Waimea's Paniola Cowboys

Thanks to James over at Weekend Reflections-

Parker Ranch -(a great link here), in Waimea on Hawaii’s Big Island, was founded in 1847. It is one of the oldest and most historic ranches in the United States. Encompassing thousands of acres across the island, Parker Ranch is also among the country’s largest cattle ranches. It surrounds the town of Waimea/Kamuela and spans thousands of acres between the great volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea towards the pacific

Way back in 1832, the first cowboys on the Big Island skirted the slopes of majestic Mauna Kea, but Hawaii's colorful far-far-west cowboy culture remains little known on the mainland. The American Southwest
is famous for its cowboys and Western folklore, yet the most western and southern state of the United States, Hawaii, boasts one of the oldest and least-known cowboy cultures in the nation. Hawaiian "paniolo" (cowboys) have played an integral part in Hawaiian civilization since the third decade of the 19th century.
Hawaii, also known as "the Big Island" of the Hawaiian Isles, is the birthplace of the paniolo and Hawaiian ranching, and was officially designated "Land of the Paniolo" in 1982.

Cows arrived on the island before horses or cowboys did, in 1793 when Captain George Vancouver, presented King Kamehameha I with 5 black longhorn cattle. The animals were in poor condition after the long sea voyage, and Kamehameha immediately put them under kapu (taboo, “hands off”), and freed them to range the island.
Horses arrived five years afterward in 1803. A few years later, in 1809, 19-year-old sailor John Palmer Parker, jumped ship to stay on the Big Island. He found favor with Kamehameha, and was in fact instrumental in assisting the king’s armies to conquer the Hawaiian Islands.
By 1832, Parker was desperate for help. He worked with King Kamehameha III to contract Mexican vaqueros, expert horsemen with plenty of cattle experience. They arrived with boots and saddles, a new language and a flamboyant new lifestyle for the island. Called “paniolo” (“Espanol”) by Hawaiians, the skilled cowboys trained local men to rope and ride a generation before their American counterparts in the Wild West. Their contributions to local culture included the guitar and ukulele, and a lifestyle of hard work, close-knit family ties and wonderful music that thrives to this day.
The beef business boomed and Parker Ranch was born. Over the next century it grew into one of the world’s largest privately-owned cattle ranches: 150,000 acres raising 30,000 head of prime Angus and Charolais beef cattle. (At its peak it spread over half a million acres.)
Please check out the following link (you may not of seen already) which I posted on

(Saddle Road-A Culmination)-

Look the happy tree- leaning over to see his reflection?

A link here- This is a hot Malasada (whats left)..of a Portuguese confection

This is the famous Tex Drive inn -(home of the hot malasada) below in Honokaa ..and "Ono Kine" is just one expression of divine indulgence! But no..you don't want to do this every day!

Think of a spur..

She gets a little impatient..

Falling From Today

My series for

(Macro Flowers Saturday)..thank you Maia for hosting this-

&

For Today's Flowers -thanks to..
LUIZ SANTILLI JR.
DENISE IN VIRGINIA
LAERTE PUPO
SANDY CARLSON

Fallen Vervain & Eucalyptus petals (not the first one)
Blue vervain (also known as verbena) is an attractive perennial plant, with lavender-blue flowers, belonging to the mint family.
Some fun background- the link I had provided wasn't responding and I cleared my cookies, soo? Blue vervain is regarded as the "herb of the cross" because it is said to have been used by Jesus to stop the bleeding from his wounds on Calvary. The ancient Romans used this "sacred" herb to sanitize temples and their homes. It is also said that the medieval witches used it as a love potion. If someone was to wash their hands in blue vervain, anyone they touched would fall in love with them..hmm?

(Check this out for another view of the Mimosa blossoms)

The Present Ground

Watching for a moment
Outside of myself
But couldn't feel
The present ground

Frisbees flew
Through blue mid air
White clouds danced
Above my dog
Happy to leap
Over and over..
The same game

But I leaped at memories
While barely here
Cause there just partly
Made of air
Sill concious of my thoughts
But couldn't feel
The present ground

Those neighborhoods
From where I stood
Where friendships forged
An space was shared-
Are empty
As an echo left
On school halls
&
Streets I'd passed-
Occupied with someone new..

So God..
Help me
Just to feel
The present ground

Earth In The Lime Light

(I was having trouble with this, but click the last image for How Theodore Rossevelt Created and Preserved The National Forests)

Leafing you with a twist..

To me, Earth Day is really an admission something is wrong? You can call it wasted energy, resources, time..or what ever impacts our environment. Basically, it all stems from greed, selfishness, poor choices and so forth. But wouldn't you say it's a way to deal with what ever has sprung from not valuing what we have or have been given somewhere along the line? Often it's just plain ignorance.

Jesus had a simple way of bringing things into balance and this is why He said in Jn.15: 1-5 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit .. apart from Me you can do nothing".
See, either way it's just a focus..the outcome for which- can only determine our attitude on our family and environment.
Anyway, that's my say for Earth Day-

(Click here for How Theodore Roosevelt Created and Preserved the National Forests)
href="http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/conNatlForests.htm">How
Theodore Roosevelt created andpreserved thNational Forests

Just Give Me A Sign?

