Last week due to some bad computer glitch in a hotel business center, only about one-third of my article went to the GBN headquarters. I was in Hawaii and things are a bit different out there.

Me and 'Lishous went to see some of my friends. It has been 10 years since I was last in the islands and it was her first time.

Other than her trying to direct me all over the islands with a map that she could not read a single street name on, and eating some things that did not have a name we recognized, it was a fun trip.

'Lishous likes to act like she ain't never impressed with anything. You know the type, acting "cool" all the time, but this time I got her. She loved the beauty of the place, the volcano, the birds, the flowers everywhere, the mountains, a sunset that would have made a Russian General cry, and the sea like she has never seen. But most of all, she liked my friends, and they loved her right back.

Hawaii is a very different state. It is the only state that was ever a Kingdom. We went to the cliff where the warrior king united the islands into one kingdom. He did it by marching his enemies over that cliff until they "caught on." It only took about a thousand of them to go flying into the air only to bounce hundreds of feet below, before one of the outer islands Bubbas said, "Hey, this united thing could be OK!" Smart folks, those original Hawaiians!

It is also the only state that has an active volcano in it. We went there, saw the hot rocks pouring into the ocean. It was hot. Very hot. Why, it was hotter than Santa Rosa Island in August even. We went to Kauai and saw where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii, and Humphrey Bogart filmed the African Queen. The only difference was one was in black and white and one was in color.

They still worship Elvis out there, and that makes them my friend. We saw the island in Jurassic Park and I knew it was the same island, because of one tree that was crooked on the top. We got a history lesson as well ... I did not know that New Zealand was part of Polynesia, but I did know that they ate people and I wonder how the natives there would have reacted to that "march off the cliff" thing. I bet they would have had a big meal first.

It is also the only state where white people like me are a minority. After a few days that kind of of got to me. It was hard to find anyone that said things like, "Big Old Truck," "Attaboy Bubba," "Yep, I heard dat," and "Huh?" I also never heard anyone say one single time, "Hey, you are in America, speak English!" why, they spoke Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, Samoan, Indian, (the kind with the dot on their foreheads), and two or three languages on the outer islands that we never figured out, long before any of them honored us with English.

You know what? It never bothered me one time, it just seemed to fit right into who and what they are, and I have never been offended by it. It is just different out there. The difference is, they were speaking that way long before we came to them. They learned English, if only 12 letters of it in their entire alphabet, and fought in our wars, honored our dead buried there beside their own sons and daughters that fought for America long before it was a state, there in the National Cemetery of the Pacific, and became Americans. They didn't come to us! We needed them to protect the entire West Coast of the Untied States and they obliged. In return we made them a part of America, and I for one have always been glad that we did, they flat earned it.

The Mormons own most of the land in the Islands. Yes, the Mormons. A friend of mine told me that the "Mormons came there as missionaries long ago to "do well" and they did "VERY WELL!" Lots of missionaries went there to help them become Christians and "civilized," but the Mormons were the only ones to buy and some say "take" the land. Now what kind of missionary ends up owning the land! Sounds strange to me, but now I understand how Brigham Young University gets all the big old football linemen with all those Hawaiian last names! There ain't no more pineapples, no sugar cane, and a shack on the side of the road is over $300,000, most homes are over a million, and you wouldn't live in any of those. The houses cost so much they don't even advertise them in the Sunday Classified in the newspapers.

However, one thing has not changed. It is still a true paradise, the people are the friendliest, and they love to feed you. Everyone's home is wide open for company at any time and they love being Americans.

Hawaii is a true melting pot, that we like to think we can create here on the "mainland." They have every race of people in the world there; they have all income groups in every crowd you see; they speak at least four languages everywhere you go; they all have different customs, religions and eat different foods; BUT they all get along, love each other and respect you for whatever you are FIRST. You can mess that up with them, but they give you the benefit of the doubt FIRST.

Why, have you ever heard of a race riot in Hawaii? NO, and I bet you never will, they just don't think like that.

They work hard, play hard and deserve to the "the most southern state" in the nation, as they are truly "Southern" in almost every way! I just wish we could learn that "race" thing from them and put it into play here.

Yes, I love my friends in Hawaii and I have always loved Hawaii's people. Now 'Lishous does too. Life is good at Bubba's house.

Just thought you'd like to know...