Visitors at Luana Ohana

Not everything that happens in our lives is as exciting as a walk out to see lava pouring miles down the hillside and into the ocean (our last post.) After four and a half years, we are still discovering and delighting in retirement. By the way, the Hawaiian word LUANA (our street name) has a very rich and appropriate meaning to us especially as it relates to our retirement!

LUANA: to be at leisure, to enjoy pleasant surroundings and associates, to live in comfort and ease, to enjoy onesself.    "E luana wale ana no" (Just enjoying ourselves)

Here's a photo of our front porch, with our beautiful gong (with the symbol for water) from Many Hands Gallery in Eureka.

Next to the porch is a dense bed of tropical plants that has some flowering spiral ti plants that look like aliens!!



Along the outside wall by the porch is an ornamental flowering passion vine that is home to dozens of geckos who find curious places to artfully hang out. (One in the mouth of the 'green man' sculpture, another on the head of the goddess.)

There's no way you can effectively keep them out of the house, but they are welcome guests because they eat small spiders and other insects -- especially in the kitchen. Last is an artfully-adapted photo I took in the kitchen with gecko silhouetted from light from the window over the sink.

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