A Wildflower Morning

On Friday afternoons, Rob gets out of work at noon.  Since his weeknights are busy with work almost until sundown, we take advantage of this daylight time to get out and see something new.  This week we chose Asan Beach.  Asan Beach has a long history on Guam, the most notable thing is that it was one of the two beaches where the US landed to push back the Japanese in WWII.  Agat, right across the road from where we lived four years ago, is the other place.  Here is a link to the National Park Service's view on the history of Asan Beach.  Here is a link to more about the attack at Agat Beach , and some oral histories of the Chamorro People in the war .  It is hard to believe on a beautiful day like this one, that this was the site of war, with young soldiers dying on both sides.   You can find photos of how it looked in 1944 here.    Waves crash on the reef, not far from the shore.  The pipe on ...

We have been privilaged to live in this big, lovely house since we arrived on Guam, but it is only a temporary situation.  There is a new couple who will be working long term at AWR, coming soon to live in this house.  We will be moving to a new place this week. Before we move, I want to give you a tour of the big yard I have been enjoying every day while I am here.  In the front yard, is a plumaria orchard, boasting twelve trees of the white and yellow variety.  It is interesting to note that these plumarias bloom on trees almost bare of leaves.  There is a sweet heavenly perfume wafting out from these trees.  The driveway is lined with ruffly red hibiscus bushes.  Only a panorama shot will show you all that is growing in the big back yard.  From right to left you can see tangerine trees, papaya, hibiscus, a giant mango tree, two avocado trees (not in season), calamansi trees, a soursap tree, banana trees, and the coconut...

This is where I went snorkeling yesterday. You would think that the hotel strip at Tumon Bay would not be where you want to go. But it is protected from fishing, and people feed the fish, so there are fish to watch. I saw plenty of Picaso Trigger fish, some Parrot Fish. Lots of Needle Nose Fish, just below the surface of the water. They are transparent and come in large schools. I love watching them. On a coral head there what what I believe was a blue box fish. I've got so much to learn when it comes to fish. There was a current pulling me toward the hotels, so I had to work if I wanted to stay in one place. Then there was lots of work to swim back. A couple people walked back, but my flippers work easier in the water than on land. I'll swim out further next time. This time I stayed in close and helped one of the kids have a good time. Next time I'll go with one of the braver people in the group.

This Sabbath's hike was to Sella Bay , just south of Adventist World Radio , on the island of Guam.  You can see this view quite close to the beginning of the hike. For those who have been to AWR Guam before, you might be interested to see all the new towers that are up and working.  We joined a pretty large group that was going on the hike.  Alyssa was my main hiking companion, so she is going to be your tour guide on this tour of the Sella Bay trail.  The trail started out through some savanna land of grasses and hills.  Wild Bamboo Orchids bloomed tall in the grassland.  In the photo above you can see some lavender dots.  Those are the orchids. Note the Katydid type insect on the on flower below, on the right.  It was a surprise found when I looked at the photos on the computer. The trail is only about 1.5 miles.  You know you are getting closer to the ocean when you start walking through the jungle. ...

One of the hightlights of our visit to Guam four years ago, was the campout at Tarague Beach.  It is organized by the Agat Church and Pathfinder Club. Tarague Beach (clickable link) is on the Anderson Air Force Base, so you have to have special arrangements made to go on base, if you are a civilian.  I remembered this camping trip and wondered if we the church might be having one again.  So a couple months before we went to Guam this time, I contacted the church pastor to see if it was happening, and if we could come along.  He said yes, it would be the second weekend after we arrived on Guam.  We were able to make some pre-trip arrangements in time to get on the approved list.  Which mean that this weekend we were able to go on the Tarague Beach Campout.  Tarague is pronounced Tur-raw-gee.  Here is is more information about the history of the Tarague area.  We arrived on Friday evening, just before dark, which was nice, so we...