I’ve talked about the trams before and I’ve been asked for a picture of the tram. Last Monday morning for our training meeting we boarded a tram and did a model tour as a brush-up and refresher for the sister missionaries. The trams operate each afternoon that the Polynesian Cultural Center is open (usually Monday through Saturday, never on Sunday) every twenty minutes starting at 3 pm with the last tram at 6:40 pm. The 35-minute tour goes through BYU-Hawaii campus, through the town of Laie, and then stops at the Visitors’ Center where the passengers disembark for fifteen minutes. The tram picks up the passengers from the last tour and takes them back to the PCC. Twenty minutes later another tram arrives to drop off visitors and pick up returning visitors. The trams are open-sided busses with plastic siding that can be lowered in case of rain. A maximum of 35 people can ride the tram.

We’ve had quite a bit of rain lately with mostly overcast skies. When the trams arrive, the sun (if its shining) is over and behind the Temple making it difficult to get guest pictures where the guest and the Temple are both correctly lighted. Cloudy days make that much less of a problem but too many cloudy days in a row seems to make people a bit grumpy. We had just taken the flags down when the sun came out at sunset from behind the clouds and the Temple when I took this picture on the right.

This lady came in on the tram that arrives at 6:50 pm. By that time at this time of the year it’s pretty dark outside and a flash is needed to get a reasonable picture. She fervently wanted a picture of her in front of the sign with the Temple in the background. Unfortunately, the only camera she had was an iPad (!!) which doesn’t have a flash. “I’m black,” she said, “so it’s a difficult picture to get even with a flash!” Very true. So, I told her I’d take a picture of her with my iPhone with its (puny) flash and we could email her the picture. She was ecstatic! Beyond words, ecstatic. I asked her if I could also put her picture up on my blog. “Sure!” she replied. “That’d be great. Give me the address so I can show my friends!”

So, here’s your picture. As promised, no names!

Life is very picturesque! Ta ta for now!