Bloomers for Us Boomers!

Cotyledon Happy Young Lady

I plead ignorant of the names of all these amazing blooms that are popping up in the yard right now.

Only one plant below, with the yellow cala-shape was here when we moved in four years ago. This is the first year it has bloomed. The bloom is about 7" tall but the huge leaves are nearly 4' long!
Other specimens were gathered or gifted. The upper left chandelier-type is a succulent that over grows in an ancient cemetery along the famous Red Road in Puna -- close to the ocean. In our yard they grow in a well drained nutrient deprived area similar to that of the beach area where we gathered some, leaving appropriate ho'okupu (gifts of gratitude.)

The star-shaped pale yellow ones were gifts from a neighbor and this is their first bloom. (I have a call into the friends who gave it to us and will add the name soon.)

The pink ornamental "pineapple" one was another give-away from local jungle gardener with a warning -- the spiked leaves have the most deadly thorns; they do -- the worse of any bromeliad I have met! The entire "head" will soon be covered with small purple flowers -- that are just now becoming visible.

Over the past 4+ years my garden has become an integral extension of my home. Artfully working with and learning from the land and plants continues to be a deeply entwined relationship of ALOHA and MAHALO.

Valentine's Day

"I'm sorry, dad...we fixed it!"

It's Phil in his "new" Valentine's T-shirt....but look a little closer. We ALL love our old soft T-shirts and reluctantly they eventually end up as dust cloths and paint brush cleaners. Well, THIS T-shirt was artistically given a new life.

The CIRCLES show where the big holes WERE (note tiny paw prints>)....

Every household has a mischievous member of the family -- an inventive instigator. Such is the case at our house and "her" name is I'I Lani (the midget from heaven...or from ??)  Anyway, the other day Phil left a dirty T-shirt on the floor by the bed and guess who got it and then enticed Poko to have a rousing game of tug-of-war with it.  The result, when I found it was two jagged holes.


Phil was ready to turn the T-shirt into rags, but Poko felt so bad he decided to see if "we" could save it. He reminded me that a couple years ago I took 35 years of T-shirts apart to make myself an art-quilt. So "we" patched the holes in Phil's soft ol' shirt and then decorated it to match the motif of the original fish-and-fish-hook" art. Poko was very pleased -- and so was "dad."

Close Encounters...with SILLINESS

Sound board playing music in "Close Encounters' movie

Painting....OR...Making alien music?

...what?   Well, it is all just a bit silly, but that's a good thing, right? So, a couple nights ago, while I am deep into one of my favorite Science Fiction series (Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh) Phil decides to watch "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" movie. I don't care how many times I have seen it, the communication that takes place through MUSIC***, at the end always chokes me up.

If you ENLARGE this photo, you'll see our sign.

Today we are returning to the on-going task of dealing with the deteriorating deck paint  -- sanding and priming it for painting. You have to understand, sanding and painting a deck in Hawaii is NOT like painting a deck any place else we've lived. First you have to wait, and wait, and wait, for a brief drought and here, at 140 inches of rain annually, that isn't easy. Next you have to wait until the dew dries in the early morning. You can't paint if it is too hot or the surface is over 90 degrees -- so you also have to wait until the clouds form -- but not enough to rain.

Our rooftop message to any aliens passing over.

So, above a photo of Phil doing a touch up job with the primer. After I took this photo, the pattern seemed quite familiar -- in fact, reminiscent of the sound board from the end of the Close Encounters movie! Then I remembered the photo we sent out for the holidays this year -- with the ALOHA to ALIENS on the roof! Guess we are just a musically-alien family cuz here's another photo...of me...painting up some wood for a landscaping project that just happens to look like an alien xylophone. 'Live long and prosper!"


(If you need to refresh your memory -- here's a 2-minute musical sequence from the movie:
CLICK FOR MUSIC!

"Never underestimate the healing power of silliness and absurdity."  Steve Maraboli

Groundhog Day

Early mornings I like to take my cup of coffee outside to stroll barefooted around the back yard enjoying the delights of the garden.

Last year although we discovered the Monarch butterflies had laid many eggs on our Crown Flower plant, the hatched caterpillars all disappeared before we could witness the magical transformation (maybe eaten by birds?)

Yesterday, however, I found a solitary pupa among the munched leaves and hollered to Phil to "come see." 

He brought the camera out, and while we were standing there, we were surprised to see the thin translucent layer of the pupa "pop" open. 

And, right before our eyes, we witnessed the emergence of a brand new Monarch butterfly! The pupa (because of the diet of Crown Flower leaves) is spun green. However as the transformation occurs, it becomes more translucent.

If you look carefully at the pupa photo -- you can even see the bold stripes showing through.

We were both surprised as the butterfly emerged to think it had been cramped into such a small space.

Watching the origami-wings slowly unfurl took about five minutes. We watch while the new butterfly stretched them out to dry in the warm sun.

The final four pictures document the final stages of the process we witnessed on Groundhog Day.

NOTE: The caterpillar on the left began to "curl up" during the day -- and next morning -- we got a photo of the brand new (translucent) pale green pupa.) Of course we will be hoping to catch another emergence --- if we are lucky.

My sister died on the first of February -- not unexpectedly. Over the years, as such losses occur, we have planted something in our yard as a tribute to each person.

When Phil's mom passed a few years ago, we planted two baby ohia trees in her memory. Now, the Crown Flowers will always remind me of my sister and our shared journeys through life.

All change is loss of one kind or another; witnessing this process was a lovely metaphor and reminder of the on-going process of life -- and death -- and new life.