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Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Longest Wenesday of My Life
Hi,
Sorry I haven't posted lately, but we were off island from Wed. Sept. 28 until Oct. 31.
We went back to the states to visit family and had a great time. However, what I want to tell you about is our experience traveling military space-A. (that's space avaliable for you civilians).
The way space-A works is you sign up at the airport you want to fly from, up to 90 days before you want to fly. This gets your name on the list. You are assigned a category based on who is traveling. For example, retired military are category 6. The children and I were category 4 when we traveled without Root and category 2 when our Root was with us.
Now the way you get a seat on the plane is you show up at the airport, after calling to find out if there are flights going where you want to go. Then they announce there are so many seats avaliable for this flight. Then they start at category 1, and call the names in order of who has been on the list the longest. Then they progress down the categories until all the seats are filled. Thats why you want to get your name on the list as early as possible, so you can be at the top of your category.
Now that you know how the selection process works the next step is we had to contact the airport to find out when flights are going where we want to go. This is the tricky part because they will only give out flight information 24 hours in advance, so you have to be ready to go to the airport and try and get on the plane.
Anyway, the children and I wanted to meet Root in HI the last week of Sept. His leave started Oct. 3.
So I started calling on Sunday andthere was a flight Tue., but it got canceled. The next flight was leaving at 3:30am Wed. morning. Now during this time a typhoon was developing and suppose to be coming to Guam so if we didn't get out before the bad weather we would be stuck until the next week. So I get up at 1am and plan to get the kids up, leave by 1:30 and be at the airport before 2am. However, I decide to call and check before waking the kids up. Good thing to because the flight had been pushed back to 4:30am, so I decide to let the kids sleep a little longer. I call again at 2:30 and you want believe it. The flight had already left! Yep, due to the storm coming in the pilot requested and immediate turn around, so they landed on/off loaded and took off. Ok no problem the next fligt is Wed. at 11pm. So I go back to bed and about 5am Adrian and Malia wake me up thinking we had missed the plane. So I had only been asleep about 2 hours, but up I get.
Well, Wed. goes by in blur of fatigue. But we arrive at the airport around 9pm. Roll call, when they let you know if you get a seat on the plane is at 11pm, but I'm not taking any chances. So they finally tell us there are 20 seats on the plane. We start off on the list at seats 8,9, &10, but as it gets closer to 11 we move down and finally end up at seats 15,16,&17 so I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm pretty sure we are getting on the plane. Roll call comes and our names are called. We check our luggage and purchase our box lunch. ( These are military flights and some of them offer a box lunch for $5. This is pretty good with a sandwich, a drink and a couple of snacks, otherwise you have to bring your own food and you cannot take drinks on the plane, although they do provide water.) Then we wait to be called through security. Then there is a call for about 10 of us to come to the desk. Due to the cargo they only have 10 seats. . So we are waiting to see if they can rearrange the cargo and the answer is sorry, no. So they give us our money back for our lunches and our luggage back. But wait, we don't head home yet. I was told to hang out until the plane leaves the ground so we are hanging around and about 15 minutes later they come back in and say they have 21 seats now, not just the original 20. This is great because there was a retired couple that were number 20 and 21 on the list so one was getting left behind, but now they both got to go. So we recheck our luggage and buy our lunches and wait.
By the time we go through security and take the bus out to the plane it is 2:30am Thursday morning when we finally get on the plane. The good thing about this is that the children slept almost all the way to HI. However, it was really cold. ( I had been warned that it probably would be) There was a big pipe blowing cold air on us so we had our jackets on with the hoods up and the kids each had a blanket. Since I was in the middle they kept me warm. It was kinda funny, because the seats are jump seats on the side of the plane. The cargo was 2 big boats on trailers and we had to go around one boat and then up by its side. Sweetpea, was in the first seat on that side of the plane and the boat trailer was close enough for her to prop her feet up on it.
Well, the flight was uneventful, and we arrived in HI around 1:30 on, you guessed it, Wed. afternoon.
