Ode to My Crown of Plumeria

My  original crown and I at the Polynesian Cultural Center

While vacationing in Hawaii me and my BF went to The Polynesian Cultural Center. It was a fun, but hot, day and we had a good time learning about the different island cultures.

Crown with new flowers from parking lot.

One of the gift stands, in the Tahiti village, I think it was, was selling hats and crowns made out of palm tree leaves and flowers. They were really beautiful. I believe they were primarily made for kids since they also had toys and other children's items near by, and many of the hats and things were small. But I didn't care. I really wanted a crown of pink and white plumeria. One of my worst criticisms of being a grown up is that we stop playing dress up. It's ridiculous. Dressing up is so fun, so why on earth would I stop doing it? So anyway, I got my crown, and I wore it all the rest of the day...and pretty much every day after. I got up in the morning and put it on before I made coffee. I wore it to the grocery store, I wore it to watch football. The original flowers died of course, but the beautiful thing about being in Hawaii is that there are tons more of them all over the place! I picked up some off the ground, I used ones that fell on my rental car overnight. If one flower went limp and turned brown I just found another and replaced it.

When we had reached the final day of our vacation I was saddened by the fact that I knew I couldn't bring my crown home with me. There are rules about bringing fruit and plants to/from Hawaii, and unless those items come with special papers, they won't let them on the plane with you. I couldn't bear the thought of my beautiful crown being confiscated and dumped in the trash at the airport, but I was equally dissatisfied with the idea that it should end up in the garbage at the hotel I was staying at. But what to do?
On our last walk along Waikiki beach, on our last morning on Oahu, I finally found my answer. Near the sidewalk, there was a huge statue of a surfer named Duke, and on his arms and at his feet people had left lei's and flowers. It was the perfect place to leave my pretty crown that had served me so well, and I hardly felt sad at all to leave it there among all the other flowers, in a beautiful spot where it would be admired and appreciated. I like to think that it is still there now, resting at Duke's feet.