Palm trees and rainbows in the water

Aloha my friends!  A quick update this morning before I head out to the beach.  I'm on Oahu, reconnecting with cousins and exploring an new island (and spending an unfortunate amount of time in terrible traffic in Honolulu, there's only one main road artery and there's no escape).  I have two photos to share this morning which sum up my last few days.

Yesterday I went to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor.  I've flown over it many times, and have always wanted to go see it and learn more about this chapter of history.  My aunt grew up in Honolulu, and has a pretty powerful tale to tell about living through this attack and subsequent wartime life.  She was on the Arizona the night before the attacks for a band concert.  The memorial is sobering and respectful, I'm so glad I went.  The Arizona holds 1,177 sailors who died in the attack, can you imagine?  The ship is still leaking a little bit of oil to the surface, which makes a constantly-changing rainbow slick called the "Tears of the Arizona."

I also had some beach time yesterday, and time to explore the island a bit.  Here's a classic view of the island known as Chinaman's Hat, on the east side. 

A friend of mine is apparently quoted as wondering whether I'm coming back, because I keep going farther and farther away, and to nicer and nicer places....