Honolulu Contrasts

A L O H A!

You are welcome, Friend!

click on photos for all the usual reasons Yes, Honolulu is still growing.

It's a great place, Honolulu. We're certainly lifting its face for it. Give us another year and we'll make it look like Pittsburgh."

J P Marquand

But steps away from where I took the top photo,

this bunch of bananas is growing. . .

"Nothing had prepared me for Honolulu ... It is a typical western city ... It is the meeting place of East and West, the very new rubs shoulders with the immeasurably old. And if you have not found the romance you expected, you have come upon something singularly intriguing. All these strange people live close to each other, with different languages and different thoughts; they believe in different god and they have different values; two passions alone they share, love and hunger. And somehow as you watch them, you have an impression of extraordinary vitality."

W. Somerset Maugham in 1921

. . . in this tiny garden surrounding a dumpster

at Ala Moana Shopping Center's parking lot.

"The further I traveled through the town the better I liked it. Every step revealed a new contrast - disclosed something I was unaccustomed to. . . I breathed the balmy fragrance of jessamine, oleander, and the Pride of India ... I moved in the midst of a summer calms as tranquil as dawn in the Garden of Eden . . ."

Mark Twain on Honolulu

Of course, there are always different ways

to perceive the same realty.


"It was an ancient rule of Hawaiians that no one should hurt another bodily, or through theft of goods, or through injury to feelings. These were the only sins."

Max Freedom Long

Is that ethos OUR reality?

A L O H A! Cloudia

Saturday Morn

It's

A L O H A

Saturday!

click on photos for an extra dose of exultation.

No Charge

"There are moments of calm even at my busy beach.

Weekday mid-mornings remind me of the Waikiki of the 1950's."

Ted Trimmer Photo & Quote

From Kualoa, on Oahu's Windward Side,

you can see Mokapu (above).

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast."

Oscar Wilde

It is a peninsula now utilized by Kaneohe Bay

Marine Corps Airstation.

(Next stop Afganistan. Kaneohe marines are in the thick of it.)

Locals call Mokapu "The Turtle."

Kapu means "set apart" "Sacred" "keep out."

A Mo`o (Moe-Oh) is a mythical Hawaiian creature akin to a dragon.

They are reported to be very wise and powerful.

Perhaps a "Mo`o Kapu" lived at this place of power.

"Breakfast time is better than any other moment of the day.

No dust has settled on one's mind then, and it presents

a clear mirror to the rays of things."

George Elliot,

Adam Bede

He has the same facial expression as the Sphinx!

"No man knows until he has suffered from the night

how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be."

Bram Stoker,

Dracula

Friends, in the spirit of supreme Saturday laziness,

I leave you with this:

"There is really nothing you must be

And there is nothing you must do

There is really nothing you must have

And there is nothing you must know.

There is really nothing you must become.

However,

It helps to understand that fire burns,and when it rains,

the earth gets wet . . .

What's good about today is the willingness to open our minds and hearts."
Robert Fulghum,

(Author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.)

In Honor of the New Year:

(moderate your volume- loud!)


Fondly, A L O H A ! Cloudia

Some JuJubes

A L O H A !

Come in

click on photos to be well & truly

Jujubee-ed

Some think of beauty when they think of JuJube.

"Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts."

Martin Buxbaum

Some people think of this tree when they hear the name.

“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Some folks are used to seeing jujubee this way.

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.”
Groucho Marx

Maybe some are even old enough to remember this Jujube!

"The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician.

Things like old folks singing in the moonlight

in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.”
Louis Armstrong

This is what came to mind...when I heard Jujube. . . until. . .


“I like vending machines, because snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at the store, oftentimes I will drop it so that is achieves its maximum flavor potential.”
Mitch Hedberg



“Candy Is dandy, But liquor Is quicker.”
Ogden Nash

But this is my little Jujube.

*"JuJubee!!!!!"*

(In a silly, high pitched cat voice)

A L O H A! Cloudia

Wedded Bliss

A L O H A

So Kind of YOU to Visit ;-]

(are you with the bride or the groom's side?)

click on photos to enlarge your eye

“I found that dance was key to keeping depression out of my life.

When you dance, things just go away, things don't seem so bad.

There's no better way to take care of health

than through something as joyous and beautiful as dance.”

Patrick Swayze

Farewell, sweet man!

Moanalua Valley by Ted Trimmer

"Somewhere the Sky touches Earth,

and the name of that place

is the End."

African Proverb

"Women Hold Up Half of the Sky."

John Lennon & Yoko

"It is impossible to persuade a man

who does not disagree-

but smiles."

Muriel Spark

Where have we seen this before?

"We have the greatest pre-nuptial agreement in the world.

It's called love." Gene Perret

"Love one another and you will be happy.

It's as simple and as difficult as that."

Michael Leunig

Well Hello there!

It's a huge privilege to be asked to conduct a wedding ceremony.

This is a day that they will remember all their lives;

But no pressure.

Everyone's nervous to get it PERFECT!

And if there's a professional photog it's a "shoot" first.

I have seen photogs run sweating couples up and down the hot beach "one more time" too many times.

But gotta get that perfect picture! (eh bloggers?)

The day belongs to the couple.

I try to be a calming, reassuring, down-to-earth influence, but completing the State's official paperwork always makes me sweat.

I have learned to ask some pertinent questions, because people ASSUME that a ceremony will contain elements that they are used to.

Are there rings? Do you have vows, or something else you want to say or recite?

