They really do make great neighbors! They’re quiet, slow-moving, and they simply stop over for a suntan and a nap near coastal homes. These herbivores have seen a revival in popularity in recent years. Stores and small shops carry their image on many kinds of goods. There are earrings and necklaces, statues and stationary, and stickers on just about anything you can put a sticker on, including automobiles.

They are seen on shore in several places, resting, or basking if you will, and keeping the beaches company. They come close to shore to eat the seaweed found there. It is illegal to disturb or approach them. Well, it was. They were considered a threatened species and have been protected by both the Federal Government and the State Government. The word is out that this may not continue much longer.

The good news is, they have recovered! Apparently they have recovered quite nicely because there is talk out there about removing them from the endangered/threatened list. I have mixed emotions about this. While I’m happy they have recovered in number, it concerns me that they may end up right back on that list before we know it.

Hawaii is not the only place that protects this animal. Places like Honu.org may have more to report down the road but, for now, I haven’t heard anything except speculation by the media. Time will tell and I will keep you posted!

Hubby won’t touch most of what I cook because he doesn’t like beef, unless it’s hamburger, or chicken, unless it’s from Zippy’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken. As much as I love Spam, it gets old after a while. I miss the old recipes that Mom used to make and that we used to enjoy growing up. I’m going through some of those oldies to see which ones still work for me after all these years. Hopefully some of those recipes will be greeted more enthusiastically by someone else at home besides me. Mom can’t cook them anymore so I’m on my own.

If you’re going to purchase cuts of beef, I have had wonderful cuts from Safeway and some to-die-for steaks from Times Supermarket. Since these two merchants have become the only places I shop, they will be the ones that receive my attention. That being said, I’ll send out a huge “Mahalo!” to Lawrence of Pali Safeway’s Meat Department for a very beautiful five pounds of decadent, fat-laden, USDA Choice beef ribs!

An old recipe that Mom kept worked out nicely for those ribs. Trust me, you will not find this recipe anywhere else — it was the brainstorm of one of my sister’s old boyfriends. The recipe card reads “Gill’s Ribs” and that is what we have always called them. Gill had a gift for cooking and he had quite a green thumb too! We lost him to an unfortunate accident on the Big Island some years back but his memory lives on.

Gills Ribs

From: Gill Reeves, Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4/5 to 5 lbs of ribs

Sauce:

2 onions, chopped
1 tsp ea: paprika, chili powder
1/2 tsp ea: ground red pepper; pepper
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp ea: Worcestershire sauce; red wine vinegar
3/4 C. catsup
3/4 C. water

1. Prepare sauce my mixing all ingredients (except ribs) together and mis thoroughly.
2. Place in casserole: 1/3 of ribs, sauce, 1/3 ribs, sauce, 1/3 ribs, sauce
3. Cover. Cook at 350° for 2 hours and 40 minutes.
4. Remove cover and cook another 10 minutes.

My only error was not taking a photo of the finished product. But, it was as good as I remember and worth a try if you like beef ribs!

Since dragons don’t use gas for their fire breathing, or for flying either, and since you are supposed to ride dragons, NOT slay them, I figured we could just use this very long one and all hop on board together! I’m not making this up, just ask Anne McCaffrey. McCaffrey will tell you about the bond between a man (or a woman) and their dragon! Then again, our ride here is a Chinese dragon, not the medieval, bonding variety of McCaffrey’s fantasy world. So, you might want to avoid the teeth — they look sharp!

With everyone still very much in vacation mode for the summer, let’s get started!

TrigMom joins us for the first time and tells us of her discoveries about the Best Things To Do With Kids in Honolulu, Hawaii posted over at TrigMom.com. Thanks for sharing your list with us, TrigMom! You did Oahu well! I was happy to see you got out a bit while you were here rather than just hanging in Waikiki!

