Deep Aloha Daniel Inouye, Son of the Islands

A L O H A !

It's Been a tough week.

 Of course, the holidays are what they are.

Then the intolerable evil in Connecticut.  

Such shared, deep grief.  .  .

But then we in Hawaii 

suffered an unprecedented hurt,
somehow a very personal one, 

on deep and shallow levels.

 I can remember no shared,
 genuinely shared, grief

 like this passing of a
 giant leader,

 hero,

 beloved son of these islands.

The mood reminds me
of JFK's assassination
all those years ago.
Hawaii is in shock.

For most of us

he has ALWAYS

been with us,

protecting us.

Watching average Hawaii folks

 wait in line, 

to file past his flag draped coffin

 for 7 hours Saturday night,

was really moving.

Dignitaries, like these Hawaiians of
Royal Societies
 pay respects to an honorary member
and friend.

When tall soldiers moved the coffin

out of the State Capitol

at midnight

over 100 citizens

still waited in line

to pay their

respects.

Watching the preparations
for his Sunday funeral
from my window

[over in the national cemetery
 at Punchbowl Crater]

I feel a loss, an emptiness larger

 than one family's loss. 

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
[ LINK ]
[ shot from my window ]

Hawaii feels hollow,

uncertain today. 

Crack of 19 cannons in salute,
one less than a
president gets.
 I shot the smoke
rising. . . . 

Since statehood 

till this month,

was the Dan era.

This must have been

what it was like

back in earlier times

when

 a much loved king
passed into
history.

Missing Man Formation

After the ceremony,
President Obama & Michelle
visited the grave of 
Stanley Dunham,
Barack's grandfather
who helped to raise 
our President.
Mr. Dunham was
a WWII veteran
like Dan Inouye.
Several of Uncle Dan's
wartime comrades
attended.






mmmmmmmmmm

Day or Night

A   L   0   H   A  !

D A Y -

or Night - 

Friends are Best !

The Italian word for wisdom, 

"sapienza" 

comes from "sapia,"

 Latin for taste. 

"I taste 

therefore I know,"

  Ralph Vaughn Williams

  "Oh Taste and See."

   > <  }  }  ( ° >

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HAWAII- Terrain of Flowers

A L O H A !

Here  be  Flowers.  .  .

There's one!

Someone is here before us. . . .

B U R S T I N G !

The blue 'spades' fascinate. 
WHAT are they?!
These pose like Hula Hands. . . 

 Silly play of Lilies 

Languid Cousins

" Their fruit will be for food
 and their leaves
 for healing. "

Ezekiel 47:12 (MSG)

 <(-'.'-)>

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Banishing Scary

A   L   O   H   A  !

" When I was a boy 
and I would see scary things
 in the news,
 my mother would say to me,
 'Look for the helpers. 
You will always find
 people who are
 helping.' - 

To this day,

 especially in times of

 "disaster," 

I remember 

my mother's words 

and I am always 

comforted  -

 by realizing that there are still

 so many helpers – 

so many caring people

 in this world."

Fred Rogers

Clicking on Mr. Rogers' name above will take you to his site full of insight about helping children cope,
and aren't we ALL Mr. Rogers' children?

> < 3 3 3 ( ' >   

If you are reading this

there is a pretty good chance

that our world

has not ended

21 Dec 2012.

Of course,

someone's world

has indeed

ended today.

Let's you & me

live this day,

each day,

sharing how

very precious

 it is.

Cherish the little things.

And thank

Y  O  U

for being a

sweetness

in my life/day.

                                           cloudia

Heroes Remember Dan Inouye

Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

With Sequence

A L O H A !

" In the mountains, 

the shortest way 

is from peak to peak:

 but for that 

you must have

 long legs. "

 Friedrich Nietzsche 

" - Luminous beings are we, 
not this crude matter. 
You must feel the Force 
around you; 
here, between you, me, 
the tree, the rock,
 everywhere, 
yes. 
Even between the land 
and the ship. ”

 Yoda 

" What we 
think, 
or what we 
know, 
or what we
 believe
 is, in the end, 
of little consequence.
 The only consequence
 is what we do. "

   John Ruskin

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

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Uncle DAN Inouye

They say his last word was " A L O H A"

Fitting for a man who, though ethnically Japanese, considered himself Hawaiian at heart. 

His mother had been  "hanai"  [adopted] in the old way

 by a Hawaiian family. Dan used to say that he was

the child of a Hawaiian.

He certainly was a Keiki O Ka `Aina - a child of this land.  

No one since the great King, Kamehameha himself,

has had such major effects on these islands and her people.  Most of us have never known a Hawaii, or a US Senate, without Dan's calm, respected wisdom to guide us.

Remember him presiding at the Watergate hearings?

11 Presidents worked with him.  Some might say that he was the last of a breed, but there WERE no others. He was a breed unto himself.

As 3rd in line to the Presidency of the USA, the next-to-last WWII Veteran serving in the Senate, and a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, he was quite a guy. 

When he came into town, the governor, all the political and social leaders melted into children beside him. His opinion was sought - and implemented - on every topic. His endorsement meant funding, careers, election to office,  new industries.  But he was VERY approachable. He talked to everyone, and he ate at Zippy's like we all do upon returning home.

He was also my neighbor (when in Honolulu).  
His security detail would wait downstairs for him in the morning. Sometimes I would chat with them.  I felt a loving,
neighborly responsibility to respect his privacy (and security) by never mentioning the fact that his building was right next to mine.  

Hawaii is a small place. Not as small as it was before, but we still feel close to people no matter how high they go.  Our President will be here [isle of his birth and upbringing] with his family, for Christmas, again, and we all feel like family members are coming home. 

Second Lieutenant Inouye

Dan was everybody's Uncle.  He was my Dad's generation. His fellow Japanese American Vets are still seen around town. (One lives in this building).

He had power, and he used it for America, the Pacific, Hawaii, and what is right & proper in the world.  
Just like he did in WWII:

Sen Inouye’s Medal of Honor citation

" While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions."

Dan lost his right forearm in the battle, amputated shortly after the above events at an Army field hospital without anesthesia.

 “His determination to recover, and his extraordinary career that followed, continue to inspire wounded warriors today,” 
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said after his death.
Read more: HERE

courtesy: www.examiner.com

Mahalo Nui Loa, Senator,

Dear Uncle.

You belong to history now.

[ Surprising words from an Israeli blogger friend
HERE ]

D K I

R I P

Awesome SLIDESHOW HERE

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