The rest of our trip was much easier. On the way back to HI we were in a refueling plane and got to lay down in the tail bubble. It was so cool, it was like laying on a bubble under the plane on your stomach. The children even got to see down inside diamond head as we came into HI. Also, Bud got to be in the cockpit during take off and Sweetpea got to be in there during the landing. I'm sure it is an adventure they will never forget. I know I want.
The best thing about traveling on military flights is everyone is so friendly with each other. Also, the crews try to be as accomodating as possible. Our return flight got stopped in CA for crew rest and they helped us all get accomadations at the lodge on base. Also, since they didn't offer the box lunch, when we ended up waiting an extra 4 hours in the terminal they went to the chow hall and got everyone who wanted to buy it a plate lunch. We met a lot of really great people. Although during the flight there is little communication since you have to wear earplugs due to the loud engine noise. Our trip back was really fun because there were 2 other families traveling with children so we had time to talk and the children had time to play. You know the military has its good and its bad just like everything else. But this was really a great experience.
Until next time we are blooming where we're planted, here in the middle of the Pacific.
Stem
Sorry I haven't posted lately, but we were off island from Wed. Sept. 28 until Oct. 31.
We went back to the states to visit family and had a great time. However, what I want to tell you about is our experience traveling military space-A. (that's space avaliable for you civilians).
The way space-A works is you sign up at the airport you want to fly from, up to 90 days before you want to fly. This gets your name on the list. You are assigned a category based on who is traveling. For example, retired military are category 6. The children and I were category 4 when we traveled without Root and category 2 when our Root was with us.
Now the way you get a seat on the plane is you show up at the airport, after calling to find out if there are flights going where you want to go. Then they announce there are so many seats avaliable for this flight. Then they start at category 1, and call the names in order of who has been on the list the longest. Then they progress down the categories until all the seats are filled. Thats why you want to get your name on the list as early as possible, so you can be at the top of your category.
Now that you know how the selection process works the next step is we had to contact the airport to find out when flights are going where we want to go. This is the tricky part because they will only give out flight information 24 hours in advance, so you have to be ready to go to the airport and try and get on the plane.
Anyway, the children and I wanted to meet Root in HI the last week of Sept. His leave started Oct. 3.
So I started calling on Sunday andthere was a flight Tue., but it got canceled. The next flight was leaving at 3:30am Wed. morning. Now during this time a typhoon was developing and suppose to be coming to Guam so if we didn't get out before the bad weather we would be stuck until the next week. So I get up at 1am and plan to get the kids up, leave by 1:30 and be at the airport before 2am. However, I decide to call and check before waking the kids up. Good thing to because the flight had been pushed back to 4:30am, so I decide to let the kids sleep a little longer. I call again at 2:30 and you want believe it. The flight had already left! Yep, due to the storm coming in the pilot requested and immediate turn around, so they landed on/off loaded and took off. Ok no problem the next fligt is Wed. at 11pm. So I go back to bed and about 5am Adrian and Malia wake me up thinking we had missed the plane. So I had only been asleep about 2 hours, but up I get.
Well, Wed. goes by in blur of fatigue. But we arrive at the airport around 9pm. Roll call, when they let you know if you get a seat on the plane is at 11pm, but I'm not taking any chances. So they finally tell us there are 20 seats on the plane. We start off on the list at seats 8,9, &10, but as it gets closer to 11 we move down and finally end up at seats 15,16,&17 so I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm pretty sure we are getting on the plane. Roll call comes and our names are called. We check our luggage and purchase our box lunch. ( These are military flights and some of them offer a box lunch for $5. This is pretty good with a sandwich, a drink and a couple of snacks, otherwise you have to bring your own food and you cannot take drinks on the plane, although they do provide water.) Then we wait to be called through security. Then there is a call for about 10 of us to come to the desk. Due to the cargo they only have 10 seats. . So we are waiting to see if they can rearrange the cargo and the answer is sorry, no. So they give us our money back for our lunches and our luggage back. But wait, we don't head home yet. I was told to hang out until the plane leaves the ground so we are hanging around and about 15 minutes later they come back in and say they have 21 seats now, not just the original 20. This is great because there was a retired couple that were number 20 and 21 on the list so one was getting left behind, but now they both got to go. So we recheck our luggage and buy our lunches and wait.
