Is there a more beautiful picture than a young soccer goalie on a sparkling late spring day?
The game was finally over - a tie perhaps? - and miniature players from both teams gathered for sodas and hamburgers hot off the grill, their parents' videocameras still rolling.
Diamond Head was a shining green, framing the family portraits with majesty.
Like Bob Dylan said: "Just to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free."
The park was filled with activity - it's almost impossible to stay inside when the weather is perfect.
A young couple played keep-away with their spinning and giggling daughter. A boy nearby played catch with his dad, a time-honored ritual.
He was a little lefty, and obviously had a no-hitter or game-winning home run in his big-league future.
One makeshift diamond over, another father pitched a softball underhanded to his daughter, who swatted each offering with a big swing - and a grin.
ALONG the sun-splashed beach, the bright yellow sand gave way to the rolling turquoise sea, as swimmers and surfers emerged from the white frothy waves, which rolled and crashed in symphony.
Weightlifters and fitness buffs worked out in the cool shade and, at the other side of the park, archers drew their high-tech bows like Robin Hood of the 90s.
Teen-aged skateboarders jumped and crashed from sidewalk to grass, like kids that age should do, their baggy short pants almost dragging on the ground.
Tennis players of all shapes and sizes filled the courts and a coed softball game, obviously a "fun league," was played with shouting and laughter on both sides.
Joggers huffed and puffed in unison and just as many rollerbladers whizzed past, like ice skaters on dry land.
A brother and sister took turns flying a red, white and blue kite, which stretched well into the azure heavens, as their parents sat nearby on a blanket.
Who says that young couples don't take care of their children in these often-difficult times? Not on this special weekend day.
I stopped for a barbecue with some friends and suddenly had several more - it's amazing what a blackened chicken leg and deviled egg will do for the soul.
An earlier phone call back to the Midwest said that the temperature went from 45 degrees to 90 in 24 hours, then dropped back to the low 60s after a vicious thunderstorm.
Spring back there is bitter cold and snow suddenly turning into hot and humid days.
WE are spoiled here most of the year with ideal days, one after the other; when the warm sunshine beams down and the tradewinds cool us just right, the late afternoons capped by a golden sunset.
And do we ever not notice a brilliant rainbow stretching above the Koolaus, sometimes in a complete arc? No way. They are a special gift from heaven to be wondered at and thankful for.
In this day of budget cuts and unemployment, desperation and disaster, a day at the park provided relief in so many ways. Just to see - and feel - people and families at play was good therapy for whatever ails you.
Meanwhile, another soccer game was starting - this time the boys and girls on one side wore bright blue jerseys, their opponents were decked in crimson.
Videocams resumed their whirring and the atmosphere was fun in its purest form.
The goalies again were short, yet they stood tall and proud as they guarded the empty nets at Kapiolani Park.
A day in paradise, indeed.