Fireworks

Aloha!

Welcome to Tranquil Waikiki

Click on photos to enlargeNormally, Hawaii Skies are Gentle and Pretty

In November 1962

a nuclear test on Johnston Island, 717 miles away,

lit up the skies over Honolulu.

This is the SBX / Sea Band Radar.

A few days ago it was seen leaving Pearl Harbor.

We call it "The Golf Ball."

(Can't really see the dimples in this shot from the Honolulu Star Bulletin)

It can reportedly track a golf ball-sized object several hundreds of miles away; It is used in missile defense.

Around July fourth our neighbors in North Korea will be sending one of their Taepodong Missiles over Japan and the Pacific towards

Hawaii.

Hello!

Sec Def (Secretary of Defense) Gates has ordered the positioning of the SBX and other assets to protect our islands which are reportedly within range.

No one thinks the missile is aimed at us

or will make it anywhere close.

My hubby, a former military intelligence officer,

points out that a hit on US soil

would provoke a hellacious response.

Say what you will about Obama,

War Hawks,

But he grew up here

and might resent having his

childhood home

toasted.

So, all in all I'm not too worried.

As you can see above, Honolulu has had

her baptism of fire

into the ballistic age.

Taepodong?

Sounds like some

Type - O - Dong to me!

Nevertheless,

as a child of the "Duck and Cover" generation,

I shall be prepared with all that the Cold War taught me.

In the event of attack

I shall crouch under my desk. . .

And kiss my ass goodbye.

Now it's time to watch Howdy Doody. . . .

ALOHA! Cloudia

Escape to Paradise

Aloha

& Welcome to. . .

Machu Picchu? Nat'l Geographic (c)

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
Henry David Thoreau

“How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.”
William Butler Yeats

The Playground of Waikiki

“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained... now everywhere is war.”

Popularized by Bob Marley in the song War

Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

Imagine that you are a black man born into slavery in Albany New York in the Year of Our Lord 1774.

That you somehow make your way to Boston as the modern 19th Century dawns, find a job in the galley of a whaling ship, but are discovered by your "owner" while still at anchor in the harbor.

Freedom denied at the last possible moment!

Then imagine your Yankee captain, bristling at such interference in HIS affairs, brusquely paying Massa off, and allowing you to work off your debt, thus EARNING your FREEDOM as you see the world from the deck of a sailing vessel.

After 1802 you are a free man.

In 1812 you settle in the Hawaiian Kingdom of Kamehameha the Great.

Imagine!

Such was the early story of Anthony Allen.

But the most interesting parts of this story were yet to come.

Thanks to a historic letter, auctioned last week by Bonhams, we can thrill to his amazing tale, from a unique historic moment,

and in the words of the man himself.

Missionary Hiram Bingham wrote the letter by hand to Allen's dictation on October 11th, 1822.

Allen would live until 1835.

(Incidentally, Bingham's name-sake grandson would later discover Machu Picchu! Hence the top picture ;-)

The so called "lost letter of Anthony Allen" describes his rise from slavery in New York to freedom and land-ownership in Hawaii.

From the Bonham's catalogue:

"In 1822, Allen received a letter from a Dr. Dougal of Schenectady, New York. Dougal was the son of the family that owned Allen as a slave, and had read an article about him in the Missionary Herald. He wrote to Allen, asking him to reply describing his life during the past two decades. Touched by the letter, Allen asked the American Protestant missionaries whether one of them would be willing to act as his scribe in writing a response.

The willingness of Bingham to help Allen write was testimony to the former slave's generosity and kindness towards the missionaries. Elisha Loomis remarked of Allen that he "lives the most comfortably of any on the island - has a wife and two pretty children," and that he frequently sent gifts of potatoes, squashes, goats, and milk.

The letter reads, in part:

'Mr Dear Master, I rejoice that you have found out my residence after supposing I had been dead ... As you have written me a long and very kind letter and requested me very particularly to write to you an account of myself since I left your city, I have come to the house of the Missionaries, to get one of them to write what I wish to say to you respecting myself ... Came to the Sandwich Islands in 1811 & here came ashore with permission and lived four months with Hevaheva the high Priest of the Islands ... Capt. Davis employed me as a steward in passage from one island to another particularly to wait on the King Tamehameha & his five Queens, as I was a taboo'd man, and they would like my services the better ... The High Priest gave me a piece of land at Waititi (Waikiki!) containing about six acres, having on it a few cocoanut trees & three small houses or native huts ... Came back to these Islands in the Isabella Capt. Davis in 1812 & celebrated the 4th of July at Karakekuah (Kealakekua) a great day. - Returned from Hawaii to this Island (Oahu) & after about a fortnight I came ashore with my wages which amounted to about 150 doll., and came to live on my place with two families the people of the High Priest, belonging to the land. And here I must tell you that according to the custom of the country & the practice of some of my white neighbors who settle in these Islands I took me two wives ... Isaac David had six, and one American gentleman I could name, kept ten, for two or three years ... In 1813 I began to build me small thatched houses, I built one for a sleeping house, one for an eating house for myself and one for an eating house for my wives, for we might not eat in a sleeping house without breaking taboo. I could not eat in my women's eating house nor they in mine. I could not go into theirs nor they in mine, we could not drink ...'"The text breaks off here-

