January 12, 2004
Starry, Starry Night
I grew up in southern California and spent my whole life there until moving to Hawaii in 2001. Tonight I did something that as a child I only dreamed of...
I walked outside and saw the expanse of the Night Sky...Filled with stars...
We have some of the cleanest air in the nation right here in the Puna District. That's one of the reasons that we moved here. I have very bad adult onset asthma, and "acute environmental allergy syndrome". No single allergen triggers me, but rather a whole host of them, in combination. All the tests came back negative but one could not ignore the horrible reactions, the chronic cough, hives the size of dinner plates...I nearly died several times, and may have actually died once... But that is for another post...
The inky blue black sky of Hawaii. We so often have rain at night that it is still a treat to go out and see it. The Moon has been very full and late in rising so you can really see the stars in their glory...I stand in wonder...
I take a full deep breath and wonder....
To some it must sound silly, after all its is just the sky and it is always there... But my friends that is not true. Sometimes my vision is hindered by forces out of my control, these days mostly clouds and that is another wonderful thing in and of its self, the glorious rain...
I am so glad to be here and will fight everyday to stay here and be a part of the beauty of my Hawaii. Its worth it.
Had a wonderful time reading
"The Foxfire Diaries" I added this beautiful blog to my "blogosphere" last week and I am continually impressed by the quality of her writing and the beauty of the site. I studied Middle Eastern dance prior to coming to Hawaii and love the Turkish "odalesques" on the antique postcards depicted there. ( hate to break it to you that those pretty "ladies" were usually men photographed for those postcards, as Islam forbids photographing women...) Her posts for the last few days were about a journey that she took to New York. So many of her thoughts and feelings about the trip resonated with me as I took a similar journey 10 years ago and saw many of the same sights. Since 9-11, New York is a much different place. I was there just a few weeks after the first attack on the WTC and wondered then how foolish these guys were to try to take down such huge buildings... Yah...It was a practice run. We just didn't know it.
I was learning at that time to be myself. To depend on myself, and to trust myself. I went alone. I saw the sights and found that in my heart I was always longing to be there. Like my longing to see the stars as a little girl, I had longed to stand on the top of the Empire State Building. I did so at night and saw the starry expanse, as it was a very clear cold April night.
It was all beyond my wildest dreams. Walking in Central Park, sitting on Liberty Island looking at the Manhattan skyline, dominated by the WTC, then I saw it as a whole. Now my memory lingers on what is no longer there. But as I read Aimee's story I could smell the coffee and strawberries that I had that morning at the side walk cafe near Lexington and 38th, Midtown, where I stayed. It was misting as I walked on Broadway later that day. Another dream for this music student that gave it up for love then divorce had sent her on this new journey.
A journey that was to ultimately lead to today. Sitting in a room, in a place as far as one can be from anywhere... On land so new its still hot deep down and the active volcano that made it rumbles and makes still more every day only 12 miles away. In a kingdom far across My Wide Blue Seas....
Starry Nights are meant for dreams.... Good Night
