If you are growing tired of reading  my observances of Hawaii, I apologize.

But it is very difficult to think about much else.  I can only equate this entire experience to one thing.  I now know…. just how Dorothy felt…. when she stepped out of the old house from the  black and white world … and into the color world of Munchkinland.

Of course, I haven’t seen any Munchkins in Hawaii.  But oh the things I have seen.

Today was a big one.  The six of us boarded a helicopter and took a spin around the island of Hawaii.  I can not begin to tell  you the level of excitement I experienced.  It was breathtaking.  We flew in close to the mouth of a volcano, where lava is still flowing out.  We crossed mountains and lava fields.  There were  forests of Eucalyptus Trees.  We circled in the sky.  We dipped down and around deep gullies which were laced with white waterfalls.  It was something I’ll tell you.  So much to see.

Some in our group almost had to use the “Aloha” Bags…. located on the helicopter.

But it was well worth it, I thought.

And, we got to wear cool headsets… and talk into little microphones.  I sang Karaoke twice.

I sing when I am happy, and also when I enter magical worlds.

We are off to see the Wizard I tell you.  Off to see to Wiz.

I like the Green Sea Turtle.  Yesterday, I met my first Green Sea Turtle.  We were swimming in the same little nook in this big Pacific Ocean.

The Sea Turtle swam beautifully, gracefully.  I watched in amazement.  In awe.  Dumbfounded.

The turtle chuckled and kept on swimming.  Then it ambled out of the water…. went to the beach….  and took in some sun.  I watched in amazement.

I am forever changed by this.  There is something about being in the same place as such a superb creature… this turtle being.

You see.  They are endangered.  We humans need to give them plenty of space.  I swam away from its area… for there’s all sorts of water available in the Pacific.

And when I saw her on the beach later… I gave her plenty of space.  Let’s thank the camera gods for long lenses.

And then.

Tonight, we humans went out to a Luau.  We were happy humans.  Very happy…

Nine out of  ten people are happier as a result of swimming with Green Sea Turtles.  I know we were.

“Goodness speaks in a whisper.”  -Tahitian Proverb

The 50th State to be admitted to the United States of America.  Hawaii.

What a cool state it is.  Located in the middle of the grand-spanking nowhere… in the middle of the big blue ocean…. specifically Pacifically.  Of all the places…  this snappy state is a string of islands.   They are islands with crazy names.

The first inhabitants here in Hawaii came from Polynesia.   Hey.  Polynesia!  That’s what I do when I am in a kick-boxing match.  Polly knees ya’!

At any rate, around 300-500 AD those old Polynesians came to Hawaii from the South Pacific  They most likely arrived from  the Marquesas Islands.  And…. they most likely found the Hawaiian Islands in double-hulled canoes.  Imagine.   A big canoe ride from Polynesia to Hawaii.  “Row, row, row, your boat……”

After they settled in here… they built some big temples.  These were used to worship their two principal gods….  KU, god of war and LONO, god of peace and agriculture.

Those Polynesians lived here a long time…. until the pesky Tahitian explorers arrived in 1200AD.  The Tahitians showed up…. AND…. not only did they conquer the Marquesasians….  they also enslaved them.

The details of the middle years are involved.  The long and short of it…. they brought Pili who was the father of the royal line leading to Kamehameha I.   A long line of Royals… Kings and Queens… followed.   Social classes emerged and the Hawaiian culture started to form.  More on this at another time.

Yet …. one thing for certain is this…. they must have seen an incredible paradise when they came to this new and strange land.  Lava. Coral. Clear Water.  Beautiful animals… like… like unicorns.   Unicorns.  Yes… dancing Unicorns and Rainbows.

The stuff fairy tales are made of.  Fairy tales I’ll tell you.

There are 24 hours in a day.  No more.  No less.  By the keep of the clock…. that is.

But some days.  Oh some days.  There is much more than that.

So from sea to shining sea.  From sky to shining sky.

The snows in Ohio….

To my first sunset in Hawaii.

“The few wonders of the world only exist while there are those with the sight to see them.” – Charles de Lint

…. and so begins another big, collective ride around the sun.

Yes.  We do it again.  All together.  All on the same ball.

Let’s take care of our vessel.  And eachother.

To a New… and Happy Year.  This Voyage.  This 2013.

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.” – W. M. Lewis

“Well, Lady.  The truth of the matter is…..  I can’t wipe this silly grin off my face.”  – Eldon the Sock Monkey

People always write cutesy lessons they learned from their dogs… or their cats.

But really… they are full of practical tips.

No matter how cute you are… licking your butt in public is never a good idea.

If you break anything in the house… try hard to blame it on a cat.

It is fun to chase a squirrel.  IT is SO much fun to chase a squirrel.  It is fun to chase the squirrels.

If you chase your tail too long, you will get dizzy and fall down.  The cat will laugh.

Don’t lick your butt in public.   No matter how cute you are.

“If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.” – Roger Caras

What the crap.

I try to stay centered.  You know, at my age, I have found that it doesn’t pay off to get all riled up.  When you get your underwear all in a bunch… it doesn’t really feel bad to anyone but yourself. I work on spiritual focus.  Meditation.  All of that.