Leslie Carbone, I’m happy to report, shared a successful visitor event with us this time through Leslie Carbone: Pearl Harbor posted at Leslie Carbone. I am yet to visit the Arizona Memorial at Peal Harbor myself and I’ve been here all my life. It’s on the agenda. I’ll get there. Thank you, Leslie, for sharing your experience! I’m just glad it went well. Leslie even gives a romantic twist to the oil droplets that continue, even after all these years, to escape from the Arizona.

Hawaii Vacation Gifts provides an alternative vacation idea for those of you who are a little more daring and fond of the outdoors. We get to learn about the New Indiana Jones Movie partly filmed on the Big Island of Hawaii posted at Hawaii Vacation Gifts.

Bobbie provides a transition for us as she reminds us about Hawaii Sunshine: Not just for tanning that she has posted on her Virtual Scratchpad. We all love the sunshine and the ocean but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded about just what valuable resources these things are, especially with all of the climate changes these days. Thanks, Bobbie!

As we protect our planet and protect our skin,

Angie reminds us: Don’t forget your pets in the face of disaster posted at True Aloha. This is something that people often forget and I, for one, appreciate Angie sharing this reminder with all of us! This is a very valid concern and a good point. Thanks, Angie, for reminding everyone!

Now, as we begin to wrap up the summer months, we’re heading into the political season.

Evelyn (that’s me) just had to share some of the upcoming political excitement with Everyone’s Aunty Runs for Office! posted right here at Homespun Honolulu. Many of us know her and I’m just being a happy volunteer cheerleader here!

Pua provides us with another transition as she asks us to Vote for your favorite Hawaii Story! posted at Best Hawaii Vacation with Hawaii Vacation Blog. We may have missed the party but you can still vote! Pua helps us round up this 12th Chapter of the Carnival and leads us into the next where we will soon be having yet another anniversary celebration.

Whew! That dragon is a fast mover! As we release our tight grip on his scales and wave goodbye to our reptilian friend, we can look forward to the next Chapter of Aloha. The upcoming chapter will be the Carnival of Aloha’s first anniversary! We hope all will join in and celebrate this first milestone for the Carnival! Don’t forget to submit your blog posts to the anniversary edition of the Carnival of Aloha! Just use our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of aloha, blog carnival.

Honolulu Hale is a busy place these days. I think the clerk’s office, for those looking to register and run for office, needed a revolving door for a while there! The mayor’s race for the City of Honolulu suddenly has 12 candidates (maybe more) running for mayor come November. We’ll talk about that later.

Politics has been, for me, more exciting this year than ever. There is so much going on this year, at both the local and the national level, that it’s hard to keep track!

I must say, it was quite a pleasant surprise to see someone I’ve come to know, to actually grace those same doors of the Clerk’s Office at Honolulu Hale. Lynn Vasquez-Dela Cerna is running for office! To be more specific, Honolulu City Council, District 7.

You know, most of us only think about taking that leap. We contemplate such things and toy with the idea of running for an office such as this but we never go any further. Lynn took hold of the idea and has moved forward. For District 7, this would be a great addition. I’m excited for Lynn and I’m excited for District 7!

This is not someone who sits on their haunches — if there is something that needs fixing, this is one lady who will stick with it until it’s fixed. My comment was that she’s like a “dog with a bone!” She’s not letting go until what needs to be done, is done. This is a lady who will take an issue to whatever level needs it needs to be taken to until it’s resolved!

For more information about this candidate, check our her site! Donations for this campaign can be given at any branch of First Hawaiian Bank with a reference made to Liliha Branch. Checks should be made payable to “Friends of Lynn Vasquez-Dela Cerna.”

So, what is District 7? The city defines this district as, “a portion of upper Kalihi, Kapalama, Palama, Iwilei, Sand Island, Mapunapuna, Airport, Hickam, Pearl Harbor, Ford Island, Aliamanu, Salt Lake, Foster Village, Stadium and Halawa Valley Estates.” Unfortunately for me, the district that will appear on my ballot is District 6. So, my vote won’t help Mrs. Dela Cerna. But, if you’re in District 7, yours will!

