Springtime In Guam

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 02:18 AM

Sandra, I must have been a little punchy when I wrote that last post. THANK YOU should have been in there. When we opened the card I gave the female bookmark to Wakana to use in her books. She took hers and mine too as well as the card. She wants to work up a little display to show them off. It's a Japanese thing, I guess. I know that every gift we give her parents gets displayed in front of the little temple cabinet in the living room (chanoma)

There are many words to describe the events of the last few days. Busy is one of them. Hectic is another. There are others that do not usually get posted in polite conversations. I've used a few of them recently. You쳌fll note that I use no names in the following narrative.

Let's start with Saturday. The canoe had to go to Umatac this weekend for the annual Discovery Day festivities. Since Discovery Day fell on Sunday a group decided they wanted to sail the canoe to Umatac with an overnight stop in Cetti Bay. So, we had to gather at Paseo to help get the canoe in the water... at 7:30 in the morning.

I woke to the alarm clock, not something I've had to do very often since I retired. After a quick breakfast I headed out for a little canoe lifting exercise. I was early. At least a half hour early. Two more members showed up, and a few more trickled in, and finally we decided we had enough to move the canoe.

I don쳌ft think I쳌fve mentioned it before but the canoe weighs somewhere between 1500 and 2000 pounds. It is 22 feet long and 18 feet wide with the outrigger. It is a huge assembly of heavy wood. It takes a mess of us to move it.

Now, the canoe sits in a paved, covered, courtyard in the Paseo Park recreation building. There are two massive iron gates and a ramp down to the street. We turn left at the bottom of the ramp and then we are on the one-way street. There is a stretch of about 20 yards down the street to where we make a right to get up on to the grass and move down near the water.

We knew it was going to be difficult to get the canoe into the water when we put it in the courtyard but we also planned to build a trailer for it. The trailer was finished while I was in Japan. Last Saturday was to be its second usage. I had expected us to have a boat trailer that we could slide down into the water and just float the boat off. What they built was essentially a large dolly. It has 8 wheels that cannot be soaked in water, especially salt water, and we still have to lift the boat on and off.

So, there we were, four of us and one person to stop traffic. We trundled the boat out of the courtyard and down the ramp. We started the turn at the bottom and that is where things began to go wrong. The front steering wheels jammed and then one broke off. We managed to get the turn completed and moved far enough down the street to where the 6 or 8 cars waiting for us could get past. Then we started the turn on to the grass. We got up over the curb, part way down the grass when another front wheel broke off. We cannibalized a wheel from the back end and got the beast all the way off the road.

Now we started the long wait. So far only one person who plans to go on the trip has actually showed up. They trickled in and we waited. We had to lift the boat off the trailer using blocks installed one at a time while everyone else lifted. Finally we could move the dolly but lo and behold! The blocks are in the way! I was grinding my teeth by now.

We managed to get the dolly out without dropping the boat on anyone and we managed to get the boat down to the ground. We were still waiting but I figured they had enough people to get the boat in the water and I headed out. Wakana is still a little weak and I like to keep an eye on her.

I heard about the rest of the fiasco later. There were to be four people going down on the Quest. Five showed up. Then another! And they all brought camping gear and drinks and food and stuff and put it all in the boat. By then the wind had picked up. You do see where this is going, don쳌ft you?

The story from the crew on the boat is that the fishing boat that towed them out pulled too hard and the tow line was too short. Maybe. But I bet the load had a lot to do with it. Anyway, they swamped the boat. The first wave came in over the bow and just filled her up. Equipment floated out and away while the crew thrashed around trying to catch it and save themselves. After a long bail and a lot of urgent swimming they got the boat back to shore and pulled out of the water. The only thing that wasn쳌ft soaked was the beer in the cans.

Sooo, next morning we had to assemble at Paseo to put the boat on a trailer. One of our members has access to a heavy duty trailer, such as you might use to carry small tractors and other earthmoving equipment. The plan was to slide the trailer in between the hull and the tam (pontoon) and set the boat on a pair of sturdy timbers run across the trailer.

I once more woke to the alarm clock, once more I ate a quick breakfast and kissed Wakana goodbye and once more I drove to Paseo. I decided to go a little slower and arrived half an hour late. Once more I was the first one there.

Others showed up and finally we had enough to lift the boat high enough to get the trailer under it. That was higher than our previous lift. We had quite a slew of blocks under that boat and I was worried about stability.

Now we needed the trailer. When that showed up we found that the jack for the front end had fallen off somewhere between the ITC building and the hospital road. Off we went to look for it. An hour later we gave up looking. The trailer fit well under the boat and we chained the timbers down. Then we set the boat down on the timbers and tied it off. We were finally ready for Umatac.

We had walkie-talkies for the trip down. The intent was to use cell phones but too many we still drying out from the previous day. We formed a convoy. I was in the lead car followed by the canoe and another vehicle behind that. Other members brought up the rear.

It is about 25 miles from Paseo to Umatac by road. It is some pretty country with lots of mountain views and plenty of ocean vistas, long ocean vistas, as seen from the top of the many hills we had to traverse, on the two lane road we had to use one and a half lanes of.

It was a slow trip. I kept to about 25 miles per hour which is 10 MPH under the legal speed limit and about half of what the locals do on that road. When the traffic backed up too much behind us we pulled over to let them pass. I had to stop for gas in Agat. We all stopped frequently to check the load.

There is a long sweeping downhill curve going into the village of Umatac. At the bottom you have to make a hard turn and then you are into the village. There is a Viet Nam War Memorial at the top of the hill and I suggested we stop there until we could reconnoiter the traffic situation in town. Unfortunately we sailed right on past it and headed down that hill. We carefully worked our way through the tiny streets and came out at the park, right into the middle of a full carnival with cars and pedestrians walking and children running, and dogs fornicating (they do that anywhere, everywhere, all the time). I pulled into the first available parking space and got out. I saw the boat go by me and head into the crowd. The driver has nerves of steel. He also drinks so I was worried that his nerves of steel might be the result of 쳌gDutch courage쳌h.

We got down to the beach and found trucks pulling jet-skis all over the place. They had a jet-ski race planned for 2:00. There was a roar of motors from across the road from a motocross race. A sound system blared out island music. The sun was unmerciful and to make matters worse the beach at Umatac is black sand.

Miraculously we got the truck through the crowd and down on to the beach. We unloaded the boat and moved the truck out of the way. We got the boat rigged and set up the coconut palm frond to lubricate the bottom for the slide into the water. Wakana showed up and brought me a couple of my favorite sandwiches, PBJs.

