A Walk on the Beach

After going through all my photos yesterday, it was late afternoon and I was tired of sitting. The sun was lovely after all the rain, so I headed off to Diamond Head Beach for a walk. It was pretty crowded with surfers, but it's one of those beaches where everyone is there for the same reason. People smile, but for the most part everyone is quiet, in their own worlds enjoying the peace and inspiration of all that soothing beauty.

As I walked back up the beach, I followed in the footsteps of a lovely lady in her Jackie O sunglasses and linen cover-up with book tote in hand. There was a surfer sitting on his board at water's edge, smiling and watching the sun sink lower and tinge the clouds with pink. I paused as a man, bent low behind a good camera on a tripod set dangerously close to the surf, got the perfect shot and smiled up at me. I waited to wash my feet at the shower while a cheerful trio of young surfers washed their boards. And then the path...

There is a paved path that winds up the hill from the beach. I moved slowly past a woman whose two kids were lugging their board with effort. She fretted over their slowness, so I offered her reassurance and smiled at her boy as he looked up sheepishly. As I trod on ahead, I ended up behind a man I will never forget. Like an elegant African water carrier, he was moving gracefully up the path with his board balanced on his head. I could've passed him, but I didn't want to. He seemed to be in such a quiet zen state with his relaxed methodic steps, moving to some steady rhythm from within, like a heartbeat. It was peaceful and mesmerizing and surprisingly lovely, as the sun sank behind him and the path curved up the hill. So I stayed behind him all the way up until the path split at the top and he went one way, and I the other...

Happy New Year!!!!

I truly believe it's impossible to have a quiet New Year's Eve on O'ahu, and I have to say it's thrilling! The fireworks!

Everyone has fireworks. Our entire neighborhood was out last night lighting all manner of celebratory firecrackers and BBQ-ing in their front yards, all night long. And to top it off, the guy across the street is a firefighter and when midnight rolled around, he set off a Sonoma July 4th-worthy show, shooting giant boomers off his roof. As I sat on my lanai in my jammies, I marveled at my front row seat and at the sheer glory of it all. As far as the eye could see and sound could travel, the same scene played out. The air was smoky, backlit with sparklers and colors descending from above, people huzzah-ed and hollered, children squealed with delight and the entire island boomed and banged and crackled with unbridled joy. Thrilling!

Joy and thrills to you all in 2009!

Next comes a series of holiday/vacation photo posts, since I'm owing, and it's been requested.

But first, here's another wish for peace and love to abide with all of you in the coming year....

For Carlene

We've lost a treasure in you, but I'm glad you're no longer in pain.
I will always remember your laughter, and your wisdom and wit that lit up a room; lit up our lives.

Me ke aloha pumehana, Carlene.
A hui hou...

Ah! The Golden Gate

Oh so many photos from our trip!

On the way back to Sonoma from Sunnyvale, the sun came out. Confronted with one of my favorite vistas on the planet, I decided to do something I hadn't done in probably fifteen years - walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was very cold, but the view was as lovely as ever.

So until I get a chance to go through all these photos, here are a few I took of the view from the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Vista Point on the north end.


Aloha and stay tuned...

Cold Dark Warmth and Light

"I may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I know there is one.”
~ Maya Angelou

So it's winter solstice today, and here I am in Sunnyvale visiting my mom for a day or two. It's been lovely to see everyone, and I am beyond grateful to my sister and her family, and my mom. But it's very weird to be so cold, and to have this sense of extended deja vu. I cannot get warm, and I'm really feeling wintry; sort of going into hibernation mode. I'm terribly homesick for the warmth of the island and our little house in Kaimuki. This depth of feeling is wholly unexpected and I'm not exactly sure what to do with it.

So I listened to my mom's talk at her church this morning regarding Hannukah, Advent and the Winter Solstice, and some of the things she said made me think. It was about relationships and how we run into problems when we expect permanence; when we assume things won't change, and that if they do, we've failed. When in actuality, things are always in flux. Seasons change, people change and grow, circumstances change, and our lives are shaped by how we handle those changes.

Reflecting on the illusion of permanence, the transformations inherent in change, and the hope inherent in transformation...

Aloha pumehana

Whirlwind

Phew! Busy, busy, busy.

We had the Kaimuki Christmas Parade on Thursday night. Friday night we drove up to a little coffee house in Wahiawa to hear slack-key master Ledward Kaapana (I cannot overstate how amazing that evening was!).

And last night there was sunset dinner at Don Ho's on the water, followed by the huge Honolulu City Lights Electrical Parade downtown. Afterwards, a mosey around and through Honolulu Hale to see the gigantic lighted Santa and Mrs Claus fountain and all the decorated Christmas trees inside the hall. Each Honolulu City and County department decorates a tree and/or gingerbread house. It's a big competition and they put them all in the big hall there. The whole thing - parade, lights, trees, fountains, Clauses, giant Snow People - was incredibly impressive, reminded me of Disneyland for a minute there.

And today we're snorkeling and then baking cookies for friends. And then we're leaving on a jet plane in a couple days. It's a freakin' whirlwind, I tell ya!

I have photos of a lot of this, but haven't had time to download them...funny that...heh.
Will post some soon, I promise!

Happy Holidays Everybody!!!!!!!!

Aloha pumehana...

Magic...

Months ago I took a stephanotis cutting and put it in a pot on the lanai, where it's been very happy. Then a few weeks ago, I met a menehune named Mac and invited him to live with us. I told a friend and he was curious, "I wonder what he'll do..."

Well, now I know. I watered the stephanotis last night, and saw nothing amiss. Then this morning, THIS:


Shrooms!!! Not just one mushroom, but a whole freakin' forest-let! Overnight, just like that. Magic Mushrooms!! And who should be standing there looking cheeky...mm-hmm...

How'd he get out there from the kitchen?!? o0