By the time we go through security and take the bus out to the plane it is 2:30am Thursday morning when we finally get on the plane. The good thing about this is that the children slept almost all the way to HI. However, it was really cold. ( I had been warned that it probably would be) There was a big pipe blowing cold air on us so we had our jackets on with the hoods up and the kids each had a blanket. Since I was in the middle they kept me warm. It was kinda funny, because the seats are jump seats on the side of the plane. The cargo was 2 big boats on trailers and we had to go around one boat and then up by its side. Sweetpea, was in the first seat on that side of the plane and the boat trailer was close enough for her to prop her feet up on it.
Well, the flight was uneventful, and we arrived in HI around 1:30 on, you guessed it, Wed. afternoon.
The rest of our trip was much easier. On the way back to HI we were in a refueling plane and got to lay down in the tail bubble. It was so cool, it was like laying on a bubble under the plane on your stomach. The children even got to see down inside diamond head as we came into HI. Also, Bud got to be in the cockpit during take off and Sweetpea got to be in there during the landing. I'm sure it is an adventure they will never forget. I know I want.
The best thing about traveling on military flights is everyone is so friendly with each other. Also, the crews try to be as accomodating as possible. Our return flight got stopped in CA for crew rest and they helped us all get accomadations at the lodge on base. Also, since they didn't offer the box lunch, when we ended up waiting an extra 4 hours in the terminal they went to the chow hall and got everyone who wanted to buy it a plate lunch. We met a lot of really great people. Although during the flight there is little communication since you have to wear earplugs due to the loud engine noise. Our trip back was really fun because there were 2 other families traveling with children so we had time to talk and the children had time to play. You know the military has its good and its bad just like everything else. But this was really a great experience.
Until next time we are blooming where we're planted, here in the middle of the Pacific.
Stem
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
solar eclipse pictures
I couldn't load the pictures on the post. This is what we saw from Guam. The youtube video from Japan, on the other post, shows a total solar eclipse, but we only got a 75% of totality, still pretty cool.solar eclipse
Hi all,
Well, I just have to tell you about the solar eclipse. It was the coolest thing, ever.
Anyway, it was only a 75% totality here on Guam, but it was still very noticeable.
The eclipse was on Wed. and the Sat before we went to the planetarium. Yes, Guam has a planetarium, but not anything like what you are use to. It is this smallish room, about 15x15, with carpeted floor that goes up in about 4inch high steps that are about 3 feet wide, this is where you lie down and look up into the domed ceiling to see the show. Also, the a/c is broken and has been since Dec. when we went for a Christmas show, about the star of Bethlehem. The entire production is done locally, but it is very interesting.
For the eclipse they talked about what the ancient peoples believed was happening when an eclipse occurred. It was pretty interesting, from dragons eating the sun, to the Aborigines of Australia who pretty much knew what was going on. They thought that the moon and sun were married and that they only got to be together once in a great while so the moon, put its back to earth covering the sun so they could have privacy during their time together.
The show also explained why the moon, so much smaller than the sun, can make it appear as if it is blocking the entire sun. Its because its so close to us. Try this, look at a light and then close one eye and put your thumb in front of the open eye close to your face, see how it blocks the light? As you move your thumb away from your eye you see more and more of the light. That's how it is with the moon, but apparently, like your thumb, the moon is moving further away from earth and in another couple hundred years there will be no more total eclipses of the sun.
After the show they showed us how to make an eclipse viewer, because as you know you are NEVER to look directly at the sun. Well,our Root didn't get to go with us to the show, but he was off on Wed. That morning we made our viewers, its really easy, and got our cook out stuff together and sat outside waiting for the big event, which was suppose to be from about 11am to 2pm, with the most coverage around 12:30. So we started watching the eclipse, but being Guam, the clouds rolled in around 12:15. Oh well, we thought we got to see how it was going to work, but then right at 12:30 after pouring down rain for about 10 minutes, the clouds parted and we got the best view for about 30 minutes, then the clouds came again and stayed the rest of the day.