Now, back in the old days, i.e., longer than 5 years ago, Discovery Day was the celebration of Magellan쳌fs landing in 1521. Then Chamorro pride got caught up in it and they started pushing to make it a celebration of the first discoverers back 3500 years ago. Another faction of the Chamorros wanted to make it a reenactment of Magellan쳌fs visit, complete with the murder of the Chamorros and the burning of the village. To that end they erected small coconut huts to burn. These 3 factions exist in an uneasy truce. The locals of Umatac want Discovery Day to remain unchanged. We were there to help with the celebration of the first discoverers.

We were supposed to bring the canoe in from the sea and land bringing plants and tools to start a new life. Then two young Chamorros would greet us with a traditional chant and a dancing group would perform dances and chants. It was a very nice plan and, believe it or not, it all went pretty smoothly.

The winds were blowing in from the sea so we couldn쳌ft sail the canoe out into the harbor. We decided to let them paddle out with a tether line. When the time came to bring them in someone would pull while they paddled against the wind. I had a grand vision of coordinating a crew on a rope singing a chanty. Sigh, that wasn쳌ft to be. The motive power for the canoe turned out to be one person - me. The line was about 3/8th inch, maybe only 5/16th. It was heavy duty fishing twine, tarred and stiff and brand new, just right for cutting into the soft hands of an ex-office worker.

Things went as smoothly as they could go for an event that wasn쳌ft properly planned, had no leader and no rehearsal. I pulled the canoe ashore with the help of the paddlers. The people at the microphone delivered their speeches and chants, the dancers performed their little bits in their little bits of costumes, and then the performance was done. The whole time I was holding that canoe against the push of the wind. My hands and arms were shaking with the strain. I was glad to relinquish it to one of our other members when I got the chance. Actually it was, 쳌gHere, hold this for a minute쳌c쳌h and then I walked off.

By then I had soaked up a lot of sun. I had neglected my sun block so I knew I was burning. I could feel it on my arms. I was wearing a bandanna and a hat so I figured the burn on my arms and legs would be my only discomfort. We headed up for something to eat but I was also feeling unwell by then. The festival gave us free food for our participation. That was a plus. But sitting in the shade and getting down some food didn쳌ft help so I headed home.

I was glad I had been through all that. It made me feel pretty good to watch the Chamorros celebrating the beginning of their culture on Guam. I was where I belonged, on the sidelines, helping invisibly, while they brought some attention to their people. Many people on the island forget that there was a thriving culture here before the Spanish destroyed it. Reviving what they can has been an uphill battle, one they may not win considering their opposition. I don쳌ft mean that anyone is opposed to it but the opposition consists of the other distractions modern society provides to keep their kids from learning their own culture. Video games, TV, and especially beer, babies, and the Catholic Church have done a lot to make sure that people have just enough to get their work done to feed their growing families.

After the event in Umatac the canoe had to go to the University Of Guam for their annual Charter Day event on Tuesday. The Traditional Seafarers Society is ostensibly a college club though we have very few actual college members. It was started at UOG and is still affiliated with the school. It was at last year쳌fs event that Wakana saw the display and decided to come check out the canoe and we all know where that went.

Charter day was fun, lots of high school and middle school kids, food booths, displays from all the different departments, the military had a display set up to persuade young people to become a part of the machine.

Whew! That's a lot of narrative. I'm not sure I got across the frustration of the whole thing. It쳌fs been an interesting week considering that it was the first back in Guam. Oh, and the sunburn. I wore a hat and a bandanna and still managed to burn the top of my head and my face and neck. My arms are burned too. My legs look as if they have never seen the sun! Why can쳌ft the rest of me be like that?

And it is official. I went to the doctor the other day and he weighed me. Since last September I have lost 33 pounds. I think the majority of that came off in Japan.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 02:53 AM

Aloe Vera gel, Brett...works wonders on burnt skin! Ouch and how frustrating the day must've been, in some ways. I love the way you write about it...it really comes to life and I am THERE, watching through your eyes.

I cannot find the right website for the sub-protective sleeves I wear with all of my short sleeved shirts, but you can get the general of good protective clothing and accessories from a couple of sites: click here, and also here. I'll take a look at my sleeves and gloves and see if I can find their website. They came from Australia, so you ought to be able to get them easily. I burn through hats, too, unless they are SPF treated fabric!

Thanks, again!

kat (I haven't forgotten about calling; have been waiting for you to get home.:-)

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 07:54 AM

Brett - I'm please to know the bookmarks & card are appreciated. When I get my scanner working I'll send you a pic of my Japanese shelf

sandra (who never spends time in the sun, but managed to get some sunburn on the James Craig even tho I was wrapped up. Sunbeams are sneaky, keep away from them, tho your lot sound tropical.)

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 09:40 AM

Brett-

You do write well! I'm exhausted and I think I'll open a beer and try to relax.

Actually I'm exhausted from shoveling out the cars again from another foot of snow.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 09 Mar 05 - 07:02 PM

The day after we left Nishinasuno they got 10 inches of the white stuff. I didn't have to shovel that but I had the presence of mind to apologize to my in-laws for not being there to help.

We have realized that these days are actually our first quiet days of marriage. We got married in Nishinasuno and stayed with her parents. Then we came home and a few days later Amy arrived. While she was here Wakana's condition deteriorated. Then after Amy headed home we were out of here for Japan. Now we feel like we are really starting our married life together. It's pretty cool!

Lately I've been leafing through my boat books. I reopened Chapelle's Small Sailing Craft today. Looking at the lines drawings still gets my heart to flutter. I guess it's better than looking at magazine women but pursuit of boat ownership would be more costly and just as heartbreaking as pursuit of magazine women. And none of those women could hold a candle to Wakana anyway.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 11 Mar 05 - 12:44 AM

For the last few days I have been seeing snow everywhere. I thought it might be my eyes but it appears to be the burned skin flaking off my forehead. The forehead that I had properly covered with a hat and a bandanna!

I might as well confess here that I seem to have a bit of a medical problem. My left hand is going numb and tingling. Certain movements of my head can make it much worse and sometimes the tingling shoots down the whole arm. Wakana had similar symptoms. The doctor has me on prednizone but it's not helping. Sigh, if it ain't one thing...

Yesterday was a terrible day. It's true. Paradise isn't always paradise. I went to a lawyer a fewe months ago because the landlord said he was going to sue me over the fire damage. I filled out an intake sheet and went home. Nothing happened until last week when the U. S. Marshall served the papers. Then I started trying to contact the lawyer and failed miserably. Finally yesterday, around 4:00 he told me he couldn't take the case because his case load wouldn't allow it. The case goes to court on Wednesday! He gave me a letter with the name of an office that runs a referral service so we went off to try to find the place. The letter said the office was in the First National Savings and Loan Building at 655 S. Marine Corps Drive. We drove up and down looking for something that matched the description, a number, a sign, anything at all. Finally we found it, an hour later and the secretary said she would place the case in front of the lawyer. Wish me luck.

