Gilding the Lily

Photo Fiction

Brett Paufler

Page 11

A House Suffering from Fire Damage (sometimes truth, stranger than fiction)

Ironically, as I made my way back home from the cemetery taking the back roads, I came upon a fire damaged house. It's doubtful anyone got hurt. Most of the structure was untouched. And if this was the fire that cost our fireman his life, it would be all the more ironic.

I can here his mother, the Flower lady, wailing her complaint to the wind, "They were already out. He didn't have to go in. He died for nothing," in vain.

The Stream In-Between the Park & the Cemetery (looking upstream)

But for the most, that's all I saw (in story) on the way home. Here's a picture of the stream, upstream of Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden, looking towards the hills.

The Stream In-Between the Park & the Cemetery (looking downstream)

And downstream, looking across the bridge.

At Parking Lot (upper part) of Lili'uokalani Botanical Gardens, A Rooster Struts His Stuff

I didn't see them earlier, but Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden had it's contingent of chickens. And my second time in, I saw a mongoose dart into the underbrush.

The children had left the stream bed. But they were still in the park. I won't post anymore pictures of them. But because I'm nosy (and as I've explained can't see worth crap), I tried to determine if they were up to no good (smoking, drinking, etc.), but was unable to find any evidence of anything more scandalous than hanging out (and not doing their homework like they should be doing).

Path Taken by Kids, leading to the Waterfall

Here's the footpath that leads to the falls. I didn't even notice it the first time through.

And there it is, the falls. Not guilty, after all. Nor the tree. Who would have known?

"I told you the trees in Hawaii are all benign."
"You keep saying that, but I've got the feeling they're hiding something."
"Um, perhaps, they're guilty of shading your mind from the bright light of reason."

Could be. Could be.

Looking Back Across the Lawn, brown grass from foot traffic in foreground

Here's the upper lawn of the park, with the 'footpath', viewing it from the other direction. Without the ban on running, I could see turning this into a ball field of one sort or another.

Looking Through Trees (across stream) at Broken Pipe & Do Not Enter Sign

And there we have the 'Off Limits Sign', once again. Probably the bit of errata that got me off on this story telling tangent in the first place.

The Main Waterfall at the Heart of Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden

It's a nice falls. I felt much more at peace in the park the second time around. Though, I didn't make it back down to the lower portion as that's where the kids were hanging out -- and mosquitoes. Can't say which would be worse.

Upper Park Restrooms, iron gates are locked

Though, I will still maintain that this is not a Tourist Park. The restrooms were closed.

Well, at least the sign hadn't turned moldy or deteriorated, so maybe it's just a temporary thing.

Upper Park (at vehicle bridge) Looking Down at Stream

This is the view from the bridge that spans the creek at the edge of the park (city street for cars). The white fence is for a school, so had I walked on that side of the street earlier, who knows what different direction things may have turned. (It would have been full of kids as school was just letting out.)

And here's the garbage in the stream. Call it city shaming. Have you no pride?

Close Up of High Quality Custom Fence Work for Tree

And one last close up of that tree gate fence. Somebody cared when they built this.

Not So Custom Fence Work (cut in chain link fence for fire water)

Not so much when this fence was put up closer to the condo where I'm staying.

Anyway, that's it. That's my tour of Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden and Oahu Cemetery & Chapel. Complete with all sorts of fictional accounts.

If you like my writing, please feel free to check out my main writing site: Brett Words

Or if you joined me somewhere in the middle of this tale, this link will take you back to the beginning: Gilding the Lily start

Whichever way you go, I hope you have enjoyed our time together.

Aloha. Mahalo. And all the rest.

(((Note: while the pictures are real (as real as pictures can get) all the text should be treated as fiction -- or at least, unreliable. Nothing has been fact checked. Things change. And the truth sometimes only serves to get in the way of a good story. Thus, taken as a whole, these web pages that comprise this story should be viewed as a record of one man's flight of fancy as he takes a walk on a long sunny afternoon. Nothing more. Nothing less. And most certainly, no disrespect to any individual (living or dead) is intended.)))

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