I couldn't help but think that God knew how much Bud and Sweetpea were looking forward to sharing that moment with Root, they had told him all about the show at the planetarium, and how to make the viewers. Sweetpea even asked for a sunny day in her prayers the night before.
Isn't it wonderful how the Father hears us and gives us glimpses of the Son?
Here is a link to a youtube video from Japan:
Until next time, we are blooming where we're planted.
Monday, August 17, 2009
low tide continued
Sorry about the last post. It never comes out the way it looks when I'm typing it. Anyway, the first picture was the edge of the reef and where the blue water is it drops to 100 plus feet deep.
The next picture was the negative tide. It only occurs in the summer months during full moon. The tide is actually lower than normal sea level, and everything not covered by water dies. That's why the reef is so brown.
Below is a picture of the live coral reef at the edge of where we were walking. If you look at the first picture in the other post this is looking down into one of the crevices.
It was just so awesome.
The next picture was the negative tide. It only occurs in the summer months during full moon. The tide is actually lower than normal sea level, and everything not covered by water dies. That's why the reef is so brown.
Below is a picture of the live coral reef at the edge of where we were walking. If you look at the first picture in the other post this is looking down into one of the crevices.
It was just so awesome.
Negative Tide
Hi everyone,
Sorry its been so long since I posted. I want to tell you about an interesting thing that happened to us the other day.
Its summer, its hot, we live within minutes of a beach any direction we drive. So one afternoon I told the kids get your swimsuits on grab your towel and your snorkle we're going to the beach for about an hour to cool off.
Sorry its been so long since I posted. I want to tell you about an interesting thing that happened to us the other day.
Its summer, its hot, we live within minutes of a beach any direction we drive. So one afternoon I told the kids get your swimsuits on grab your towel and your snorkle we're going to the beach for about an hour to cool off.
Well, we go there and to my surprise there was no water. I don't mean it was low tide, I mean the reef was dry except for a few deeper holes. We walked about the length of a football field out to the edge of the reef. It was so cool, there are big holes in the edge so you could look down and see all kinds of fish and living coral. Also, there were small holes where the water sprayed up like a miniture gyzer. Walking out there we saw all kinds of animals that are usually hidden when we are snorkling. Below are some pictures.
This is the edge of the reef, where you see This is called negative tide, it only occurs in the
the nice blue water it drops off to around summer when the moon is full, the water's lower
100 plus feet deep. than normal sea level.
These rocks are usually covered with water. A giant clam.
an anemone and a sea urchin
a spider starfishItwas amazing to walk all the way out to the edge of the reef. God has really shown us his power and creativity since we have been here. These are only a few examples of the creatures we saw. I never knew there were so many different kinds of starfish.
Until next time we are blooming where we're planted here in the negative tide summer of Guam.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Mango Festival
June and July are the months for mangoes here in Guam. We had a great time at the mango festival. If you look closely you'll notice the mangoes hanging at the posts for the tent. These are 
green mangoes and they eat them sliced with salt and pepper, tabasco, or any number of other sauces. The local mango is much smaller than the ones you are use to seeing in the grocery store, but they are very sweet and tasty. At the festival they had grilled mango, mango tea, mango smoothies, mango ice cream, and all kinds of mango salsas and chutneys. Not to mention the mango games.
green mangoes and they eat them sliced with salt and pepper, tabasco, or any number of other sauces. The local mango is much smaller than the ones you are use to seeing in the grocery store, but they are very sweet and tasty. At the festival they had grilled mango, mango tea, mango smoothies, mango ice cream, and all kinds of mango salsas and chutneys. Not to mention the mango games.
Here are Sweetpea and Bud waiting with a bunch of local kids for the mango bobbing to begin.
It was suppose to start at 11am. The time now is 11:15 and they are still waiting on the tables to be set up.