The Isla Arts Center at UOG is having an exhibition of traditional seafaring and our canoe is now on display in the front yard of the gallery. Behind it is the log that is slowly becoming a small canoe. Inside they have a wonderful set of displays of model canoes, implements and artifacts, fishing gear, pictures, maps, and one small canoe set up on the floor. It is a lovely display. I hope it attracts lots of attention.

By the way, the SONY PSP is destined for relaease in the USA this month. The only reason I mention that is because we bought one in Japan last month and Wakana has been playing with it ever since. I believe I can say she officially holds the USA record number of points for playing the game Lumines. She certainly holds the record number of hours for playing that game. I'm glad I have a picture of her so I can remember what she looks like.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,CarolC
Date: 11 Mar 05 - 01:33 AM

I'm glad I have a picture of her so I can remember what she looks like.

That's nice. Now can we see it, please?

;-)

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Mar 05 - 05:57 AM

Brett, I am going to visualise a successful end to the lawsuit, in YOUR favour! That's just ridiculous, the landlord wanting to charge you for a something completely not your fault!

When we had a house fire in a rental in CT, due to an old, non-serviced, crumbly firebox in the furnace, our uppity NYC landlord started talking lawsuit the night of when we called to tell him what had happened. The fire chief was there, overheard, took the phone and told him he was lucky we were awake when it happened or he'd be looking at possible wrongful death suits!

Be careful with the prednisone; that can be nasty stuff. Have you looked into a good massage therapist, acupuncturist, and/or osteopathic doctor for manipulation? I've had good luck with all of them, at various times, with pain, tingling, etc. Also, stop any repetitive motions yo may have been doing and/or give those muscles you used, carting the canoe around, a rest!**BG**

It is fun to finally be able to settle in and start married life, isn't it? Rog and I have reached our 25th, as of today! May you and Wakana look back someday and marvel that it's really been that long, as I am at the moment.:-)

Hang in there; things have always worked out and I am sure they will this time, too.

luvyabuncheskat

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 12 Mar 05 - 03:39 AM

Wow! 25 years! What a great way to spend that time. Congratulations.

We moved the canoe again today. This time it came home after a long journey, Umatac, UOG, Isla Arts Center, and finally back to Paseo. We're getting good at it.

The other medical problem right now is my right knee. The bad arthritis is in my left knee but the new pain is in the right. I'm hoping it is just the effect of the damn drug.

Wakana is making fried shrimp lumpia right now. It sure smells good in there.

I am having trouble sending pictures out. I tried sending pictures to my mother and family but the computer connection here just isn't very good. I sent a picture of the dolls to Sandra but I don't know if she got the message. I will try to get something to Pene Azul.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Mar 05 - 09:24 AM

yes, I got the pictures & replied last night (24 hours ago). They were wonderful & the pic of you & Wakana is great, too. Am I the first to see her?

Part of the trouble with sending hehm to your family might be the size of the pics. Your message took a long time to download, & apparently some systems can restrict the size of messages received.

My iMac has an option of reducing the picture size which I only found after my personal Help Desk (Mudcatter Chris maltby) told me about it. So after that I was able to send the first ever pic I scanned to work.

sandra

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Mar 05 - 12:50 PM

Brett-

The digital images you sent me of Wakana and yourself came through OK but were also quite large, much more than a MB. I can't remember if you sent them in JPG format which would compress them and make them more accessible to those of us still on slow dial-up. However, I just switched over to DSL and you can now send me the kitchen sink!

Another foot of snow is accumulating in the driveway. Just thought you'd like to know.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Mar 05 - 04:05 AM

I talked to the family this morning. There is a railroad crossing on the long driveway that runs up the hill to where my parents live. The Bangor & Aroostook RR runs one train a day through there. It has been the cause of some rather hair raising experiences for my father as he has struggled to keep the hill plowed in the winter time. There is nothing like the thrill of excitement you get when you hear the sound of tires spinning on frozen rails mixed with the sound of a train whistle.

Apparently the winter weather has caused a bit of a problem. they got some wet snow, rain, and then 10 degrees below zero (F). The rail plow came through, pushed only by an engine and just beyond the driveway crossing it ran into some ice that didn't want to part company with the tracks. Dad says the engine is sitting in the ditch, facing the opposite direction from its wheels.

I discovered WinDVD on my computer. I plan to create a DVD with all my pictures on it to send home. If someone wants to send me their address I could include them in a mailing. I'm not sure how to reduce the size of the pictures. For those I haven't scanned yet I could do a lower resolution but for those already in digital format I guess there isn't anything I can do.

As for dial up connection, I have one of the worst in the land. It kicks out at unexpected moments and leaves me high and dry when the lines get busy. And it is the only one on the island.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,Charley Noble
Date: 13 Mar 05 - 02:09 PM

Brett-

You probably have some kind of software on your computer already for processing digital images, perhaps not Photoshop but something similar. What you can generally do is a "save as" of your high resolution image and then dumb THAT ONE down to say screen resolution which is about 70 ppi. Saving it as a JPG generally saves even more than say sending the image in Tiff format.

I do get a vivid picture of your father spinning his wheels on the railway crossing as the train is coming, its whistle screaming! We don't need another such song. Please tell him to be careful, look both ways, and give 'er the gas!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 17 Mar 05 - 02:36 AM

If anyone noticed that I have been silent lately, I'm back. Last Monday morning Wakana was on the phone with a friend when she heard a quick "bzzt" and the line went dead. Today they repaired the broken wire at the pedestal and we are back in business. In the interim many things have happened of momentous importance. Well, maybe not momentous importance but we have certainly had an interesting week.

I went back to the doctor about my arm and to complain about my right knee. He listened to my description of my symptoms and immediately sent out a referral to get an MRI to determine where the nerve is being pinched. He also sent me on a referral to an osteopathic surgeon to get my knee checked out. Wakana was astonished to hear that I had to wait three weeks to see the doctor about my knee. In Japan you get treatment when it is needed, not three weeks later. (But we all know, as the Republicans keep telling us, that socialized medicine doesn't work so she must be wrong...)

Then I finally found a lawyer who would talk to me. He reassured me that small claims court was nothing to worry about. I just needed to tell the judge that I did not owe anything to the landlord and he would set a trial date. As it turned out the landlord didn't show up but he did send his property manager, a cute Chinese woman named Nancy. She was very worried about her role in this. She and I had become fairly good friends while I was in the other house and she kept trying to tell me that she had to fill that role in the court because of her contract. I told her I was not worried about her being there, I am not a vindictive person and that she shouldn't worry about what was going on. Then the judge yelled at her for being there. He told her to tell the landlord to have a lawyer in that chair when the case went to trial. He said she could not legally represent the landlord and that she was risking contempt of court by being there. I felt bad for her.