Monday Morning Musings-

Stuck at home over the past weekend fighting off a sore throat, I happen to come across a remark someone made while on-line.. can't remember where at the moment? Only the jest of it was-
"People want to hear lies, the truth is boring"! Well wasn't it Mark Twain who said, "Truth is stranger than fiction- fiction is obliged to stick with possibilities, where as the truth isn't"
Now I can't help but think..has there always been some kind of voice either giving us a little indication we were either heading in a wrong direction, or say a feeling of peace along this journey?
Well, have you ever noticed you just can't go back? For instance, my brother convinced our other brother (while visiting) to just take him on drive through our old neighborhood and have a look at the house we grew up in? Against his better judgement, he did- only to regret that he would of preferred to just keep the memories he had. He told me later, besides being run-down, there was even graffiti on our old Umbrella tree still standing in the yard- The very one I used to climb as a child!

Now I'll admit, it seems I've always had to learn the hard way..but would it be so different if there happen to be a sign in front of our path that said "Wrong Direction?

Well I feel the same today as I did when I wrote the following poem over a year ago (don't worry about the poem if some of you have a hard time understanding due to the translator? I'm sure you get the point. Anyway, this is called the "Fork & The Measuring Rod"

While I'm here
But you know we're there..
It's the present
Still it's the past
Take a picture
Fast foreword the video
Listen to an audio
Rewind..

We look out of our window
Life's in frames
We don't carry
A measuring rod,
Not near enough
To a weather vane
They're only gages, really..

Effortlessly,
Like some kind of chess board
Moving over lines, we once
Could hide behind
Turning into one road
From the other
We declined

When you've missed the fork
From the future you can see-
You lost time
When the present finds us
Out of line-
But the drama's
Merely trauma
When your past's
Just been defined-

I'd love to hear your thoughts-

They Gather In Pools

(Macro Flower Saturday here)

For (Weekend Reflections..and a big thanks to James for hosting this)

Springtime is here
The air is balmy
Sitting here barefoot
&
It's cold inside

Still watching
Yellow blossoms
Falling through the trees

So I have no streams
To offer you
No not rivers
Or the deep blue sea-

Just a mere reflection

In the gathering pools..

Have a great weekend-

Whiskey & Cinnamon Sticks

My father-in-law swore by this as a remedy for whatever ailed him! Now I never met the man, but he was Portuguese- (here is a link) Anyway, I figured my husband was close enough (lol)?
Well, I thought of it- sometimes reaching for stuff when you think your going to pass out or something. It's kinda the way I felt when I saw this photo of my son (he's 27yrs now)..(no, he hasn't had any children yet either-thankfully)..and I'm so over it, ha. Don't get me wrong, I love children. Oh, and I did remarry.
But If there was ever a reflection of shadowy mentoring back when- this has to be it? My parents probably felt like I was chasing them around with a big Ole magnifying glass at times - "but you!!" With the finger pointing and face scrunched!
OK..I accidentally posted this prematurely, so I'm running two separate posts together because I couldn't figure out how to deal with the title? It was going to be something like Speechless on Wednesday..sort of like the meme?

True Vine Farm, Kealakekua

(You may remember the tune "the little grass shack in Kealakekua Hawaii)?

I was born in California but wound up in Hilo, Hawaii around the end of 1978 after my folks sold the house I was raised in. Having turned a magical twenty, I packed my manically depressed, co-dependent self, (in addition to some nifty vices) and parted to the dryer side of the Big Island. I picked up a job as a waitress at the Kona Surf, during a temporary stay at the famous Manago Hotel in Captain Cook.
My life began to unravel pretty fast by then and it just seemed to careen out of control while my car ran out of gas one night. It died at the top of a mountain with a long scenic driveway. Nestled below, was a place called "True Vine Farm", a young Christian couple happen to been running in Kona at the time. They were producing a wide variety of both vegetables and fruit with over half of this acreage. I found the whole Island scene such a stark conrast from the smoggy fast paced city I was from.
There were a number of interesting folks living in what were basically shacks. But along with a breathtaking backdrop overlooking the entire Kona Coast, memorable sunsets went down on my uncertain life.

I crossed paths with many young people my age who appeared genuinely happy. They were always arriving further down the hill at YWAM (Youth With A Mission). There was an older hotel situated still further down in the the town of Kailua which housed many other Christians - whom they were affiliated with (pictured above).. I’m blondie on the far left.
They also happen to be running a restaurant (Tradewinds) next-door at the time, as well as holding services together on Sunday.
I can honestly say, they really reached out.. giving me employment while trying to point me in the right direction.

Kona hadn’t been built up just yet but changes were coming. Anyway, many transients came through True Vine and I of course was no exception. I sailed in carrying all my blues albums, make up, and a ton of nail polish!
I attended the Bible studies (part of the deal) and briefly stayed making some friends during a break up with my then boyfriend- until he poured sugar down my gas tank and I wound up pregnant before moving back in with him. Of course, that wasn't the end of the story...

Life really can pop up out of dead wood though-

The Power Of His Resurrection

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death...(Philippians 3:10)

The power of His resurrection presupposes that there has been a death, but the very resurrection-life leads to the Cross. The Holy Spirit in the power of the risen life is always leading you back to the Cross, to conformity to His death. It is the very property of life to rule out all that belongs to death. It is the very power of resurrection to bring us back to the place
where the natural life is put aside-fruit of living union with Him..
Death working for the greater fullness of life~is the positive side that.. not the fact that we are constantly being ruled out, and ruled out, but rather that of necessity that is being done in order that He may come in & come in...
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection...",
and that means conformity to His death without utter destruction.
The end of the risen life is the Cross.
The Holy Spirit is always working in relation to the Cross, in order that the power of His resurrection may be increasingly manifested in us-

(Reflections taken from the book of Php. & the writings of T. A. Sparks)

A Blessed Easter to all -

My Easter Eggs..

Forest Frolic

Thanks to James At Weekend Reflections & Aileni At Monochrome Weekend

Happy Easter To All-