Finally, at about 11:30 they are ready to start. It was quite funny watching the whole thing get set up. They used a bucket brigade to get the water over to the bowls it took them about 10 minutes to get enough water in each bowl. Stem and Bud were troopers and got really wet but were not able to get even one mango out of the bowl. Have you ever tried biting into a green mango? It is very hard and just will not sit still in that bowl of water. Anyway, a local girl won she got 5 of the 6 out of her bowl in the allotted time. It was a lot of fun.
After seeing all the dishes at the festival I was inspired. Not to mention I had a refrigerator full of mangoes. We got the 12 green mangoes the kids were bobbing for and also our neighbors have been very generous with all their produce and fruits. So I tried my hand at mango salsa. Root thought it was wonderful, Stem and Bud said it was too hot, and me, well I'm just happy that we are all blooming where we're planted.
My mango salsa
booney pepper, one has about the same kick as 4 jalapenos
Mango Salsa recipe
2-4 mangoes
a tomato or 2
cilantro
hot pepper, I use 2 boony peppers
lime juice
a little fresh ginger grated (optional)
Friday, July 10, 2009
Local's vacation
Lost Pond>
locals beach housecoconut crab out of its shell coconut crab in a shell
hiking on the beach
playing at lost pond
hiking on the beach
animal pool at PIC
balance beam at PIC
trampoline at PIC
puffer fish in the swim through aquarium
Hi all,
Sorry its been awhile but we took a locals vacation. Since most of the locals cannot afford to fly off island for a vacation they go PIC, that's Pacific Island Club, it is a resort hotel. For the price of your room you get breakfast and use of all the facilities. This includes, a pool with 2 slides and a balance beam, pool with rolling logs, pool for sports, pool for laps, pool with big animals anchored in it for the kids to climb on, and one of those spray pools.
Also, they have a beach area a swim through aquarium, (see picture above of a puffer fish)tennis, batmitten, archery, ping pong, many golf, and a trampoline. You get use of all this from 10 am on day of check in until 5pm on day of check out. We had a blast, but we only lasted until 1:30 on day of check out because we were all so tired. We even got to spend some time with our friends that were staying there because they are PCSing back to the states. Seems when you are in the military friends are always coming and going. Thats the cycle of change I guess.
We also spent some time hiking and went to this cool place called "Lost Pond" We had to actually wear hiking shoes to hike down the beach due to volcanic rock. Then after about a mile and half hiking down the beach we finally came to a stopping spot.
We went snorkeling in " sharks hole" there aren't any sharks. However, I think I've mentioned how the reef extends way out and the water is pretty shallow, well we swam out about 50 yards to this big hole in the reef where the water gets deeper and you can see some very interesting fish. We saw a huge blue starfish, it was about 20" across and an arm was about an inch circumfrence. That was really cool.
Then we had a picnic on the beach got back on our hiking shoes and hit the jungle. About a 1/4 mile in we found lost pond. Its this fresh water pond completely surronded by jungle. The water was so cool and refreshing. We had fun trying to catch small fish in our hands and listening to the barking frogs ( they really sound just like a dog barking). We got to see several coconut crabs, named for their love of coconut.
The coconut crab is the largest land living anthropod, an animal with an exoskeleton, in the world. Our pictures are of babies. They are born in the water and live there for 28 days and then loose the ability to breathe in the water. As young they are like hemit crabs until they can no longer find a shell big enough. Then they use cocnut shells until they develop their own hard exoskeleton. They can get up to a length of 16 inches and a weight of 9 pounds. They are big enough to husk and crack a coconut with their claws, which is their favorite food along with other fruits. They can live to be up to 30 years old. Their primary predator is man, they are considered a delicacy in the islands.
When we see all these wonderous sites, I try to remind the children how blessed we are that God created all these things for us to enjoy. Every time I turn around I am amazed by His creation. I just don't understand how some people can think that its all just an accidental occurance.
Please forgive the way the pictures came out, this was my first time and they didn't come out where I wanted them. I will try to be more consistent with my posts. Next time low tides and the mango festival.
Till then we are blooming where we're planted.
Stem
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Camp Adventure
Well, Sweetpea and Bud have been in camp this week. They did not go to camp on base with all the other military kids, nor did they go to the nice Christian camp, Bud was born one year too late to qualify. They went to the local camp in the community of Agat.