So we go to trial on May 26. I have to prepare a pre-trial statement showing my side of the story. So does the other guy. The issue is still up in the air but I cannot imagine any lawyer taking the case for him.

Last night I was working at the computer when Wakana came in full of concern. She had heard a strange noise in the yard. I came along and sure enough there was a very loud peeping sound outside. We investigated and found that one of the wild hens had found a nice spot inside the open outdoor closet and had hatched a brood of eggs. The peeping came from two of the chicks, little black puffballs, that were separated from their mother and couldn't climb the concrete wall back to her. They were peeping loudly and she was calling to them in a low growling tone. I captured them and set them safely down where she could protect them. When we came back inside she was contenting clucking over her brood. They were all safe. This morning they were gone. Wakana found broken eggshells all over her dive boots. We figure births at home are a good thing.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: bbc
Date: 17 Mar 05 - 08:33 PM

Life stays interesting, doesn't it, Brett? I leave for Korea a week from today, but just got notice that, between now & then, all the books in my library have to go in boxes & all furniture, computers, etc. have to be taken out of the room so that the carpeting can be replaced over the spring break. It was originally scheduled for the summer, when no one would be using the building, but someone, in his/her infinite wisdom, decided that during the school year would be a nice time to do it! Ah, well. I'm getting experienced enough at this that I hardly batted an eyelash.

Take care, dear. The good, the bad--this, too, shall pass.

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 03:42 AM

Sunday morning, after breakfast, Wakana and I were discussing what to do for the day. I had plenty of work to do what with taxes, financial aid papers, mailings, etc. The day outside was overcast and we could see rain down on the bay. I half remembered something about kite demonstrations down at Asan Park and suggested we go "check it out". What a great idea!

When we got there, about 11:30 AM the crowd was just building. There was a giant purple ray in the air with a long tail and a string of kites reaching way up into the sky. The chain had 150 kites on it with the string going through the middle of each diamond shape. There was another kite flying with a painting of a rabbit on it. That kite was rectangular with an open rectangular area for a tail. There were dozens of smaller kites in the air, in all shapes and sizes. A stage had been erected with a big sound system and an MC was up there making announcements and calling for the teams to assemble.

Asan Park is the area that Wakana calls "Little Waikiki". There is a parking lot near the road and a large field of grass. Down near the beach there are many stately palm trees and beyond that the surf crashes on the reef after a lagoon of peaceful water. It is undoubtedly one of the prettiest areas on the island. Sixty years ago it was also a bloody battlefield.

There was no memory of that today. Wakana and I walked around the central ground and watched the kites. We stopped to talk with the Japanese team and get our pictures taken with two of their smaller kites, each of them two and a half meters tall. Then we wandered down to the water. Off at the other end of the field a set of four kites were doing an aerial ballet, weaving in and out in intricate patterns, blazing red and white across the grey cloudy sky.

On the beach Wakana was enchanted by the pink stones she kept finding. She picked up a handful and washed them in seawater. We wandered out to the point and then up a path on the rocky hill that forms the southern boundary of the park. It was still and warm up there. The trees and brush crowded the path. We saw papaya trees and breadfruit. There were weedy plants with dark brown berries and shrubs with small white flowers. There was a bench up there and we sat to watch the water and rest. Farther on we came on an intersection of three paths and used the downhill path to go back to the field.

There were even more kites in the air. The sky was dotted with color and movement. We saw kites shaped like square rigged sailing ships, whales, crocodiles and one was even a motorcycle under a set of red rectangles. We didn't see that one fly.

We bought drinks and a funnel cake, Wakana's favorite. ("I'm Japanese, I don't like sweets. Please pass the chocolate sauce for my toast.") We bought a kite to fly. Wakana was amazed that the thing practically flew itself. No skill was required. We put it together and it flew out of her hands and up over her head. We flew it for a while and then went off to find some shade and to watch the proceedings.

At one point I saw a man and woman carrying a white wicker basket. It looked heavy. I asked what they had and the man said they had 49 homing pigeons inside. He cracked the lid and I looked in to see that the box was crammed with white pigeons. They were standing on each other! We moved the box into the shade and I learned that I had been right. It was heavy.

The demonstrations started with a team from the Philippines. They had flight of four stunt kites that they danced to the music from the sound system. I had thought the system was too large for what they intended but it was just right if you kept away from the speakers. The Philippine kites danced and bobbed across the sky weaving intricate patterns in time to the music. They would fly towards each other and jump into a line and swirl around chasing each other. It was beautiful.

They were followed by Ray Bethel from Canada. He was introduced from the stage and we could see that he wasn쳌ft wearing a shirt. The MC made several comments about that. (쳌gWhat쳌fs taking so long, Ray? Trying to decide what shirt not to wear?쳌h) The locals were amused that someone would go out in public, especially a performer, without a shirt. It wasn쳌ft as though he was a young man with a fine body to show off. Still he had his own style. His performance started with one triangular kite trailing a long tail and long blue streamers from each wing tip. The kite danced in time to the music and then dipped down to the ground. It disappeared behind the crowd and then flew up trailed by two other kites! These had the same long tail but different streamers. The three kites danced in the sky, weaving about each other, sometimes the lead kite would hover while the other two danced and swung below it. The kicker is that there was only one person, Ray Bethel, controlling those three! That was an amazing show.

The Japanese brought traditional kites. Their 쳌gperformance was merely to decorate the sky with their art. The big kites hung up there, brilliant colors depicting traditional themes. They were beautiful.

We watched the whole show. It was wonderful, a magic Sunday afternoon. The clouds cleared away and the blue sky was that particular hue that I have come to think of as Sunday blue, clear and dark and gorgeous.

This morning, after breakfast, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Believe it or not we have been here since September and had not yet taken the time for that walk. We found that our little piece of Guam is a very nice place albeit full of abandoned cars and overgrown with brush and scrub. Most of the houses are neatly kept and pleasant to look at. There are some older homes that have been retrofitted and upgraded. There are several that could use the gentle ministrations of a bulldozer. But overall the neighborhood is a very nice place.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 10:35 AM

Brett-

Bob Zentz sends his best!

So maybe I should "Go fly a kite!"

Back to taxes...grrrrr!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 10:53 AM

WOW!! March is perfect for flying kites!! How beautiful it sounds...just magical!

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 09:31 PM

Yesterday was a very busy day. I took my truck into the shop for repairs and then we went to drop film off at Kmart. After that we did some hotel shopping for our wedding ceremony.

