Aloham

So we've seen Asian dudes make these pictures using panda bears, bamboo and other such things when writing someone's name. Here, they use Hawaiian characters. Ry bought this for Mom at the swap meet. She was so excited about it. A day or two later, she was telling how she's been checking things off of her list of stuff to see.

"List?" Ry says.

"Yeah, you know, my aloha list you gave me."

She was then given three blank stares from the table (this being at John Dominis).

She starts going on about some picture list we gave her (and she's getting a bit flustered and can't understand why WE don't understand) and we simply had no idea what she was talking about (Dad's included in our bewilderment).

"Mom, the only picture we gave you was the one from the swap meet."

"Yes! My aloha picture!"

"You're what?"

Ok people, what do you see here?

I'll tell you what Mom saw:

The mountains looked like an "A". Throw in a couple of pictures and then there's a lighthouse that looks like an "L". Right next to that is a surfer riding a wave--looks like an "O" to her. Pretty picture next and then there's the "H" palm trees. Kissing dolphins make the "A". Spell it out and you have "ALOHA". Although, she couldn't quite figure out why they put a rainbow M at the end. So she called it her "ALOHAM" picture.
We finally figured out what on earth she was talking about (Dad and Ry will never let her live it down and accuse/tease her of going a bit senile on us). And she finally figured out that it actually says "MCILQUHAM".
And apparently, she's been using this picture as a guide--she wants to see everything that's been pictured in it. Mountains, check. Rooster, check. Hula girl, check. Lighthouse....um, not yet. Surfers on the waves, check. Ships, check. Sunrise/sunset with palm trees, check. Dolphins, not yet. Rainbow--YES! It was AMAZING! It was coming straight out of the ocean and was HUGE, too.