Canada Day

A L O H A     C  A  N  A  D  A !

 " Canada is a place of infinite promise. 

We like the people, 

and if one ever had to emigrate,
 this would be the destination,
not the U.S.A.
The hills, lakes and forests
 make it a place of peace
and repose of the mind,
 such as one never finds
 in the U.S.A. "

John Maynard Keynes

" Canada

is the greatest nation

in this country. "  

Allan Lamport

former Mayor of Toronto

 " Canada 

is one of the planet's 

most comfortable,
and caring, societies.
 The United Nations

 Human Development Index
cited the country

 as the most desirable place
 in the world
 to live. "

Time magazine

 " Canada stands as a model 

of how people of different cultures

 can live and work together

 in peace, prosperity,

 and mutual respect. "

Bill Clinton

 And we in Hawaii, 

especially Waikiki

appreciate our many 

Canadian friends,

guests, 

and part time residents.

Sorry for the delay,

But O Canada!

We salute YOU

with much Aloha

on your Special Day

                         Warmly, cloudia

Oahu Mountains

A  L  O  H  A !

 Keahiakahoe (above)
[ kay - ah-hee - ahka - hoy ]

 is a 2,820 foot peak 

of Oahu's Ko`olau Mountains.

 Here, she presides over
 Kaneohe Town

on our windward side. 

Kaneohe Bay from Keahiakahoe

 

" One sees great things

 [mountains]

from the valley;

 only small things 

from the peak. "

Gilbert K. Chesterton

 

courtesy: theaircraft.net

A US Army air Corps B-17E

 arrived in Hawaii on 18 Dec 41,

 11 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  

It crashed into the cliffs of Mt. Keahiakahoe 

less than 4 months later on

 Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942.

 Sweet as Honolulu Town is,
in Summer some turn
their eyes to the mountains
above town, our
  ' Mauka'  side


[ Ocean, Kai
is the yin
to Mauka's yang:
' Makai. ' ]


Above is Punchbowl Crater,
home to a National Cemetery
where our military heroes are buried,
including President Obama's
grandfather (who gave young Barack a home)
Stanley Dunham,
a WWII Vet
( Like my Dad )

The mountains are close,

and rural Oahu 

is just beyond them.

( until we stupidly 

pave it over, that is! 

See it NOW )

" I long

 for rural and domestic 

scene,

 for the warbling of birds

 and the prattling

 of my children.  "

John Adams

“ Keep close to Nature's heart...

and break clear away,
once in awhile,

  climb a mountain . . .
Wash your spirit 

clean. ”

 John Muir 

"- like an abandoned theater.

The play is finished,

but the echoes

remain. "

 Arbit Blatas

 Spooky.  Who, or what,

is in that window?

 " It is dismal coming home,

 when there is

 nobody 

to welcome one! "

  
    Ann Radcliffe,

 

Breathtaking pictures taken by a hiker on Keahiakahoe  HERE

Thanks for climbing by today!

Scrawl your

 "i was here"

in comments

                           Warmly, cloudia

Extreme Hiking on Oahu:

Hear the ANGEL Voices

A  L  O  H  A !

 “ Keep close to Nature's heart...

and break clear away,
once in awhile,

 and climb a mountain
 or spend a week

 in the woods.
Wash your spirit 

clean. ”

 John Muir

 " Whenever a situation

 develops to its extreme,
it is bound to turn

 around 

and become its 

opposite. "

Frank Capra

 " The best books... 

are those that tell you

 what you know 

already. "

George Orwell

 Would fit on your thumbnail

" In all ranks of life
 the human heart yearns
 for the beautiful . "

Harriet Beecher Stowe

 =^.^= 

 When I hear sirens

 in the night
I smile.

It is the sound
of dedicated professionals
rushing to help someone
as they have saved me,

and perhaps
you.

So don't decry
their cry.

It is the sound of 

Angels!

{:->:=:<-:} 

 

YOU are an Angel

for flying here today-

Thank YOU!

                             Warmly, cloudia

Faith Restored

A  L  O  H  A !

 

" A problem difficult at night,
is resolved in the morning
after the committee
of sleep
has worked on it. "

John Steinbeck 

“ There are two days in the week
about which and upon
 which I never worry...
Yesterday and Tomorrow. ”

 Robert Jones Burdette

“Why join the navy

 if you can be a 

pirate?”
 
