A Wildflower Morning

Sunday morning I woke up really wanting to draw and paint something about the Blue-banded King Crow butterfly and its environment.  It was rainy and for a good while most of us stayed in the shelter. Breakfast was pancakes and eggs or tofu.  I got some tofu and was sure I would enjoy the meal, but was surprised to find that the tofu was scrambled in a lot of the same slimy, strong, oil, that same that the corn soup had been made with.  I almost couldn't eat it.  I've never had oily tofu before and was so disappointed because tofu has enough moisture that there is no need to use oil when cooking it.  Just add good seasonings and stir. Pathfinders spent the morning working on classwork and camping skills.  I sent Rob on a walk.  He begged me to go too, but I was planning on some art time in nature.  I went to one of the bushes covered with butterflies and started drawing.  Some flew away, but some sat there completely still for me to dra...

Yesterday I tutored in the morning, as planned.  The thing that did not go as planned, was that when it was time for my students to spell words that follow the rule we are learning this lesson, by typing on the screen I was sharing from my computer, some of the letters they typed came out as different letters.  I started keeping track of what was happening.  If they typed a "n", it showed up as "l".  If they typed an "l", it showed up as a "p", and "c" was "i".  How frustrating for a student who was trying to spell correctly but it came out as something they didn't want. Some letters were ok, but there were 8 that were wrong.  So any time the student wanted one of those letters, they would have to ask me to type it.  All the letters came out correct when I typed them.  Very strange and very frustrating.  My students are trying so hard to overcome issues with reading and spelling, I don't want technology issues to get...

My second morning I slept until 3:30 AM, which is 6:30 AM, the day before in the Pacific time zone.  My mind was awake and ready to do something, but alas it was still dark outside.  So I spent some time getting started on blogging again.  It seems I mainly blog when I'm on epic trips.  How else will I remember what I did when I get older, and how else will I pass on my legacy to my descendants.  So I write.  I won't write every day, but I hope it will give you a window into some of the beauties of the tropical island of Guam, and the important things in my life. This morning after the sun came up, I opened the front door to let some of the morning into the house.  Rain poured from the sky for a while, that lovely tropical downpour I learned to love when I taught 3rd grade on Pohnpei, Micronesia, back in the late 80's.  I considered going out for a walk in it, and getting soaked to the skin, but I wasn't hot.  I'm sure there will be a ...

Leeda runs a little fruit stand behind the post office.  We've taken our cameras with us lately when we went shopping to record some of sights we've seen every week around Agat, Guam.  Leeda is open most afternoons.  She sells cooking bananas, sweet bananas (sometimes), kalamancies (sweet lemons), local squash, bitter gourds, beetle nut, and sometimes breadfruit, mangos, or jackfruit, as available.  She is such a friendly lady.  We really appreciate her kindness, and good prices on local produce.    On Tuesday afternoons, the Agat farmer's market/flea market is open.  It meets under some shelters between the post office and the ocean.     Friendly ladies sell all kinds of produce.  Starting in the right side of the photo, this lady is selling lemon grass, bread fruit, cooking bananas, something I can't identify in the dark colored bags, and finally some greens at the far left.   There is a very l...

 The most interesting grocery store we have found on the island of Guam is American Grocery, located in the village of Dededo, north a ways of the Mircronesian Mall.   William followed us around taking photos one day of just a few of the interesting foods you might be able to find in this multi-ethinic store.  So just how American is American Grocery?  You decide.  This isle isn't too bad.  Tofu.  That's pretty normal, at least for our family, but I spent a lot of time in Thailand, so it might not be normal for the normal American. A 25 lb. of Jasmine rice in the cart.  Skip the strange meats to the left.  Spam is a popular "food?" here.  But now were going toward the unusual.  Banana Ketchup anyone?  Palawan Honey.  Straight from Palawan Island, Philippines.  Coconut jam.  We forgot to get a jar of this to try.  A whole isle of canned fish. ...