I originally meant to post this three weeks ago, in celebration of my 48th birthday on August 26th. It has been a very busy time for me lately, with runs into Hilo almost every day, either for myself for appointments, my son, or neighbors. That, along with the hurricane & other things popping up & my propensity to procrastinate…. oh, well. I had to dig up EasterEgg’s photo album generator. Thank goodness I found the bookmark for it, since he has left Xanga & the site he has contributed some of his scripts to doesn’t list that!
It got delayed again when I couldn’t get EasterEgg’s slideshow to work once pasted into Xanga. I guess I’ll have to forgo that idea & end up with a blog that looks long. *Sigh* dan, I wish these changes you made hadn’t made scripting so difficult. On to the original blog…
One of my riders is the woman who provided me with transportation which the VA would not two years ago, when I was undergoing my cancer stuff that the VA wasn’t covering & my shopping trips. Other than my appointments, I tried to make sure I wasn’t making her take me to Hilo when she wasn’t already going herself, since she had to come out of her way to get me. It was now my turn to help her out.
Another I’ve been helping out has been a couple who live in my subdivision. The guy is one I’ve had help me with my yard on occasion, especially lately, since I’ve been so ill this summer & the growth of the weeds has gotten out of hand. He also helped straighten out under my house, for pay. This couple make gorgeous gardens from hapuu (treefern) stumps. He plants moss & carves designs into the moss on the sides of the hapuu on some & places plants into the hapuu that tend to stay small & do well indoors with low light. She makes little ‘houses’ that are then added to these gardens, making some into little living islands. These gardens sell for good money & they’ve been shown on some of the local TV shows. Guess who gave him the idea to make & sell these creations? 
Sometimes, he allows things to get out of control & they end up splitting up & losing everything they have. They both drink, with his drinking being especially bad at times. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with both of them, alone & together, carefully pointing out a few things, but mostly listening to them. I’m seeing changes in both of them that hopefully will stick, because they love each other dearly & compliment each other & are truly good people. He has lofty goals, which he could easily attain, once he puts away the beer, or at least cuts it way back!
My driver friend had a freak auto accident late July. A large pickup truck coming at her lost a wheel, which hit her van, totaling it. My friend suffered injuries from the accident, mostly whiplash-type, with nerve pinching in one arm. I had been taking her to chiropractic appointments, which turned out not to be helping, but made her feel worse. It turned out that the doc never got her MRI info from the hospital! I also don’t like the fact that he told her NO water therapy & not to use the neck collar, except while sleeping. She’s taking care of her 16-month-old grandson, lifting this child often, which is NOT helping her injuries!
Anyway, for my birthday, I finally went to a sacred spot I found years ago, amongst the new lava flow that devastated several homes during the early stage of the ongoing eruption of Pu’u'o’o crater. I have meant to take Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, her favorite beverage, gin, as an offering in celebration of my birthday, but each year, something happens to stop me. This year, I vowed to myself nothing would stop me again.
This tradition is something I heard as a child that a man used to do who was the grandfather of a classmate of mine, so it is not a myth. On his birthday, Mr Detour would take a gallon bottle of gin & throw it into Halemaumau crater. Each time, there would be an eruption. Mr Detour lived to be 104.
** All About Virgo **
Each Sun sign gets saddled with some cliched quality — Scorpios are overly sexual, Capricorns are power-hungry, Geminis are talkative, etc. — but Virgos seem to bear the brunt of the zodiacal backlash. If you’re a Virgo, you’ve likely heard the buzzwords: methodical, detail-oriented, chaste, insecure. With such unglamorous descriptions, it’s easy to see why Virgos receive less print than, say, a flashy Leo or an aggressive Aries. But your charms are of the more unassuming variety, your approach subtle and surprisingly tender, your standards high but ultimately pragmatic.
