Friends in a New Dream

         A   L   O   H   A !                      

Nature Seems Empty Without .


" So long ago was it in a dream

Was it just a dream?

I know, yes, I know, 

seemed so very real

It seemed so real to me - "


                                         John Lennon - 9 Dream 

 Here They Are: People


  " Somebody call out my name

As it started to rain

Two spirits dancing 

so strange "


                                 John Lennon - 9 Dream 

“A dream 

you dream alone 

is only a dream. -

- A dream you dream 

together 

is reality.” 
                   John Lennon

“ In a future existence, 

we shall look upon 

what we think our present 

existence, as a dream.” 
                         
                 Edgar Allan Poe

[/]

Thanks For Walking Here, Friend!

                                 Warmly, cloudia

SkyWatch Hawaii

A  L  O  H  A !

" Life is 

a great big canvas,

 and you should

 throw all the paint 

on it you can. "

             Danny Kaye

" I think 

when we just 

relax and 

enjoy life, 

no matter what, 

good things happen."

              Teresa Zimmerman-Liu

Visit Sky Watchers Around the Globe

Here

                                          Cloudia

My Summer 1964

A Philly Yo = Honolulu's Aloha

“. . . A wounded heart
 will heal in time,
 and when it does, 
the memory 
and love of our 
lost ones 
is sealed inside 
to comfort us.”
                     Brian Jacques

“Memories are bullets. 
Some whiz by 
and only spook you. 
Others tear you 
open and leave you 
in pieces.” 
 Richard Kadrey

“The past
 is a foreign country; 
they do things 
differently there.” 

                            L.P. Hartley




[/]


When I was a little kid

my Dad,

a WWII Veteran,

was a very modest businessman.

He owned a small

English Ford truck

full of affordable merchandise

that he sold on his route.

Profession:

Installment Sales.
A Modern peddler.

Dad's business consisted

mainly

of the fact that housewives

in every ethnic neighborhood

of gritty Philadelphia

knew him,

bought from him,

owed him money-

which he kept track of

in small loose-leaf notebooks.

Johnny The Dress Boy.

He had other street names

in other neighborhoods.

His name was not John.

President Kennedy

was Gone
since November;
I had seen teachers
crying that day.

The Beatles 
had first been on TV
 Sunday Feb 9th.
Something New
and Fresh
was blowin` in the wind.

It was 1964.

That Summer

as on other school holidays

I sometimes went to work with Dad.

We left the suburbs early,

drove into the city,

ate street food in the car;

We made our own day.

I shyly talked to ladies

who pinched my cheek

and gave me cookies:

Polish, Italian, Jewish,

Southern Style,

Store-bought.

Dad would sometimes park

in a tough neighborhood

and leave me in the car

while he ran into a store

or upstairs in a house.

 Then I observed

the activity of

the living streets
through a child's eyes.

Looking back I wonder:
was I watching the merchandise,
or was it "watching me"
giving me a reason
to be part of the scene?

When pantyhose appeared,

dad placed and filled 

racks of them

in mom & pop 

neighborhood stores.

Photo: Hidden City Philadelphia Link

My dad was friendly

with people of
every status,
every shade of skin color,

and everyone liked him.

The only fear I ever saw
in him had to do with
the Philadelphia Police,
unsmiling, predators
of drivers and the streets.
[ An earlier policing culture - earlier day ]

My suburban schoolmates

and I watched

the first NASA space flights

on TV's wheeled into class.

Some of the other kids

used the "N" word
on the playground.

NOT space age!
NOT cool.

I knew better

and despised their 

ignorance.

50 years ago

this August

Philadelphia exploded:

the Columbia Ave Riots.

Link

Places I had been

were burning on TV 

and in the newspapers.

Places where Dad made a living.

I learned a lot on those streets,

in that city of neighborhoods.
A lot about work
and a lot about life.

Dad did not carry a lunch pail.

He was his own man.

Today we would call him

an entrepreneur.

Eventually, he launched

a janitorial company

becoming a "real"

Small Business Man.

"When you work for someone else,

you are making money for them."

Dad used to say.

Looked at  closely

this attitude values

workers.

And he treated them right,

even when they made missteps.

He trained them.

He bailed them out of jail,
he drove them around,
loaned them money for cars,
but he fired some too,
often saying:

"Some people 
don't know what work is."