If you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for?!? Get registered and we’ll see you at the polls! This is an exciting year in many ways, gang. I can’t wait to see what comes out of it all! Politics exciting? No way! Way!

We stepped in the door of this relatively new addition to the Windward side of the island and were met with the coolest air conditioning you can imagine and greeted by a very nice host and friendly atmosphere. Of course we were dying in the heat so anything cooler than outside would have been welcome! The nice young host was concerned about how crowded the restaurant was and that we might have to wait. As it worked out, we didn’t have to wait long at all and we were seated and given cold water, other beverages and menus.

While looking at the menu and trying to figure out just what we had walked into, I noticed that the decor was interesting. There were paintings or sketches hung on warm, mustard-colored walls. The art work was interesting to look at and to try to figure them out. The most interesting one, I found, was the picture all the way on the right in the picture above. You can’t really tell but it’s of the Mona Lisa but it looks like a paint-by-number that was never completed. Was the artist still looking for Ms. Right? Maybe. He was obviously still trying to figure out how to color his ideal woman.

It was pretty quiet as people started to leave after finishing their lunch. It was already close to 3:00 in the afternoon.

I’m pretty sure that what we see in the background of the picture above is the kitchen, or certainly a portion of it. Our waiter, Jason, was a great help to us as we asked about things on the menu. What a wonderful menu or yummy choices! Jason’s suggestions were good ones. The food actually worked out nicely — the available selections would make any palate happy.

Mom saw onion soup on the menu and decided that was for her! It smelled wonderful and looked even better! As she spooned through it like we all do with soup, the amount 0f cheese was amazing. That’s one soup that would give French onion soup a run for its money! You should have seen the amount of cheese. Woo hoo! I guess that was French onion soup with an Italian twist.

I was drooling over the steak choices on the menu but they were more for dinner and a little too pricey for lunch. The original location of Formaggio is actually on the other side of the hill from this one. It’s on the Honolulu side of the Koolaus, in the Market City shopping center on Kapiolani Blvd. That one is more focused on liquor. We were lucky enough to be in the location where the food was the focus.

Anyway, I opted for their signature burger, the Kobe Burger Panini, with a side of salad sprinkled with a to-die-for dressing. This burger actually made it on to the cover of Honolulu Magazine. I’m not much of a salad person, except for the occasional craving, but this one was one to talk about. I had to ask twice about the dressing because it sounded too simple to be so good. Thedressing was a combination of 18-year-old balsamic delizio, grey poupon, olive oil, salt and pepper — that’s it. So good!

Mom got a piece of chocolate bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and vanilla drizzles.

I just thought the blueberry cheesecake sounded good. It was.

This is a great restaurant with great atmosphere, great service, and great food. The only drawback is that the prices can add up very quickly. So, I think this is a great place for special-occasion eating. If you’re after just a casual meal, this might not be the best expenditure of your money. If you want really good food and you have something to celebrate, I give this place very high marks!

Formaggio Grill
305 Hahani Street
Kailua, Hawaii 96734
(808) 263-2633

There’s something about the shoreline of the southern side of Oahu just before sunset. The calm, the quiet, and the subtle threat of rough water all add to the romantic, spiritual nature of this setting. Part of the beauty of our islands is the spiritual balance that calms the fears of those insidious pleasures that the nighttime brings.

On a Saturday afternoon, just before evening, there is nothing better than to be off the beaten path just a bit and enjoying this quiet time while being reminded of that spiritual balance that is intrinsically our own.

I thought about this as I stopped at this location. I’d heard about this place on the news some time back. I was quite fascinated to know there was an explanation for these rocks that just sit here — seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

Visiting tourists were there, taking pictures and trying to capture the last light before sunset as another day of their vacation came to an end. An older gentleman asked me if I knew anything about this little shrine that sits at one of the look-out points along the coastal drive between Hanauma Bay and Sea Life Park.

