Pearl Harbor

73 years ago the Japanese Imperial Navy launched an attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu.
Battleships, cruisers, destroyers and aircrafts were beached, destroyed or sunk.
Over 2,400 died with more than 1,000 of the bodies lost to a watery grave.
The next day, the US declared war on Japan and vice versa.
Three days later Germany and Italy declared war on America.
Less then 150 hours after the attack, the US was fully engaged in the Second World War after spending years trying to avoid it.

Those dry facts can be found in any history book or on any WWII website, but they mean little to modern generations for whom that war might as well have been as long ago as the Civil War.

I think that is why Pearl Harbor is one of the most visited sites in Hawaii. We all know in the back of our collective consciousness that we should remember it, but it is tucked so far back that it is not until we stand in the actual location that we are moved to care.

Driving west from Honolulu, I knew i had to be getting close when missiles starting peeking over the fence.

I was shocked to see that the Pacific Command is still housed here.
Logically it isn't surprising, but somehow i'd always assumed that it was moved after being all bombed to heck.
Guess not.

The Pearl Harbor location is home not only to the Arizona, but also the USS Missouri, where the Japanese formally surrendered, the USS Bowfin submarine, and the Pacific Aviation Museum.

The USS Arizona Memorial can only be reached by boat shuttle as it straddles the remaining wreckage of the battleship right where she sank. 

2,000 free tickets are given out each day to visitors; with the visitor center opening at 7am, the tix are often gone by mid-morning.

Come early!

NOTE: pictures are from October 2010

The short boat ride gives you time to appreciate the stark beauty of the white bridge, bowed in the middle to represent the depression in the spirit of America after the attack and its resilience to rise again as you approach from the left, getting closer and closer.

Here are some pictures to illustrate locations for you:

For me it was one thing to know that the monument was over a sunken ship, but a very different experience to stand looking at rusting pieces jutting out of the water, sea life claiming the underwater metal as its own and oil slicks continuous on the water.

 

To lend perspective to the size of the ships attacked and the enormity of sinking or beaching eight of them, you walk by one of the Arizona's three anchors next to the launch pier.

Today i pause to remember and acknowledge your sacrifice

It was one of the most beautiful and affecting places i have ever visited.

pick a pearl

note: pictures from October 2010

 

About 10 years ago I decided that I wanted to buy jewelry as my souvenir on trips.

I usually get an inexpensive fridge magnet to have something touristy with the name of the place, but then save up my spending money to get a nicer piece of jewelry than I would normally allow myself to buy: a watch in Durham, sterling earrings in New Orleans and so on.

On my way back to the hotel after outrigger canoe surfing at Waikiki I walked through the huge street marketplace and was accosted (in the friendliest way possible) by a sweet girl hawking coupons to the Pearl in Oyster kiosk.

I was tired from rowing and punch drunk on sunshine and the ocean so I thought what the hey? After all, one of my favorite charms is the pearl I got from the Japanese diving pond at Sea World Ohio with my grandparents Craig back in 1908 (okay, maybe it was 1982, but it sure feels like 100 years ago).

With my purple 40% off coupon in hand, I carefully poked through the oyster bowl until I found the one I wanted.

I took the tapping very seriously

I've heard that other pick-a-pearl places you have to shout out some crazy phrases, but she just had me do the traditional three taps on my oyster before shucking that bad boy to reveal my lovely black pearl.

 

Even knowing that it is cultured (perfect natural pearls are even rarer than you think) in no way detracts from how beautiful it was after she cleaned and polished it with salt.

 

Now for the expensive part: finding a setting.

You don't have to buy a setting, but after seeing how gorgeous the pearl was, I knew that it had to be my Hawaii souvenir. There were some sterling cages for charm bracelets, but I just wasn't feeling them. My other pearl charm is actually on a necklace bail so I asked to look at necklace settings. There was a simple silver curve that reminded me of a wave which seemed fitting since i'd just come from the beach; it was perfect.

Next comes drilling (glad that isn't my job), gluing and setting. 

 

While my pearl was becoming a pendant, I got to pick another oyster and found double pinks. They however came home in a little bag as my pendant turned out to be a bit more expensive than I anticipated (about 3 times as much) because we looked at so many settings that I ended picking a white gold one which I thought was sterling. It was still within vacation souvenir parameters, but there was nothing left in the fund to make pink pearl earrings.

 

Flash forward more than 2 years and my beautiful, expensive pearl pendant (which an appraiser told me has a little diamond chip at the end of the wave that I never noticed) still had not been worn because I didn't have the correct chain for it. I knew that I wanted something kinda long - between 24 and 36 inches- and would prefer a snake or box chain.

While doing NikCo supply shopping on EBay I found the perfect chain for $1.99!