We woke up the first day of camp to a massive thunderstorm. Now, although it rains a lot, in the 9 months we've been here this was only the second thunderstorm. The first one lasted a whopping 5 minutes. This however was a full fledged storm. So we all run to the van and take off. First we have to drop Dad on base, then we head out for camp. I have to stop at the mayors office to pay the registration fee and find out where to take the kids. The camp is in the gym by the youth center and as we pull up the bottom falls out of the sky. Luckily we're a little early and no one is there yet so we just sit and wait. Finally, a little after 8, camp is from 8-5, someone shows up to unlock the gym. Now I'm a little concerned about leaving my children here because it is not like camps on the mainland where everything is very structured and organized. I have to sign them in, and I'm still a little nervous. They are the only howlies ( that's what the islanders call white people) in the camp everyone else is local and most of the kids go to school together. But Sweetpea and Bud had already joined the crowd and seemed to be ok. Of course, this is not the first time that we've lived in a place where we were the minority, not too many white Americans can say that. So I take a deep breath and say a little prayer as I'm walking out the door.
(You need to know that when we first got here we saw rainbows with almost every rain, but we haven't seen any for a couple of months now.) When I head toward the van there is a big black cloud hanging over it and as I'm walking to it, still wondering if leaving them here is such a good idea, the cloud parts and there right over my van is part of a rainbow. Wow, I gave Papa a big thank you and finally relaxed. Today is the last day of camp and they have had a blast. They've made a journal and Father's day cards out of local materials. They played ping pong and kick ball. They've learned a traditional Chammorro dance and made a few new friends. Also, today they are on their first "for real" field trip. When you homeschool its not really a field trip because mom is with you. Of course this is not an educational field trip its a fun won. They have gone to Tarza, Guam's water park complete with slides, lazy river and even a small water roller coaster. I'm thankful for this time that we've had apart. Although, I love my children dearly, since we spend 24/7 together we just need a break from each other once in awhile.
Next week we are taking the locals vacation. I'll let you know how that adventure turns out.
We woke up the first day of camp to a massive thunderstorm. Now, although it rains a lot, in the 9 months we've been here this was only the second thunderstorm. The first one lasted a whopping 5 minutes. This however was a full fledged storm. So we all run to the van and take off. First we have to drop Dad on base, then we head out for camp. I have to stop at the mayors office to pay the registration fee and find out where to take the kids. The camp is in the gym by the youth center and as we pull up the bottom falls out of the sky. Luckily we're a little early and no one is there yet so we just sit and wait. Finally, a little after 8, camp is from 8-5, someone shows up to unlock the gym. Now I'm a little concerned about leaving my children here because it is not like camps on the mainland where everything is very structured and organized. I have to sign them in, and I'm still a little nervous. They are the only howlies ( that's what the islanders call white people) in the camp everyone else is local and most of the kids go to school together. But Sweetpea and Bud had already joined the crowd and seemed to be ok. Of course, this is not the first time that we've lived in a place where we were the minority, not too many white Americans can say that. So I take a deep breath and say a little prayer as I'm walking out the door.
(You need to know that when we first got here we saw rainbows with almost every rain, but we haven't seen any for a couple of months now.) When I head toward the van there is a big black cloud hanging over it and as I'm walking to it, still wondering if leaving them here is such a good idea, the cloud parts and there right over my van is part of a rainbow. Wow, I gave Papa a big thank you and finally relaxed. Today is the last day of camp and they have had a blast. They've made a journal and Father's day cards out of local materials. They played ping pong and kick ball. They've learned a traditional Chammorro dance and made a few new friends. Also, today they are on their first "for real" field trip. When you homeschool its not really a field trip because mom is with you. Of course this is not an educational field trip its a fun won. They have gone to Tarza, Guam's water park complete with slides, lazy river and even a small water roller coaster. I'm thankful for this time that we've had apart. Although, I love my children dearly, since we spend 24/7 together we just need a break from each other once in awhile.
