A House Is Not A Shoe

ALOHA, Friend


Thank You for Stopping By



Click on the glare of glory!

Summer in Oahu


"Government is too big and too important
to be left to the politicians."

- Chester Bowles

Roller Girls!

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour.

Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.

THAT'S relativity."

Albert Einstein

A house is not a home

a new shoe is not yet your shoe

except in the crudest sense of ownership.


A saddle, leather jacket,

or pair of gloves

are not working properly until they are broken in.


And I won't even speak of a marriage!



I have been reflecting on all this as I break in my scooter.

Metal parts are becoming an engine (community)

based on their experience of the road, of life;

which means based on how I treat them.


Opening the throttle no more than a third,

constantly varying my revs,

no passenger, hill climbing, or big highway.



Her voice was disappointingly nasal at first,

more like a lawn mower than a motorcycle,

but as we go along her voice has "broke"

and a throatier sound is emerging.



As I roll gently on

and off the throttle

I understand that I am tempering steel,

I am surfacing it,

and polishing that surface.


Talking to a bike is always indicated.



I find I'm rejuvenated!


So much fun on two wheels with Zen concentration.


I love my denim jacket,

gloves,

I love it all.


Zoom zoom! Beep Beep!



Thanks for coming by today!



ALOHA, cloudia

Three Amigos

Aloha

Welcome to the REAL Hawaii!

"The undertaking of a new action brings new strength."

Richard L. Evans

Ku Image at Honolulu's Bishop Museum.
Note the Kapa fabric loincloth.
This is the traditional way to display these images;
they are anatomically correct.
link HERE

“Ola Nā Iwi” – The bones live

Said of a respected oldster who is well cared for by his family.
(Collected by Pūku'i, #2488)

Has it really been more than 150 years since anyone has seen such a sight?


This may be the famous trio of the Ahu`ena Heiau (temple) of
North Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii
that William Ellis wrote of in the 19th Century:

"-the idols are all destroyed,
excepting three which are planted on the wall
(of the temple, a Kamehameha fort in Ellis' day)
one at each end,
and the other in the center,
where they stand like sentinels
amidst the guns
as if designed by their frightful appearance
to terrify and enemy."

Terrifying? Well why not?
For they are 800 pound (lb) holy images of KU,
Hawaiian god of war, fishing, family, leadership, procreation.
KU represents the male element.

These three,
the largest KU images remaining in the world,
stand together today in Hawaii Hall
at our esteemed Bishop Museum
where they will remain till October 4th
when two will make their journeys of return,
one to the British Museum,
the other to the Peabody Essex Museum in Peabody Mass.

Extraordinary enough that wooden images should survive this long,
but more so when you consider the 1819 cultural revolution
in Hawaii, when the KAPU System,
the complex web of spiritual rules governing EVERY aspect of conduct,
was overthrown by order of Kamehameha II (Liholiho)
when he very deliberately sat down to eat

with his chiefesses in public.

All such images were summarily destroyed by royal edict.

Then, in an amazing historic synchronicity,
the Christian Missionaries arrived HERE,

bringing a new religion,
in 1820.


The few remaining images left the islands as curiosities,
though it is conjectured the the British Museum Ku
(acquired 1839) was originally taken to England by Kamehameha II.


The Bishop's Ku was returned to Hawaii in 1895 as a gift/loan
from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.


The Peabody's has been there since 1846.

The Exhibition's title:
E Ku Ana Ku Paia:
Unification, Responsibility, and the Ku Images
speaks of the condition of the indigenous Hawaiian community
in this 200th year since the unification of the islands into one kingdom.

It is taken from an old prophesy chant,
meaning literally:

The Walls Will stand Firm


Which echoes Isaiah 58:12

"Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."


"It embodies the rebuilding of a foundation of a nation,
says Noelle Kahanu, Bishop Museum Project Manager.
"We are in a transitional phase as a community,
of what we were
and what we will become.
It is part of manifesting what we envision."

"Our Ku image is one of our most precious objects.
That two other Ku even exist in the world
is very impressive and special.
And to get them all together is mind boggling."
says DeSoto Brown, the Bishop's Library and Archives Collection Manager.

