Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Closer Look

A   L   O   H   A  !
If you have just flown
for hours over an ocean -








- This is a
 CLOSE look
 at Honolulu

























When looking around 
a large parking lot,
a closer look
might reveal
something interesting!

[ shot 1st week of October,
Halloween 4 weeks away ]















 Why is this shot here?











Closer look
 reveals
a baby gecko












This is a close look -










- Until you get closer














"  If I held you 
any closer
 I would be
 on the other side
 of you.  "

Groucho Marx









Were we closer 
to the ground 
as children, 
or is the grass 
emptier
 now? "
 
Alan Bennett



 





On this scale,
we encounter
 old friends














Or are they MONSTERS!
[ look close; see his eye? ]













" Since you cannot 
do good to all,
  pay special attention
 to those who,
 by the accidents
 of time, or place,
 or circumstances,
 are brought into closer
 connection 
with you. "
 
Augustine of Hippo



 >  <  }  }  ( ° >


The august Hippo
is right!


SOMETHING
has brought us 
together.

The Special Attention
we share
with one another
is 
Very Special
when you examine it
more closely

Thank YOU!

 'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'
 
Thanks for visiting!
                             Warmly, cloudia

 

Monday, October 15, 2012

Pixie Takes Over

A   L   O   H   A  !
" The soul 
of sweet delight, 
can never be 
defiled. "

William Blake






" To show a child
 what once delighted you,
 to find the child's delight
added to your own -
this is happiness. "

J. B. Priestley









" What more felicity
 can fall to creature,
 than to enjoy 
delight
 with liberty? "

Edmund Spenser







" As is a tale,
 so is life:
 not how long it is,
 but how good. . . 
 is what matters. "

 Seneca


"Tails are good,
 not too long,
 that matters to me."

Pixie



Pixie:  " CLOUDIA!
THIS is your post today??!!

They're gonna know
that it's just the same picture
4 times. . . .

I'm  OUT of here!

You come up
with something
BETTER-

And when I return. . . . "


" Heh Heh. . . . Vroom   Vrroooommmm   Meow! "


=^..^=


'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'

Thanks for visiting!
                              Warmly,
cloudia

Feline Follies 1919

lagniappe







 <(-'.'-)>


 'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'
 
Thanks for visiting!
                            Warmly,
cloudia

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Orange Happiness

A   L   O   H    A  !
" There is no delight
 in owning anything
 unshared. "

Lucius Annaeus Seneca












" The wish for healing
 has always been half
 of health.  "

Lucius Annaeus Seneca












" One of the most beautiful qualities 
of true friendship
 is to understand
 and to be understood.  "

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

 















" As long as you live,
 keep learning 
how to live.  "

Lucius Annaeus Seneca























" True happiness is...
 to enjoy the present,
 without anxious dependence 
upon the future.

He who is brave is free.  "

Lucius Annaeus Seneca
 
 
 
<(-'.'-)>
 
 
 
 'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'
 
Thanks for visiting!
                        Warmly,
cloudia 
 
 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Child's Story

A   L   O   H    A  !
"It does not take 
many words
 to tell the truth"

 Chief Joseph 
 Nez Pierce Tribe
















 "  Dad 
was leaning against a tree,
playing a flute,
and Mom walked by
 and caught his eye.
 That's the way
 they tell the story. "
 
 Hannah Teter
















" A baby is born
 with a need to be loved 
- and never outgrows it. "

Frank A. Clark


 <>[}:{]<>

Tear down the ugly house
built atop the meadow
of my innocence.

Let the grass of me
lift it's heads gently,
tentative at first
in time, one hopes, 
to run riot.

Surely there is time
before the harvest?


 'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'

Thanks for visiting!
                          Warmly,
cloudia
 

Friday, October 12, 2012

Honolulu Shinto

A L O H A !

 Sakura by Traditonal Japanese on Grooveshark
 " Located in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii,
 the Izumo Taishakyo Mission 
 is one of the few Shinto shrines in 
the United States. 
The wooden A-frame structure was inspired 
by Shimane Prefecture's classical
 Japanese shrine  Taisha Machi
It was designed by architect Hego Fuchino 
and built by master carpenter Ichisaburo Takata.

