On A More Serious Note

There was only one thing I really wanted to accomplish on this trip besides enjoy unlimited time with my spouse. That one thing was a trip to Pearl Harbor, and specifically the Arizona Memorial. They have a really nice visitor center here. A small museum and gift shop are part of this visitor center. There are many nice displays to help you understand the gravity and extent of the attack that took place on that fateful Sunday morning. At one display there is a listing of every American that died that day, whether a military man on another ship or nearby base, or civilians killed by anti-aircraft fire or while trying to rescue and help others. Often times in our minds we limit the death toll to the 1,177 men who were killed on the Arizona. There were well over 2,300 people killed that day and everyone is memorialized here. The trip to the Arizona Memorial is by Navy shuttle craft. It's almost hard to imagine that most of the lost are still entombed beneath the visitors who come to pay their respects. Inside the "shrine" portion is a marble wall listing all the names of the dead, both Navy and Marines. In the same room is a smaller marble wall listing the names of survivors who have since passed away and are now interred here with their former shipmates. Just south of the Memorial is the USS Missouri. On her decks in the Summer of 1945 Japanese officials signed an unconditional surrender. Now in the waters of Pearl Harbor adjacent to one another are the starting and ending places of this costly war. I wondered today what the world would have been like had the attack not taken place. Or had the radar operators, who received warning of this great flight of hostile aircraft, been heeded and a warning sounded. How many lives would have been spared? How many hearts would not have been broken? It is not ours to know. Only to remember.

The Legend of Kamanawanahakalugee

One time a Haole (pronounced "howlie", and meaning "white man"), stood on the crest of an ancient volcano in a gale force wind. In an effort to sound native he cried to the wind "Kamanawanahakalugee." The Akamai Big Kahuna (meaning "wise expert") cried out to Malihini Haole, ("visiting white man"), Unowannahakalugee from Pali Makai ("from the cliff toward the sea"). Questioning the Big Kahuna, the Haole asked, "why?" The Big Kahuna replied, "You no wanna be part of Hula brah!" (Meaning, "you don't want to be memorialized as a story told in dance to all Haoles that visit da islands bruddah!") And also because Hula dancers no wanna hakalugee into the wind to tell your sorry story! Now Haole only say to Big Kahuna, "Mahalo." Meaning "thanks!"

Breaches, Blowholes and Sea Turtles

On our way back from Diamond Head we stopped at several sights along the way. The most civilized (?) was perhaps the local Costco, where I picked up batteries for the digital camera. There were many places to pull over and view the spectacular coastline. We first stopped at the Lanai Lookout where you can spot another idyllic island off in the distance. To the north of Lanai, you can also see Molokai and Maui. Maybe someday we'll visit them. While stopped there we watched a few humpback whales frolicking in the waters not too far off the shore. An occasional burst of water and air from their blowholes tipped us off to their locations. Shortly after the oceanic geyser, we would see their flukes as they came to the surface. Next and a just a short distance from there, we stopped near the Halona Blowhole. This is a hole in the rock where the surf blasts through and looks kind of like Old Faithful. Only on a much smaller scale. It was here that while focusing my camera on the blowhole, a humpback completely breached the surface just offshore. Needless to say, I didn't get either picture. Yesterday, continuing our search for things not seen in Reno, we headed north along the shore. We went to a place called interestingly enough, Turtle Bay. This beach is home to a group of giant green sea turtles. They swim just offshore. They can be found in the surf. They tell us that they will even swim with you if you're in the water. You can see from the picture that they even like to bask in the sun. I wonder who the tourists really are! Finally yesterday we went as far west as you can go. The road ends about a mile or so from the northwest point of the island, preventing you from truly driving completely around the island. Water and air temperatures are awesome. But right now there's a system passing by and we're getting lots of wind. Oh well, if we get stuck we'll try to manage. Onward to Pearl Harbor and the International Marketplace. Ciao for now.

A Woman's Second Best Friend?

I've heard it said many times that a diamond is a woman's best friend. If that is true, would Diamond Head be her second best friend? We ventured away from the relative seclusion of Kailua and traveled into the more populous region known as Waikiki. (Pictured, as seen from the rim of DH.) Not to visit, but as a route that would take us to Diamond Head. We parked in the crater and hiked to the crest. It was kind of funny later when my wife realized that we were in a volcanic crater. She thought we were just in a parking lot and would climb over the ridge into the crater! Not to worry though, no one was around the last time it burped. The climb itself is somewhat challenging as it is a combination of switchbacks, stairs and tunnels. When you get to the top you are in some pre-WW1 bunkers and you have to climb out an opening about 3 feet high. Along the way my wife was reminded of a time when she led a prayer walk through the long trails of Mt. Hermon conference center in the Santa Cruz range. She asked the women to record their thoughts of the journey in order to recall them later. Many had recorded how that journey resembled the journey we call life. Long, hard, with lots of ups and downs. Diamond Head's hike evoked similar thoughts from us. But alas, we were determined to not let it bother us. We are treating it like preparation for something to come later in the week. A true mountain ridge hike, with jungle vines, killer snakes and thieving monkeys! OK, so I'm kidding about the wildlife, but we hope to take on a serious climb in the next couple of days. Otherwise, it's a trip to the market place. Her true best friend.

It Hit Me

Well, it sure feels like we're in Paradise, though there are signs to the contrary. But those I will not dwell on. We are in Hawai'i celebrating 30 years of wedded bliss. OK, maybe it's not been entirely bliss, but hey, it's been great. When my wife and I got married way back in 1976 we wanted to come to Hawai'i. (That's how they spell it.) But since I was serving in the Navy, we couldn't afford it. It came to pass the next year, however it was in separate trips. I came for a day and a half while on a WestPac cruise. My wife went in May with her best friend (next to me, of course.) I had a duty day when we first arrived so I never got off the ship that day. The next day we were leaving at 1 pm, or so, and I wasn't allowed off the base. I plan to atone for that trip!!! We both worked so hard to get ready for this trip, and there were a few challenges to even pulling it off, but we persevered. We arrived yesterday afternoon and quickly set off for the beach. But we were very tired and went to bed early. I slept for 11 hours, she about the same. This morning with camera in hand I went and walked Kailua Beach to get photos of the sunrise. I was not disappointed. That's when it hit me! This must be Paradise. The place God created for man and woman to acquaint themselves with one another. We intend to fully comply with God's will! More to follow. Aloha, from hard-hitting Kailua, Hawai'i!