Had a fantastic experience here in Washington DC for the Tobacco End Game Summit. I found my people from every corner of the USA and from several other countries trying to save lives by fighting an industry that has the PRIVILEGE to PEDDLE POISON. Where is the outrage at 8 MILLION preventable deaths a year?
I took a few other days here in DC to see museums and I got a start by going to the National Gallery. What a gem, and what a reminder of how beautifully this French-inspired city was laid out. I was so reminded of wonderful times in Paris when I sat in the drizzle on the National Mall. I saw incredible works and experienced zen in the halls of this most gorgeous building as well. I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice.
Americans have so much to be proud of in our society with the right context put to the art of our culture, and that was very clear in the depictions of black and indigenous Americans, even though the gallery was very heavily European-influenced. Reading the fine print and discovering what is behind art history reveals so much. I hope to see a variety of museums while I’m here.
I finally got around to posting juxtaposed pictures of my previous trips to Oahu and some of the key photos of my grandparents and parents from the 1950’s and 1970’s. My dad grew up for much of his childhood in Oahu, including when Hawaii became a state, and then later lived on Moloka’i when he himself was stationed there from about 1961-1963. This project was to take photographs in places where they were photographed decades earlier.
Check out my previous Oahu trips in 2009 and 2016. I will now have my 2022 trip added.
In 2009, my friend Kawika Mueller, who I had met on Maui the year before, helped me go to the places where my grandparents and parents had traveled which were recognizable on Oahu. I sort of recreated the shots thanks to Kawika.
My grandfather, Andrew Jackson Hayden, on the right with an unidentified man in the 1950’s at Nuuanu Pali State Park Lookout with views of the Koʻolau cliffs.
Me, Joseph Andrew Hayden, at Nuuana Pali Lookout in March, 2009 with the same rocks (now not ossified for some reason) and with a safety bar they must have added. This was the location of a historic battle, per Hawaiian custom.
Same lookout with me stepping to my right from the 2009 photo above for a different view.
Then me again back in 2016 in the same spot 2016.
This is me again back in November 2022.
Entrance to park in 2009.
Here are my parents in February 1973 looking down at Hanauma Bay State Park.
Me in 2009 at Hanauma Bay State Park.
This is me in November 2022.
My (step) grandmother, June Warner Hayden, in the 1950’s in front of the statute of King Kamaehameha in downtown Honolulu in front of the palace.
Me in front of King Kamaehameha in 2009. Understandably the statue seems less accessible when I got there.
1950’s Waimea Falls
2016 Waimea Falls – Shando went in the water and I took some video.
My parents, Floyd William and Giuseppina Hayden, in February 1973, just outside the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Punchbowl Hawaii.
Me in basically the same spot with Diamond Head in the background in 2009.
My grandmother June and someone (possibly my great-grandmother Ann Hayden) in front of Aloha Tower in downtown Honolulu. I have a bunch of other pictures from this area with my grandparents, but they are low-resolution black and white photos. I suspect this is where people arrived by ship in the 1950’s.
Me in front of Aloha Tower in 2009.
This is me in front of Aloha Tower in November 2022.
My father and his step-mother June were probably on the walk to Waimea Falls. I am guessing my dad is about 12 here and he was born in 1939, so that would make this the early 1950’s.
Me on the walk back to Waimea Falls in 2016.
Grandmother June and another woman in Honolulu sitting on a concrete beach wall in the 1950’s.
This is me in 2009 sitting on a similar concrete wall which appears to be shorter with Diamondhead in the background.
The first time Shando and I were in Kauai in 2018 we promised ourselves that we would participate in this when we returned since that trip was full of activities and we didn’t have the time.
This shelter has amazing grounds and a great program to allow tourists on Kauai to take a shelter animal on a field trip. Kawai was a wonderful older female who we enjoyed bringing to an arboretum up a mountain and then to a dog-friendly beach.
Our first night back in Waikiki. This photo was taken by a friend from California who now lives here at Bacchus bar.
Me standing in front of the Waikiki street sign for HAYDEN Street, as I did in 2016.
Our visit to Oahu included hitting some of the same tourist spots that we hit last time, but doing it better. For example, when we came to Hanauma Bay State Park, we went first thing in the morning (even without a reservation) and got in with no problem parking.
A woman in Catalonia wrote me to ask for permission to do a story on my parents, who I mention on my blog lived in the northern part of Catalonia near Girona and the French border. Our entire family lived there but my siblings were so young that they do not have as clear memories as I do. I know the picture of my parents featured in the article was one cherished by my mom. On this same cement slab is where I learned how to ride a bike. We lived there from 1975-1977, when we moved to live on base in New York City on Governor’s Island. I remember celebrating the American Bicentennial on base in Spain. It was quite a culture shock to move to NYC. The article is written in Catalan, a Latin-based language of the region of Spain where we lived.
We went back for Shando’s annual Nelson Family Reunion for the first time since Covid. We also spent time in Cleveland and Columbus.
In Bucyrus we visited Shando’s mom’s grave. Sadly his Aunt Pat had passed since our last visit.
In Columbus, it was Gay Pride Weekend and we got to see some quaint neighborhoods like German Village. The woman who offered to take our picture made us kiss for the camera after confirming we were a couple.
We hung out with one of Shando’s high school friends, Minda, and her family (we forgot to take pictures) and we also hung out with Shando’s cousin Doreen and her daughters, granddaughter, and son-in-law (pictured below). There were lots of interesting things (fairy village in the yard) in the German Village and mall (French Bulldog mannequins) we met them at.
Another night, after driving through a treacherous rainstorm, the air cleared and we had a big dinner with a lot of his college friends and their kids in Cleveland.
We stopped by Camp Richardson on the southern side of Lake Tahoe where I used to camp as a kid in the 1970s and 1980s. My grandfather worked there from the late 1960’s to the Eighties.
Coyote puppy and mom when we were hiking near Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe.
Shando found a rental in Nevada City so we decided to explore this corner of northern California that we weren’t that familiar with for a long weekend in celebration of his 50th birthday. It turned out to be a lot more interesting than we could have imagined with a very gay-friendly atmosphere. The entire downtown area was swarmed with rainbow flags and great little shops that we enjoyed patronizing. Shando took some great portraits of flowers and the park and we took some nice ones of ourselves if I do say so myself. I’m using some of the ones Shando took of me for my profile pictures.