“Uh, yeah — a little,” I responded. This visitor was retired military who served here in 1961. “This is Jizo,” I continued, “he’s a Buddhist deity placed here by Japanese immigrants to protect them while they were fishing (casting for ulua) or swimming.”

I’m not sure who was more surprised, the gentleman actually getting an informative answer to his question or me for being able to give him one! I don’t know where it came from but there it was — I was a tour guide for five minutes.

In keeping with the Buddhist (or Japanese) tradition, at least one that I am familiar with, there were flowers and food gifts left at the feet of this deity. As we here at Homespun Honolulu were reminded recently by one of our Carnival of Aloha participants, it’s Obon Season and this may have heightened the leaving of these gifts for Jizo. Perhaps Japanese tourists left those mementos, maybe some fisherman — this part is unclear.

Do we have a conflict of religious beliefs? Not really. It’s more a harmonious commingling of the multi-cultural map of the islands and a grand example of religious tolerance.

It’s not unusual or unlikely for a “blessing” of a new business or building to be multi-cultural as well. I have heard of people having several different types of blessings or services for big events like that. Now that I think about it, I might do the same. Let’s see, I would look for a Hawaiian blessing for the land, a Chinese dragon or two as sentinels, and the blessing of my own Christian faith to wrap it all up and bless us all — dragons included. Of course one might want to get a blessing from Jizo for your boat. I’ll never own a building or a boat so don’t worry about it.

There’s nothing quite like this type of cultural manifestation to calm your fears, quiet the soul and bring you back to the peaceful reality of our lives. It’s an intangible feeling but one that’s definitely there. It’s one of those feelings that is rarely spoken of or talked about — I’m just one of the few people crazy enough to talk about it.

Designated as the protector of fishermen and swimmers, having this Jizo memorial along the often-treacherous south shore is not such a bad idea. There are other statues of Jizo on the Northshore of Oahu and in several different seaside locations throughout the islands.  I’m sure I’ll find some one of these days and refer back to this post. If you’re a little curious, like I was, you can find John Clark’s book, Guardian of the Sea, Jizo in Hawaii, published by University of Hawaii Press, at local book stores and through Amazon.com.

Flavors of Honolulu was presented this year on the grounds of the Frank Fasi Civic Center, which is not unusual, but this time, the beneficiary of the event was Abilities Unlimited, an organization that is actually a dba of Winners at Work and is designated for “helping people with disabilities lead productive lives.” I like the idea of supporting an organization like that! I wish I has known more about them before attending the event… I might have bought more scrip!

I don’t think they missed my extra $20 too much. Attendance was certainly not a problem! I passed by on the Saturday afternoon of that weekend and the place was packed. These photos were all taken on Sunday afternoon, the third and final day, and there were still people everywhere! I wonder how their bottom line came out. I guess I’ll have to investigate that!

This photo gives a better feel for just how many people were spread across the grounds of this City & County municipal park. The organization and set-up of the event was really quite good. The colors were complimentary and I enjoyed the visual aspect of it all. The park was clean and the weather, albeit very warm, was great for an outdoor happening like this.

These pictures don’t really convey the degree of heat that attendees had to endure. The sun was blazing and even the tradewinds were very warm.

While there was entertainment, of course, but my focus was on the food. That’s always my focus! Taste of Honolulu, Flavors of Honolulu, call it what you will — it’s all about the food! I can’t count the number of times I’ve used that phrase over recent years.

There was a great mix of ethnic cuisines! There were Mexican dishes like these little chicken tacos from Senor Frog’s seen here on the left. Senor Frog’s is located on the third floor of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Good food! I like our local Mexican food restaurants. With so many Taco Bell locations vanishing on us, we really need to keep track of our Mexican food places.

There were thirteen or so tents of various types of cuisine, with little plates of this and little plates of that. The emphasis is on the word little.

This brings up the one thing that stuck out and that was probably the only real negative that could be listed for this event — the servings were pathetically small. I realize the purpose of this event is to have a “taste” or to sample the “flavors” of the foods. But, for what worked out to be the equivalent of approximately $5 a plate, from the viewpoint of someone with a “local” appetite, that was unacceptable.