Alternately he would observe:

"Some people 
just don't know what dirt is."
[ we were in the cleaning business ]

Dad taught me by example
that business comes down to

providing a real service,
so you can hire people
who need work
to feed their families,

If you do it right
 you make money

to feed yours.

Our employees,
some of them,
learned the business
and started their own.
.

One great guy,
Jerry Gardner,
essentially became
dad's business partner
and a trusted
family friend.

Work is dignified

and deserves appreciation.

I knew that
dad felt a deep
 obligation
to make the payroll
on time.

Pretty good approach to

capitalism I think!

I had a nice middle-class

upbringing;

but I also cleaned

offices and factories

all over the city

with co-workers and
customers from

every neighborhood 
in town,

 of every background

and skin color.

I can speak

with an Oxford Don,

or a "bum" in the street.

And I make eye contact 
with each of them.

I know the people

who go to work

every day
in the dark,
on the bus,

who keep society

functioning.

Thanks for the education

Dad.

Can we stop 

for a soft pretzel?

[-]

Thanks for visiting
dear Friends

                  Warmly, cloudia


"Some people strengthen the society 
just by being the kind of people they 
are."  -John W. Gardner  

"The good neighbor looks beyond 
the external accidents and discerns those 
inner qualities that make all men
 human and, therefore, brothers." 
Martin Luther King

Motivation is the art 
of getting people to do 
what you want them to do 
because they want to do it.
 Dwight Eisenhower

Sun Tips From the Tropics

A  L  O  H  A !

Having lived in Hawaii
 half my life,

and possessing a complexion 
that 

does NOT resemble 
an old boot

I feel confident in dispensing SUN

advice, though I have given up

on sharing my wisdom with 

random strangers here in Waikiki.

I have learned to bite my tongue

when I see:

Girls with fish belly white skin

laying in midday sun.

"I have sunblock on"

say the most thoughtful of them.

Too bad they have applied 

too little, too long ago
without reapplying,
[or less than 30 minutes before].

Sunblock does NOT

provide iron-clad protection.

Another faux pas:

Folks with cute hats

riding on the back of their head,

narrow of brim, or with a floppy

brim that blows up in the breeze

exposing the face.

My Australian Lifeguard Hat

[ image HERE ]

is reminiscent of the ones

plantation workers wore

to protect their faces.

 Hawaiian Pineapple Packers' Association 
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Even today, 
folks working in the fields

wear functional hats, long sleeves, 
bandannas deployed. 

Some ladies wear gloves.

Refined ladies of the American South

used to tell their daughters:

"Don't dare let a drop of sun

strike your face."

NOTHING 
beats a barrier 

between you 
and the direct sun.

When the sun is 
striking your skin,

particularly your face
or upper chest,

[I am not as stringent with less vulnerable
skin on my legs]

it is as if 
a taxi meter is running.

I hear it. 

Every second counts,

because each drop of sun

is taking glow, and texture

out of your skin. 

Healthy beautiful skin
is like a 

bank account you're born with.

Preserve you wealth/beauty!

And
skin cancer is very common.

I am not embarrassed to use an

umbrella on a sunny day.

Shade draws me. 

Do not stand

3 feet away from shade:

GO to it!

Walk on the SHADY
side of the street!

SUNGLASSES
protect your eyes
and the thin, vulnerable
skin around them.
Squint if you want
wrinkles!

Cover your shoulders 
with a cotton 

beach wrap, 
shawl, or towel.

Yes, sunlight feels good.
But

while on vacation, you WILL get

enough incidental / reflected sunlight

believe me! 
Take your time.

You are from a different

latitude; Your skin is not accustomed

to tropical or sub-tropical sun.
If you must "tan"
take it VERY slow

Personal tip: 
I carry a bandanna always!

You can not only de-shine 
your perspiring face,

Check This Out:

Carry bandanna over your arm
like a waiter's towel
holding one corner.
Protect your hand
and arm from sun!

Mikhail Tikhanov [Public domain], Wikimedia Commons

 Hawaiian chiefs did NOT

go about in the sunny hours.

Treat yourself

 like a Chief or Chiefess!

[/]

Fondly,
Your Shade-Worshiper Friend,
                                              cloudia

"Mad dogs and Englishmen 
go out in the midday sun, 

The Japanese don´t care to, 
the Chinese wouldn´t dare to, 

Hindus and Argentines
sleep firmly from twelve to one 

But Englishmen
detest-a siesta. "

Noel Coward