"Second best time to plant a tree is now"
Untitled (painting time)
mixed media on paper 12" x 16"
Ruth Ann Howden
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Fire Haiku
Until something bad,
false sense of security
dulls our perception
It is very difficult to think past the tragedy of the fires of our close neighbor Lahaina. Molokai is part of Maui County. These islands should have been reforested long ago with the goal of a balanced ecosystem: reforestation; stream restoration; re-building the soil; water allocation; invasive species mitigation; erosion prevention; re-localized sustainability in power, food, waste management, governance. Yes, twenty years ago all this was known and ignored.
Abandoned pineapple and sugarcane plantations, overgrown with invasive grasses; dependence on tourism; empty second homes; vast disparity in wealth, more than half the population of native Hawaiians have been 'priced-out' and now live on the continent. All these issues make rebuilding and planning complex. Our goal must be regaining the balance and health of āina, the 'earth' which includes the water and the air.
We could have planted those trees 20 years ago, are we going to do it now for the next generation?
I keep wondering why, if we are living under capitalism, do we only privatize the profit but then socialize the losses?
If corporations are persons, why do they not have the same moral obligations as people?
And why do we not allow immigration for economic gain?
My name for our current system is Greedism - Capitalism as a social disease
Pu`ino Kolu O Hina (Three Winds of Hina)
Artist Alapai Hanapi
Rock Sculpture, 2009
Located between the Public Library and County Building,
Kaunakakai Hawaii
Photos by Ruth Ann Howden
**************************** Time to lighten up *************************
My friend Elaine and I were talking politics and we couldn't remember George Santos' name. Nothing unusual about that, a frequent guessing game of who we mean (even with those closer to home) which ends by either coming up with the name or by a distinctive description so we agree we're talking about the same person. My inept description was - you know, the politician who lies. At that point we both crack-up.
Well, it was funny at the time.
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As an alumni of Art on the Zoo Fence I was included in their 70th anniversary exhibit at the end of summer. The following is their announcement:
DOWNTOWN ART CENTER at Chinatown Gateway Plaza
Art on the Zoo Fence: 70th Anniversary Show!
On View in the Main Gallery, August 24 - September 9, 2023
Opening Reception: Friday, August 25 from 4-7 p.m.
Art On The Zoo Fence is a group of Hawaii artists that meet every Saturday and Sunday to display and sell art and photography on the fence opposite the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki since 1953. Help them celebrate their 70th anniversary, with current and well-known alumni artists!
I consider overtime again, it's been my reoccurring theme this year
Only now the
Very long day approaches
Evening, when I could stop.
Relying on another day and
Time enough to
Interpret what it all
Means, my trying to connect to
Everyone