I haven't mentioned it yet but we need to have a wedding ceremony. We are legally married in the eyes of the various governments involved but we are not completely married in Wakana's sense of values. We need to have a ceremony to fulfill her sense of filial piety. This is very important to her Japanese culture. So in June we will get married again. We are deep in plans and lists.

It will not be a grand and elegant affair. We want to have the ceremony at the canoe because we met through the canoe. We want Manny to conduct the ceremony because we do not need to have a legally constituted wedding person do it and he is our master navigator. And he has experience. As far as we can tell he has wives on several of the islands and we hear he has fathered about 40 kids. I believe there is some exaggeration there but he is a pretty good guy and a good father to the half dozen kids he has with him here on Guam.

It turns out that the price is the same no matter where you go on the island. The minimum to feed the guests will be $20 per person. The room is "free". My favorite place is the Santa Fe Hotel which will put us on a covered patio by the beach. We will be able to watch the sun go down. The canoe can sail right up to the beach and we can get married down by the water.

Wakana's father is excited. He wants to give away the bride. She says he is planning to wear a mourning suit. If he does he will be vastly overdressed for the occasion, certainly better dressed than the groom. I will be wearing an aloha shirt and white slacks.

Of course, you are all invited. Please RSVP by the end of May. I hope you will all be here for the grand event. (Just kidding. I know you cannot come to Guam)

By the way, the pickup needed a belt tensioner. When we went to pick it up they told us it wasn't ready yet. This morning they called to say it would be ready by noon and that the problem was the new belt. It seems they tried to put the wrong size on after the repair was complete. Sigh. As Wakana and I say to each other over and over… Guam, that's why.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 09:35 PM

By the way, I just learned that my good friend Jud Caswell has won two awards from the Great American Song Contest. He is one hell of a good songwriter and performer. You can check out his web site by Clicking Here.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Mar 05 - 02:24 AM

A quote from the News from Guam thread.

************************************************************
Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson - PM
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 06:44 AM

Wow! This place continues to amaze me. Last Saturday I met two amazing and interesting people쳌c

The other person is a Japanese woman who is attending language classes (English) at UOG. She is a carpenter in Japan with a shop and all her own tools. Those of you familiar with the chauvinist society in Japan should realize how unusual this is. She was extremely interested in the carving on the canoe parts working her way in close to help as best she could. Unfortunately she had to leave before she could get her hands on an adze and do some cutting.

One funny thing happened. When I saw my middle sister two weeks ago she gave me a T-shirt she had decorated with Japanese characters. She told me it meant "wisdom". At the canoe Wakana saw the characters and asked me if it was the name of my girlfriend. While one reading of the kanji is "wisdom", or "smart head" as Wakana put it, the other interpretation is "pretty girl" and is used as a girl's name in Japan. My sister got quite a laugh out of that.
************************************************************

That quote is from last year. By my calculations tomorrow, March 27, Easter Sunday, will be the first anniversary of our meeting. Amazing! And we don쳌ft hate each other yet.

This morning we went to meet a friend and former classmate of Wakana쳌fs. She had a baby a few weeks ago so we got to spend time at the Nikko Hotel restaurant with her and her son, Dragon Boy. Actually the kid쳌fs name is Ryunosoke which means the same thing. He쳌fs a good kid, hardly fussed at all. The friend is having trouble with the father and will go home to Japan in April. Poor Wakana spends hours on the phone trying to give her support and help. I think we쳌fve all been there and a few of you have been on the other end of the phone with me when I was going through that same hell. I wish her well. She has a long hard row to hoe.

My brother called this morning. Unfortunately he got the time zones mixed up and woke us at 5:30 AM! Rotten kid brother. He wants some Navy Crackers. He discovered them in Hawaii and loves them. I guess I better get a few pound of them off to him. They are pretty good.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 27 Mar 05 - 11:56 PM

I have a limited number of postcards that feature our canoe. If you want to send me your mailing address I will mail one to each of you until the supply runs out. Sins, I do NOT have your mailing address. Charley, I do NOT have your new address, only the one we had when I rented that apartment from you.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,Charley Noble
Date: 28 Mar 05 - 12:02 PM

Brett-

PM's are not working today so here is my updated mailing address:(address removed from public view with Charley's permission.) The house did not move, folks, only the street address changed.

Maybe I'll give you a call at 5 AM in your morning!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,JudyB
Date: 28 Mar 05 - 09:43 PM

Congratulations on your First Anniversary of Meeting! It is amazing to realize that so much time and so little time have passed since you first met each other. Best wishes for an even better second year!

Love to you both,
JudyB

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,naemonson's mom
Date: 29 Mar 05 - 06:42 PM

I am looking for the meaning of a song we are doing for our Harp concert, it is, for one Planxty Safaigh, and Ca'the Yowes tae the Nowes' I bragged   to Dale, our instructor, that someone on the Mudcat would be able to tell us what these titles meant in english.The words are Robert Burns. Arrangements by Nancy Hurrell. Thank you, Naemonsons' mom

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,ClaireBear
Date: 29 Mar 05 - 06:57 PM

For Naemanson's mom:

A tune starting with "Planxty" is generally in honor of someone, so while I don't recognize "Safaigh" as a person's name, it probably is one.

As for "Ca' the Yowes," if you will go to this page, you will find the complete lyrics with the harder words "clickable" for translation into modern, American English. Since none of the words in the first line seem to be considered "hard," here's a start: Ca' is call, yowes is ewes, and knowes are, I believe, hills. Lovely song!

Cheers,
Claire

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Mar 05 - 08:22 PM

ClaireBear, thanks very much for doing that.

Mom, when she says "if you will go to this page," she means you need to click on the blue letters "this page" with your cursor. The computer will automatically go there. "Clickable" means the same thing. When you get to the other page some of the words will be colored. Click on them with your cursor and you will get the American Standard English.

So far I only have Sinsull's and Charley's address. Anyone else want postcards?

This weekend Gordon and I tried to figure out why the kitchen sink was draining so slowly. We opened cleanouts and flushed water down into them and watched hunks and chunks of old grease and other disgusting items come up out of the holes. There's nothing like playing in sewage on a hot weekend morning. In the end we still had a slow drain so I called in the plumber on Monday. They took a couple of hours with their power snake and finally cleaned out the whole system.

I called about an appointment to get the MRI done. The person on the phone asked my age and weight. When he heard I weighed 335 pounds he regretfully informed me that their machine is only rated to 295 and that they would not help me. Once more Wakana was astonished at the American medical system. My doctor is looking at sending me to Hawaii to get the MRI and to consult with a neurologist. I guess I can live with that. Let's see, bathing suit, sandals, sunblock...

