News of the Day: The Pope has resigned. Kate Clinton will not run, even if nominated. She believes he is quitting because he is “justus plumbius tuckered outum.” Andy Borowitz has a few remarks to make, as well.
On Sunday we headed up the coast with our guests to visit the Laupahoehoe Farmers' Market, one of the many farmers' markets on the Island, where we met blogger Annie and The Pie Guy. We bought two pies, which are excellent, we all agreed. We also bought a chutney, which we will try out soon. It was so much fun to meet these two congenial people!
We drove down to the Point, too. The waves were up, and Terry got this great shot.
Much of this beach has been disfigured by an army corps of engineers boat ramp project that went in in the late 80's. But it is still a lovely place, with an extensive park. Most sadly, this was the site of the loss of many children and young people in the 1946 tsunami.
History [from Wikipedia]
On April 1, 1946 the Big Island of Hawaii was struck by the so-called "April Fools Day tsunami", originating from the Aleutian Islands earthquake. Approximately 160 people on the island were killed. While the greatest number of deaths occurred in Hilo, the school building at Laupāhoehoe was inundated, and twenty students and four teachers were drowned. A monument to the dead now stands on Laupāhoehoe Point.
The monument is very hard to photograph, but someone on Wikipedia commons did as good a job as possible here.
A stunning feature of this park is the giant banyan tree. It is not the largest one in the Islands, but it is free-standing and I think huge enough!
And I like this shot of a crab that Terry took, because it reminds me of a Japanese print.
Loved this post! The memorial was such a surprise for us. My friend's father is from Laupahoehoe and he visited us on the mainland. He takes Tai chi with us now here on Oahu. He's told us the story about how he lost his brother and how devastating that was. Now I see that his brother is #21 on that monument. So sad.
And good grief! What a surprise about the pope!
Posted by: Musings | February 11, 2013 at 06:45 PM
Oops! Made a mistake and read the numbering incorrectly. His name was Mitsui Tamamoto.
Posted by: Musings | February 11, 2013 at 06:50 PM
Kay: You did not know about the memorial? There were offerings there. The whole park is very well kept. I have other photos that I will post of Laupahoehoe. It's such a strange place.
I think the banyan is actually OK, although it looks in this pic as if it is dying.It's a ficus, or member of the fig family, and I think it drops its leaves periodically. When I went to look closer at what seemed to be dead branches they all had leaf buds on them. My brown Turkey fig does the same thing two or three times a year but always comes back.
It is sad about the Pope. He failed to make the necessary reforms, and now the Catholic Church is in deep trouble
Posted by: Hattie | February 11, 2013 at 06:55 PM
Amazing to see your landscapes. So different than where I live. Blogs introduce us to so many fascinating places. Is that really all one tree? Like the turmoil of the ocean crashing on the rocks -- barbara
Posted by: barbara | February 12, 2013 at 10:18 AM
Barbara: I agree that blogs give us a window into how people much like ourselves can be living in so many different landscapes. Oh, and yes, that is one tree. It puts out roots from its branches.
Posted by: Hattie | February 12, 2013 at 10:23 AM
I sent your blog post to my friend and she wrote back saying that it was such a terrible time for her father's family. He was in the army in Europe at the time and it crushed his older brother who wouldn't stop hunting for Mitsui. No, I don't think we've ever been to that memorial. One of these days, we'll have to make a trip out there.
Posted by: Musings | February 12, 2013 at 03:58 PM
Kay: That is so sad. I felt the sadness at the place, very much. I think it would probably be a good thing, though, to come out and lay a few flowers at the memorial. Funny how something that happened so long ago still affects things there.
Posted by: Hattie | February 12, 2013 at 05:46 PM
I saw three kids named DeCaires on the monument, so I sent your link to a friend of local origin named DeCaires. He was interested but didn't know much. He hoped his father would know more. His sister chimed in and said that branch of the family spoke Hawaiian.
I didn't know you could send the blog post directly as Musings did. I'll look into that. But I got you another reader at least for the moment! There's always one more technique around the corner in the new digital world we live in.
I once saw a gravestone in England with three sons named, all killed in World War I. Such grief is not to be fathomed.
Posted by: Henry Hank Chapin | February 13, 2013 at 10:47 AM
Hank: Just click on the title, copy the URL, paste it into your e-mail and send it.
Posted by: Hattie | February 13, 2013 at 11:00 AM