Again, the emphasis was on the “taste” or “flavors” of Honolulu, not “join us for a meal.” I was just too hungry, what can I say? I’m always hungry. I just like food — too much! Just so you guys don’t think I’m a horrible person, there was even one location that offered one meatball on a plate. That was it — one meatball. That was with the same cost — approximately $5. We walked away from that vendor just because it was too ridiculous to even talk about.

Now, I will go back to my previous statement that the supported organization was, in itself, well worth supporting. If I had known more about that organization at the time, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. Okay, I may have thought twice about it but I would have gotten that meatball anyway! If you think about it, it wasn’t cheap to make one — it had three different meats and mozarella cheese.

See what my attitude got me? Nothing. That’s what I get! Sorry, Mangea!, it really did look good!  My bad.  Another restaurant to patronize gang! It smelled wonderful and looked great.   Mangea! is located at 300 Wai Nani Way, Phone: 808-923-1628.

For the most part, the food was definitely worth it. There were even a couple of vendors with steak! One of them was Koi, a restaurant located at 2028 Dillingham Blvd. The line was way too long for us to stand there and endure the heat but there were many others who had no problem waiting for what they must have known a lot about. Of course it said, “grilled steak with ginger sesame sauce” — so I guess I have to find out more about that place, huh? I’ll keep you guys posted!

In order to avoid the heat, we opted instead to try the steak from the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Village Steak & Seafood restaurant and we were not disappointed.

To adjust my mood and to battle the heat I stopped at one of the wine vendors and sampled, at their recommendation, a very nice white wine that the vendor promised to be refreshing. She was right. I felt much better after drinking the 3/4 of a Dixie cup. Yeah, I had to throw that size part in.

All was not lost. Laverne’s was the one tent, serving Hawaiian cuisine, that had a grasp on knowing where they were. They knew how to please the local (okay, my) appetite. Laverne’s Catering & Restaurant is located at 99-866 Moloalo Street in Waipahu and can be reached at 808-678-1678. In the photo above you can see their sampling of rice, kalua pig, lomi salmon, chicken long rice, and haupia. Word has it that it was all good!  It looked great, smelled wonderful and was definitely much more reasonable from a serving size point of view.

In spite of it all, I wasn’t going to turn down a little sampling of li hing pineapple! I did get some of that from Laverne’s.

Pineapple is good with a little bit of li hing powder! This one was made from canned pineapple but I still liked it. It was, consequently, a little sweeter than normal.

All in all, I think it was a great event. I will go again, I will be better prepared, I will know what to expect and I will try as many of the food samplings as I can! If you plan to attend the next one, you might want to be sure you have a good breakfast that day!  I just wanted more.  Piggy.  After all, it’s all about the food!

We may obey the speed limit but, then again, we might not! 

With the ever-increasing cost of gas we’re going to have to save money where we can.

Ryan Suenaga joins us with Frugality in Practice: A Cultural Activity that’s Frugal posted at Uncommon Cents.  I never thought about it but I suppose you’re right, Ryan.  I know it’s addicting.  I’ve never been to one myself but I had friends who used to go again and again and again!  I do know that it’s one of the most colorful cultural activities.  I have three places within walking distance and I still haven’t been to one.  Shame on me!

Skeet tells us all about A visit to Waimanalo posted at skeet’s stuff.  This is another part of the island that I don’t get to very often.  The little shopping areas have their charm and Skeet also managed to find her way to a couple of very beautiful beaches!  Skeet is gifted in that area!

Cheryl tells us all about Hawaiian Lauhala Baskets Make Popular Gift Baskets posted at Hawaii Vacation Gifts Blog - Hawaiian Blog.  I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who has a love for these baskets!  Cheryl also tells us all about the process and the tree the provides the leaves to create these beauties.