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Mar 05 - 05:50 AM

Wakana and I went to get the pickup. It needed work.. AGAIN! I am trying to get it into prime condition so I can sell it. This time it needed the switch for the power mirrors and a seat belt system replaced because the air bag light keeps coming on. Sigh. I have a little bit of cosmetic work to do also and then I hope it will fetch top dollar.

On the way home we stopped at the Chamorro Village for dinner. For those who do not know, or remember, Chamorro Village is a tourist trap with little shops selling many different handicrafts, sarongs and shell belts, baskets and little representations of latte stones, wood carvings, grass skirts and coconut cup bras, and many other items. It is a great place to shop for Christmas and birthdays. On Wednesday evenings there is a bazaar with even more booths open and several food vendors cooking barbeque and frying delicious things. You can get BBQ beef, chicken, pork, and fish. There are many kinds of kelaguen, pickled papaya, and other island foods. Gordon sells his jewelry there. There is music and the traditional dance groups perform their hulas.

We wandered around in the crowd, met Ward and the Japanese exchange student staying with him and his wife, talked to Gordon and his wife, discussed catering options with the manager of the Jamaica Grill, bought some BBQ and water and sat on a low wall to eat it, and then headed home in our two vehicles. (Remember we had gone out to collect the pickup.)

On the way home I pulled in to the parking lot at Asan Park. We sat on the tonneau cover and watched the stars for a while. The night sky was very clear. Orion sits right overhead on thes spring nights. The Pole Star sits very near the horizon. They say you can see the Pole Star and the Southern Cross at the same time if the conditions are right and you are in the right place. I haven't managed to see the Southern Cross yet but I hope to see it soon. The problem is that there is usually a series of clouds on the horizon all around the island. Strange but true.

When we got home we found that our backs were filthy black from the tonneau cover. There is always a yin to the yang.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 Mar 05 - 08:41 AM

brett - I sent you an email with my postal address on the 29th, I assume you would have it by now

sandra

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 03 Apr 05 - 07:40 PM

Sandra, Sinsull, and Charley: The postcards are going into the mail today. Hope you like them.

It's been a quiet week, not much to report. Today I go to the orthopedic surgeon for an examination of my right knee. Maybe he can make it all better so I can go back to walking. I have to be all better for the big trip starting in July.

Yesterday my former boss and good friend dropped by to give us the last of their groceries. They are headed back to Whidbey Island after almost two years here on Guam. They were dumping all their old groceries, canned and packaged stuff. We sat and drank iced tea and laughed about life and the future. We will have to go visit them on our big trip.

I got word that my dear old friend and voice coach, Joyce, was feeling low so I called her the other day. She will be moving to Vermont which means that Wakana and I can stop and visit on our way to Toronto in September.

Wakana washed and waxed her car this weekend. That may not seem like much to most of you but it was her first experience. She and I prize First Experiences. Wakana has only had a driver's license for about 3 years. Before that she had never needed to drive and did not have a license or a car. She was quite excited about it.

We are considering our future and have come up with 2 possible scenarios. One will result in us moving to Japan where I will teach English and she will work at whatever she can get. That would be a great way to spend a few years.

The other has us offering our services to an international language school as teachers of English and Japanese and moving wherever they need us working on one year contracts in various parts of the world.

Both are exciting prospects.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 09:53 AM

wow - what a life (either plan)

Just don't forget to include a visit here next March/April for the National & maybe Snalbans & of course another song or 2 at the best acoustic venue in Sydney - the Loaded Dog.

When my postcard arrives it will sit next the card sent by Mary in Kentucky - of course this means my 12 newest CDs currently blocking this space will have to get filed on the CD shelves.

sandra

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 10:30 AM

Brett, I'd love a postcard, too, if you still have some available. Will PM you with my addy. I remembered to call at a reasonable time for you and me, on Saturday, BUT it was about 2p your time, so I knew it was a long shot. I keep forgetting to try at what would be a decent hour for you! Will write myself a reminder.

Your book is coming along beautifully. Please keep it up!

luvyakat

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Tenjiro
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 03:25 PM

I want Jamaica Grill. It's not fair that you get to live a life of leasuire while I struggle to get through school. It's almost like you earned it or something. Gosh!
Also, today is beautful. I got a sun burn on my back from being outside for art class. Now if only I could just go for a swim in the ocean.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 04 Apr 05 - 10:21 PM

Hah! The water down near Agat has been so peaceful lately. There is NO surf on the reef so you cannot tell the lagoon from the open ocean. Wakana and I went down to the local park to watch the sun set and the water was like glass. It could have been a lake instead of the Philipine Sea.

Yesterday was NOT a good day. I have been out of touch with time. I dutifully went off to my appointment with the knee doctor and found I was a day too early. That appointment is today! Wakana and I were grumpy with each other and there were plenty of other like irritations. But we went down to Gordon's house to pay the rent and saw the sun setting from the top of the hill. It was half a golden ball on the horizon and sank out of sight in a golden halo of clouds as we watched.

My pickup has a hard insulated tonneau cover on the box. There is a black coarse material glued to the metal of the cover. The sun has not been kind to that black material. It is coming up in a few spots, most notably the rear corners. As part of my campaign to sell the truck I decided to glue the corners back down. I bought some Ace Probond Glue. It claims to be the ultimate glue. I always thought the ultimate glue would be stuck in it's container but this cames out like water.

I spread it around and clamped the piece down using a ceramic tiel to spread the pressure. I had notice on the bottle that the glue expands but I wasn't ready for what I saw next morning. All around the tile was a line of hard beige foam. But the tile came off OK and so did the foam. The fabric seems to be well bonded to the metal so I guess it worked. It must be time for the detailer.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 12:01 AM

JtS and I had our interview for his status adjustment today, Brett. The person conducting the interveiw asked JtS if he had ever been a prostitute. He was not at all pleased with that question, but it cracked me up. All in all, the interview was more fun than uncomfortable (but we were very lucky and had a great interviewer). But getting the documentation ready for it took many, many hours. Take more documentation than you think you might need when you go for your interview with Wakana. They probably won't want it all, but you'll have it in case you need it. They will want copies of everthing, too. I found it much easier to scan everthing into the computer and then print it out, than trying to use a copy machine to make copies.

The upshot is that the US government approves of our marriage, but we still have one or two layers of bureaucracy to get through before we're finished with this process.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 08:44 PM

Carol, you went WITH JtS? The embassy was very specific when they told me she had to go to the interview by herself. I wonder what's going on? Were you working with embassy staff or with Immigration in the USA?

Last night I called my old credit card company (a credit union) to ask why they still think I owe them thousands of dollars. They explained that I had not told them about the ID theft until January and it was too late to do anything about it now! I am making copies of my correspondence with them, correspondence that dates to September! They claim I was writing to the wrong place but I was only following the instructions I got over the phone. Sigh! What's next?

