Giving Thanks For Friends And Newbies

Kevin and I spent Thanksgiving with a group of friends at one of their homes in Maunawili. Maunawili is tucked back up under the Ko'olau mountains. The house had a view from which you can see towering waterfalls gushing down the mountains when the rains come. It's a beautiful area, and the drive up there reminded me of driving on Sonoma Mountain in the winter. In fact, it could've been Bennett Valley Road, which was kinda weird, like a dream.

Anyway, we had folks of all ages, including two young soldiers back from Iraq, and two newbies; three-month old Sophia and one-month-old Kylie. In fact, we were so busy talking and eating and holding babies, that we didn't get very many photos. Here's Kevin with Sophia:


So we had some great practice for holding Emma when we see her, not to mention Petie. Thank you Sophia, and Kylie, too, for being such sweet babies, and to their moms for letting us hold them.

And here's a couple photos of Blue, the neighborhood peacock who comes to the door. He's a bit shy and quick on his feet, so Kevin was trying to keep up and these are a little blurry, but Blue's gorgeous!




And one of the garden out back, just because it's so incredibly pretty. The lady of the house has a very green thumb.


Then there was the food, which was extremely yummy! Add in lots of laughter and interesting conversation, and it was a lovely holiday.

We are very blessed indeed!

Me ke aloha pumehana...

Ack!

Okay, this is lame I know, but it's a placeholder post because we're incredibly BUSY lately! We did get to see Twilight, which is incredibly romantic, and if you haven't seen Bolt yet, please do! It's the hamster...we laughed out loud in the theatre...again. :)

Should have a better post after Thanksgiving in Maunawili, which we're looking forward to. But I dunno, there's so much to do to get ready for our trip that I'm in a bit of a stress mode. It's a good stress, but wish me peace, please.

Happy Turkey Day, Everybody!!!

Maluhia 'oe...

Food + Music = Bliss

Today was yet another celebration of why I love living on this island and so close to Waikiki! And why I should never, NEVER, leave the house without a camera again...sigh. After the beautiful-even-in-the-rain drive up country to Surf N Sea in Hale'iwa to get Kevin some swim fins, we toddled on down to Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki.

On the way there, we discovered a Thai festival in Kapiolani Park. It happened to be a celebration of the "175th Anniversary of the Thai-U.S.A. Relationship" sponsored by the Royal Thai Consulate of Hawai'i, the Thai Buddhist Temple and the Thai community of Hawai'i. It also happened to fall at the third lunar moon in November, which heralds the Loi Krathong festival. Loi Krathong is celebrated to honor the Mother of Waters. You light a krathong, a beautiful colorful lotus made of colored papers, incense, and a candle.


Then you make a wish, and set it afloat, in this case, on the pond in Kapiolani Park. So you end up with these lovely lighted lotus blossoms floating all over the pond, with a team of three beautiful little girls dressed in traditional golden attire tending the pond with sticks to push the floating lights back out into the middle when they hit the side. It was lovely.

Not to mention the FOOD!! Omigosh, tent after tent of fresh Thai cooking, prepared in huge portable woks at the back of the tent. A whole Thai meal of homecooked ono goodness with three main dishes and rice for $5. Washed it all down with Thai iced tea and it was bliss!

Then there was Sunset on the Beach, which featured a free concert of three legendary local music groups on stage on the beach at Waikiki. Na Leo, a favorite trio of women who sing wonderful harmonies. Also another favorite Ho'okena, with its rich warm harmonies, and Na Palapalai, who I know now :)

To top it all off, the music was accompanied by beautiful hula dancers here from around the world for the International Waikiki Hula Conference. It was lovely to relax on the beach under the palms and be entertained by such talented people. So I bought the new Na Leo cd, E Hula Mai Kakou, and had it autographed, just for fun.

Aloha pumehana!

Things That Make Me Smile #242

Diego

Pick A Pearl

Last weekend we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory downtown. Yummy!! I recommend the Thai lettuce wraps appetizer...mmm...definitely! And of course, we had cheesecake....Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple, the seasonal Pumpkin cheesecake, and my favorite, the Chocolate Coconut Cream cheesecake...oh yeah!