 Steve Jobs

  <>[}:{]<>

Your kind visit

 adds an

 irreplaceable element

 to my day: 

YOU!  

Thanks pal

                 Warmly, cloudia

White Bird of Paradise

A  L  O  H  A !

" Nobody outside of a

 baby carriage
 or a

 judge's chamber
believes in an
unprejudiced
 point of view. "

Lillian Hellman

“ May brooks and trees
and singing hills
 join in the chorus too,
and every gentle wind
that blows
 send happiness
 to you.”

 Irish Blessings

  Several of these beauties
flourish on my street.
"The Bird of Paradise tree"
or "White Bird of Paradise" 

Strelitzia nicolai  (that's a link)

 has banana-like foliage

 and with room

 may grow to 25 feet

in height.

A native of

 subtropical South Africa. 

 her flowers grow

 to a full 12 inches long. 

The first time one sees

 Strelitzia,

she is a bit of a visual shock,

after having become accustomed

 to the smaller, more common

Bird of Paradise, 

with her

familiar orange 

'birds.'

  

Strelitzia nicolai

 Image taken from: 'Water-colour Drawings of Plants from South Africa, Canaries, Azores, West Indies and Two Views of Niagra' by Francis Masson (1770-1798). 
Held in the Botany Library at the Natural History Museum, London.
Courtesy SCIENCEPHOTOLIBRARY

  

  "  Never be haughty to the humble  or humble to the haughty.  "

Jefferson Davis

 >  <  }  }  ( ° >

Thank  YOU

for walking along

today.

Make my day - leave YOUr comment! 

                            Warmly, cloudia

Daily Life Scene- With Ships

 A  L  O  H  A !

" Children

 should be led

 into the right paths, 

not by severity, 

but by 

persuasion. "

Terence

 " It is easy to give advice

 from a port of safety.  "

Friedrich Schiller

“ In the love of narrow souls
 I make many short voyages
 but in vain 

 - I find no sea room - 

but in great souls
 I sail before the wind
without a watch, 

and never reach the shore.”

 Henry David Thoreau

" The past

 is an old armchair

 in the attic, 

the present 

an ominous

 ticking

 sound,
 and the future 

is

 anybody's guess. "

James Thurber

{[=]}

The phone rings. 

 It is my blog invisible husband - 

we usually have inconsequential convos 

throughout the day.

THIS is one of those calls:

BlogInvisibleHusband : Hey, I just pulled off a

 coup d'état !

 

Me: Did you use a tissue?

BIH:  Tissue?

ME: Well, when you deal with a
 cootie. . .

We laugh

BIH: There's a guy here with a Yo Yo;

 Now he's making it sleep!

(Off the phone) Hey! 

 Let me show you 'Baby in the cradle!'

(Back to me) 

I GOTTA GO!

As you can tell:

we're PERFECT

for each other-


Thank YOU
for being a Perfect Pal-
                
                           Warmly, cloudia

VOLANT :

 Moving Lightly; Nimble. 

A  L  O  H  A !

" Myths 

which are believed in

 tend

 to become

 true. "

George Orwell
 

"  Good writing 
is like a 
windowpane. "

George Orwell

 " Representation of the world,

 like the world itself, 

is the work of men; 

they describe it

 from their own point of view, 

which they confuse 

with the 

absolute truth.  "

Simone de Beauvoir

 " Nothing

 other people do

 is because

 of you.

 It is because 

of themselves. "

Don Miguel Ruiz

 " The way we negotiate 

anxiety 

plays no small part

 in shaping

 our lives 

and character. "

Gordon Marino

 " As I get older,

 I get smaller.

 I see other parts 

of the world

 I didn't see before. 

Other points of view. 

I see outside myself

 more.  "

Neil Young

" All objects lose 

by too familiar 

a view.  "

John Dryden

" Nothing's beautiful 

from every 

point of view.  "

Horace

     >  <  }  }  ( ° >

It was late,

the house was quiet.

Looking into a cooking pot

[ yes, it is a stainless steel pot ]

I saw the rainbow,

worlds in worlds,

and wondered

if

my camera could

show You

what I glimpsed.

Yes,

it is a pot.

Thank YOU

for looking in.

Even the briefest "hello" 

in comments

is another Gift !

                          Warmly, cloudia