Welina a me Kealoha

"My Greetings To You And With That Goes All My Affection."

Waikiki 

by Andy Cummings

There's a feeling deep in my heart

Stabbing at me just like a dart

It's a feeling heavenly

I see memories out of the past

Memories that always will last

Of the days that used to be

Of a place beside the sea

Waikiki

At night when the shadows are falling

I hear the rolling surf calling

Calling and calling to me

Waikiki

Tis for you my heart is yearning

My thoughts are always returning

Out there to you across the sea

Your tropical nights and your wonderful charms

Are ever in my memory

And I recall when I held in my arms

An angel sweet and heavenly

Waikiki

My whole life is empty without you

I miss that magic about you

Magic beside the sea

Magic of Waikiki

Now is the Time

Now is the time to know

That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider a

Lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand

That all your ideas of right and wrong

Were just a child's training wheels

To be laid aside

When you can finally live

With veracity

And love.

Now is the time for you to deeply 

Compute the impossibility

That there is anything

But grace.

Now is the season to know

That everything you do

Is sacred.

-Hafiz

From "The Gift" translations by Daniel Ladinsky

Santa Maria Rivermouth

Morning light yawns

Bird feathers float

Driftwood scatters

Seagulls fish surf

Rain clouds ripple

Sand on the beach

Ocean tide rearranges

Rocks after the storm

Beachcomber sifts

Shells between toes

Blown out to sea

Hair arches skyward

Leaving the ocean

Dunes waving

Incoming tide refills

Footprints disappear

-Andra Rubcic

Surf Forcast

Snowy Plover Habitat

It was Snowy Plover all over! Signs, signs, everywhere were signs. Stop signs blocking out the scenery, crowding my mind, they hung at predictable intervals along the winding wooden dune path. Securely partitioned, parts of the dunes are closed between March and October with metal link fences creating a California Least Tern and Western Snowy Plover sacred bird sanctuary. A no trespassing area where these endangered birds are given a second chance to nest in the sand and repopulate. The Oso Flaco Lake Natural Area is expertly managed by California State Parks and together with adjacent Guadalupe–Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge, this protected area forms the most intact coastal dune ecosystem on the entire West Coast. We are lucky because we can still enjoy hiking along this amazing riparian corridor to the Pacific Ocean. Wild flowers, native scrubs and trees grow in abundance along the path offering a nurturing habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians...So keep your eyes open! An interesting fact for film buffs...The Preserve was also the location used in the 1923 film, "The Ten Commandments" by Cecil B. DeMille.

Visit the Guadalupe Dunes Center

Learn More: Watch a Video about the Western Snowy Plover

Santa Barbara Museum of Art

If you want to

Know Buddha, it's pointless

To seek him in the temple;

The Buddha is simply you

Wishing to see Buddha.

The mind seeking

Buddha outside

Is the worst

Illusion of all.

Lewis deSoto: Paranirvana (Self-Portrait)

 Santa Barbara Museum of Art 2016

Moonstone Beach

I walked in a zigzag pattern along the waters edge, sand between my toes, eyes searching for moonstones. A semi translucent, polished white rock that once littered the shore and gave it the appropriate moniker, Moonstone Beach. Located near the quaint seaside town of Cambria, this unspoiled coastline offered the nature lover in me a picturesque marine environment. Armed with sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat, strolling leisurely along the edge of the pelagic realm I soon discovered a tiny yet sturdily built beach bungalow. Seeing it unoccupied, I decided to take a closer look inside this intricately crafted driftwood dwelling. A makeshift marvel, this well balanced shelter was intended to offer inhabitants relief from the blazing Summer sun. Landscaped with shells, shore birds, and seaweed, this was a beach bums dream come true and I found it to be the perfect seaside play house, if only for one afternoon.

