A Zen Riddle

Giving Yellow a Bad Rap!!

Is it possible to yell-o quietly?

For well over a year now, we have been convinced that the colors YELLOW and ORANGE have been getting a bad rap.  Yellow has turned into "yelling" and Orange feels like "rage" And, it has only gotten worse since the end of 2016. We have decided to counteract the negative influence of our Cheeto-Headed President with our own personal beautification campaign here in Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Us in the Mellow Yellow Submarine

Although there are admittedly more serious ways to engage politically (which we encourage,) this week we chose simply to focus on the BEAUTY of YELLOW and ORANGE that we have planted in our yard. As we have created beds around the property, for whatever reason (and sometimes for none at all) each of them has a name.

"Cosmic Dancer" is in the upper right corner

For example, we have the "Valentine Bed" because we built it together on Valentines day a couple years ago. There is a "Pink Bed" that began primarily with pink flowers, but since has been enlivened by other colors as well. There is the "Monarch Bed," the "Bromeliad Hill, "The Terraces," and even one named "Kate's Bed" because it was planted mostly by our friend and yard helper, Kate.


Until recently, there was a bed with no name -- until, that is, the hibiscus we planted there went into full bloom along with all the other yellows and oranges that are featured there. The name of this hybrid hibiscus is "Cosmic Dancer" and thus the name "Cosmic Dancer Bed."

We have two YELLOW ohia trees in our yard and one surprised us last week by bursting out with little yellow
pom-poms all over it. Despite the fact that we have had over 20 of our forest ohia trees die in three years, many are still alive and healthy, so this lovely, rare yellow ohia is a particular joy.