It sold for $9,150 USD inclusive of Buyer's Premium.

The document is a private treasure, but the words are free to thrill us. . .

A L O H A! Cloudia

Hank Heron

Aloha &

Welcome Back to Waikiki!

Click on Photos to Enlarge Hank the Celebrity Heron

"Let everything do

what it likes to do

and so

Satisfy it's

Soul."

Chung Tzu

Innocent Looking Morning Glory Plans Neighborhood Domination!

“It is not enough to conquer; one must also know how to seduce.”
Voltaire

Banana and papaya trees in da yard.

Welcome home.

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."
George Moore

"The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes."
Harold B. Lee

"Life's a voyage that's homeward bound."
Herman Melville

"Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."
John Howard Payne

Ti Lei & Shinto Amulet

hanging from my rear-view mirror for safety.

"The heart of the person before you is a mirror.

See there your own form."

Shinto Saying

I love the giant blue heron who glide above my harbor home. They are so big (for birds) that they almost seem like small people.

Serious, feathered, small people.

Have your seen their powerful claws? The amber glint in their serious eyes? We're talking one tough bird!

Intelligent and wonderful fishers, they grudgingly share their world with us. . .

Then there's Hank,

Hank the black crowned night heron (auku`u) of Ko`olina out on the Leeward Coast.

There he lives in a cushy water feature on the golf course,

just beside a charming restaurant.

No one's sure exactly when Hank, began to garner attention, but it seems that he is even better at fishing than your average heron.

You see, Hank has learned to use bait.

Instead of merely watching for fish, he carefully places discarded restaurant bread on the water before him, watches intently for a nibble,

then scoops up his distracted meal

complete with-bread-stuffing!

Carol Cox of Envirowatch (our local citizen advocate and all around good guy) says that Hank and the missus even taught a clutch of fledglings the same trick last year.

You like make friends in Hawaii?

Go fishing!

If that's not your style you're always welcome to join me. . . just walking in Waikiki. . .

Aloha! Cloudia

Arising

Aloha! Welcome!

Click on photos to enlarge ;-) Energy/Idea precipitates shapes,

Shapes give rise to forms. . .

Forms beget multiplicities & relations,

out of which

arise:

The world.


Try to spend some time absorbed in nature today!

Warmly, Cloudia

Me & James Joyce

Aloha!

Welcome to one of the world-nexus of BLOOMSDAY!

"Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on 16 June in Dublin and elsewhere to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904. The name derives from Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses. 16 June was the date of Joyce's first outing with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, when they walked to the Dublin village of Ringsend." Wikipidea

And it's also my birthday.

I grew up in Bucks County Pennsylvania, land of James Michner and Pearl S. Buck. There's something literary in the soil, I believe.

Though I lived in a tract neighbourhood of post-war homes, we were still surrounded by woods, fields and space. What's more, the Artists Community of New Hope beckoned down the road with the promise of a creative life. And it was almost half-way to New York City, capitol of creativity and misfits. . . like me. (You too?)

When I was a real young sprout, Michner spoke at my mothers' community organization. I scandalized the assembled adults by disputing Michner's assertion that a "word is worth a thousand pictures." Being a child I was sure that a diagram would be more helpful than a poem in building a house or fixing a car. Thus began my notorious career as an

"outsider artist."

I always wanted to understand what was important, what was true, and to write about it.

Reading was my best friend.

"Writers are horribly depressed people who commit suicide in garrets." my parents warned me; and I guess they were partly right because I have spent decades in deepest depression spiced with "jump out of your skin" anxiety.

My life has been a quest to know the Truth, to find Peace, and to share it with others. Hope that's not too pretentious.

The subtitle of my novel is:

"From Survival to Satisfaction by Honolulu Taxi"

Readers are invited to make the trip, Jump in!

My English teachers were obsessed with petty stuff like spelling and blind to amazing young talents like mine so I muddled along imitating the style of Poe and H.G. Wells.

