Because of Gene, who has shamelessly admitted that he "reads me," I will discuss my profile photo --- (it's relevant, because Gene is a newspaper photographer who seems to enjoy imitating me in my most ebullient and effervescent (like champagne?) moments). And this photo was taken at a precise moment in time when I wanted to let out a yelp of joy ... "OOOoooooooo" in Gene-imitating-Val parlance.... because I was sitting under my favorite bit of flora in all of Waikiki --- "the" banyan tree.

Oh there are many banyan trees in this world --- all wonderful, tentacled creatures who drop their arms downward into Earth, to form these great meandering cages of limbs and space.

Last summer in Hawaii, I actually met another banyan --- the second largest in the world I'm told, which inhabits the city square in Lahaina, on the island of Maui. And responding to that little girl who still secretly lives within me, I climbed up the limbs of that old banyan to a perch best reserved for birds. I could see turquoise sea, and royal blue sky and just below me I could see islanders weaving decorative bowls and animal-like sculptures from palms. From my crow's nest I could see young and old, strolling through Lahaina's bustling streets. I could see tour busses wheeling into town and others taking their human cargo back to hotels or ships. I could see the aged resting under the mighty umbrella of shade cast by this tree, and the young lovers, stealing a lingering kiss in the shadows it creates.

All of these undercurrents of life, found within the reach of a single tree.

Still, this banyan cannot compete with "the" banyan --- the one I am sitting under in my profile photo. If you think I chose that picture because I am one of those "girlie girls" who likes pink, well, you would only be partially correct. The star of the photo is the tree. It may not be the largest banyan, but it is, to me, the sweetest. It is rooted to Earth right in the middle of the patio courtyard behind the Moana Surfrider Hotel, Waikiki's first hotel, right on Kalakaua Avenue.

What you cannot see in this photo, which was taken in July 2007, is the flock of white lovebirds flitting from branch to branch in the higher reaches... and the sweet lilt of their song. You cannot hear the music from a Hawaiian slack guitar, just a few feet away from where I am sitting, at sunset. And you cannot see the sensual rhythmics of a hula dancer as she passes beneath the branches and captivates with her body language

Look a few feet farther past this venerable tree and you will see the white sands of Waikiki caressed by the lapping waves of the Pacific. And cast your eyes farther still, and there will be surfers skimming across the surface of the ocean and outriggers flying along the crest of a wave.

And still..... there is so much you do not see.

There are all the ladies who come to high tea in an afternoon ritual, and all the brides who come to be photographed in hopes of capturing a singular day in their lives under the glorious natural canopy. And so it has been for more than a hundred years. The Moana Banyan tree was planted in 1904, a transplanted botanical specimen. At the time of its planting, a hole was dug, and a dead mongoose was thrown in to act as fertilizer! Today it spans more than 150-feet across and 75 feet in height, and it is listed on Hawaii’s Rare and Exceptional Tree list, giving it protection under state law.

It wasn't always happy times under the banyan, though. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked nearby Pearl Harbor, throwing the United States into World War II. And the Moana (which, by the way, means "ocean") was forced to put barbed wire along her beach and welcome primarily military personnel to her core. Rooms could be had, during those turbulent times, for 75 cents a night!

But the war ended and the banyan continued to flourish --- thanks to that old mongoose, I guess. So many people have shared precious and fleeting moments of life under this tree. Joe DiMaggio, Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, Will Rogers, Amelia Earhart, George Burns, Lucille Ball ... they were all there. I was told last summer by a hotel employee that Arthur Godfrey sat under this tree on occasion to broadcast the glories of Hawaii via his vintage radio show to the mainland. On and on it goes...

So I, too, have had the pleasure to place myself squarely under that banyan tree, and to stare up at a camera, and "Smile!" I ask you, how could I do anything else?