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Climb Every Mountain
Jul. 8th, 2006 11:27 amI am very dedicated to the ocean. It is my favorite place to be, I love to swim, snorkel and boogie-board. Here on O'ahu I have been the model ocean devotee. But I have also been captivated by the cliffs that span the middle of the island. I have taken about six thousand pictures of them (and about ten thousand pictures of the ocean) trying to capture some sliver of their magnificence. I am failing but every time I see these cliffs I am just amazed by their grandeur and dramatic beauty. I feel like I can see some glimmer of the origin of the island in these cliffs, with their dramatic ravines and sharp points.
( cut for size and that's only a fraction of the size these cliffs are in person )
I have learned that neither coffee nor pineapples are indigenous to Hawaii and I am both shocked and to a certain extent disappointed in myself for not realizing that might be the case. Sometimes I am blind to the scope of the colonial enterprise and the ways that colonialism remade the eco-systems of the world. I get involved in trying to imagine what Hawaii was like in the 1700s and then stumble over how difficult that is. When I get home, I am going to dedicate some time to finding prints and woodcuts of Hawaii (and Mexico, of course, because in the end I will find a way to relate this to my research interests in colonialism) to see what kinds of differences I can glean from those images. Sometimes it's like creation was yesterday and other times it's clear that we are far far away from the origin of any part of the world. Perhaps a trip to the Galapagos Islands is in the near future.
I hear the shrimp truck song in the background, drowning out the neighbor's Iz CD that's been on repeat since about 7 this morning. Off to lunch before Rwr loses his voice.
( cut for size and that's only a fraction of the size these cliffs are in person )
I have learned that neither coffee nor pineapples are indigenous to Hawaii and I am both shocked and to a certain extent disappointed in myself for not realizing that might be the case. Sometimes I am blind to the scope of the colonial enterprise and the ways that colonialism remade the eco-systems of the world. I get involved in trying to imagine what Hawaii was like in the 1700s and then stumble over how difficult that is. When I get home, I am going to dedicate some time to finding prints and woodcuts of Hawaii (and Mexico, of course, because in the end I will find a way to relate this to my research interests in colonialism) to see what kinds of differences I can glean from those images. Sometimes it's like creation was yesterday and other times it's clear that we are far far away from the origin of any part of the world. Perhaps a trip to the Galapagos Islands is in the near future.
I hear the shrimp truck song in the background, drowning out the neighbor's Iz CD that's been on repeat since about 7 this morning. Off to lunch before Rwr loses his voice.