 Seized by the city at the outset of World War II,
 the shrine did not reopen until 1968. "
   [ Wikipedia ]


Established in 1906, 
 this Sectarian Shinto Shrine
 venerates its primary Kami (Diety)
 as Okuninushi-no-Mikoto.

Bishop Daiya Amano, Chief Minister
Rev. Jun Miyasaka
We have a monthly service on the 10th of every month 
except October at 7:00 P.M. 
In October, we have an annual Autumn (Thanksgiving) 
Omatsuri Festival.
Volunteers are welcome and appreciated.
Facebook Page  [ Link ] updated periodically 
by The Young Shinto Group of Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii













Shinto
 is an ancient Japanese religion
 that developed around 500 BCE 
 evolving out of indigenous
 nature worship,
 fertility practices,
 divination,
 local folklore
 notable heroes, and
 shamanism.

Shinto 
venerates natural places like 
mountains, springs,
 and groves.
  












The Kami are the Shinto deities.
They are not the omnipotent gods
 of monotheistic religions.  
Guardian Kami over-see
 particular areas and clans.
Historic figures,
including all but the most
 recent emperors,
are considered Kami, 
as are Abstract creative forces.
 Kami sustain 
and protect the Japanese people
to this day.











Mikoshi, 
or portable Shinto shrine
surmounted by
a phoenix.  

Usually rectangle in shape,
 they often resemble 
miniature buildings,
 as above
 














 "A single sincere prayer
 moves Heaven. 
You will surely realize 
the divine presence
 through sincere prayer. "

Shinto Saying












Each human life,
 human nature itself,
is sacred to Shinto










Animals are viewed
  as creatures
and messengers
 of the Kami. 
A pair of statues 
"Koma-inu" 
(guard dogs) 
face each other
 within the temple grounds.









"Even in one single leaf 
on a tree, 
or in one blade of grass, 
the awesome Deity 
presents itself.

Shinto Saying


















Origami, "Paper of the spirits' 
are often seen around Shinto shrines.
Note the white knots
 hanging between the ropes.

 Out of respect for the tree spirit
 that gave its life 
to make the paper, 
origami paper
 is never cut.


I have recieved Shinto blessing
in which the priest waves a pole
from which Origami paper
hangs
  over one's head!









" Respect your ancestors.

Do not forget
 the profound goodness
 of the kami, 
through which calamity 
and misfortunes are averted
 and sickness is 
healed. "

Shinto Teachings














" Even the wishes 
of an ant reach to heaven. "


Shinto Saying



















Many Shinto followers
 are involved in the "offer a meal movement," 
 in which each individual bypasses a breakfast 
(or another meal) once per month 
and donates the money saved 
to international relief.


YOU can see another 
Honolulu Shinto Shrine 

 [ Here ]



 >  <  }  }  ( ° >


'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'

Thanks for visiting!
                          Warmly,
cloudia





Thursday, October 11, 2012

V O G

A   L   O   H   A  !
That sulphurous atmosphere is called
  V O G: Volcanic Smog.

*Scratchy Throat*
*Dull headache*
*Cough Cough*
*Breathing issues*


 












Fortunately, Honolulu 
usually enjoys a 
North Pacific High
parked north of us,
driving Trade Winds,
the islands'
 natural air conditioning.


But since last Saturday,
Southerly winds have 
crashed our weather party,
bringing haze from 
Kīlauea volcano
 on the Big Island,
4,190 feet (1,277 m) high ]
Erupting since
 January 3, 1983
!


KÄ«lauea means "spewing" 
or "much spreading"
 in the Hawaiian language, 
referring to its
 prodigious production
  of lava,
or in this case
HAZE.












"Kona Weather" 
















Blue skies and 
fresh air
 have returned!

Now THAT is delight.




" Birds sing after a storm;
 why shouldn't people feel
as free to delight - ? "

Rose Kennedy
  <(-'.'-)> 

What is delighting
Y O U
today?
'Take Peace & Laughs - Leave Your Comment'
 
Thanks for visiting!
                   Warmly, cloudia