Parade Day

Aloha, Friend!
Welcome to the
Kamehameha Day Floral Parade
Celebrating Kamehameha the Great,
the "Napoleon of the Pacific,"
the "Lonely One."
He united the islands into one kingdom
1810.

click on the parade!

Pau Rider


"No child but must remember laying his head in the grass,
staring into the infinitesimal forest
and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies."

Robert Louis Stevenson,
Essays in The Art of Writing

Ladies of a Royal Society


"When you eat fruit,
think of the person who planted the tree"

VIETNAMESE SAYING

It's a family thing.

"A hug is like a boomerang - 

you get it back right away."

Bil Keane, "Family Circus"

"Millions and millions of years
would still not give me half enough time
to describe that tiny instant of all eternity
when you put your arms around me
and I put my arms around you."

Jacques Prévert





"You can't wrap love in a box,
but you can wrap a person in a hug."

Author Unknown

Honolulu Police Department Motor Officer
wearing a maile lei.

"Children make you want to start life over."
Muhammad Ali

Old & New:
Feathered Capes and Mobile Phones

"Face in the Crowd"




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Sure is Summer, isn't it?
Well, here in the northern it is.
Minds wander, and blog traffic dips.

But the desire to take pictures,
to reach out,
and to share with jolly friends
only blossoms.

We excuse each other
for the long days of reverie
far from the internet.

Love you guys;
That's ALOHA!
                                           :)  cloudia

Kamehameha Day

A Warm Aloha Welcome

to

Kamehameha Day,

June 10th, 2011

Click on the images today!

Today the Royal Societies

(With the help of the Honolulu Fire Dept

that was founded by King Kalakaua)

Drape the "Lonely One's" statue

with lei of love and gratitude.

What a sight!

KAMEHAMEHA the Great

"Napoleon of the Pacific"

Father of his country: Hawaii

"The public cannot be too curious 

concerning the characters of public men." 

Samuel Adams

Hawaii's Native Son.


You too loved that lei draped statue
while growing up here,

didn't you, Mr. President?

<:>

No one knows the day of his birth,

on the Big Island (Hawaii).

He was born, a young Ali`i (chief)

among others,

in a traditional world.

As a boy,

he was present to experience

aliens landing:

Captain Cook.

He saw the need for Hawaii to unify

in order to survive

in a suddenly larger world

of opposing powers.

Using western and traditional weapons

he conquered all of our islands,

except the kingdom of Kauai

which joined through treaty.

201 years ago he established the

Hawaiian Kingdom,

recognized as a sovereign nation

throughout the world.

Of course, we are now a US State,

but the Kingdom lives in our hearts

by acclimation & defacto affection.

Yet it is real-

like the Kingdom of Heaven.

This holiday always falls close to my birthday.

Me and Kamehameha:

together in Hawaii-

it was meant to be!

Would YOU Rather-

A L O H A !

"It takes a long time to grow young!"

Pablo Picasso

Would you rather see this sign. . .

. . . Or THIS one?

EITHER one is better

than a steel plate IN your head!

Balancing Act

ALOHA-

                   Thanks for Visiting Virtual Waikiki :)

 

"The golden moments

in the stream of life

rush past us,
 and we see nothing but sand;
the angels come to visit us,
 and we only know them

when they are gone."

George Eliot

" Surroundings inspiring to live in. "

"Real wealth consists

of things of utility and beauty,
in things

that help to create strong,

beautiful bodies
and surroundings 

inspiring to live in."

Emma Goldman

"Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed

by whoever shall find."

-William Wordsworth, 1806

see more of these guys HERE

"Every human being

has hundreds of separate people

living under his skin.

The talent of a writer is his ability

to give them their separate names,

identities, personalities. . ."

Mel Brooks

<<(=)>> 

Any martial-arts master 

will tell you

that

BALANCE

is the root of

PERSONAL POWER.

We all get tugged

into the future,

and into our past,

That does not help us

to become masters of the

NOW,

dealing with what

arises,

as it enters OUR 

home court advantage.

Lean too far forward

or back

and you cannot catch the ball,

pivot,

and score

in one fluid motion.

Make it come to

you.

Whatever "it" is today.

Bonus is

that foresight becomes

instant, insightful & effective;

 completely different

than debilitating worry

or regret.

Saint Oprah said:

"Doing the best at this moment

puts you in the best place

for the next moment."

And our wisest US President

Lincoln reminds us that:

"The best thing about the future

is that it comes only

one day at a time."

Don't just DO something!

Be poised, relaxed.

Just tell them that you're not lazy,

you're READY!

What do you say to that?

Tell us in 'comments'

          warmly, cloudia

 

Summer More Than Ever

A  L  O  H  A !

"Gray skies

are just clouds passing over." 

 
Duke Ellington

"The silence often of pure innocence

Persuades when speaking fails. " 

 

 William Shakespeare 

"Be thine own palace, 

or the world's thy jail."

John Donne

"One is never alone. 

Acknowledged or unacknowledged,

that which dreams through us

is always there

to support from within."

Laurence van der Post

><}}(°>

I hope you find this page 

a reliable place

to land

 to enjoy 

and to

to celebrate

 YOUR life.

Together we 
share

the things

that really matter.

Summer really matters.

So take some time to dance with her.

After you leave us your comment, of  course :)

                                                                                   fondly, cloudia

Blessing Animals

Aloha & Welcome Back to Hawaii

 It is time again for the ancient Japanese ritual,

Chinowa, 

in which people pass through a ring

of chigaya grass

to receive a blessing of good health. 

Dating from Nara period (710-749 CE)

the blessing initiates a process of renewal & revitalization, invoking increased flow

of Universal Life Energy,

strengthening us for the second half of the year

(New Year is the prime time for blessings!)

 A Shinto Shrine grew in old Honolulu,

outside the city herself:

 Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha-Hawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu.

 In time, a modern city grew up around her.

A major highway passes very near.

As with everything else here in Hawaii,

we have put our own spin on Chinowa.

Here, it is an occasion to bless our 

companion animals,

and lucky Ti leaves 

are used in place of chigaya.

"The nature of God is a circle

of which the center is everywhere

and the circumference is

nowhere. "

Empedocles

We can judge the heart of a man

by his treatment of animals."  

Immanual Kant

 

“Men are slower

 

to recognize blessings

 

than evils.”

 

 

 Titus Livy

“Prayers go up 

 

and blessings come down”

 

 

Yiddish Proverb

 

 

 

 

 

"If having a soul means

being able to feel love and loyalty

and gratitude,

then animals are better off 

than a lot of humans"  

James Herriot

And yes,

I got my

blessing!

Here's sharing it

             with YOU- warmly,     cloudia

I Could!

A L O H A ! 
                                              Sunday in Honolulu:

I could TOTALLY eat that!

I could TOTALLY wear that!

I could TOTALLY ride that!

Well I COULD!

Comment?  

        Fondly, cloudia