A L O H
A !
" - thanks to
a benevolent arrangement
the greater part
of life
is sunshine. "
Thomas Jefferson
A Fact so obvious
that we easily forget it!
" Cynicism
is full of
naive disappointments. "
Mason Cooley
" Early in life
I had noticed
that no event is ever
correctly reported in
George Orwell
> < } } ( ° >
People joke that bloggers
blog
about the minutiae of our lives.
Well it's no joke.
Some bloggers DO tell
personal stuff,
or the content of their
days (including noteworthy
meals, with photos)
But you know what?
I have found that I
really like
some of the people
who blog (like I do)
In fact, I actually CARE
when they fall on a steep
stair in public transit,
or have a fine drive over
countryside I'll never see,
but that they describe so
well.
Usually, I stick to my format,
my comfortable niche,
of 3 photos, some chosen
quotes; and if I do add some
point of view, or life experience,
I keeps it short, and as "graspable"
as I can make it
by YOU. Your time
is valuable.
Your visits, gifts I appreciate,
comments, sublime!
We have a real every-day
communion of some sort
Here, in the Comfort Spiral,
and There: at YOUR special
blogsites.
So yesterday on my scooter
I did a needed errand
at JUST the wrong time! Short version: I got soaking wet, had an adventure, but got home safely, and am feeling SO alive!
I wanted to share with you, and wrote stream of conscious so
here's the ENTIRELY too long version:
Hard to believe that we were a two motorcycle family
for such a long time. Work, School, social life, groceries.
All on motorcycles.
Looking back, we were the real thing
day in and day out,
particularly after me and a few friends
started a patch-wearing
women's motorcycle club in Hawaii.
I was a lot younger in the late 80's - 90's,
with more rough edges.
Rain or shine, we got where we had to be,
did what we had to do. On motorcycles.
Yesterday, I learned an important life-lesson
from some ancient Chinese calligraphy
on New Year Red Paper.
For over 20 years, during the New Year Fest,
I have purchased
hand calligraphed lucky red sayings/wishes
from a gentleman at Honolulu's
Chinese Cultural center.
I am always down there multiple times
over the two weekend period of
festival, and this year was no different.
But I dallied in buying my
red necessities this year!
[They ARE displayed in our home
through the year]
Yesterday was the LAST day of the festival.
Who KNOWS how you contact
these guys the rest of the year!
So I HAD to get that paper
NOW or Never
(No pre-printed stuff allowed anymore!
we are such NON-Chinese Prima donnas
about this stuff! :)
I had to GET that red paper.
At LEAST 3 of them
for our purposes.
So on my scooter (motorcycle privileges
and licensing) I set out to Chinatown
confident as always that I would pop
my scoot just into the center where the
local workers park their cycles, scooters, mopeds.
But the rain came.
Soon after I set out.
"Did I used to do this ROUTINELY,
riding in the rain on two wheels?!"
Well of course I did. Why do we feel
invulnerable too far into adulthood?
And of course I needed gas.
In the rain.
At the gas(petrol) station
local kids with skateboards
wisely waited out the rain
undercover.
But fueled up, I pressed on,
and became what seemed
at the time:
"Soaked."
HA!
I used to be a scarcity thinker.
"There's never enough."
But have morphed into an
Abundance Thinker.
" Who knows that
enough is enough
will always have
enough. "
Lao Tzu
I now assume that
there is a bill or two
larger than a $1 crammed
into my bag.
But when I got parked, and looked
at my cash:
$8 in singles,
and four Quarters($1 USD)!
No street food me!
[Street festivals are cash situations,
unlike gas stations/credit cards;
stop waving your gold card around,
jerk]
No trinkets today
appropriate for
the Year of the Wood Horse
(delightfully, my Chinese astrologer
recommends a monkey figurine
in our bedroom!)
But my calligraphy man was there.
I made it!
Through wet sunglasses,
I made my choices from the
tiny print on the list by number:
16, 15, and a number 7.
Two for $5 / $3 Each
which comes to:
yes. $8.
No street food, no trinkets,
but I would be left
one paper dollar
to feed any dancing lions
I may encounter!
The lady assisting the calligrapher scholar
accepted my seven single bills, and 4 quarters
owed.
When I told her how lucky I had enough,
but no jin dui for me,
She,
a Chinese speaking, older woman
(older than me! yay)
in hardscrabble Chinatown
that always reminds me of my own
immigrant grandparents
and small family business,
and times of hard work
that frankly most white people
of my generation know nothing of-
These are my immigrant American
people at heart, and I rarely bargain
anymore.
(maybe just if the price
is tourist-outrageous,
or I might do a:
"here's a $10 -
that item is worth this to me
right now.")
But I never really haggle
with subsistence capitalists
at the bottom rung.
It is a privilege
when I can buy something
I need from them.
Anyway, this lady said to me:
"No money for food?"
And gave me Fifty cents back!
Un-asked and unexpected (!)
but accepted with a
Gung Hee Fat Choy,
and a She She.
I carefully placed the partially protected
Red Paper Treasures
that will bless our home
for the year,
under the seat of my scoot.
(Now to get safely home)
On the ride home,
the entire ride,
the Heavens Opened Up
For-Reals
Hawaiian Style!
Silly me, thinking I had been
wet before.
Now I just wanted to get home
in one piece,
so this former taxi driver-
(READ MY BOOK _ YOU'LL
LOVE IT! - too pushy?)
-took to the uncrowded backstreets
away from the crazy people in cars,
and trucks and SUVs.
I was doing good until the
legendary (but forgotten)
"Queen Street Ponds"
that form on the eponymous
street when it RAINS.
Parts of Queen street are
REALLY, pre-code, OLD-
Hawaiian Kingdom days, OLD!
So all the fools safe and dry in
cars (and trucks) splashed about
like water was just the thing
to introduce to your car's engine
compartment!
And it occurred to few of them
that I might not enjoy
well, you get the idea.
I was thoroughly and royally soaked
by street runoff,
in addition to pure Hawaiian rain.
Soaked through.
"To the skin" as they say,
but it seemed deeper than
that - yuck.
I squeezed my fists
stopped at a red light
and laughed at the water running
out of my gloves!
Good times.
All I could think was:
"I've been a licensed biker
for (mumble) decades now,
but I'm too old (or smart?)
for THIS crap!"
I'm just
So GRATEFUL that
my trusty scooter
did not stall
in the depths of
Lake Queen Street
as the squalls lashed
my face;
Grateful that
I am here
safe, Showered,
and dry
sharing the
Blog-0-Sphere
with YOU!
So the lesson of the scrolls?
"Don't leave things easily done
til the LAST POSSIBLE
moment!"
And the cherry on top
is that the sun came out
after I got home,
and the rest of the day
was dry and lovely.
I just crapped out,
and
burned some Karma
one hopes.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Tomorrow: back to the spare,
Zen format, campers. Love, Cloudi
