FROM MY SKETCHBOOK--HAWAII

Once Upon a Time

our daughter attended college on the island of Oahu.

She was there for four years.

From Maryland to Hawaii is a bit of a "paddle." But we did it several times.

I can still see the ghostly crabs skitter into their tiny holes when my shadow crept too close to them.

When I put a large conch shell up to my ear, I can hear the call of the ever-cresting waves.

Opening a can of coconut milk brings the aroma of sweet sipped milk from freshly cracked coconut...

Or slathering on sun tan lotion with a hint of coconut aroma.

While our daughter was in classes or teaching there were long hours on desolate beaches.  And it was during this time that several children's stories burst forth in my imagination. 

I was either writing down snippets of stories of magical mermaids with lavender hair; underground houses of tiny personified crabs; or "legends" of where the black sands came from.

In another rather battered book I kept sketches of things I saw or imagined.  Someday, I mused, these would serve as illustrations for one of my stories or perhaps a series of cards.....SOME DAY!!

While searching for something that was misplaced (nice way of saying LOST) I happened upon half of a sketchbook of drawings from that idyllic time on the hot Hawaiian beach.

If I share them I won't lose them again, I reasoned...and they could make fun coloring book pages...

Feel free to copy and enjoy for personal use. But please do not reproduce for resale or on a blog.

Thanks.

ALOHA