Now there's a funny image: a ponderous, over-writing 10 year old H.G. Wells!

Today, my novel lives in the State Library, roosts at Amazon, has traveled on the Hawaiian Voyaging Canoe Hokule`a,

and also made some good friends of strangers.

If you click on the big photo of my book's cover all the way at the bottom of this page you can go to Amazon and read my 18 nice reviews. I do hope you will buy a copy there, or send me a $20 check or money order to PO Box 89582 Honolulu 96830 along with your personalization request, and I'll mail you a signed copy from Waikiki!

So thanks for joining my party today; mine and Joyce's that is! I was born on the international holiday of literature and writers: Bloom's Day.

Yes, thanks for sharing some of your valuable time with me here today ;-)

I leave you with an email that found me a few days ago "out of the blue."

A wonderful birthday present!

"Wow Cloudia,

I just finished reading "Aloha Where you like go?" and I loved it! It's basic message spoke to me like no other kind of self help book. I have been struggling with the smile concept for years. I was at the point that if one more person told me to smile I was going to lose it. Everything you wrote was exactly what I am thinking. Thank you so much for your insight. I found the book at Goodwill which makes me believe I was meant to read it.

I am Haole who moved here in 1977. My father was a Marine. Hawaii is magical.

I just wanted to send a smile and Mahalo for writing a great book.

Aloha,

"H"

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y TO ME !!! !

Kamehameha Day

His Majesty Kamehameha I Welcomes you to his

HAWAII No one knows his birthday.

No one knows where his bones lie. They were hidden away by a trusted retainer in the ancient way. He was born on the Big Island, Hawaii. When he was a young chief the god Lono sailed into Kealakekua Bay (The Way of the Gods) as prophesied. But when Lono returned after the proper season needing repairs to his floating island, the Hawaiians began to suspect that he was a mere man. A fight ensued and the "god" was felled. It was the death of a great explorer, James Cook. Kamehameha came of age in a unique moment in the history of the Hawaiian people. All of his wisdom, statecraft, and military cunning would be required to maintain his blood and his ways. Appropriate human sacrifice would also be offered, as at his great Heiau (temple) that stands to this day in Kohala.

But first he had to grow up; he was one among many chiefs. Hawaii had never been unified, or had one monarch.

Legend speaks of the heavy Naha Stone in the district of his birth. It was said that anyone who could lift the stone (Arthur Style) would be a great chief. Kamehameha the youth lifted it, they say. You can see the stone today by the side of the road to Hawi.

He had the vision to unite the Big Island.

When his opponent's army marched towards battle, Pele the volcano goddess lashed out, burying the warriors and their chief in hot lava. Their footprints can also still be seen today...Here was a warrior who had god on his side inDEED!

He conquered his home island, then Maui, and finally, Oahu which became his capitol. Kauai the unconquered joined by treaty.

He took Hawaii from pre-contact days into the modern political world, establishing an independent kingdom when other native nations were being colonized all over the world.

We celebrate his special day every June, covering his statue before the Hawaii Supreme Court Building with giant lei. Saturday saw his floral parade wend from the statue down to Waikiki.

Here's some of what I saw. . .

Royal Society Ladies Keep Tradition Alive.

Mahalo (thank you) Ladies!

Youth Challenge. Troubled local kids become

AWESOME through fellowship & self discipline



Don't they look great?



Hawaiian Blood.

Precious

Royal Princesses, represent each island, wearing each island's flower.

They reenact royal visits made to each island. It was on just such a visit that Queen Lili`uokalani wrote the haunting Aloha `Oe after seeing the sweet parting of one of her court ladies and a Paniola (Hawaiian Cowboy) like this handsome specimen. Oahu = Ilima

Go on!

Click on the photos to enlarge

!

Those long dresses are actually loose fabric fastened cunningly with Kukui Nuts as "buttons." in an old style.

Horsey looks elegant in that big lei!

“Tradition does not mean that the living are dead, it means that the dead are living.”
Harold Macmillan

Hawaiian Homesteads were established by Congress in the early 20th Century.

These folks hold jobs, and live in society like all other citizens, many are US veterans, but they dwell on Hawaiian land. This simple fact keeps pride and ancient cultural treasures alive to the benefit of us all.

Bringing up the rear (of the horses!)

with shovels.

YAY!





Thanks for joining us today.

A l o h a! Cloudia

Jacaranda Jacaranda

Aloha.

Welcome to

a wordless reverie with my favorite tree!

(for the moment ;-) AHHHHH!


OOOOOOOOOO!

MMMMMMMMMM!

"God give me strength to face a fact though it slay me."
Thomas H. Huxley