bowl

Click on photos to enlarge Father Damian looks out on Punchbowl Crater

"Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood."

Daniel Burnham

Local Favorite!

"I certainly want information, but information isn't an end unto itself. Human intelligence is the ability to make sense of that information."

Nicholas Carr

MMMMM, I took a bite out of the shrimp tempura before taking this picture!

"Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort."

Norman Kolpas

Sometimes, we know what we mean, even though we don't REALLY know what we mean. Do you know what I mean?

I guess what I'm saying (with spiral logic) is that the things we are most familiar with, the things that bring us homey comfort, can sometimes surprise us with their secrets, and with how little we actually know about them.

This familiar/mysterious dichotomy can come into focus when we try to describe something that "everyone knows" to somebody who doesn't know it. Like Saimin. A while back I wrote about eating Barack Obama's favorite "Zip Min" at local Hawaii restaurant chain, Zippy's. I even included a picture of the giant bowl. http://comfortspiral.blogspot.com/2009/01/honolulu-chinese-new-year.html

What the picture didn't show is the curious evolution of this isle commonplace.

It turns out that our local "Meal in a Bowl" Saimin is an "only in Hawaii" marriage of Japan's ramen noodle with an old Chinese recipe called "sai-mien." And what a happy marriage! Those curly Japanese noodles play very nicely in the yummy golden broth with their won-ton cousins. Their happily crowded bowl is topped with greens, savory slices of Chinese roast sweet pork (char sui), circles of sliced hard-boiled egg, discs of kamaboko (Japanese fish cake - the red & white spiral!), yellow omelet strips and sometimes even teriyaki beef or BBQ chicken on skewers!

Believe me, on a rainy night a bowl of saimin at Zippys, or at local haven, Shiro's Saimin, can make everything in this world seem mellow and OK once again.

At Zippy's the dish comes in a large bowl with a metal cover that has chopped green onions in a special "cup" at the top. Utensils are chopsticks and a Chinese spoon - the while porcelain or plastic kind that are flat on the bottom. Super hot Chinese mustard stands by too! Add a bottomless glass of ice water, and you may have just read my "last meal" before the hypothetical (I hope!) firing squad.

There is a recipe for Saimin via this link:
http://www.shareyourtable.com/origins/2009/saimin

For those of you who have asked, and those who would like to take a gander at some of the very best contemporary Aloha shirts, you may go to the website for Honolulu Magazine Favorite, Tori Richard at: http://www.toririchard.com.

A L O H A! Cloudia