Eternal vigilance

All week long I have been doing battle against the weeds and slugs and snails.  It feels good to stand back and survey my work.  Little by little, the wildness and chaos that was my yard is coming into order, and its a pleasure to look at it.  I feel satisfaction and peace.  There's still so much to do- like the west side of the yard.  I wasn't paying attention and the slugs, especially, have multiplied to the point that I need to bring in reinforcements.  We'll need to go on slug hunts every night, and scatter bait, and clean up those wet, shaded areas where they hide.

It's the same with the weeds- one plant left unchecked can yield hundreds to thousands of seeds.  Constant vigilance is required in this life, because negative things will always be creeping in when we're not looking, and seemingly innocent things (what harm can one slug do?) have a way of multiplying exponentially.  Prevention is better than cure, and vigilance and diligence do win the battle.  My yard is proof of that.

Seminary graduation

On Sunday, Jesse graduated from seminary- that's four years of early morning religious instruction (to learn more about it click here).  Every weekday morning (during the school year) she would rise at 5 am, and be out the door by six.  For about an hour each morning she and her classmates would study the scriptures, then she would come home, and do her chores and school.  It hasn't been easy, and I know there were days when she would have loved to have slept in, but she always did it freely, of her own choice.  I'm really proud of her, of the discipline she has shown, and of her knowledge of the scriptures.

 After the commencement exercises, the graduates and family and friends met in the cultural hall, and the  congratulations began to flow.  There was a whole lot of hugging and kissing and lei giving.  We had made five haku leis for Jesse and her close friends, and a bunch of leis.  We were all over the place looking for them in the crowd, and taking pictures.  It made me really happy to stand back and look at Jesse and her girls, with their arms over each others' shoulders, smiling and laughing.  It made me happy to think about how they've grown up together, and how much they love each other- all of them good and virtuous young women.  I also felt an overwhelming gratitude to Jesse's seminary teacher, for years of preparing lessons, and rising so early in the morning, for putting her heart and soul into her teaching, and all without pay.

That's pure love.

Seminary has required hours and hours of scripture study and scripture memorizing of Jesse.  

It's the kind of effort that writes the gospel upon one's heart,
and in her life and countenance, it shows.

Keep walking

Lately, I’ve had some decisions to make.  

When I come to a fork in the road, and I don’t know what to do,

 I ask for guidance, and sometimes it seems like none is forthcoming, 

so I make a choice.   

 I choose what seems best, and go with it.   

I’ve a firm belief that if I’m trying to do what’s right in every other way, 

God will redirect me,

 if I take a wrong turn.

 Putting my trust in Him- that He’ll direct me aright, 

and putting trust in myself- that I have the sense and goodness to make wise choices, 

keeps me from being stuck, or paralyzed with the fear of making a mistake.   

When so much rides on a decision,

 and we can’t see the end, or even what’s around the bend,

 it’s easy to feel afraid or worried.  

I just tell myself “keep walking.”  

When the way ahead is dark and uncertain, it takes courage to keep going, 

but I trust that my life is in His hands, 

and that He will support me in every trouble and trial, 

all along the way.  

So I just keep walking.

“Walk to the edge of the light, and perhaps a few steps into the darkness, and you will find that the light will appear and move ahead of you”    

Harold B. Lee

Fabric mart

When the kids were younger, I used to take them to the fabric store, and spend way more time there, than I had planned to.  I've got a thing for fabric, always did.  Back then, the kids liked playing hide n seek in the bolts all around me, but now they go to look at fabric themselves.  They also like the buttons and the rainbow of colored columns of thread.  Mary just stands there and fiddles with them.  You'd think we drive the clerks crazy, but they never complain.

I love this store because it represents the islands, and the many, many flavors here.  The  varied array of fabric says to me, "There are so many ways to live here, we can all live together, and this place is better and cooler because of it."  There are the batiks, and quilting fabrics and velvets that line the back wall.  On the right of the store are the huge hanging bolts of the thicker upholstery fabrics, of the more sophisticated island prints. 

On the left wall are the shiny shinies- sequined and beaded fabrics, and fabrics with an Asian flair, like red satin with dragons emblazoned on them.  And in the middle are every kind of poly cotton, island or Polynesian, print you can think of, in every color- with surfboards and surf mobiles, and hula girls and leis, and hibiscus and plumeria, and fish and ocean scenes, and traditional mat and tapa designs, and on and on.  It's a cool, colorful and happy place.

 Happy Monday everyone!  Have a colorful and happy week.

A snapshot

This weekend we went to my niece's 2nd year birthday party.  It was a pool party and most of my kids, and a lot of nieces and nephews, aged from about seven to early twenties, were in the water.  They were playing football and having a lot of fun.  I sat there and listened to the things they said to each other; and watched the way they treated one another.  It was sweet and happy.  Each one of them had a beauty, inside and out, and it was a joy to look at them, to watch them, to hear their laughter and their words.  The big ones included the little ones in their teams; they were careful not to hurt them in their play; they answered their questions, and gave them turns, and treated them like equal team members- and had so much fun doing it.  They really churned up the water.  My heart was filled with their happiness, and I laughed too.

It was getting  late, and  I noticed that the light had faded to dark, and the pool had begun to glow blue with its underwater lights.  It was about 8pm when they all climbed out.  We thanked our hosts, gave our hugs and farewells all around, and headed home.  It had rained sometime in the neighboring town- the street lights reflecting on the road, the sizzling sound of tires rolling along the wet asphalt.  The windows were down, and the night air velvet soft.  We passed a fruit stand, the only one still open, and I smiled at the string of Christmas lights strewn over the front of the booth- to light up the dark, and to let customers know that a late night snack of bananas was still available. Christmas in May.  A happy thought.

Misty mountain

We've been sick.  It's been rainy.  Yesterday the air felt like a misty blanket enveloping us- so thick with moisture, it felt like tiny raindrops were suspended all around us.  The air was soft and beckoning.  It called us from our sickbeds, inviting us out into the open; so we decided to go for a ramble.  One of the places we went to was Kualoa Ranch.  Kualoa is the Hawaiian word for "long back" describing the Ranch's majestic mountains.

I know I've said, at least a hundred times, that the rain makes everything more beautiful.  When the sun comes out, it magnifies and intensifies colors- but the sun wasn't out yesterday.  This day was different.  The colors were deep, but muted. The day felt shrouded and romantic- the gray clouds softening edges, cloaking the mountaintops, and veiling the entire sky.  There was a quiet grandeur about it all, and I felt grateful to be out in it.  Here are some scenes from the day.

  The ranch's visitor center, restaurant and gift shop see busloads of visitors each day.

  The welcoming sight at Kualoa's entrance.

 One of the sites used by the crews for the latest movie being filmed at the ranch.  They just broke down the tents and hauled off the trailers.

  A few of the many horses roaming Kualoa.

 Kualoa Regional Park, across the street from the ranch.

Mokoli'i, popularly known as Chinaman's Hat, is the little islet just off the shore from the park.

After an illness, on days like this, 

I feel more grateful than ever to be alive, 

to have a body, 

to be able to breathe air and life deeply into my lungs,

 and to turn my face to the sky with gladness.  

Sunshine or rain, 

it really is a good life.