As an earth sign, you’re achievement-oriented and sensible, but you’re also of the mutable quality, so you can be a little too keen to bend to the will of others. You’re not aiming for the corner office; you just want to do a good job. You may subvert your own needs out of a sense of duty. With this exaggerated sense of responsibility, Virgos walk a fine line between good little worker bee and pack mule, between self-sacrifice and martyrdom.
Your eyes catch the smallest details of the material world — from a ragged hem or a missed decimal point to a person in need who’s afraid to ask for help. Virgo is the natural sign of the sixth house, house of health and service, so coming to the aid of others is second nature to you. Many natives of the sign grow up to become nurses, doctors or nutritionists or enter into analytical fields like bookkeeping or statistics. You thrive in a position where you can feel immediately necessary and useful, though you’re not averse to trudging through a long-term project as long as you know your work will have practical value.
Beneath that perfectionist exterior lies a generous yet apprehensive soul. You’re wary of revealing your true feelings or of being too demonstrative out of a fear of rejection or, more likely, disappointment; your standards in romance are unsurprisingly high. You’d almost rather stay single than lower the bar or settle for less than what’s best for you. You just really need some security and trust before you can let go and just love. Once you are in love, you can be overly critical of your mate, picking apart their thoughts and actions with the same degree of precision you apply to your responsibilities. On a positive note, you are utterly, unswervingly devoted to those you love.
Enjoy the pics from my birthday…
The sacred spot. My son took this picture. I’m in there, barely visible. Can you find me?
My offering also included a pack of menthol cigarettes, since Pele likes her smoke! I closed the ti leaf wrapping with a scrunchie, pale yellow in color to match her light blonde hair when she sometimes appears as a young blonde woman. Before closing the offering, I shared a toast to her of the gin, a new flavored one… Seagram’s Lime Twisted. Not a gin drinker myself, I was surprised at how good it tasted, straight! I NEVER drink hard liquor straight!
This is an interesting crack that recently appeared, probably due to shifting of the lava ledge. It’s located on the opposite side of the mound behind the tree where I left my offering. The lava flow is actually a shelf in some areas & there are times when large sections crack completely off & fall into the ocean. There are signs warning against venturing out into these known dangerous areas, beyond where we walked.
Mitch… Yes, I know what it looks like!
I had taken my son along, with much argument from him. He left me to my offering time alone as he took a few pictures nearby. He helped me place the closed offering within the base of the young white banyan tree, then we headed for the new Kaimu (Black Sands) Beach. He spent alot of time combing the beach for just the right rocks to make his ‘trail marker’ tower & having fun throwing rocks into the ocean. As hard of a time as he gave me about going, it was even harder to get him to leave! He thought we had only been there a half hour when it had actually been about two hours!
This is the result of his rock hunt. He actually wanted to make it taller, but that would have required larger base rocks he was unable to find. Note the single rock to the left. He thought it looked a bit like a skull. I later noticed another one like it as we were leaving that if he had seen earlier would have taken the place of the roundish one to the right.
The waves were beautiful this day. There are two good reasons for there being no surfers however. First, these waves crest too close to shore for any type of decent ride. Second, there is a very bad undertow/rip current along this shore. Even the most agile & experienced swimmer cannot handle the currents.
My son shot this image on the way back to our car, entranced by the effects of the sun’s setting rays. What he saw was a red ray & quickly took this picture. I think it turned out wonderfully, although he thought he didn’t get it. It’s even better than what he was seeing!
Later that evening, at 8:24 according to official time clocks, the entire island was shaken by an earthquake measuring as much as 5.3 on the Ricter Scale. The oddest thing about this is that it just misses my birth date of 8-26-55 by the time & intensity! Perhaps they are off? Pele was saying ‘Mahalo’ for the offering! How cool is that?!
Comments (2)
;)nice to see you about … though wished you’d have less of feeling sick … your son’s pictures are beautiful … have a good hump day … colleen
happy belated birthday and i am glad you are alright after the huricane scare!