The Hill of Sacrifice

Puowaina (pron: poo oh why nah) is the Hawaiian word for The Hill of Sacrifice.  We now call it Punchbowl Cemetery, the National Cemetary of the Pacific.

At the end of the main avenue and half-way up the crater wall, stands a statue of Columbia, the female personification of the United States.

The trees lining the stairway are all trimmed into circles, symbolizing unity and infinity.

Giant wall-sized mosaics depict the different phases of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

The red lines are the Japanese attacks and the blue lines show the Allies counter-attack.

Each of the mosaics are done with great detail.  In addition to the information regarding the battles, vignettes pepper the walls.

It's absolutely amazing what a person can do with tiny  bits of colored glass.

 Soapbox Time:  THIS is what the Endowment for the Arts should be supporting.  Just look at the technique and detail!  The photos don't do it justice.

 Behind the Columbia statue in the center of the memorial's semi-circle is this tiny little chapel.  The wall behind the cross is made of pink marble, the floor is green granite, and the white walls are all coral.

To the left of the cross is the Jewish Star of David and to the right is the Buddhist Wheel of Righteousness.

On either side of the chapel are these beautiful arches.  The ironwork is open with colored bits of molded glass.

There is always a pleasant breeze in this peaceful chapel. 

Here is one of the glass casings up close.

From the overlook at the top of Punchbowl Crater, you can see the city of Honolulu laid out like a topographical map.

In the distance is Diamond Head Crater.

A container ship headed towards Honolulu Harbor.

I like how the horizon lined up the top of one of the buildings and how the ship kind of floats on top of one of the highrises.

Here's Honolulu looking to the left.  The square building in the middle is the state capital.  It's surrounded by a "moat" and the center roof is opened to the sky.

Before Punchbowl was turned into a national cemetery in 1948, native Hawaiians lived here.  Due to the shape, it naturally collects water on this dry side of the island.

Purportedly, the flat rock to the left with the tree trying to grow over it is the site of human sacrifices to the gods.  The royalty, called the ali'i (a lee ee) were also secretly buried here.  The bones were moved when it became a US national cemetery.

SURFING USA

If you were going to learn to surf, where would you do it?  Well, Hawaii, of course.  But where in Hawaii?  (Cue:  Hawaii 5-0 music) 

WAIKIKI!!

(This is on a waveless day.  See where the bay comes all the way in.  That's where I learned to surf.)



Our instructor, Jenny from Waikiki Surfing School, showed the children how to "pop"up from laying position to standing position and then she looked at me.

"I don't 'pop'."  I told her.

"No problem.  Let me show you the granny way."

Yes.  At 46, I am learning to do things "the granny way."  O Humility, thy name is Jan.

The "granny way" included lying on your stomach, getting to your knees.  If you feel good about things, then you put your feet where your knees are and, buttocks out, you stand.  It wasn't pretty, but I stood up on the board twice.  Of course, I rode on my knees many times, and even though it was the granny way, I felt pretty and graceful and ready for some Beach Blanket Bingo.


My favorite time was when I was just lying out there, waiting for my turn when a wave came up, grabbed me, and whisked me all the way to the shore.  The water was crowded so I had to "slalom" my way to the beach.  Totally thrilling!


 I also learned how to do the yoga position called The Cobra.  When you are paddling out and a wave is coming towards you, you grab the board at chest height and push your torso up.  This balances the board so you don't get creamed by the wave.  It totally works!  (Of course, my poor nearly atrophied granny muscles protested for the next several days, but it was completely worth it.) 

Another time, I was paddling back out when I saw this huge wave coming towards me.  It was enormous!  I remembered Jenny had said the waves were four feet, but this was no four foot wave.  Then I remembered the Hawaiians measure the back of the wave which is about half of the front face.  So this eight foot wave was coming towards me, beginning to crest a little at the top, I quickly "cobra'ed" and--swoosh!--I floated right over it!  Oh, the giddiness of it all!!

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the Eddie Aikau Competition with its 20 foot (read: 40 foot face) wave, but I still felt like a world-class champion.

 
(Not me, but how I felt.)

When a police helicopter came to my elementary school for a special presentation, I remembered being utterly enthralled.  It lifted straight up from the playground, then zoomed sidewise and backwards, spun around, danced on the air, and finally landed delicately on the grassy field.

I was hooked.  Since then, one of my great dreams have been to ride in a helicopter.

Today, I danced on the air.  We took off from Turtle Bay Resort in a Magnum PI helicopter, flew over the northeastern part of the island to Sacred Falls, the largest waterfall on Oahu.  Next thing I knew, we were flying over the Ko'Olina Mountains.  Tell me:  Do I look happy?  What you don't see is the "inside me" screaming with joy.

Kahuku Shrimp Farm






 

 Sacred Falls has an 80 ft drop.   

The top of the Ko'Olina Mountains

Arial of Waimea Bay