Moonstone Beach in Cambria, California

One Scoop of Motor Oil

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream!!! Motor Oil, Rooster Tracks, Sour Green Apple Sorbet, Cherry Pie, Caramel X-plosion, Merlot Raspberry Truffle, Lemon Chiffon, Elvis Special, Mint Fudge Oreo, and Cinnamon Candy Hearts. These are a few of my favorite flavors scooped up by Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab, a unique ice cream shop with three California locations in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo and Orcutt. Doc B's is a Disney-esque frozen food eating experience for the child in all of us. This simply scrumptious sweet shop may create the silliest flavors of ice cream on earth. Melted molded sprinkle ice cream walls offset by glowing ultraviolet catawampus shelves compete with a mad scientist theme while a miniature toy train runs circles around customers, decor befitting Willy Wonka on a sugar binge. Feeling down? Treat yourself to this gooey wonderland... It's just what the Doc ordered!

Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab

The Music Academy of the West

The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara has been the training ground for many fine classical musicians. Generously supported by the local art community only a few gifted students are chosen to participate in a series of Summer Master Classes led by Marilyn Horne. Ranked among the best, this world renowned program prepares young vocal and orchestra talent for an international career in music. 

This is great news for me!!! I no longer need to travel to a major metropolitan city to hear quality musicians do what they love. And watching opera has never been easier with the NY Met HD live streaming performances in Hahn Hall featuring some of the worlds most accomplished divas.

Opera is full of drama and the tales told are fiery with unrequited love, betrayal, tragedy, and revenge. Now add a big budget, lavish costumes and beautiful set design, and you have a true musical masterpiece that would rival any Academy Award winning film. Today, projected translations makes singing in the original language more practical so one doesn't need to speak Italian to appreciate opera. Generally most operas are sung in Italian, but one can also hear French, German, and English scores. Female operatic roles fall under three major vocal categories: Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, and Contralto. While the gents roles require voices of Tenor, Baritone, and Bass range. Operas are broken down into three spell binding acts that can last four hours or more. Ultimately the orchestra reaches the final crescendo where operatic drama is resolved and the prima donna ignites the stage in a flurry of coloratura. Jubilant the audience cries... Bravo!!!

TOP TEN OPERAS
The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart
Don Giovanni by Mozart
The Barber of Seville by Rossini
Rigoletto by Verdi
La Traviata by Verdi
Die Walkure by Wagner
Aida by Verdi
Carmen by Bizet

La Boheme by Puccini

Madame Butterfly by Puccini

Music Academy of the West Calendar of Events

http://www.musicacademy.org/

Don't miss this event...!!!

Best Montecito Rummage Sale

May Madness, the 40th annual treasure and estate sale benefiting the Music Academy of the West’s full-scholarship program, will take place this year from 9am to 3pm on Saturday, May 7, 2016 on the Music Academy campus, located at 1070 Fairway Road in Santa Barbara.

May Madness

http://www.musicacademy.org/shop-and-rentals/may-madness/

Morro Rock

Mariner Park

The air was moist and the ocean calm with sea otters drifting leisurely atop briny waves. Boats safely anchored floated serenely on liquid resembling crystal blue glass. Morro Rock sits solid and Buddha-like in this safe harbor. Long ago its seaward side was dynamite blasted to make the breakwater. Morro Rock was named by explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo during his 16th Century voyage and the first glimpse will take your breath away. Wow!!! That is one massive ROCK!! Drive closer and you will get a true idea of the scale of Morro Rock, the last in a chain of extinct volcanoes, covering 50 acres at its base and towering 576 feet above the entrance to Morro Bay. See those little specs at the rock's base? Those are tourists campers and cars allowed to park, hike, and surf up close. Strong winds often make the beach area perfect for windsurfing and kite flying enthusiasts. Morro Bay's charming Embarcadero has many fine restaurants and shops with a mariner theme. For excellent fish and chips I recommend Giovanni's Fish Market with its casual outdoor atmosphere and view of the rock. And don't miss the Shell Shop, my personal favorite still drawing crowds after 61 years in business. If you love earthy succulent plants and elegant garden statuary the Garden Gallery is the shop for you. Wherever you wander you will find friendly fishermen and easy going locals who have time to chat in this cozy seaside paradise.