We got the quote for the RTW trip yesterday. For $2771/person we can go to Japan, England, Northeastern USA, Northwestern USA, Hawaii, and home again. We can take as long as we like to do it. This will be fun.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,curmudgeon
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 09:03 PM

Brett -- Contact the banking commission and/or the attorney General's Consumer Protection office in whatever state your credit union is in. You will get results.

looking forward to seeing you and your bride -- Tom

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Apr 05 - 10:36 PM

The interview we went to this time was for the green card. We waited more than two years for that interview. It was a bit like the interview Andie MacDowell and Gérard Depardieu's characters had to go through in the movie Green Card. But we had only one interviewer, we were both interviewed in the same room, at the same time, by the one interviewer, and I didn't have to tell her what kind of shampoo or cologne JtS uses.

We were interviewed at the INS (or whatever they're calling it now) in the Federal Building in Atlanta. We have an immigration attorney, and he was there with us during the interview.

I put all of our documentation into a portable hanging file (rigid plastic box about 12" x 15", with a handle on the lid). It was almost full of documentation. The interviewer used a couple of little tricks to try to get us to screw up (in case we were not legit), but they didn't pose a problem for us since our marriage is a solid one, and we've been together for more than two and a half years.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 06 Apr 05 - 05:18 AM

Well, we haven't got that kind of documentation but I hope they don't take two years to schedule Wakana's interview. That is why we are working through the embassy. Friends have told us the process is much faster.

Speaking of which the divorce decree finally arrived and goes out to the embassy tomorrow. It was the one piece of paper we did not have when I went in to the embassy back on February 23. Wakana will have to go back to Japan sometime around the end of the month to get her stuff in order for her interview, hoping they schedule it fairly soon. She needs a physical and a clean bill of health from the Japanese police. Soon I may be a bachelor again.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:40 AM

Yesterday afternoon we bought a new lawnmower. The grass was out of control, Gordon's two mowers were down and my old beat up second hand mower wasn't worth a piss hole in the snow.

We got it home and fired it up. What a nice piece of machinery. It made short work of the grass (pun intended, no apologies). Then Wakana tried pushing it while I used the weedwhacker on the trim around the front of the house.

After we quit we sat on the front step and listened to the evening come on. The sun was setting but we couldn't see it. However, golden light filtered through the leaves of the banana trees and the high thin overcast on that part of the horizon that we could see slowly turned salmon pink. Some puffy lower clouds drfted by, dark grey, almost blue, setting off the pink above them. Up the street the children were playing and yelling but they were far enough away that the sound was not annoying.

Then we heard the peeping sound of our little chicken family coming home for the evening. Ever since the speckled hen hatched her chicks she has used our outdoor closet as her roost bringing them home every night. We sat quietly watching for the first sign of the little ones. The came up the embankment and around the base of the banana trees. The mama hen seemed startled by the change in the yard. I suppose she was also disturbed by our presence. She kept to the high weeds at the edge of the lawn but finally brought her little family out into the short grass. She struck a pose of watchfulness as her babies scrmbled about looking for food. There was plenty to eat and they were very busy. We tried to take their picture and that drove mama back into the weeds and then down the embankment but they came back up around the banana trees and this time went into the closet. The night was coming on and she had to get her nine little chicks into safety.

Have I mentioned that we love living in the tropics?

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 Apr 05 - 08:34 AM

We knew what we wanted to do today. We had it planned. We would mow the lawn and cut my hair (two SEPARATE actions). And like almost all wonderful days our plans went into the toilet right from the get-go.

I called Gordon this morning and in the course of the conversation he mentioned that he, Larry, and Manny were going down to Inarajan to look at the sea approaches. We needed Manny to judge for himself as to whether or not we can get the canoe into Gef Pago.

You see, back in the 19th century the Spanish priests brought a holy statue to the church in Inarajan. They brought it by sea but the ship couldn't get into the harbor so some Chamorros went out in their canoe and brought in the statue. Ever since then they have re-enacted the landing of the statue. In recent decades they used motorboat. Now they have come to realize there is a traditional canoe available to them and they want put it to work.

So we decided to go with Gordon down to Inarajan. We met at Larry's house which Wakana had never seen. She was amazed at the place. Larry has lived in the islands for thirty five years. He has arts and crafts, maps and paintings, carvings and textiles, from many different places decorating his walls.

When Manny arrived we split up the party into the two pickups and headed south. Manny joined us. The Ranger is a larger pickup and has a jump seat. Wakana sat back there. On the way he told us of a place in Umatac that works like the "magnetic" hills back home. The visual illusion is that you are going downhill but if you put your car in neutral it rolls uphill.

In Merizo we stopped at the church to view the archaeological dig at the church. Someone was digging up the old sewer line and found cobblestones where none were expected. The church is one of the oldest left on the island. It was built in 1858 and still has the old stone walls and patio where the outside kitchen was kept. Larry says the original road ran closer to the water so the cobblestones in by the front door of the rectory were unexpected.

We headed down to Inarajan and suddenly we made another side trip. We turned away from the water and climbed a hill. Towards the top we parked the trucks and walked up on to a knoll. This is the latest of Gordon's properties. He owns an acre with what has to be the best view on the island bar none! The vista from the top of the knoll sweeps in an arc of seascapes for at least 285 degrees. The rest of it is island and mountains. The area is open grasslands, no trees break the view. He plans to build a double dome house up there. The wind was very strong. The grass was growing horizontally along the ground, laid down by the wind.

From there we headed down to visit Judy Flores. I had heard her name before and only thought of her as an artist on the island. I thought I knew what she looked like. I had seen a heavy pale woman selling paintings at various venues and had assumed it was she. Nope! We were met by a lithe woman with white hair and a spring in her step. She kept up a lively conversation with Gordon, Larry, and Manny, all of whom she knew, and welcomed me and Wakana with a light handshake and a warm greeting. Her dog, Tripod, a three legged German shepherd mix, kept barking at us. He was very shy. Her cat was not so shy and demanded our attention.

We went with Judy down to Gef Pago where we surveyed the cove and the beaches looking for a good place to launch the canoe. It turns out Judy is instrumental in managing the little Chamorro village where the local artists make their handicrafts for the tourists. We viewed the water and the dark sand beach. Gordon pointed to a little pile of black sand in the grass. It was an ant heap. The ants had excavated only the black iron sands. Judy pointed out a long structure on the beach that looked like the remains of a curved wall. She said it was all that was left of an old Japanese vessel that had been wrecked after the war. The locals had dragged the hull into the harbor so they could salvage the wood of the hull. She didn't know anything more about the ship. Wakana and I walked down to look at it and I picked a rusted bolt out of the timbers.