If they are a same-gender couple, I tell them that as the day's representative of Church, I apologize to them for any misguided rudeness, or abuse they have suffered at the hands of "the church." That is not the Spirit that I know.

As a resident of this State, I apologize that their marriage will not be a legal entity - no matter how true, alive, or lovely it may be. But I assure them that this ceremony of their will & surrender WILL render them truly truly soul partners. Powers & Principalities honor them this day, even if the legislature hasn't caught up yet.

I welcome the humans, the Aina (land) Lani (Heavens) Kai (Sea) and all the spirit of Aloha that animates these isles.

After that, each ceremony is different.

Sometimes folks contact me later to tell me that they were happy with the ceremony - or even that they felt "something" that moved them. I am grateful that the "magic" happened. It comes through me - not from me.

Last night my favorite husband remarked how strange it is that two willing people who have obtained a marriage license are LEGALLY married simply because I declare it so.

"It takes time and lawyers and thousands of dollars to get a divorce." He said. I had to agree; it is mysterious, wonderful, and an awesome responsibility!

Mostly, what I bring is humility. I have learned to get out of my own way and "Mach Show" as the Germans say, to become the role I am playing.

A wedding ceremony is one of those times in life when we feel the winds of eternity ruffling our hair, raising goose bumps (or "chicken skin" as we say in Hawaii).

Yesterday, I shared a wonderful truth that I have learned with the bride:

"When he looks at your face in 20 or 30 years, what he will see is your beauty on this day."

I also share with couples a foundational truth of my own marriage: that it rests on a disagreement.

My husband thinks that it's All About Me.

I know that it's All About Him.

We agree to disagree on this.

And count ourselves blessed.

That's what I wish for yesterday's newlyweds.

(and for you!)

May we all enjoy the produce of our own gardens.

That's where the real nourishment comes from. . .

A L O H A! Cloudia

A Different Face of Romance

Chronicles of a Country Girl: Sometimes, I am a hopeless romantic#links

Serious Joy

A L O H A

Means: "Love" "Welcome" "Sharing" "Parting with Love."

It means giving without calculation or expectation of recompense....

click on photos to grow the Aloha content The past gazes on the present. Does anyone notice it?

"One of the unique characteristics of mammals is that we play, and as you get more complicated in the mammalian structure, you have a greater vocabulary of play, including laughter."

Dacher Keltner PhD

Univ of California, Berkley

Remember losing yourself for hours in nature?

"You need to get away from the notion that a lot of human behavior can be approached rationally, because we are not rational."

Robert Provine

neuroscientist, Univ of Maryland, Baltimore

Look past the cement and you will see a green abundance.

"Laughter is the GPS system of the soul. Humor offers a revolutionary yet simple spiritual paradigm. If you can laugh at yourself, you can forgive yourself. And if you can forgive yourself you can forgive others. Laughter heals and grounds us in a place of hope. It fosters intimacy and honesty in our relationship with each other and with God. And isn't that what grace is all about?"

Rev. Susan Sparks

"The human soul was created through divine laughter."

Egyptian creation Myth

"The Buddha's laugh fills the entire universe."

"Joy is one of the seven factors of enlightenment."

Buddhist teachings

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Life is serious business.

Much too serious to waste in grave seriousness.

"Life, Liberty, & the pursuit of Happiness"

is the founding principle of the United States.

A new idea in it's Enlightenment day.

We pay lip service to happiness all the time-

for ourselves and for others.

But we expect it to take care of itself,

as if it is an inexhaustible resource

that is always burbling over.

Is YOUR joy always burbling over?

Perhaps you will agree with me that we need to pay some much needed attention to the cultivation of joy.

The Hawaiians of old understood that energy & experience follow attention; What we focus on, grows.

What crops are you growing?

A possible first step in crop rotation

is to pay attention to the joy quotient in your life.

Anything we forget to notice, or appreciate, tends to leave us alone. Have you been a good host of joy, or do you think of it with suspicion, sending it back to the end

of your line of priorities?

Just for today, notice the gentle promptings of joy.

Allow them to blossom, even into belly laughs and profligate smiles. Yes, dare to be different.

Notice any "guilt" you may feel for thus "wasting" your time.

The first thing that newbie bird watchers notice, is all of the preciously unnoticed bird life all around them.

May it be the same with you and joy - your neglected friend.

We have made of the Divine a stern judge

(if mostly to judge others).

Dare we believe that Joy is the gift

that the universe wants us to enjoy?

It is certainly my wish for you -

because you are my guest here

and my friend, my Pili Aloha.

Do you need some pressure? Here it is:

Go take joy seriously!

Let me know how it goes.

Warm Aloha, cloudia
(all unattributed words are my own ;-)

bonus points:

King David in Psalms advises us,

"Serve G-d with joy, come before Him with jubilation."

The power of joy is unlimited, for, as stated in the Talmud, "Joy breaks all boundaries."

Waikiki from the Water

A L O H A!

click on photos to smell the surf Looking out at the sunset.

All Ted Trimmer photos today!

“The sky broke like an egg into full sunset

and the water caught fire.”
Pamela Hansford Johnson

Waikiki looks beautiful from out on the water.



"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
Jimi Hendrix


"A clever man commits no minor blunders."
- Goethe



Here is the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
During WWII, Japanese subs would lurk here in the shallows
listening to the music wafting from the hotel.



"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."
George Washington Carver

A drop of water on the lens.

Who cares?!

“Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday”
Zora Neale Hurston

Today I am performing a wedding out on the Windward side of Oahu!

Please enjoy these photos by Ted Trimmer with my good wishes.

Aloha, Friends! Cloudia