Morro Bay California the Home of Morro Rock

Day Dream Inside Tree

Crawling inside this monumental sycamore tree was a gift of immeasurable stillness. Just my size, its interior became my playhouse and offered a peaceful diversion from civilization. The sturdy hardwood trunk is now charred and blackened with ash from a fire set long ago. Hard to imagine, this ancient 40ft tall relic was once a vibrant sapling tree. Planted over 100 years ago along the canyon creek it was helpful in slowing soil erosion and provided a shady home to birds, squirrels and rabbits. Beautiful in its final stage of decomposition the tree stands as an ancient guidepost to a secret waterfall. Huge boulders of blue green serpentine rock provide the falls stunning backdrop. Energetically flowing with liquid emotion a cool creek runs lively after the El Niño rains. Today Mother Earth seems reborn and refreshed after many years of severe California drought. Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve is just off the 101 freeway in San Luis Obispo County. And the best thing is... Every time I hike this trail I find something new to explore. Every moment is the last moment. Its freshness is why it's wonderful. Its fleeting nature is why it's precious.

SanLuisObispoVacations.com

A Conservation Plan for Reservoir Canyon

A Dream of Trees

by Mary Oliver

There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,

A quiet house, some green and modest acres

A little way from every troubling town,

A little way from factories, schools, laments.

I would have time, I thought, and time to spare,

With only streams and birds for company.

To build out of my life a few wild stanzas.

And then it came to me, that so was death,

A little way away from everywhere.

There is a thing in me still dreams of trees,

But let it go. Homesick for moderation,

Half the world’s artists shrink or fall away.

If any find solution, let him tell it.

Meanwhile I bend my heart toward lamentation

Where, as the times implore our true involvement,

The blades of every crisis point the way.

I would it were not so, but so it is.

Who ever made music of a mild day?

It's a Small World

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines man made as manufactured, created, or constructed by human beings; rather than by nature. This fits with the Disney business model of artificial amusement habitats for humans. Think hamster wheel only on a grander scale. Where family fun is presented in simulated environments and huge crowds interact with automated machines while wearing funny hats. After all.... It's a small, small, FastPass world.

Everybody sing along now!

It's a world of laughter

A world of tears

It's a world of hopes

And a world of fears

There's so much that we share

That it's time we're aware

It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all

It's a small, small world

There is just one moon

And one golden sun

And a smile means

Friendship to everyone

Though the mountains divide

And the oceans are wide

It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all

It's a small, small world

Disneyland Tips and Trivia

Disneyland Official Site

Hermitage

Alfred Tibor "FREE" 1993 Bronze

Beyond the bookish themed house lies a colorful off kilter world rarely seen by the public. An asymmetrical hermitage ruled by a crazy hermit genius with a unique angle on life. "Ted", who's gift for writing books (40 in number) is matched only by his whimsical lost wax sculptures and fanciful art collection. He sings the body electric... Or bronze in this case. Cleverly staging a bevy of cast metal nymphs joyfully dancing alongside busts of classical composers, great authors and U.S. presidents. They line the rough hewn paths and frolic in aqueous pools. Artfully juxtaposed within a clever fence of bicycles & VW Bugs, these creative sculptures will shock and surprise you. The guided tour meanders through a carefully tended 10 acre botanic garden of cycads, fruit trees, cactus, bamboo and tropical palms. When you find yourself chuckling over humorous quips etched on rocks, Congratulations! You are now happily under the creative spell of artist and founder Theodore Roosevelt Gardner II. A bona-fide hermit who graciously provided lemonade and dried fruit/nut snacks after our tour but was nowhere to be found.

Why did Ted build this secret wonderland? Where does he get his inspiration for new installs? What does it cost to tend a sculpture garden of this magnitude? Who will take over his legacy after he is gone? A poster in his museum gave the answer.

"Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction."

Indeed, Hermitage Santa Barbara is well on its way to becoming a tourist attraction. The lush garden rests mostly on a hill top over looking Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean. Open two days a month, this rare collection can be seen free of charge but you will need a reservation.

To visit Hermitage Santa Barbara - A Whimsical Sculpture & Botanic Garden.
info@hermitagesb.org
www.hermitagesb.org

If you would like to read more about founder, Theodore Roosevelt Gardner II, or about Hermitage Santa Barbara you can find his books on Amazon, at your local bookstore, or the local library or visit http://www.knollpublishers.com/

Sculpting a Wacky Life

Photo by John Wiley

When the Levee Breaks

Santa Maria Riverbed - Dry as a Bone

Mr El Niño
Hopefully you will arrive as predicted and fill this riverbed with water. Precious water. Much needed water. As much of a hoped for event, the perils remain to be seen. Can this levee and sandstone cliffs hold the expected deluge? Or will the levee break?

In January 1969 this humble riverbed in Santa Maria, CA was brimming over with water. Breached by a magnificent 100-year storm who's downfall lasted 10 days straight. One for the records books. Soon water was overflowing and threatening to expand its containment area. Mud and debris flowed bank to bank. Farm lands so desperately in need of rain were flooded and crops destroyed. Nearby houses normally high and dry were flooded. Families and businesses were displaced and daily life disrupted. The seasonal cleanup was huge and county resources were stretched to capacity.

Recent draft maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency showed that much of Santa Maria, including 20,000 parcels and 17,000 structures, would be designated as in the flood plain, triggering a flood-insurance requirement for many property owners. Fortunately mistakes were learned and infrastructure improved in a critical 2009 federal/Santa Barbara County project that rehabilitated approximately 6.3 miles of the 50-year-old structure. Five years and $47 million dollars later the old bridge that crosses the river has been retrofitted and the levee re-engineered. Now it stands ready to take on this Winter's expected heavy rain storm. Assuredly, one day, Mother Nature will test this levees structural ability to hold back water. So come on...My sandbags are ready. I dare you Mr El Niño! Give me all you've got! Let's end this drought!

Slide Show Santa Maria Levee History

Santa Maria River Levee Trail

Things That Go Boo!

I let the rattly skeleton

In my closet out

Once a year to go

Trick-or-treating and shout.

My skeleton is made of bones

Lots of them, I know

They're in my arms and legs

My ten fingers and my toes.

My skeleton holds me up

So I can dance and run

And do lots of other things

That are so very fun.

My skeleton keeps growing

Right along with me

I never want to lose it

Cause then where would I be?

Rocky Nook Park

Mosaic Reptiles Turn 20

Just when you think the day is over and you've seen all there is to see in town, suddenly you spy Ethel. A six foot long, brightly colored, red mosaic alligator lizard staring back at you from the banks of Santa Barbara's Mission Creek. She's nestled in-between the natural river rocks giving you a wink and a whimsical grin. Upon closer inspection you notice more toothy creatures just past the footbridge at Rocky Nook Park. Shocking at first, a second blue tiled reptile named Harry comes into view. These beautifully crafted mosaic sculptures are the work of Dan Chrynko, a unique local artist known for his intricately embellished boulders. Perfect for climbing, children of all ages will adore exploring these fanciful tile works of art. Pack a picnic basket and enjoy a day hike amidst ancient oaks and sycamores in soothing natural surroundings. This is what happy memories are made of.

Creek Lizard at Rocky Nook Park

Visit Rocky Nook Park

PCPA Theatre

51 Years of PCPA Theatre

Memorize for me the words of a playwright than speak them back to me with song and dance. Rehearse for me your character's personality and facial quirks. Show me that acting is craft. Give me your believable energy and make true actors come alive on stage. Quick costume change for me then stand on mark, mind your cue's, sing your heart out. Emote for me the plot of this PCPA creative collective. Translate for me raw emotions as I live on stage through you. Let me down gently after hours of make believe theatre. Now let me honor your efforts with my applause.