Cultural leaders locally
decided by poll
that it such a reunification was eminently worthwhile,
even if the two "foreign" Ku must leave again.

Thank YOU for visiting!

Be sure to leave an "aloha" in comments
and make my day :)
cloudia


Bishop Museum site HERE

Maui News HERE

"I Don't Care" - Giving

Aloha
Co-Conspirator!



please click on these photos and let them breathe

Playground Rainbow


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

John Vance Cheney

Lucille Lotus & Company




“I was in yoga the other day. I was in full lotus position.

My chakras were all aligned. My mind is cleared of all clatter

and I'm looking out of my third eye

and everything that I'm supposed to be doing.

It's amazing what comes up, when you sit in that silence.

'Mama keeps whites bright like the sunlight, Mama's got the magic of

Clorox 2.'”


Ellen DeGeneres

-

“In the pure, immaculate waters,

both the lotus and the slimy scum are found.”


Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Mast Flame


"All thoughts, all passions, all delights

Whatever stirs this mortal frame

All are but ministers of Love

And feed His sacred flame."


Samuel Taylor Coleridge



><>

Growing up in my family
we always knew JUST what to do
when any normal problem came up:




Panic, irritation, blame, avoidance, blow-ups,
emotional bludgeoning.




You guys think I'm like this yoga person,
but don't "get" that I'm just a recovering
nervous wreck.
(Maybe you do !)




"It is not spiritual experts
who need to become monks,"
Said Thomas Merton,
"but those who need constant...what word did he use?
help, perhaps? Something like that.




I need calm and regularity
almost as much as an autistic,
though I am high-fun-ctioning.




Into this scenario
comes my elderly mother,
aging a mile from here.





I realize that today she might be diagnosed
with attention-deficit
which explains her lack of focus on us kids
except as sources of irritation.




Now she is widowed,
recovering from surgery
and living a life based on a house of cards
that I must shuffle
without disturbing my own apple-cart
including my husband's
peace of mind.




Not to mention our financial security
which is now tied up with hers.





Suddenly, I have a million jobs and worries
that are no way germane
to the things I gotta do,
want to do.



But St. John was right:
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."





Strange thing is, I'm rockin` and rollin`
with a good confidence
and joy in my way of life,
in my attitudes and beliefs
that you see at this blog.






My mind is too often consumed with the problems of
MoM


BUT


NOT


with the problems of resentment
and unfinished business!



In a recent piece in HARPERS,
Sallie Tisdale
discusses the costs of care-giving
and shares the Social Work field's
distinction between the OBJECTIVE BURDEN
and the SUBJECTIVE BURDEN of care-giving.





The OBJECTIVE Burden is all the stuff you gotta do.

The SUBJECTIVE burden is essentially:

"The gamut of negative emotional reactions to care-giving,
such as stress,tension, anger, worry, sadness,
and feelings of guilt and shame."

Chaya Schwartz & Lilit Hadar






Those two Israeli social workers prove in their research,
that it is the SUBJECTIVE burden
that is hardest to bear.





Somehow I have understood this on a fundamental level;
I see, like in the optical illusion of the two faces/vase



my anger, resentments and hurts

BUT

I also see that "What is - IS."




I can remain myself, remain at peace
and keep the bad feelings at bay.




I can refuse to return her
selfishness and de-facto contempt.




I can give her support
without twisting up my gut.





I can, and I must;

or all is lost.





I don't want to go back to that emotional black hole
that I grew up in.



I don't want to remember being on my own at age 16
except as a great adventure and source of pride.





When she is gone,
I will be glad I did.




My brother
who they cared for well into (questionable) adulthood
shook out his wings and emigrated to Canada
just as the well ran dry
and care would be needed.





He hates me for "being in charge" financially
(read: Responsible)
and has declared:
"Expect no help."





But I understand now that he hates me
(nothing personal, he doesn't even know me)
as one prisoner hates another
for reminding him of his own youthful humiliations.





So if I post irregularly, and don't comment at you place
as much as I like to,
please don't think I'm out having fun.




