thank you!

Chula! (both of them )

curious about that before.

Definitely both of them.

Gracias, flamindem!~

Have been going through my iPad photos. You have no idea how happy I am that I decided to go to my 50th reunion. Hawai'i is like water to my very roots.

Me ke aloha.

That must have been No ka oi!

...by folks who had brought their ukes. He started them on the old standards, then switched to Hawaiian. I think he must know every Hawaiian language song in the book.

I heard backstories I never heard before. One guy, about 5 foot 8 inches and really buff, said he was only 5'3" when he graduated high school. I commented that that was a rather late growth spurt, and he scoffed. Said he was one of 7 kids and they often didn't get 3 meals a day. Then he joined the Army and they fed him up and he grew 5 inches. I did not know that some of my classmates were literally coming to school hungry, and now I do.

And so it went. Caught up with some of the crowd, and got to know some of the rest. Our class was 650 strong, and Senator Inouye handed us our diplomas as we walked across the stage set up in the athletic field.

All last week I just soaked in the landscape, the cloudscape, the ocean, the colors, the tradewinds, the soft soft air.

I am so tempted to spring for a gold name bracelet from Na Hoku, that I have spent hours off and on searching for a name for myself.

There's no way to either translate or transliterate my Irish name, but here I am dwelling in the land of no clouds and no rain, and as I read the myth of the battle of Pele and Poli'ahu I was struck by the fact that all the actors in the story except Pele were demigoddesses of the waters of Mauna Kea: Poli'ahu (snow), Lilinoe (the mist or fine rain that comes from the mountain), Waiau (the underground reservoir of Mauna Kea), and Ka Houpu O Kane (the springs of Mauna Kea).

On the Central Coast our mist comes from the ocean, but I liked the meaning of Lilinoe's name so much that I know if I ever decide to spend the kala, that is the name I want on the bracelet.

Yours for an equally welcome break from politics, Cha.

It's just amazing our lives.. It's so special that you got to go back and reminisce with the people you went to high school with 50 years ago! Sounds like a long time but now we know it goes so fast.

I can just picture all of you there.. what a wonderful place to go for your 50th reunion .. on the beach in Hawaii!

The names are all beautiful.. but Lilinoe (the mist or fine rain that comes from the mountain) stands out. Before, I saw that you liked it best, too!

There is a person who works downstairs in the natural food store(Hoku) whose name is Noe.. and she is a beautiful Hawaiian girl.

You're giving me a new appreciation for being here. Sometimes I think about being back in the Adirondacks because I miss my friends a lot.

But, that's not going to happen so I need to appreciate where I am and know how fortunate I am to be here.

The bike trail close to my home..

Love it!