But snap-dabbit.  Sometimes…. the littlest thing makes you want to SHOUT.  And… it could be anything really.

For instance. That person who stops their cart, in the middle of the aisle of the grocery store.  Yes, they park it solid…. right there… blocking all shopping traffic.  And they begin to read the back of every box of elbow macaroni on the shelf.

“Holy Smackerels… you Doltish Shopper.  It is ELBOW MACARONI for crying out loud.  What the holy-heck is there to read on the back of the box?   Throw the gosh darn box in the freaking cart already.  Get a Kindle, you schmuck.”

And there.  Just like that.  It has happened.  I lost my cool.  I got off center.  I drop-kicked the Zen right out the dang window.  Like that.  The cloud of impatience and testiness stops right above my head… and starts raining down on me.

Irascible Me.

Tonight I had a revelation…. finally… the reason for my emotional misdirections.

It seems that I am “Always On A Mission.”  Yep.  Like a little robot.  I get focused on the job to be done… ….. a task … a to-do … an endeavor … a list.  I get programmed like a little robot.  Clinkity, clinkity, clank.  I grab it like a dog with a bone.  And if I am on my way to completing this little deal… I feel better when it can be finished without interruption to my book of maps and diagrams and plans.

But the way of the universe is this:  The more you want things to go exactly as planned… for all the ducks to stay in row… for the crayon marks to stay between the lines…. Kapow.  Derailed.  Diverted.  Rerouted.

This is when the phrase “go with the flow” comes in handy.  But as a robot… the only flow I know… is rigid flow-chart.

Ahhh.  I don’t know if I will ever get it right.  I keep trying.  Patience.  Focus.  Compassion.  Kindness. The whole shebang.   But I drop the ball from time to time. From time to time to time. Too many times.  Dang it.

So, as a robot.  I better keep my oil can ready.  It is liable to rain again.

“Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. – George Bernard Shaw

… and sometimes I just feel especially glad for the little things.

 “For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.”   – Jos

The fact of the matter is… we will all miss a ton of things in this life. You will miss a bunch.  I will miss a bunch. But here is the long and short of it is this.  It is okay.

We all can get very consumed with trying to do everything.  Keep up with this.  Don’t miss that.  We try to experience all of it…. participate in every little thing ….and not miss out on anything important.

Here is a big truth about life.  A simple little fact, really.   We cannot experience everything. There exists a physical reality  which dictates this truth.   We’ll miss most things. To do it all is clearly impossible.

But the key is, I think…. that……  life is better when we don’t try to do everything.

We might see and hear and learn things that we were too busy to notice.  Perhaps we will have time to experience a life we’ve been rushing right by.  We might begin to notice some things about life which turn out to be quite amazing, and wonderful.

Like woodpeckers.  On frozen suet blocks.  In a blizzard.

No.  We can’t do it all.

And that’s the way it should be.  Just so long as we take the time to do it right.

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

Some people remind me of wagon wheels.  They do.  They seem to have this incredibly strong core…. an inner circle.  And from that very sturdy center… branches a number of spokes… or arms… that reach out and connect to an outer circumference.  As that wheel turns, the outer rim comes in contact with a very wide area.  Every time it moves, it touches a something different.  Some people are like that, I think.

I learned today of woman… SarahBreedoveGlass who was born …. on this date…. in 1867.  Her parents,   Owen and Minerva Breedlove were recently freed slaves.  Yes.  The Civil War had just ended when Sarah was born.   She was one of six children.  She had a sister…. Louvenia and four brothers… Alexander, James, Solomon, and Owen, Jr.
Her parents and elder siblings were slaves on Madison Parish plantation…. which was in Louisiana.   All of this was owned by a white man named Robert W. Burney .
When Sarah was about five years old… her mother died from cholera.  Her father died shortly there after.  So… the impoverished, illiterate little girl moved to Vicksburg in 1878 to obtain work.  She moved in with her sister, and brother-in-law.  As it turns out… her brother-in-law was very abusive.  So Sarah married at age 14…. a man named Moses McWilliams to escape the abuse.  They had a daughter, Lelia …. and when  Lelia was only two years old, McWilliams died.

So…. this is just the very first segment of Sarah Breedlove Walker’s life.  I would venture to say that by the time she was 16 years of age…..  Sarah had been through an ordeal or two.

Yet… Sarah Breedlove Walker went on to build the largest black-owned business in America.  She made a fortune… in fact…. she was the first African-American woman millionaire.  In addition to all of this, she touched thousands with her philanthropy.
Of all things….Breedlove found her future in beauty products. She learned valuable lessons at the elbow of a black role model, Annie Turnbo Malone, who sold her shampoos and hair-pressing irons to crowds in St. Louis for the 1904 World’s Fair.  She had also become inspired by a book she read about the potential successes of Black Americans.  It was written by one… Booker T. Washington.

There are a blue million other great stories about her life… and how she made her way.  Not only did she seem to figure out how to make her own mark on life, she managed to touch others with her generosity, hard work, and character.    She used the successes of her business as a means to  contribute to African American orphanages, old-age homes, schools, colleges, and a new civil rights organization, the NAACP. Walker became one of the best-known women in America.

Yep… like a wagon wheel I think.

“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinsman