Shower Tree Show

A L O H A !
 

How can I show YOU

the amazing experience

of one of Honolulu's

 Rainbow Shower Trees?

“What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.” 


Kobayashi Issa,
 Poems

Showers of Flowers!

“Can words describe

 the fragrance

 of the very breath 

of Spring?” 

 Neltje Blanchan

“Merrily, merrily shall I live now,

Under the blossom 

that hangs on the bough.”

 William Shakespeare 

"I enjoy the Spring

 more than 

the Autumn now. 

One does, I think, 

as one gets older.” 


 Virginia Woolf,

 Jacob's Room

  The Sky Loves Pink Blossoms. . .
 . . . and Answers  

" The sky

 is the daily bread 

of the eyes. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

" Excuse me 

while I kiss the sky."

Jimi Hendrix 

 > < } } (°>
' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '
Thanks for visiting!

                          Warmly, cloudia

Waikiki Weddings

A  L  O  H  A !

Walking around Waikiki

one is sure to see

Brides & Grooms

trailing photogs,

makeup people,

and entourage.

This is their Lifetime Memory day, and we're part of it!

" I talk about

 very serious human affairs

 but with a lightness of heart. "

Robert Fulghum 

These two reminded me of a song:

"Silly things 

do cease to be silly 

if they are done

 by sensible people

 in an impudent way."

       Jane Austen

I like the solicitous mother

 holding her skirt up, 

and the little girl

in the background

 rinsing her feet.

 > < } } (°>

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

                        Warmly, cloudia

Yesterday's Earth Quake

A  L  O  H  A !

I felt it. 

"That's an earthquake" says I,

playing with a certain kitty 

on the floor 

of my 35th floor apartment

 here in Waikiki 

I felt it.

From the 5.5 

that shook my Kona coffee shack

 in the winter of '88

(that was a dance!)

to the one a few years ago

that was strong enough

 to feel 

on our cement/steel boat (!)

and to cut the electricity 

here on Oahu 

all one Sunday,

I am an old hand 

at Hawaii earthquakes.

Friday, June 21, 2013,

  at 12:04 a.m. local time,

 earthquake 

was noted by authorities.

Preliminary magnitude call was  4.0, 

but it was later scored a 4.5 by the USGS.

The epicenter (USGS) as follows:

 52 mi ENE of Kāneʻohe, which is

35 floors down,

13 miles, and 30 minutes drive

 from here

over the Ko`olau Mountains

via Pali Highway, 

52 mile boat ride,

then deep in the sea.

I felt it :)

Lights are on, 

air is conditioned, 

food is cooking;

BLISS!

wishing YOU the same :)

 > < } } (°>

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '
Thanks for visiting!
                        Warmly, cloudia

Awareness Club

A  L  O  H  A !

" The ultimate value 

of life 

depends upon 

awareness. . .

 contemplation. . . .

 rather than upon 

mere survival. "

Aristotle 

" What is necessary

 to change a person 

is to change 

his awareness 

of himself. "

Abraham Maslow 

" Let us not look

 back in anger, 

nor forward in fear, 

but around 

in awareness. "

James Thurber 

"If you break your neck,

if you have nothing to eat,

if your house is on fire, 

then you got a problem.

 Everything else is inconvenience."

Robert Fulghum 

> < } } (°>

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

                             Warmly, cloudia

My Music

Certain music, certain songs, 

certain sounds 

affected me strongly 

as a child.

The song above (play it!)
 a train whistle far away
 in the mysterious night 
beyond the  walls
 of my girlhood room...

I played the melody flute,
an indestructible nickel plated
 transverse flute sounded via
 fipple. link

Those 6 holes entranced me.

 Their combinations brought 
melody! 
I was hooked.
Quickly deviating from 
Mary Had a Little Lamb, 
and Hot Cross Buns; 

Though Christmas music
 is my go-to, 
automatic repertoire
still :-)

Despite an embarrassing liaison

 with the trombone, 
I have been a flute girl
 all my life.
 (Which meant "prostitute" 
to an ancient Roman.)
 Ahem. 

Ocarinas seemed pretty toys 
with their jolly lilt. 

"Ocarina (Italian: “little goose”) 

also called Sweet Potato, "

Link 

And recorders! 
Its all coming back to me.

But one who blows music 
out of tubes 
and the occasional sweet potato
must aspire to 
the real open mouth flute 
played horizontally. 
That's your big girl! 

I wanted to play flute
along 
with the radio. 

Where was I?
 Yes, playing rock and roll, 
in the late 60s....on a flute! 

Thank god for Ian Anderson 

or I'd never have been invited to 
jam at all. 


I was in a weekend band 
while in high school called 
Willow Mill Park.

We had a weekly bar gig 
at which we played originals
 and covers. 

We fantasized that these were 
"early days" and that someday
we'd look fondly back,
 after huge success. 

Silly Cloudia!

Here's me in a threesome with some ocarina friends:

A Song that Saved My Life

A L O H A ! 
    

"An education

 isn't how much 

you have committed 

to memory, 

or even how much 

you know. 

It's being able 

to differentiate 

between what you do know 

and what you don't."

       Anatole France

" The more I see

 the less I know 

for sure. "

John Lennon 

"Contagious conversations

change

the world."

Daniel Pink

 > < } } (°>

When I was a depressed youth,

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

resonated

with my aimlessness,

hopelessness,

pain.

Listening to the song

made me feel better,

helped me to find

an artist's dignity

in my endurance.

If I could time travel

to advise

my younger self,

I would tell her

that it all

works out.

"Life is short,

enjoy it."

What would You

tell the child

You were?

' Take Peace & Smiles - Leave Your Comment '

Thanks for visiting!

                     Warmly, cloudia

When a Person is NOT a Person

A  L  O  H  A,     F R I E N D

Have you ever observed,

 or interacted with 

a stranger

 who made you

 think? 

Who's example

 or words

made you realize

 something important

immediately?

Hey! Who is the photographer in this photo, me or him?!

That "person" 

may not have been 

a person at all.

They 

may have been 

an angel.

On it's face,

that's comforting

 I suppose.

Of passing interest;

But what of it?

What are angels anyway?

Simply,

 they are messengers

 from another

 dimension;

A level from which

things look very different

than we are used 

to viewing them.

They bring 

a touch of magic

capable of changing

 insoluble problems 

into happy 

celebrations.

Angels can be 

as pretty,

as gentle 

as butterflies,

showing one deep 

beauty and meaning.

Others are fiery, threatening,

warning, waking:

flying up in one's face

like a Zen slap,

wild hair flaming.

Angels are not

cute ceramic figurines,

except that some 

probably are.

Angels can be anyone,

stranger.

Will you be an 

angel to me?

Then allow 

me to bless 

Y O U.

Don't ask too many

questions.

We might never

meet

again.

Thanks for Your Visit!

 cloudia