Afterwards, we wandered over to the International Marketplace, which I had not been to yet...I know, I know, it's a Waikiki staple, and I live here, no excuse. There are so many places I haven't seen yet. Anyway, they have this incredibly fun thing called "Pick-A-Pearl", a little kiosk run by Maui Divers. They have giant bowls of humble ugly oysters. You choose one (Kevin helped)- the hairiest ugliest one - then tap it three times, shout A-LO-HA! (that's mandatory, of course), and they open it up right in front of you and pull out your pearl. I lucked out and got a huge deep purple one, and I was even luckier to be able to choose a pretty gold and diamond orchid setting.

I'm a lucky lady...mm-hmm!

Here's hoping you all find a pearl in something ugly today...heh...

Aloha pumehana!!

Today

One vet I know has cemented my perspective on veterans forever. His life was radically changed, not only by his service during the conflict in Vietnam, but even more so by the way he was treated when he came home. If he had been shown the gratitude and honor he deserved for his service instead of outright hostility, disdain and derision, who knows what he might have done with his life, what he might have become. He would've had a chance at happiness. As it is, he never did. A wonderful brave creative sensitive dear soul was crushed beyond redemption. And his is a tragedy repeated thousand-fold across the country.

When someone enlists in the military (or is drafted), they agree to put their lives on the line. Whether they see combat or not, they are willing to fight, and possibly die for the rest of us. While they're in, they are subject to the will of history and fate in a very visceral way; they literally make themselves pawns for the greater good....our greater good. Their service becomes our responsibility.

Please thank a veteran today.

Aloha pumehana...

Il est très simple...

On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur,

l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

C'est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose
qui fait ta rose si importante.

Merci, mon ami, merci <3

Obama Sunset

We were supposed to go to an election night potluck at the church last night, but since it was a school night, Kevin and I decided to stay home and watch the election returns together.

As the results were coming in and I was finishing up the dishes, I saw the sky turn color from the kitchen window, and I just knew it would be "one of those" sunsets. As I grabbed the camera and ran outside, I passed beneath our open living room window and heard the anchorman call the election for Obama, and Kevin exclaim, "Mom! Oh my God, he won, Mom! He won!"

Then I looked up at the sky mauka from our driveway and here's what I saw, this big lovely break in the clouds, a giant glowing O in the sky...well, sort of...heh...too funny:


I showed Kevin and then ran up the hill a bit and got this one real quick. Not the best photo, but look at the colors!! No touch-ups I swear. It was gorgeous!! :


It's a SIGN!...heh.
Actually, the best signs of hope for the future that I've seen in quite a long time were McCain's gracious concession speech followed by Obama's historic and eloquent speech from Grant Park. It was so incredibly moving, I cried...such a marshmallow.

Aloha pumehana...

Vote!

Our freedom and our rights are precious. They've been defended at great sacrifice by so many. How can we even contemplate failing to protect them by not exercising our long fought right to vote?

And the fight was indeed long, particularly for women:

The single most impressive fact about the attempt by American women to obtain the right to vote is how long it took.
Alice Rossi, _The Feminist Papers_ (1973)

Seventy-five years it took, count 'em! And women have only had that right for eighty-eight years. Lest we forget the struggle, here are some images:



I'll be voting tomorrow with gratitude, respect, and excitement.
Hope you will be, too. :)

Aloha...

Hallowbaloo!

[Update Nov. 2 - Judging from the Metromix party pix this event really did turn into a bash, with some really cool costumes. We did see the stilt-walker peacock lady, but she went by through a crowd with her tail-feathers down and I couldn't get a good shot of her. Anyway, the photos are fun, so check 'em out. :)]

Tonight Kevin and I moseyed on down to Chinatown for the first annual Hallowbaloo Music and Arts Festival. This very old historic section of Honolulu has become a fulcrum of the arts community here, with galleries and antique shops and some very lovely restaurants.

This was the first Hallowbaloo, and since I brought Kevin, we went and left early. It was a bit slow in starting, but by the time we left around 8 pm, it was hoppin' with costumed people of all ages, wonderful food, dancing Chinese dragons, and some really fine music. For a first annual event, it was very well attended, and looked like it would become a rollicking bash by the time it ends at 1:30 am. All in all, quite the good time.

Of course, it was a perfect excuse to take some photos, too. :)











Aloha and Happy Halloween!!!