Ride 'Um!

ALOHA!

:)

Click on the pictures

Ted Trimmer photo

"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine."

Caskie Stinnett

"Trees are your best antiques."

Alexander Smith

"Like all great travelers,

I have seen more than I remember,

and remember more than I have seen."

Benjamin Disraeli

><>

Some people are old at 35

Jim Rawlinson of Kauai is not one of them.

At 68 he works as a carpenter,

and he loves to surf Hanalei Bay.

On Monday he was in the line up as usual

when a tiger shark estimated to be 14 feet long

hit his board, taking an iconic chunk out of it.

The board and Jim were catapulted into the air

and the carpenter became a Paniola (Hawaiian Cowboy)

when he came down right on the predator's back,

riding the bucking creature for a good ten seconds.

Coolly, he decided to remove the surf leash from his ankle,

after all, the board was still in the creatures mouth.

"It was relatively calm at that point." Rawlinson told a reporter.

So he swam to the shallow of a nearby reef

where deep-water sharks usually don't patrol.

When he saw his board floating

he swam to retrieve it

and deciding "What the heck"

spent another hour surfing,

albeit as an instant celebrity to his fellow surfers

who had seen the whole adventure.

"It was quite an experience,

but nothing that should have interrupted what was otherwise a relaxing,

late afternoon surf session." He was reported to explain.

Jim described the experience as unfolding in slow motion

and one of being in "survival mode."

Boaters came by to take pictures of his board.

"Everybody was totally cool about it.

Everybody on the beach was was so supportive and sweet."

Jim won't let his experience chase him from the waves.

"I don't want fear to hold me back from doing what I'm doing."

Something to ponder. . .

ALOHA, cloudia

You Never Know

Aloha

&

Welcome Back

Dear Friend!

click on pics :)

“The golden moments in the stream of life

rush past us, and we see nothing but sand;

the angels come to visit us,

and we only know them when they are gone.”

George Elliot

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer.

It sings because it has a song."

Chinese Proverb

"Change happens by listening

and then starting a dialogue

with the people who are doing something

you don't believe is right."

Jane Goodall

"Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity,

of life,

of the marvelous structure of reality.

It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.

Never lose a holy curiosity."

Albert Einstein

><>

She missed her senior prom last Saturday.

But Sheryl Wolfe missed little else

that life has to offer.

The Mililani High School senior,

a model, friend, daughter and sister,

was to relinquish her title:

Miss Hawaii Teen United States

early next month,

but there was so much more to look forward to.

Partial to the beach, to her modeling,

and to athletics,

Sheryl always felt especially drawn to

those with developmental disabilities.

"She had a special place in her heart for them

and was thinking of a career

along that line,"

her father, Alan, told a reporter.

But life is what happens

while we are busy making other plans.

Last week,

Sheryl collapsed in class

and was rushed to Queens Hospital.

A stroke had felled this young girl.

Her organ donations

are her gift

to four Hawaii people

who will now be able to

continue

with this life

thanks to the choice

that she expressed on her driver's license. . .

"She was just so loved and full of energy.

She always has been that person who was

there for you in a second,

the most important friend

I've ever known in my life."

School Mate Laura Bunner

None of us is guaranteed one day more.

It is called the

"Present"

because it is a gift.

Thank YOU for sharing

some of it here with us! cloudia

Gazed!

Aloha!

please remember to click on the photos :)

"Don't wait;

the time will never be 'just right.'

Start where you stand,

and work with whatever tools

you may have at your command,

and better tools will be found

as you go along."

George Herbert

"A wise woman

puts a grain of sugar

into everything she says to a man,

and takes a grain of salt

with everything he says to her."

Helen Rowland

Leaf litter? Leaf GLITTER!

"The soul that can speak through the eyes, can also kiss through the gaze." Gustav Adolfo Becquer

><>

I got GAZED!

Braco (pronounced Brah-tzo)

came to Hawaii this week.

"Who is Braco," I wondered,

when I saw the story about him on KITV.