Next week we are taking the locals vacation. I'll let you know how that adventure turns out.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Battling the Jungle
It was one those days. We had a rough week and I promised the kids if they would help with the yard we would go to the beach after lunch.
Well we woke up ready to tackle the yard, but first we had to wage war on ants. We had been battling them in small skirmishes all week. This however, was war. They had come out by the hundreds, there was a big pile in front of the refrigerator, then a black line ran across the floor behind the book shelves and up the wall to the ceiling. When I pulled out the book shelves I found a whole nest! So I got out the spray and won the war, then I had to clean up the mess. Finally 45 minutes later I'm ready to start in the yard.
We had just purchased a used weed eater, that ran well and I was excited to finally get rid of the weeds that I couldn't get with the lawn mower. It started right up and I was just eating up those weeds when I ran out of line. No problem, I thought, I've got extra if I can just figure out how to put it on. Well, 30 minutes later I've got new line and am ready to go. I pull the cord to start the weed eater and it breaks. OK, no problem I'll just cut the grass. So I fill the mower up with gas and get it out of the storage room and am ready to go. Hold on!! The bar that you have to hold down to get it to start is missing. Oh no, this isn't even our mower it belongs to our landlord. Then I remembered he was the one who used it last, trying to cut further down into the jungle. So I go looking for the bar and of course I can't find it. OK I think I'll just fix the weed eater and use it to cut the grass. I get all the screws out but one and it's stripped. Now, I'm close to tears. It had rained a lot and the grass hadn't been cut in 2 weeks and looked more like the jungle than our yard. I am down to my last resort, my reel mower. You know its the kind you push, without a motor, and the blades go around and cut the grass. It works great if you cut the grass often, but this grass was knee high. Then I remembered that Papa never gives us more than we can handle. So I heave a big sigh and get started. I push that mower for about an hour and a half, and I'm not even half finished, and I'm thinking that this time Papa did give me more than I could handle.That's when I heard a clanking and I found the bar that goes on the gas mower. I put that thing back on and 20 minutes later the yard is done. We grab a quick lunch and in an hour I'm enjoying the refreshing waters of the Pacific. Thanking Papa for keeping me going and helping me to appreciate his beautiful creation.
Well we woke up ready to tackle the yard, but first we had to wage war on ants. We had been battling them in small skirmishes all week. This however, was war. They had come out by the hundreds, there was a big pile in front of the refrigerator, then a black line ran across the floor behind the book shelves and up the wall to the ceiling. When I pulled out the book shelves I found a whole nest! So I got out the spray and won the war, then I had to clean up the mess. Finally 45 minutes later I'm ready to start in the yard.
We had just purchased a used weed eater, that ran well and I was excited to finally get rid of the weeds that I couldn't get with the lawn mower. It started right up and I was just eating up those weeds when I ran out of line. No problem, I thought, I've got extra if I can just figure out how to put it on. Well, 30 minutes later I've got new line and am ready to go. I pull the cord to start the weed eater and it breaks. OK, no problem I'll just cut the grass. So I fill the mower up with gas and get it out of the storage room and am ready to go. Hold on!! The bar that you have to hold down to get it to start is missing. Oh no, this isn't even our mower it belongs to our landlord. Then I remembered he was the one who used it last, trying to cut further down into the jungle. So I go looking for the bar and of course I can't find it. OK I think I'll just fix the weed eater and use it to cut the grass. I get all the screws out but one and it's stripped. Now, I'm close to tears. It had rained a lot and the grass hadn't been cut in 2 weeks and looked more like the jungle than our yard. I am down to my last resort, my reel mower. You know its the kind you push, without a motor, and the blades go around and cut the grass. It works great if you cut the grass often, but this grass was knee high. Then I remembered that Papa never gives us more than we can handle. So I heave a big sigh and get started. I push that mower for about an hour and a half, and I'm not even half finished, and I'm thinking that this time Papa did give me more than I could handle.That's when I heard a clanking and I found the bar that goes on the gas mower. I put that thing back on and 20 minutes later the yard is done. We grab a quick lunch and in an hour I'm enjoying the refreshing waters of the Pacific. Thanking Papa for keeping me going and helping me to appreciate his beautiful creation.