[to my amazement and disappointment it turned out to be sterling silver when it arrived; I know that should make me even happier about the deal, but it means I have to polish it...yech]

I wore my Hawaiian black pearl for the first times just a few weeks ago.

 

It makes me really happy.

 

Mental Morsel - the oysters people eat are not pearl oysters; in fact they aren't closely related at all

 

ps-hey Rea, look: it's a Hawaii post!

resourcefulness

While on vacation, I've been cleaning out photo files and came across a picture i took in Hawaii on the highway:

The pen on duct tape made me laugh out loud.
It seemed so ridiculous at the time, but when i saw it this morning it seemed inspired instead. The road crew didn't have what they needed to do their job so someone took the initiative to make due with what they could find.
A good reminder for self-employed artists.

Life can seem a trial. 

Sometimes resources are scarce. 

Adapting is key. 

sunset over the north shore

The only time i got to the North Shore of Oahu when i was in Hawaii was at the end of the day. All the famous shrimp trucks were packed up for the day so i wasn't going to stop, but after a long day of touristing a break for the sunset seemed like a good idea.

There are plenty of beaches and parks along the road by the ocean, but i wanted something a bit more secluded so i pulled over at a break in the guardrail where some surfers were packing up.

It was a wee hike down the break and then some careful scrabbling over the rocks, (why do i always seem to decide to do these things when i'm wearing a dress?) but the view was totally worth it:

hello Pacific

unobstructed view to the west

  

the breakers between me and the car

With the sun still well above the horizon there was plenty of time to do some writing and watch the surfers. Even as the temperature started to dip, some of those guys showed no signs of stopping.

The sound of the surf was so relaxing that i didn't notice the rising tide until it was almost too late.
I jumped to a higher rock before i was totally soaked

and watched the tidal wild life come out to scavenge.
There are little crabs all over the rocks in this picture

but you can't really see them because they were the same black as the rocks. There were also black water bugs and even little black fish swimming between the rocks. By the time i gave up trying to get a picture of the tiny creatures, the sun was sinking towards the sea.

 sigh... so lovely... so peaceful...
Here's a bit of peace for us all. Have a great weekend.

Dole Plantation

[NOTE: these pics were taken in 2010]
When i was in Hawaii i had a few days to do non-work related things. A friend had been to Oahu a few years earlier and told me that one of her favorite places was the Dole Plantation so after the canoe surfing adventure i set out with my trusty map towards the North Shore.



it looks like botanical fire


As one might expect the grounds were breath-takingly beautiful, featuring this awesome pointy plant that i had never seen before,

and, of course, pineapples. In fact, there were so many fruit bearing plants that in the parking lot i chuckled to find this sign:

There are a number of things to explore at the plantation - store, restaurant, gardens, world's largest pineapple maze, train ride - but i arrived only two hours before they closed so i had to make a strategic plan to see as much as possible.

If you know me at all i bet that you can guess that my number one option was the train tour; i don't know what it is about little trains, but i LOVE them. 

The Pineapple Express took us on a narrated tour through the pineapple fields and grounds of the Plantation:


hello wooden cutout of a worker



hello lychee trees



hello gorgeous red soil



Did you know that pineapples grew on the ground?
Cause i thought that they grew on trees.
Nope.

They grow on short ground plants that are individually hand seeded,

then hand picked and put on one of these conveyors to be transported to shipping.

The train did a turn around in a beautifully cultivated garden where various shrubs grew in the shape of pineapples.

Also, it took us by a lovely reservoir with mountains in the distance.

hello cool looking machine that i have no idea what you do

The train tracks went right in among the plants, sometimes so close that you could reach out and touch them.

There were lots of crops besides pineapples, like the lychee trees pictured earlier, macadamia nut trees and row after row of birds of paradise.

Right by the train station is the variety garden where you can see the different types of pineapples.
Heck, i didn't even know that there were different types of pineapples.


lordy, isn't it adorable



this pink guy is so big it fell over;
no, i have no idea what variety it is

I made a stop at the nearby pond where i encountered tourist fish:

These koi are so forceful about being fed by humans that they actually come out of the water.
Yikes.

I decided it was time to hit the store which was quite randomly surrounded by peacocks and peahens.
I don't really think peacock when i think Hawaii, but okay.
After some shopping and wandering i worked up the courage to try the house specialty, a type of soft-serve called Pineapple Whip even though i am no big fan of pineapple:




if only they had these dishes i definitely would have bought a set

It was surprisingly delicious.
Here i am enjoying my cone next to a perfect little pineapple.



i'm Pineapple Pete



and whatever the female version of Pineapple Pete is called



almost five thousand miles away from home

[look Rea: one of the fabled last five Hawaii posts]