PCPA Box Office

If I Were a Rich Man 

Song from Fiddler on the Roof

Alligator Pear

Zutano, Topa Topa, Hass, Mexicola, Rincon, Bacon, Spinks, Lamb, Fuerte, Pinkerton, Anaheim, Creamhart. These are not exotic travel locations or decadent libations, they are names of avocado cultivars. Pear shaped fruits who's pebbled, thin, blackish-green skin hides an edible buttery textured flesh around a single ovoid seed. Prized as natures super food, high in monosaturates, studies show avocados help to reduce blood cholesterol. You can accelerate the ripening of avocados by placing them in a brown paper bag along with a banana at room temperature. Avocado oil is a favorite among cooks who desire its health benefits as a salad dressing or for high-heat cooking. What do you call an avocado that's been blessed by Pope Francis? Holy Guacamole!

Avocado Health Benefits

California Rare Fruit Growers

Whistler Mountain

Whistler Mountain was the site of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and now sets the gold standard for stunning nature getaways. Many wooded biking and hiking trails wind along side Winter ski lifts offering the active character cheap thrills throughout the year in picture perfect surroundings. All the modern conveniences of life are within close reach of this carefully planned alpine village. A unique variety of delicious dining options makes fueling-up a tasty treat. Nearby family condos and student hostels allow tourists of all ages and pocketbooks a way to live memorable mountain moments. For the perfect scrapbook, snap a selfie photo with a symbol of Canada, this area is patrolled on horseback by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Just 90 minutes from Vancouver we found this quaint village setting had a rare nostalgia all its own. Did I mention Canadians are the nicest people? Yes, really!!

Plan Your Visit to Whistler Blackcomb

Jocko's Nipomo

Historic Jocko's! Some would say the best steak house on the California coast. A restaurant with years of staying power and a permanent line out the door. This is a prime meeting place for the carnivore foodies. Where fellows bond over the perfect oak coal open pit seasoned beef. They exchange shouts of glee as the first perfectly cooked morsel is consumed. A cherished family pinto bean recipe and golden garlic toast will accompany your baked potato, salad, relish tray and steak. And yes, complimentary ice cream and coffee are offered for dessert. If you don't already have dinner reservations, plan on waiting until 8:45pm for seating. Don't be scared away by the restaurant's cinder block exterior. This is definitely the eating place to visit any time you are in the Nipomo area. For early risers a hearty breakfast of ham steak and eggs is popular and at lunchtime the Jocko burger is a local favorite. Afterwards take out bags are graciously given to weary chewers who leave content having eaten their fill of succulent aged steak. A down home western setting with lots of local dim lit bar flavor and savory open pit custom meat cuts. The perfect place for birthday's or retirement parties this local legend is a "must eat here before you die" restaurant destination. So why don't you "Come in an monkey round" sometime.

Call for Reservations (805) 929-3565

The History of Jocko's

Secret Garden Oasis

I've found a pathway out! The plan to escape this maya has been woven into my life's story. A tranquil green oasis in the middle of ten acres. Long revered as the bounty of Mother Earth, organic vegetables, fruit trees and edible flowers are paramount to my existence. Their shade and lush foliage is a much needed supernatural sanctuary for man and beast. Songbirds and wind chimes ride the west winds with serenely sweet jargon. Duckweed and tadpoles float like clouds metamorphoses in Ovidian pools. I take refuge in my secret garden as part of my daily meditation routine. I love to sit and relax. With each measured suspiration I gain peace of mind in this lovely canopy of green toned heart chakra hues. Spacious, ever free, lovingly nurtured and nurturing, my plants give healing energy back in spades. Garden spades that is!!

Read the "The One Straw Revolution" entire book PDF online:

by Masanobu Fukuoka