If you have ever been to Hawaii on one or more of the islands you know what I'm talking about. Everyone walks around a little slower and often are a lot nicer than where you came from. Living in paradise will usually lift most people's spirits like that. Things mostly function on "Island time" or "Hawaii time" except for things like planes and more formal businesses. Everyone who lives or who lived (like myself in the past) in Hawaii knows living "Anywhere" on the islands is a privilege and doesn't take it for granted usually at all. After all, how many actual paradises are there left on earth where it is beautiful and relatively safe and clean water and air abound along with all the papayas and coconuts you can eat while snorkeling or surfing between meals and listening to the ocean as you fall asleep at night?
Taking a snorkel boat to Lanai from Lahaina or to Molokini islet is one of the ways to enjoy yourself if you are so inclined with your significant other and friends and relatives. In about 15 minutes because of the speed of the very large Zodiac type of boats used you will be at your destination swimming with dolphins and sea turtles often. They likely can carry about 50 snorklers to the crystal clear waters with coral heads, dolphins, sea turtles and what seems like an infinite array of tropical fish. When I did this I have had a little trouble on the ocean with sea sickness. So, when I covered my mouth that time to urp up whatever was going to come up into the ocean a whole school of fish were very happy. The first mate of the boat who looked like an Olympic swimmer and very tanned said, "Hey. Those fish are changing color. They do that whenever they eat. You made them very happy. So, even though I was sort of neutral at the time it does make a nice and true story about what really happened. But, my 23 year old daughter is a lot like me at that age and free dived down to about 30 feet just with a snorkel. I have been down to about 40 to 50 feet just with a snorkel but by that time it feels like your lungs are about to burst as you break through the surface of the ocean for a breath of air. But at 64 I prefer to be just on the surface in case I get motion sickness because getting that way 30 to 40 feet down could be fatal. So, I stay on the surface now at this age with a noodle float watching my "Snorkel" Buddy my 23 year old daughter go down deep into the coral reefs off Lanai Island a few hundred feet or less off the beaches of Lanai. That particular day we first saw the renegade "Spinner" dolphin that the captain of the boat identified by their separation from the main group of several hundred dolphins. These renegades tend to be teenagers too rude to hang out always with the main group which contains mothers, babies and fully adult male "Spinner" dolphins. They are small in size (about 5 to 6 feet long) (Look up Google images for "Spinner dolphins").
We also saw several Sea Turtles which were about the size of a small circular breakfast table top or smaller in size. One was about a little larger than a large laptop unfolded. I had seen some of these types only larger north of Lahaina a little on the coast there a couple of years ago. Our travel agent when parasailing with my wife and she also had access to a really nice condo right on the ocean where you could look right out upon the sea turtles from her on the ocean veranda and sliding glass door.
Here is a sample of how clear the water was so you could see the coral heads from the boat even before you got into the water off Lanai Island:
The best time of year for Hawaii likely depends upon what you want to do there. Summer is usually too hot for most people (even locals) but fall and spring are nice. The most expensive time to go is during December and early January and around Easter but what is called "High Season" which is from around December until about April sometime is the most expensive time generally to go. I personally like Fall or spring and since fall works best for my high school daughter that is a better time for my family if we decide to come here for a week or so to the islands. The only thing is it is hard to go back home to northern California because two weeks later Halloween is coming and usually the coldest windy days in Northern California are around Thanksgiving. Once any major storms start coming there it is usually not as cold because clouds tend to hold in the heat during storms but when there are no clouds and a lot of wind in December Northern California can get cold (relatively speaking) which means where I live it might get down to 35 or 36 or even below freezing a couple of nights. But most of the year where I live it stays between 45 and about 80 to 90 at the very hottest but averages about 60 to 65 year around generally speaking for daytime highs. Whereas southern California on the Coast might average 70 to 75 year around with highs up to 110 to 115 or higher in places like Palm Springs (125 degrees Fahrenheit some days) and Death Valley(Even higher than Palm Springs) But these places are also the warmest in the coldest winter days with temperatures usually in the 70s or higher even in the dead of winter during the days.
Anyway, Aloha! everyone. And Remember Hawaii is a state of mind that you can take with you anywhere!
I was thinking today about Amitabha's pure land called "The Land of Pure Joy" and realized it reminded me of Hawaii. Because if there is a physical land of pure joy it must be Hawaii! Maybe physically the closest place to heaven most people will ever get while still alive is Hawaii.
Turkey hits targets inside Syria after border deaths
Akcakale has been fired on several times over the past few weeks
Turkey
says it has fired artillery against targets inside Syria after Syrian
shells killed five people in a Turkish border town.
The Turkish military shelled Syrian targets identified by
radar near the border, the office of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a
statement.Nato said it would hold an urgent meeting over the incident.
In Syria, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are trying to put down an 18-month-old insurgency.
Turkish territory has been hit by fire from Syria on several occasions since the uprising against President Assad began, but Wednesday's incident was the most serious.
The shells, fired from Tall al-Abyad in Syria, hit the Turkish town of Akcakale.
The dead are said to include a woman and her three children.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc was quoted as saying that Syria must be made to account for the incident and there must be a response under international law.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu contacted UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, the UN's Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen after the incident, his office said.
The minister cleared his schedule and chaired an emergency meeting at the foreign ministry, it added.
Mr Rasmussen told Turkey's foreign minister that he strongly condemned the incident, a Nato spokeswoman said, and continued to follow developments in the region "closely and with great concern".
Mr Rasmussen has repeatedly said that Nato has no intention of intervening in Syria but stands ready to defend Turkey if necessary.
'Anger' Akcakale has been fired on several times over the past few weeks. Residents have been advised to stay away from the border, and more than 100 schools have been closed in the region because of the violence in neighbouring Syria.
Turkey's state-owned Anatolia news agency reported that angry townspeople had marched to the mayor's office to protest about the deaths on Wednesday.
Town mayor Abdulhakim Ayhan said: "There is anger in our community against Syria," adding that stray bullets and shells had panicked residents over the past 10 days.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "We are outraged that the Syrians have been shooting across their border... and regretful of the loss of life on the Turkish side." She added it was a "very dangerous" situation.
UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is in Turkey on a trade and diplomatic visit, said he was "deeply concerned" by the casualties in Akcakale.
"We condemn all violence by the Syrian regime and demand that it avoids any repetition of today's incident on the border with Turkey," he said. "We welcome the measured response that Turkey has shown to the events on their border thus far."
Wednesday's attack is believed to be only the second time that people have died as a result of violence spilling over the border from Syria into Turkey.
Two Syrian nationals were killed on Turkish soil in April by stray bullets fired from Syria.
In Syria itself, at least 34 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of bomb explosions in the centre of Syria's second city, Aleppo.
The attacks levelled buildings in the city's main square. A military officers' club and a hotel being used by the military bore the brunt of the blasts, some of which were carried out by suicide car bombers.
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