Thanks Susan. the difficulty with tuning is that the strings seem to be new and they seem not to hold on to the tuning when you tuine the next string. I'll get the E string tuned than move on to the next and when I'm done with that one the E string is out of tune again. I'll figure it out. When I do get a string tuned the tone of the instrument seems pretty good, at least to my poor ear. I should take a picture of it and send it along to the Mudcat fiddle masters and let them judge it at least for looks.

Here are some observations from around the island.

Driving up to the Post Office the other day I was slowed by an accident. A pickup and a car had collided. the pickup had been loaded with fresh fish which were strewn all over the road. Oncoming traffic was detoured through a parking lot. Fish don't stay fresh in this weather very long.

There are people along the roads selling watermelons. The price is 2 for $5.00. The melons are so cute. They are about the size of large honeydew melons but the flavor is great.

My neighbor has a little flock of young black chickens running around the place. They are still in the peeping stage of life. It's funny that the stray dogs don't bother the chickens running loose all over the island.

Names for convenience stores here include Happy Mart, KNS Store, and my favorite, Cheapest Mart. There is a computer company here called Lucky Computer.

Vandals broke into one of the local schools and stole parts for the air conditioning system. The kids have had no AC for a couple of weeks now while they wait for replacement parts. Parents are up in arms.

The last survivor of the Tinta Massacre died last week. In the days before the American invasion the Japanese soldiers rounded up a group of people and massacred them at Tinta with machine guns and swords. There were 14 survivors. The last one, Jesus Anderson, died last week. He was 84 years old.