Happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a sad and serious day of remembrance, but for some reason we all wish each other Happy Memorial Day. It is especially sad that we have yet another Memorial Day where memories of war are fresh and even current.

Our prayer for this Memorial Day and for the future of our planet is that we will
all see the truth that Bucky Fuller said so long ago. "It's all of us or none of us."

In the meantime, here in Hawaii, we look for 50,000 lei to drape on graves at Punchbowl, the Memorial Cemetry of the Pacific.

Pray for Peace on our Planet.

A he malu hoi ma ka honua he aloha no i kanaka.
(Peace on Earth and Good will to men).

My Favorite Poem by Ogden Nash (feel free to share)

A Lady Who Thinks She Is Thirty

Unwillingly Miranda wakes,
Feels the sun with terror,
One unwilling step she takes,
Shuddering to the mirror.

Miranda in Miranda's sight
Is old and gray and dirty;
Twenty-nine she was last night;
This morning she is thirty.

Shining like the morning star,
Like the twilight shining,
Haunted by a calendar,
Miranda is a-pining.

Silly girl, silver girl,
Draw the mirror toward you;
Time who makes the years to whirl
Adorned as he adored you.

Time is timelessness for you;
Calendars for the human;
What's a year, or thirty, to
Loveliness made woman?

Oh, Night will not see thirty again,
Yet soft her wing, Miranda;
Pick up your glass and tell me, then--
How old is Spring, Miranda?

Ogden Nash

P.S. Miranda would love a present from Lanikai Bath and Body. You must know someone who has just turned 30!

In Honor of Our Mothers

We share the eecummings poem that was first shared with us by our friend and family member Elizabeth Lee. It is called "i carry your heart"

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Hawai`i's Favorite Dog Shampoo "POI DOG" Introduced to the Nation in Honor of Bo.

Kailua based-Lanikai Bath and Body's all natural Island Mango Dog Shampoo for "Mutts" like the President is a nationwide hit. Poi Dog is paraben free, made in Hawaii and infused with organic aloe and jojoba. Dogs of all breeds love it.

Bo the Portuguese Water Dog has finally showed up at the White House. Here in Hawaii, we remember most Obama's comment that he'd like to get a rescue dog because it would be "a mutt like me." Many Hawaiian citizens are "mutts" by Obama's terminology and we are much better for it. The Hawaiian word for it is "hapa," meaning "of mixed racial heritage."

In the case of dogs, we have a different word. A mixed breed in Hawaii is a Poi Dog. Poi was the most important food staple to the Hawaiians, and one historical notation said that dogs were fed poi, hence the name. When you say "poi dog" in Hawai`i, everyone knows you mean a mixed breed.

So Bo turned out not to be a rescue dog, or a even "mutt" like President Obama. But Kailua based Lanikai Bath and Body wants to honor him anyway, with Poi Dog Shampoo. Poi Dog is all natural, made in Hawaii and infused with organic aloe and jojoba. Dogs of all breeds love it. Their owners do too.

Lanikai Bath and Body is Hawaii's largest collection of natural, mostly organic, paraben free bath and body products. The three-year-old store is located at 600 Kailua Road in the popular beachside town where the Obama family has stayed on their past two visits to his home state.

If you have a "Poi Dog" (or even if you don't) you can order the island mango dog shampoo online at www.lanikaibathandbody.com or visit Lanikai Bath and Body in Kailua.

Lanikai Bath and Body is owned by longtime island resident Brook Gramann, and Gloria Garvey, originally from Connecticut and who was a permanent substitute in Obama's 5th grade class at Punahou, when she arrived in the islands 36 years ago.