Oh, I AM having fun, even with all the work and responsibility;



Now I'M the MoM
and I'm doing it MY way, as She did.




Only MY way makes everyone feel better,
not just everyone except
the scape-goat.



BAAAA AAAAAA,



cloudia

Rhapsodiasical

Aloha & Welcome to the Beauty of
HAWAII

click on the pictures

"The trouble with life isn't that there is no answer,
it's that there are so many answers."

Ruth Benedict

"Everything should be made as simple as possible,
but not simpler."

Einstein

"There is always some specific moment

when we realize our youth is gone;

but years after, we know it was much later."


Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960


><>


Just being born an average person:
no wealth,
no connections,
no extraordinary talents,
no extraordinary luck,
is the greatest challenge,
and adventure
in the universe.


What do YOU think?


Thank You for Visiting,
Kindly leave a comment!
cloudia

Drenched

Aloha Welcome

FRIEND!

Click on the cloud pics

I wandered lonely as a Cloudia...

Flotsam Gems

Um, OK...

Saturday on Waikiki Beach:

Jennifer Bright, left, Lyndsay Haywood, center, and Lisa Chin are drenched in chocolate syrup to symbolize the oil-drenched wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

Courtesy of DENNIS ODA at Honolulu's STARADVERTISER.COM

(related naughtiness HERE)

><>

"When our intentions toward others are good,

we find that any feelings of anxiety or insecurity we may have

are greatly reduced.

We experience a liberation from our habitual preoccupation

with self and paradoxically, this gives rise

to strong feelings of confidence."

Dalai Lama

&

cloudia

ALOHA!

My Time Machine

Aloha,
Golden Summer FRIEND!

click on the pics :)

Waikiki is known for sweeping sky vistas...



"A man without ambition is dead.
A man with ambition but no love is dead.
A man with ambition
and love for his blessings here on earth
is forever so
alive."

Pearl Bailey

...But there are little secrets to find. What is this?


"Happiness comes of the capacity

to feel deeply,

to enjoy simply,

to think freely,

to risk life,

to be needed."

Storm Jameson

A little hobo cat lies sleeping.



“The more you know,

the less you need”

Australian Aboriginal Proverb


><>

I love my time machine.
You may call it a scooter, but to me it is a magic carpet.
Since I usually walk through Waikiki
it seems magically effortless to swoop down these same streets
open to the skies,
to Heaven,
yet keeping my eyes alive all around me.

In a car
you are behind a windshield.
Bikers call cars
"cages."

But on two wheels
you are part of the scene
part of the weather.

I feel rejuvenated!

Of course,
car drivers come to two wheelers
with lots of bad driving habits,
like assuming that others see them.

On a bike you must always remember
that you are invisible.

You must pay Zen attention to your surroundings all around,
not merely ride the bumper of the car ahead.


I was a licensed motorcyclist
before I was licensed to drive a car.

On a bike you are active,
like a cow girl riding herd on the traffic.
The complete attention is soothing,
meditative.

And the time part?

Well I'm able to swing into a place,
park right away,
complete my chore
and on to the next place.


Suddenly it feels possible
(and fun)
to accomplish every little task.

What fun activity
have you forgotten?


Go build a sand castle,
or a go cart!

If you decide to ride on two wheels
it would be a good idea
to take a rider course.

Break out of the cage.


Let's FLY!


Thank YOU for swinging by here- cloudia


A serious note: Many of you have asked for pictures of the scooter.
I'd enjoy showing you, but it occurs to me that the web has many
lurkers, some of whom might live here in Honolulu.

Prudence demands a certain reserve, and I advise YOU to
safeguard YOUR self while on line too.

So NO scooter pictures. Sorry.

But just picture me on a little Japanese pony
having the time of my life
and you will "have" the
true picture!

Now YOU stay safe :)

More Parade

Aloha Friday is Here!





Click on the birdies

“God finds a low branch for the bird that cannot fly.”

Turkish Proverb

"Reading is to the mind

what exercise is to the body."


Sir Richard Steele

And here is a slide show of more parade pictures:




Thanks for YOUR visit!

cloudia