Author of The Charm Buyers, University of Hawai'i Press, recipient of the Ka Palapala Po'okela Award for Excellence; The Spellbound, forthcoming 2026
269 posts
Latest Posts by lillianhowan - Page 2
White Jade Flower (Michelia x alba) Bai Yu Lan
the darkening sky and spring blossoms
photo: Lillian Howan
Tiare Tahiti
photo: Francoise Holozet-Howan
Kauehi
photo: Francoise Holozet-Howan
Redwoods. Avenue of the Giants, Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Land of Dreams. Mo’orea in the distance.
photo: Bruno Leou-on
Hereheretue
photo: Francoise Holozet-Howan
Tureia
photo: Francoise Holozet-Howan
Happy Easter to all
& wishing @lovefromalgy great adventures!
Lagoon of Niau
photo: Francoise Holozet-Howan
Algy has many wonderful Tumblr friends of all ages, from those still in their teens to those who are so far past the age of majority that they have forgotten what that means 😉
He knows that quite a few of his friends (no names mentioned!) are not exactly in their first youth any more, some have health problems of concern regardless of their age, and some who are still young and healthy themselves are gravely worried about their families or friends.
And Algy knows that many of these friends have been living the most extraordinary lives for the past year or so: shut in, sometimes alone, cut off from their families and friends, and existing in a strange limbo of anxiety and fear for their own health or for their loved ones, yet trying to cope with it all as best they can. Some have even suffered illness or bereavement… or both… It has been a long, sad, sorry and difficult time.
But as Algy perched in a bush full of beautiful red buds, basking in the first sunshine of the year which had any hint of warmth in it, he knew that the coming spring was not the only change that was in the air now…
At last the miserable situation which so many of his friends had had to face was beginning to change too, and he was truly delighted and relieved to hear that several of his more vulnerable friends had already been vaccinated, and others were expecting their vaccines very soon.
He knew that hope - and help - really were on the way now, and the gallant officers and troops of the vaccine cavalry were galloping as fast as they could possibly go, bringing relief to more and more beseiged people every day 😍
So today Algy is thinking especially of his most vulnerable friends, and prays that just as the buds of the azalea bush will soon open to reveal beautiful flowers, their lives too will soon blossom once again. He sends extra special fluffy hugs to all those who are still living in a state of seige, or fear for their loved ones, together with this lovely poem:
Something’s moving in, I hear the weather in the wind, sense the tension of the sheep-field and the pilgrimage of fins.
Something’s not the same, I taste the sap and feel the grain, hear the rolling of the rowan ringing, singing in a change.
Something’s set to start, there’s meadow-music in the dark and the clouds that shroud the mountain slowly, softly start to part.
[Algy is quoting the poem Something’s Moving In by the contemporary English poet Matt Goodfellow.]
After a long, long time - and such a peculiarly strange long time, in which it sometimes seemed as though eons might have passed unnoticed - it happened that once again, just as in olden times, it was Valentine’s Day - that special day of the year on which Algy always thought of all those friends who were dear to him…
Since the last Valentine’s Day an unforeseen plague had been raging around the world, altering the lives of billions of people, and although he was just a fluffy bird and not a human being, Algy too had been unceremoniously locked down, shut in, left alone and isolated, unable to undertake his adventures and unsure what to do with himself, until eventually he had reached a point where he was no longer even sure who he might be.
And the Scottish winter had not only been long and dark, as usual, but hard and cold, much colder than was normal on the wild Atlantic coast of the west Highlands.
So Algy had simply fluffed up his feathers and slept… and slept… and slept…
And then, one icy morning towards the end of the winter, when the days were starting to lengthen and get somewhat brighter again, Algy was awakened by an unexpected message from the other side of the world. One of his oldest Tumblr friends had remembered him, and sent him warm thoughts and fluffy hugs from thousands of miles away.
Algy read his message and then read it again. His kind friend suggested that he had been missed. Algy sat up, shook his feathers, and slowly began to think… Thinking was not so easy after such a long, strange time asleep, but gradually his thoughts began to take shape, and then he thought, and thought, and thought some more…
He thought of all his many friends in the far corners of the world who had been so kind to him in the past, and who had followed his adventures in happier days. He thought that he didn’t even know if they were safe and well, and he thought that some them could perhaps have been in need of fluffiness while he slept. Then Algy thought that he felt thoroughly ashamed of himself for ignoring his friends for so long, and he realised that he had missed them all during his isolation. Suddenly he knew that it was high time he pulled himself together and made contact with the world and all his friends again. It was time to wake up!
And, as he realised this, Algy was reminded of a beautiful wee poem by a famous poet from the far side of the world:
Last night your lost memory came to me as spring comes quietly upon a wilderness as a cool breeze blows gently across desert sands as a sick man without reason finds relief.
Algy wants you all to know that your memory has come back to him, and he hopes and prays that every one of his friends and followers around the world has managed to stay safe and well in these extraordinary times.
He sends you all his fluffiest hugs, and wishes you all a very fluffy Valentine’s Day xoxo
[Algy is quoting an Urdu poem by the famous 20th century Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, in a translation by Mahmood Jamal. By an odd coincidence, Faiz Ahmad Faiz was born on 13th February, the very day on which Algy woke up and thought of his friends.]
Lights From A Distance An essay I wrote about my father, ancient navigation, and Tahiti. Thank you author, activist, actor, and poet Leslie Stuart Tate for your beautiful presentation of my essay. Thank you Francoise Holozet-Howan for this wondrous photo.