Aloha, My Friend,
One of the first jokes that I learned after I had advanced beyond the infinite pool of Knock-Knock jokes and the pure silliness of riddle jokes such as, “ What time is it when an elephant sits on a chair.”, went something along the lines of, – A man walks up to a farmer and asks, “How far is it into town?”. The farmer replies, “Oh, about 2 miles as the crow flies.” The man then ask, “And how far if the crow has a flat tire?”
Our 40 foot cargo container of goodies from Bali just arrived on November 7th, First Friday. Our flat tire was the company that we had hired to do the importation paperwork. I swear to you that God first made fools for practice and then he made Customs Brokers. The container was packed, blessed and on the high seas back on August 18th. It took only 4 weeks to make it all the way to Mobile, Alabama. It took almost 3 more weeks to get from Mobile to Railroad Square and I had to pilot a 16 foot rental truck to go and fetch the items that U.S. Customs wasn’t able to get back into the container after they performed their Intensive Examination.
If the cargo was blessed back in Bali it was surely one of the lesser deities they appealed to. No Brahma the creator, nor Vishnu the preserver, nor Shiva the destroyer was invoked to gently guide our Bali Hi goodies. My personal preference would have been Garuda, the winged-monkey, warrior general, the Guardian of Treasures. Vishnu would ride onto the battlefield on Garuda’s back. Garuda’s wingspan was many miles long and he would darken the noon sun as he flew overhead. It is written that Garuda went on a rescue mission during which he grabbed up a hunk of the peak of Mount Sumeru in his talons. As he flew over the Bali Sea he dropped the dirt which became the island of Bali.
I asked Yuli, our friend in Bali, just who she had petitioned to protect our shipment. She explained that in the Hindu religion there are over 330 Million deities and supernatural beings, she thought that the one they gave offerings and lit the incense to was one they call, Larry.
As Elaine mentions below, Bali HI is celebrating our 2nd Anniversary on this December’s First Friday. It is because Tallahassee is such a wonderful community that we came back here to open the shop but it is because you are so amazing that we are still here. We are blessed to have you as our friend so come on out and help us celebrate.
Also, when you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
This is a Red Cross program that will deliver your Christmas cards to our military personnel stationed around the world and to those recovering in hospitals around the world as well. They would love to hear from you.
Now let’s let Elaine tell her side of the story -
Happy holidays to all of you and thanks for your patronage and friendship. We are excited about our 2nd anniversary and will celebrate the event this 1st Friday, 12/5 from 6 to 10 PM. There will be free shell leis for the 1st 100 customers and we will serve Kona coffee and aloha style pupus too!
Then join us for our monthly 2nd Sunday Fair at the Square where we are celebrating the benefits of shopping locally owned. You can also take the pledge to spend your dollars locally and be entered to win door prizes from participating businesses like us. Just go to www.LocallyOwnedTallahassee.com to take the pledge and be entered to win. Also visit us on here at Railroad Square on 2nd Sunday 12/14, noon to 5PM where participating shops are offering drawings for door prizes.
This event will be a continuation of Railroad Square’s 12 days of shopping which starts on 12/12. You will find a number of wonderful shops and galleries participating and remaining open every day for your shopping pleasure. Bali HI will be open on Christmas Eve until 5 PM for you last minute shoppers or those of you who just want to join us for some coffee and goodies. We have some wonderful new items and some great new local artists too. You will find jewelry by Rene Barrett, Jodi Rhea, Alison Schaeffler-Murphy, Nancy Hemphill, Debbi Clifford and Cheryl Sattler. Cheryl’s beautiful little candle light diffusers are a popular and inexpensive gift. I am proud to welcome Roxane McGinniss to our family of artists. Her glass work is amazing and one of her charming ornaments has already been claimed by me. I also have some new porcelain Hawaiian ornaments from Aloha Kine. I don’t have many, so shop early before they are gone. For our loyal customers spending $100 or more during 12 days of shopping we have a free gift for you too. As our gift to you please mention this newsletter for 25% off any one item excluding consignment art. Don’t forget we have gift certificates too. So avoid those crazy crowds at the mall and support your locally owned business at the same time.
Last but not least we wish for you all a peaceful and joyous holiday season. Bill and I are taking a little rest too and will be closed Thursday 12/25 through Wednesday 12/31. We will see in the New Year when our doors reopen on Thursday 1/1/2009.