(video below)

As a REIKI practitioner,

my mind has already been opened to the

seemingly incredible idea that

pure, loving, healing energy

can be felt, and can reliably be

(for lack of a better word)

channeled.

I started out as a very logical,

grounded, materialist thinker.

Accepting unprovable things as true

always struck me as as an intellectual

and moral

sell-out.

Dangerous.

But slowly,

year by year,

I have learned that there is much in this world

that is yet undreamed of in our conceptions.

And in my lifetime

I have seen those conceptions grow in scope.

When I was a kid, acupuncture was mocked,

and lot's of physicians were smokers.

What we "Know"

changes every day.

REIKI is illogical,

but it is undeniable to me now.

I don't understand HOW it works,

just that it DOES.

(Like my car, and the internet)

I have worked with Dr. Hong,

a physician and Qi Gong master

who is attached to the University of Hawaii

John A. Burns School of Medicine;

My results are undeniable,

and launched a whole new phase of life

for me.

I have attended Soul Singing sessions

with Dr. Sha

whose books are New York Times best sellers.

The energy there was familiar too.

It has been hard intellectual work,

and prayer,

and life experience,

that has brought me to the point

of utilizing these things.

So how was it at yesterday's gazing session?

The first thing I noticed was a real

glow

around the people running the event.

I've learned to recognize a certain

beauty

as the result of being well atuned

to the loving, healing, forces of the universe,

and these people had it.

Not fake smiles,

just a discernible, genuine, and attractive

"glow"

like I have observed growing in myself.

I recognized the feeling

when Braco came out.

Yes, he just stands there,

gazing.

Not making eye contact,

not sweeping the room,

just standing and gazing.

It felt good.

I was especially relaxed the rest of the day,

slept even better than usual,

and my sore shoulder is almost

completely without twinge.

Worrying about the why's

and hows

of life,

sometimes prevents us from

simply experiencing it.

REIKI taught me how very much I lived from the neck up,

I have discovered my body

and am much more comfortable in my skin,

and in life,

than I have ever been.

I keep learning, and growing,

understanding just comes easily

now.

All of this is coming to the world's surface-thinking lately.

Trust your instincts to warn you

of charlatans.

Beware of sales routines.

But thousands of people in Europe

have gone numerous times

to be gazed at by Braco,

Many around the world

have sung with Dr. Sha.

Something is afoot

and I'm very happy to be dancing along.

Free your mind;

and the rest will follow.

Warm Aloha, cloudia

Meet Osokin

Aloha, Friend!

Come Walk with me

Through the Streets of

Waikiki

Click on the photo art :)

Bus Stop

"The world is full of magical things

patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."

Bertrand Russell

"It is strange that the years teach us patience;

that the shorter our time,

the greater our capacity for waiting."

Elizabeth Taylor

"There are times

when even the best manager

is like the little boy with the big dog,

waiting to see where the dog wants to go

so he can take him there. "

Lee Iacocca

><>

Funny how the life I had

growing up

in that big, eastern, mainland city:

walking the city scape,

it's hours, seasons, changes

(and my own)

funny how I'm living

the same way in a new

and different environment.

Nature? Nurture?

It's just the way that I am. . .

As long as there is a sidewalk

preferably, now, by a sea shore,

in view of mountains,

among ever changing shoals

of human interactions,

some cool architecture,

dear greenery,

and street food,

I will be a walker

gentle presence

hander-over

of dollar bills. . .

Think of me as a "Beach Town Thoreau,"

chronicler of rainbows,

enabler of random Aloha,

direction-giver to visitors.

As such

it is most important for me

to ramble Waikiki

with no destination

but happiness.

I recommend that

YOU try it.

Take your amicability out for a walk.

Bless the world

great & small

with your gaze.

Oh!

and who is Ivan Osokin?

He is Ouspensky's hero

who, given the chance for a

life do-over

creates exactly the same existance

even with the wisdom

of experience.

Character is destiny.

The only solution

is to adopt the character

you WANT to have!

And thanks for blessing mine

with your friendly attention!

cloudia