Until the next adventure, I'm blooming here in the jungle.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Chickens in Guam
Well, we've been in Guam now for 6 months. It is really wonderful here. One of the most interesting things is the wildlife. Of course, there are deer, huge frogs and spiral shell snails, banana spiders as big as a plate, and monitor lizards about 3 feet long. But there are also, wild dogs, booneydogs, wild pigs, and wild chickens. Yes, I said chickens, they are everywhere. It took us a few weeks to get use to the rooster alarm. It starts going off about 4:30am and continues until about 6:30. There is one rooster that crows just outside our window at about 5:30 everymorning, this is the one we wake up to. Since there are so many chickens around I thought I'd get a couple of hens to keep for eggs. However, the only chickens you can buy on Guam are roosters, no good for eggs. You see, cock fighting is legal here so they raise fighting roosters. ( The cock fighting primarily takes place at the fiestas that each village has to honor their patron saint.) Anyway, the locals just laughed at me when I asked about buying a laying hen, so I decided to raise one. I acquired an abandoned baby chick, named Opal, (in Jan I think, its hard to keep the months straight when the weather doesn't change). She grew into a beautiful black banty hen. With only a few more months until she would start laying the family had alot of fun building her a chicken coop. The neighbors really got a good laugh at that since there are chickens literally everywhere, but I wanted the eggs so I needed a pen. Well, last week something scared her and she scalped herself on the wiring of the pen. After that I couldn't even get close to feed her without her going beserk so I finally decided to let her out. I really thought she would be gone for good. She stayed around the house for awhile then followed the crowd out into the jungle. But to my suprise and delight she comes back everynight to roost on, on inside, the shutter of the childrens room.
This reminded me of bloom and bud. We they were little we lived in New Orleans and their freedom consisted of a very small fenced in yard. Then in VA they had a much larger yard, but still a fence. Now they have our entire road and the jungle. But just like Opal, now they have more freedom, but still choose to play around our house. Just like that old saying,"If you love something set it free, if it comes back it is truly yours if it doesn't it never was." I guess that's why God gave us free will. We have the choice to come back to him, through Jesus, or not. If we do he accepts us as his children, if we don't we never were anyway.
Until the next adventure, I'm blooming here in the jungle. Stem
This reminded me of bloom and bud. We they were little we lived in New Orleans and their freedom consisted of a very small fenced in yard. Then in VA they had a much larger yard, but still a fence. Now they have our entire road and the jungle. But just like Opal, now they have more freedom, but still choose to play around our house. Just like that old saying,"If you love something set it free, if it comes back it is truly yours if it doesn't it never was." I guess that's why God gave us free will. We have the choice to come back to him, through Jesus, or not. If we do he accepts us as his children, if we don't we never were anyway.
Until the next adventure, I'm blooming here in the jungle. Stem
Blooming Where We Are Planted - Introduction
Blooming Where We're Planted
The story of a military family.
There is Dad; The Root
Then there is me, Mom; the Stem. Together, we provide stability and nourishment, all provided by The Son to our blooms.
Sweetpea is our blossom; fragile and delicate in appearance, strong and resilient by example. Finally is our Bud; wound up tightly and just dying to bust free.
Our family, like all plants, strives to bloom where we are planted. We try to fertilize the soil around us with hospitality, faith and some common sense. We are dependant on The Son to nurture us and produce fruit.
These are the stories of our growth, our fruit, and the seeds that we spread.
The story of a military family.
There is Dad; The Root
Then there is me, Mom; the Stem. Together, we provide stability and nourishment, all provided by The Son to our blooms.
Sweetpea is our blossom; fragile and delicate in appearance, strong and resilient by example. Finally is our Bud; wound up tightly and just dying to bust free.
Our family, like all plants, strives to bloom where we are planted. We try to fertilize the soil around us with hospitality, faith and some common sense. We are dependant on The Son to nurture us and produce fruit.
These are the stories of our growth, our fruit, and the seeds that we spread.
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