We then headed for Ipan to look at wood on another of Gordon's properties. They are looking for wood to use for adze handles. The property sits right on the road outside of a long curve at the bottom of a hill. The entire piece consists of a huge mound of coral covered in jungle growth. He bought it with a friend of his intending to quarry the coral for sale. We wandered along the road while Manny looked at the wood and suggested trees that we could cut for various uses on the canoe and for tool handles.

After that Gordon, Manny, and Larry headed off to Larry's house and we headed home. Wakana wanted to stop at Jeff's Pirates Cove for some iced tea. We had only had a little shrimp fried rice for lunch so we bought an appetizer and a gyro to share. We sat on the roofed patio and watched the kite surfers play. They fly big semicircular kites that pull them along the water on a kind of water ski. They would make huge jumps, flashing the board in the sun and then speeding off in another direction. There were four of them our in the cove. The wind was pretty strong and they were having a ball out there.

We headed home then, crossing the island on the old Cross Island Road and running past my old house. We had kept the windows down all day because the weather was quite dry. The temperature was in the high 80s but with the low humidity we found it quite comfortable. We are tired but very happy with our day. I guess the lawn, and I, get mowed tomorrow.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Apr 05 - 09:02 AM

Yesterday morning I woke in the dark and realized Wakana was in the living room watching TV. She couldn쳌ft sleep. I figured I was up too so we made coffee, took our breakfast donuts and drove over to the east side of the island to watch the sun come up. It was still dark when we settled on the picnic table bench. The wind was strong from the east and the surf roared out on the reef. As the light came up we could see that the horizon was lost in clouds. The prospects for a great sunrise did not look good. But there were three layers of clouds in the sky. As the sun rose each layer took on a different hue, moving subtly from dark grey through shades of pink and purple into the white of the day time clouds. We didn쳌ft expect to see the sun at all but suddenly a bright spot appeared on the horizon right where the clouds were opened up and we saw the disk rise up into the clouds. It was lovely.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Apr 05 - 10:18 AM

Its wonderful that you take us on excursions, but you even have the graciousness to serve us food as well :)

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 16 Apr 05 - 10:31 AM

This morning I called Larry to offer my services as chauffer because Gordon is in Saipan at the Flame Tree Festival. We drove to the canoe for the regular classes.

I don't know if I mentioned the classes and my connection is super slow today so I don't want to go looking for any earlier mention. Since I joined the Traditional Seafarer's Society we have been trying to get out into the community with our message about keeping the tradition alive. Part of that effort has been applying for grants to fund an education process. That was successful in January and the first classes started at the beginning of April. As with all things related to time and me, I have been unable to attend the classes until this morning.

We arrived and unloaded the truck. Larry brought several coils of rope and twine, life jackets and life rings, two boxes of files and photographs, a jug for mixing five gallons of iced tea, a canoe paddle, and a few miscellaneous items. We met Manny and his son Clarence/Bruce/Mikey (yes, one son, more on that later) and others began arriving soon after. The boonie stomp group was meeting at the same time so the place was full of people talking.

The class had to take a test on the subjects learned so far, the parts of the canoe in Manny's native tongue, Carolinian. The idea is that Manny has to give commands on the boat and he cannot stop to explain which line a crew member should haul on or where someone should sit. Manny got the boat rigged with the mast and sail standing. Then the canoe swarmed with people doing a last minute cram of the parts and lines. Manny reviewed the important parts with the people calling out the answers as part of a review. Then they were ready for the test. Everyone had a piece of paper with 37 answer lines. manny stood on the canoe with a pointer and called out a number and pointed to a part of the boat. Peole were very intent, scribbling furiously.

I sat on the sidelines. I didn't bother trying to take the test. I knew I could always make up the work with him later. It helps being vice president of the club. So I sat and studied the crowd and thought of the months that led up to this day. We had about 25 people there of both genders and all ages. They were very serious. I felt a bit of pride in what the society was doing. I looked at them and at Manny standing on the canoe and I knew that we were doing the right thing.

When I joined the group we had a broken canoe and no real goal. We were squatting on borrowed property under a ratty canopy and any rain cancelled all work for the day. We had no wood and only Manny knew what trees would provide the right supplies.

Now we have a small paddling canoe under construction, we have acquired the logs for a larger two man sailing canoe, classes in sailing and navigation, and we expect the poles for our canoe house to arrive soon. There is movement and it is good. It certainly feels good.

Tomorrow Wakana leaves me for a month or so. She is going back to Japan to prepare for her immigration visa. She is packing as I speak. By this time tomorrow I will be footloose and fancy free, i.e., lonely. I hope it doesn't take too long.

Someone came by and took my pickup out for a test drive. It would be nice to get it sold though I will miss it. For aabout a month before I advertised it we watched the paper looking for a similar pickup so I could gauge my price. None were for sale. Now that I have it listed someone else is selling the exact same truck and asking $1000 less than I am. Sigh. It's that old argument with the Goddess of Time.

As for Manny's son, Clarence/Bruce/Mikey, we have never agreed on his name. Some of our members call him Clarence, others Bruce. Today when he had to introduce himself to the rest of the class he said his name was Mikey. Manny called him Mikey. Yet, in the past I have heard him call the kid Clarence. If you ask him to clear up the confusion he only grins. The mystery will remain.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Amos
Date: 16 Apr 05 - 02:10 PM

LOL! I like that kid -- multiple personalities and prooud of it!!

Great post, Brett -- good luck on your truck sale.


A

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: GUEST,Charley Noble
Date: 16 Apr 05 - 02:33 PM

Brett-

You can always work on your music while Wakana is away. Maybe even learn some new guitar licks.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, alive and well in NYC

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 16 Apr 05 - 11:41 PM

The only way I know of to lick a guitar is with my tongue. Otherwise the guitar has licked me!

Of course that doesn't stop me from trying. I just bought a Little Martin 6 string to carry with me on my travels. It fits nicely in the baggage compartment on airplanes. It's very light but has very nice sound. I first saw one when I was visiting Amos two years ago. I really like it. Can't play it worth a damn but I really like it.

Wakana is gone, off to Japan. Sigh, the house sure seems quiet without her.

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 09:58 AM

Well, I finally got a picture...but of a damn boat not Wakana! Typical! Enjoy "baching" it for a while, Brett. You will appreciate Wakana even more for the separation. Does she make you change your hat periodically? The Board Of Health won't let you into the States with that pestilence ridden abomination you used to wear.
Love you,
SINS

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Leadfingers
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 12:16 PM

This is still a fascinating thread - Enjoying all of it !! And looking forward to meeting Brett later in the year both in UK and at the Getaway !

Subject: RE: Springtime In Guam
From: Leadfingers
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 12:17 PM

AND the Three Hundrdth !!!