City Gardener

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu, HI Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu HI This photograph says so much about this special garden in a single image: - Senator Daniel Inouye represented Hawaii in the US Senate for decades. He was of Japanese descent and a senior in a Honolulu high school when he witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Later, he volunteered for an all-Japanese army unit which served first in Mississippi, then in Italy and France during the war. The airport has rightfully been named in his honor.  - The building itself was designed - by the great Honolulu architect Vladimir Ossipoff - in the open native Hawaiian concept of the lanai. To native Hawaiians the lanai was a free-standing building with a thatched roof and open-sided walls to allow a fresh breeze to wash through. The main concourses of the airport terminal are all open to the outside air, recreating the concept of the lanai. Upon landing in Honolulu, the freshness of the ...

Queen Lili’uokalani The last reigning monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili’uokalani, was deposed by a group of rich white American business men, ending the Hawaiian monarchy. Many of the men were the sons of missionaries who came to the Hawaii to spread the work of Jesus. The missionaries and their sons were gradually granted lands by the newly converted Hawaiian chiefs such that the missionary family’s acquired the wherewithal to control the growing economy. Finally in 1893, the American business men called on US troops to invade Honolulu allowing them to overthrow the monarchy. Their goal was for the Islands to become a protectorate of the USA, cementing their hold on the Hawaiian economy. Lili’uokalani was convicted of inciting rebellion by a panel of the businessmen. She was sentenced to years of hard labor, which was reduced to confinement in her own bedroom of Iolani Palace. US guards paced outside her bedroom door day and night. To pass the time the former Queen composed Hawaiian music...

Forest trail in the foothills near Honolulu I get it, when folks go on vacation they want to relax. Our jobs and homelives are often stressful and full of obligations. Most people coming to Hawaii as a tourist want a comfortable place to stay, somewhere near a safe clean beach, and with easy access to good places to eat. But in order to provide these amenities for thousands of travelers at any one time means the built environment has to replace the natural environment. Don't expect a quiet tropical beach in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu. My partner and I have found a bit of an antidote for the overcrowding on the beach: head for the hills. The Hawaiian Islands have some wonderful hiking trails where the natural environment is largely preserved. Sure, there are lots of invasive plants and trees, an ancient Hawaiian wouldn't hardly recognize the place. But still, the hills are all jungle-y, green, and lush. Most of the state parks are free, and many provide basic services ...

Koko Crater Koko crater is one of at least 5 major volcanic craters on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Koko is perhaps the youngest of them, having started to form 40,000 years ago, intermittently erupting until 7000 years ago. And, it may not be done yet. Two of the other more famous craters on Oahu are Diamond Head and Punch Bowl craters. Looking east from downtown Honolulu one sees the profile of Diamond Head crater. Just beyond Diamond Head lies Koko Crater, rising to a height of 1000 feet. It is an easy 20 minute bus ride from Diamond Head, and 30 minutes from Waikiki beach. The 60 acres of the Koko Crater Botanical Garden is situated in the bowl of the crater. The conditions there are desert-like due to the absence of either rainfall or run-off from the larger nearby mountains on Oahu. The Koko Garden is one of the five botanical gardens owned and operated by the County of Oahu's Honolulu Botanical Gardens. Entry is free of charge, but services are minimal and limited to a few p...

 On vacation…volunteering outside of my comfort zone All during my working years I thought I might like to do volunteer work in my retirement, even while traveling - but  especially  while traveling! I like to be active everyday, and the thought of just sitting around in retirement never seemed appealing. I’ve seen loved ones slump into their recliner chairs for the last twenty years of their lives, and I think they suffered for it.  If I’m going to spend weeks or months away from home, it be great to find some way to stay active but also give back something to my hosting community. It is hard for me to think of a place in the world that doesn’t have the need of volunteers for one thing or another. When I was working as a pathologist, I didn’t feel like I had time to volunteer for things in the community. It took so much time just to do my job reasonably well - I’d been working 10-12 hours per workday and often on weekends. And, I also had family responsibilities for...

 Urban tropical garden One of the joys of travel is the ability to visit special places where people have poured their hearts and life’s work. This year we took the opportunity visit a couple of Honolulu’s famous botanical gardens, the product of many visionary people over the span of more than a century. Foster Botanical Garden is arguably the jewel in the crown of five botanic gardens scattered across the island of Oahu, and all of them belonging to the Honolulu Botanical Gardens. Now occupying a combined  650 acres, this organization is a division of the County of Oahu which maintains the gardens. Foster Botanical Garden is situated in the heart of Honolulu, not far from the old Iolani Palace. Over the past 150 years of its existence it has grown in size from 4 to 14 precious acres. In 1850 Queen Kalama ceded the original land to Dr. William Hildebrand who was one of the physicians of the royal family. He was also a noted botanist, author, and plant collector. When he retur...