Needn't Own Them

A l o h a !

"Everybody suffers.

If you accept your suffering,

you can understand others

better.

But never forget:

life is sweet."

Steven Colbert's Mother, Lorna

as told by her son

"He's a fine fellow

with but one fault;

He's a terrible scoundrel."

Said of a 19th Century Steam-Ship Company lobbyist

"That which you DO -

that is what you ARE."

Ingrid Bettencourt

My Buddy Aiden

Happy First Birthday!

"A truly rich man

 is one whose children run into his arms

 when his hands are empty."

Author Unknown

><}}(°>

Visiting old books,

stories, paintings, faces;

seeing wonders in museums,

gems in a shop,

imbibing epic skies

on a blog

or resounding to

a mellifluous brook. . .

All these things

feed me

and you.

We needn't own them-

but may revisit anytime,

They show us new facets

and intimations

as we develop new ones of our own.

          Thank YOU for visiting! cloudia

Diamond Head Sunrise

Aloha!

click on the cloudy clouds

"Sunrise offered a very beautiful spectacle;

 the water was quite unruffled,

 but the motion communicated by the tides

 was so great that,

 although there was not a breath of air stirring,

 the sea heaved slowly

 with a grand and majestic motion." 
George Grey 

"There was never a night

 or a problem

 that could defeat sunrise or hope." 

Bern Williams 

Around Waikiki

ALOHA

 Greetings to

 Y O U!

click on photos for fullest effect

Memorial to Some of My Neighbors;

 I posted about them HERE last week.

"Light gives of itself freely,

 filling all available space.

  It does not seek anything in return;

 it asks not whether you are friend or foe.

  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished."

  Michael Strassfeld

Local kid Throwing Shaka

"You can always amend a big plan,

 but you can never expand a little one.

 I don't believe in little plans."

Harry S. Truman

"The President is always abused.

 If he isn't, he isn't doing anything."
Harry S. Truman 

"They talk about me like a dog."

President Obama

“The glow of one warm thought  is to me  worth more than money.”

Thomas Jefferson  Thank You for YOUR kind visit

                                                                                        cloudia

Pull!

Aloha, Friend!

That's a BIG Ocean out there!

Way in the distance,

 there just beyond the horizon,

across the 41 mile wide Ka Iwi Channel,

is the Friendly Isle:

Molokai. 

Last Sunday's was the 57th organized modern


outrigger canoe race

between the islands of Oahu and Molokai.

 The Ka iwi Channel between them is regarded as one of the most treacherous spans of ocean on our globe.

 The Molokai Hoe (pronounced: 'HOY') canoe race is one of the longest running annual team sporting events

 in our Hawaii.

   The race perpetuates Hawaii's

 (and Polynesia's)

 most important and historic cultural traditions, 

even while welcoming outrigger canoe paddlers

from around the world!

 This supreme test of physical and mental limits,

 of strength, endurance, courage, &


 determination is,

most urgently,

a forge of teamwork

 as the paddlers confront the Earth's 


extreme

forces together.

 The winning team:
 Shell Va'a from Tahiti!

Check out this short video of canoes approaching Oahu.

That is the back of Diamond Head towards which they

PULL!

Hoe = Paddle. Hoe Wa`a! = Paddle the canoe!

Hoy Somos Todos Los Mineros Chilenos!

HOLA!          A L O H A !

please click on the photos; blogger often clips them short

Spiral Reflection

Aloha is not an idea, ideal, or theory of behavior.

It is a way of being.

It is behavioral

or it is nothing.

Being sincere in your patriotism

doesn't make you right about everything

or excuse intolerance.

"The more helpless a creature,

the more entitled it is

to protection by man

from the cruelty of man."

Gandhi

><}}(°> 

Why does a person,

a worker,

have to be trapped underground

for us to care deeply

about them?

Why does a person

have to travel

down into a tomb

to rescue others

for us to really see

and appreciate

the heroism

or everyday 

workers,

people

?

Chile has shown all of us,

has reminded the world,

that in times of challenge

it is proper to pull together.

We Americans

are always proving our truths

by finding fault in others,

by finding someone to blame,

by being 'right'

rather than 

compassionate.

Today,

we are all Chilean.

And in this way

let us so remain!

Warmly, cloudia

Sufficient Unto-

Aloha Friend!

 These Japanese ladies have the right idea:

 Sun Protection

"On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches

 where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin,

 the saltwater off our bodies,

 and the sand out of our belongings."

Erma Bombeck 


Anything to distract ourselves, eh?

 East Oahu's Kaiwi Coastline.

Awesome Nature / Tiny fishermen (See them?)

"It's a privilege

to

grow old."

"Cathy"

Protagonist on Showtime's

 'The Big C'

"Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

 There is more day to dawn.

 The sun is but a morning star."

Henry David Thoreau 

<°)}}><

My motto for today:

"It is enough."

Just for today

I will celebrate

the things that I have

accomplished.

Dwelling on the unfinished,

the never-enough,

is paralyzing.

But reminding myself

that

"It is enough"
makes today
a happy celebration-

and teases my appetite

for

tomorrow.

Give yourself
a pat on the back.




     Good Job!  cloudia

Watching the Wheels

Aloha 

& Welcome to My Waikiki. . .

"Remember

not only to say the right thing

in the right place,

but

to leave unsaid

the wrong thing

at the tempting moment."

Ben Franklin

 Sometimes

we feel hemmed in,

like we've come to a dead

 end.

 But a shift in perspective,

perhaps

a glance over or around the obstacle. . . 

Just for today

I will be happy.

Everywhere I go

there are people to love

including myself.

 ><>

So many wonderful blogs!

There is just NO way I can visit each of you,

my favorites,

as often as I wish. . .

I hope you understand. . .

You enrich my life

and are much appreciated!

<><

"Life is what happens while you are making other plans."

I had studied till I could study no more.

Now I just had to get all that information

intact to the midterm examinations.

Nothing could be permitted to disturb

my edifice of facts;

Tomorrow I would write my essays

in that blue book

proving my comprehension.

Now I must sleep.

Just a few moments of music.

I turned the radio on.

"We repeat: John Lennon has been shot in New York.

No reports yet on his condition."

Suddenly

my exams seemed trivial.

How can I explain?

Fortunately, I don't really need to:

his lyrical genius

and his brilliant irreverence

touched the whole world.

For us,

his voice was the sound

of our growing up:

Pop that changed the sound of the world.

Explorations in consciousness.

A plea for PEACE.

Music and ideas

that expanded with OUR consciousness.

I loved John.

Today would have been his 70th birthday.

My path has not always made sense to those around me,

or even to myself;

but it has been 

honest as it has been

idiosyncratic.

John modelled the courage

to follow your personal genius,

to follow your heart

to give yourself fully

to that which you love.

I have always loved the song below

and identified with it.

All I am saying

is give peace with yourself

a chance.

Make it count.

Because John was right:

Life IS what happens

while we make other plans.

We make plans

and God laughs.

So laugh along.

Cry some too. . .

Thanks for being

my friend!  cloudia