Mel sent in a post about the King Kamehameha Celebration that’s posted at Mel’s Internet Universe Weblog, saying, “OK, it is not a perfect post, but has a lot of color.”  I think Mel is wrong.  I like this post and, as always, Mel’s photos are wonderful!

Angie is in charge of our food for this Carnival as she takes us Behind the scenes at Food Network Challenge: Part 1 posted at True Aloha.  Angie said, “I know the date for the re-airing will have passed by the time the next carnival rolls around but it might be fun for people to see what went on behind the scenes.”  I say that it’s never too late to share and it’s certainly never too late for food! 

Andrew Cooper at A Darker View has moved from telescopes to diving gear!  Andrew tells us all about Mahukona Harbor where he says you can find some of the best diving in Hawaii.  That’s makes three diving bloggers now!  I’m keeping track. 

Leslie Carbone shares a little about her visit to Downtown Honolulu posted at Leslie Carbone. Some things didn’t work out just right for Leslie but she got some great pictures in spite of it all.

Evelyn (me) just had to share this story posted right here at Homespun Honolulu. I had to return our transportation to the Car Show that Heightens Awareness. It was important to me and I can only hope that others have seen and heard the need felt by so many in the community.

That’s a wrap! I enjoyed the articles very much and thank all of you for your participation! Be sure to submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Aloha using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of aloha, blog carnival.

Right at the edge of the mall’s main entrance sat this race car. That’s what it’s all about – Build the Track! Since I found out about this campaign I have heard several comments. One of those comments was that there is a lack of interest. Well, let’s look through these pictures and you tell me if there’s a “lack of interest!”

There were trucks, cars and even a couple of motorcycles parked all over the place. I didn’t know where to turn first. With so much to see that it was hard to stay focused while trying to take in every corner of this automotive pageantry.

There were trucks with added character, truck-like coverings with a patriotic flair, and organizations whose specialty is, well, trucks.

I gave up trying to get perfect, clear pictures — there were just too many people walking around and too many balloons to get in front of the camera. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I should just take those shots so that I could show everyone how there’s such a “lack of interest” in this venue. Lack of interest my foot!

There was a truckload of representatives from several automotive firms and there were a few vendors sharing their ideas. In addition to those sponsors, there were others as well. This brings up another comment that was made to me recently about the track project. “They need big sponsors to make it happen.” The translation of that is that they need money. Oddly enough, there were no booths collecting donations. This was to raise awareness and to gain support of the community.

It wasn’t just the automotive places or tire stores who took part in this event! At least one of our radio stations, HOT I-94 (93.9 if you want to be picky), was there. There may have been other stations but I was focused on the automobiles.

There was at least one branch of the armed services in attendance. The National Guard even had their own vehicle there!

It’s quite obvious that this project was not completely without some governmental support! Even the sheriff’s office was there with their vehicle all pretty and shiny for the occasion.

Relax, they weren’t there to serve anyone with papers. They were there, I think, to show support while probably hoping “The Track” would come to fruition. They would have less drama with the freeway racing that we have seen so much of recently.

This brings up another statement that was made to me a couple of months ago. The statement went something like, “Those are not experienced racers doing that!” I know that. We all know that. What we have is young people wanting to race and having no place to do so.

When I was hanging with friends in the late 70’s and early 80’s, people went to Hawaii Raceway Park every weekend! Teens had something to do, something that captivated them and kept them out of trouble. They closed Hawaii Raceway Park. It’s gone. There is no place for them to go.

Youth of all ages love racing, they love anything with a motor that they can ride. That adoration doesn’t die with age.

There is no age limitation for the fascination with auto racing. The organizers of this show knew it too!

There’s just something about it that draws out the excited smiles of our keiki!

This really was a family event and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The real focus though was on the automobiles.

People were making their way in and out and around the vehicles on display.

There were many exhibitors enjoying the opportunity to share their hobby with others.

The vehicle above was my favorite drenching of colors but the intensity of conversation was even more interesting to observe. The passion, like a lot of things we involve ourselves in, is very intense for this activity!

I was hard-pressed, a few times, to figure out who was enjoying things more — the visitors or the exhibitors!

There was a lot of information to absorb and a lot of vintage vehicles to see and examine — inside and out.

I will continue making my point as we move down but I just couldn’t let any of these pictures be left without sharing them.

This way, everyone can get a better feel for just how important this event was to the organizers, and just how important this sporting venue is to so many.

We’ve got cobras under the hood and engines that are as clean and shiny as the car’s exteriors!

Beautiful colors and classic models glistened around every corner.

These racers have the traditional look of those race cars in the video games! Wow, they really do look like that!

Why do I care? I don’t race, I don’t like loud noises, I don’t like smoke, screeching wheels, or the smell of burning rubber. So, what’s it to me? I grew up on the West side of Oahu and every weekend there was almost always someone who was not home because they were reportedly at Hawaii Raceway Park. It was a life’s passion for many and a fun hobby for others. It was a place for youth to go and to burn off their energy instead of getting into trouble.

As I mentioned, they closed Hawaii Raceway Park. It has never been replaced. Nobody shared a place for the racers to go. They’re working on it!

There were no booths collecting donations but there was this booth to sign their petition with room for comments. Yes, I signed it and yes, I left a comment!

This says it all in a nutshell. “We Just Wanna Race!” The best argument that I have heard was that every other sport or hobby has it’s place to go. Basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, golf, bowling, running, swimming, shooting, and just about anything else you can think of, has it’s own place to happen — it’s own field, it’s own course, etc. Everything, that is, except for racing. Good point!

This was the best photo! Isn’t he cute? He was so amazed at the sight of all those trucks! Oblivious to all else, I think he was just amazed that his toy trucks had become reality. Right along the sidewalk too!

Okay, we couldn’t let the bikes go unnoticed. There were a couple of them there. They too need a place to race. We all know the dangers of motorcycle racing. It would be better for all if they had a place designed just for that purpose.

My heart goes out to the racing community and I can comfortably say they have my full support. I would rather put my support behind TheTrack than that stupid rail! If you feel they’re right, watch them, follow their progress and support their efforts. Our community needs a track to replace what we lost. Let’s support them while they Build the Track!

Technorati Tags: Auto Racing, Build the Track, Car Show

I know everyone is busy so I am extending the deadline for the upcoming Carnival of Aloha to midnight this coming Friday.

For anyone who has been ill, overworked, or who just plain forgot, come join us and share in some of the fun that makes always makes a Monday just a little bit better!

The statue of King Kamehameha was draped beautifully this year for Kamehameha Day! I caught it at a bad time of the day for picture taking but the flowers looked beautiful! There was a lot more greenery sharing the stage this year which added a nice touch.

I’ve missed talking to all of you and chattering about things and events.  I certainly didn’t anticipate getting sick and being so out of sorts at the beginning of what’s supposed to be the season of summer fun and activities.

Things are better and I’m in the mood for a Carnival!  Perfect timing!  :)   I have asked if anyone would like to have themes for our monthly carnival and I’m more than happy to entertain any ideas or thoughts any of you may have!

Here are some thoughts for themes:

• Hawaiian Nights (evening events or natural evening occurrences)
• Back to the Aina (nature posts about hikes, scenery, flora and fauna, etc.)
• Politics (useful for the upcoming season)
• Water! (beaches, waterfalls, etc. for fresh or salt water… or even swimming pool posts)
• Roads and vehicles (traffic-related, automobiles, motorcycles, etc.)
• Sports (any kind — football, paddling, running, parasailing, horseback riding, whatever)
• Hawaiiana (cultural and historical posts about our home)

Let me know what you guys think.  Don’t worry, we will always accept submissions, even if they missed the theme, so it wouldn’t be exclusive.

Anyway, let me know if you have thoughts and send in your submissions by Friday at midnight (HST) for the Carnival going live on Monday!